DONNYBROOK company Golden Mile Orchards has been fined $6,000 in the Bunbury Court of Petty Sessions last week after pleading guilty to failing to ensure every dangerous part of the machine was adequately guarded.
In this particular case the company had earlier been issued with a prohibition notice in relation to the guarding of a number of tractors at its workplace.
WorkSafe WA Commissioner Nina Lyhne said when a WorkSafe inspector had visited the property to check whether the guarding had been fitted, he found the power take-off coupling – a part of the machinery that rotates at high speed – had not been properly guarded and posed a risk of entanglement.
"In this case the employer failed to ensure the safety of his employees by failing to provide guarding that he would have known was required and it was fortunate that no-one was injured or killed," she said.
