Fodder exporter fined $600,000 after worker's leg trapped in machinery used to cut hay bales

7NEWS

05-05-2025

An Australian fodder exporter has been fined almost $600,000 after a worker sustained serious injuries when part of his body was trapped in a chamber used to slice hay bales in half.
A leading hand was operating a hay press at a processing plant in Carani, in WA 's Wheatbelt, when he climbed onto the machine to rearrange bales that had become twisted during a shift in January 2023.
The worker suffered a fractured leg and a 'degloving injury' when he was shunted by a mechanical arm 'that pushes hay bales into the cutting chamber, and his leg became trapped in the chamber', WorkSafe WA said.
HA Hold Co, which trades as Hay Australia, pleaded guilty in the Northam Magistrates Court in April to failing to provide a safe workplace which led to the worker's serious harm.
It was fined $595,000 and ordered to pay $5500 in costs.
WorkSafe WA said the conveyor belt did have interlocked gates that would shut the machine off when opened, but that they were only installed on the opposite side to where the man was injured.
The safety watchdog said workers were known to fix twisted bales by reaching over the conveyor belt and pushing them into place because it was quicker than walking around to the gates and switching off the machine.
WorkSafe also identified that the company had failed to install guarding to the open side of the conveyor belt even after an external safety consultant had warned about the risks of not doing so and said there was no documented safe work procedure for addressing blockages.
A mesh guard was fitted to the unguarded area after the worker was injured.
'It's disappointing that we continue to see incidents involving insufficient guarding of machinery, particularly conveyor belts,' WorkSafe Commissioner Sally North said.
'In this case, the employer had been made aware of the missing conveyor belt guards but had not taken action to remedy the problem.
'Guarding needs to be designed to reduce not only the risks during standard operation of the machinery but also risks that may arise when a worker makes an error.'