28 February 2019

A food manufacturing company was sentenced at the Christchurch District Court today after a worker had their thumb severed while cleaning a machine used to blend products.

Wimpex Limited was fined $240,000 following a WorkSafe investigation, which found Wimpex Limited, did not have adequate guarding in place. An initial fine of $270,000 was reduced due to the company’s financial situation.

Wimpex carried out checks on the electrical componentry of the machine when it first arrived in New Zealand. However, no other assessments were carried out.

Head of Specialist Interventions Simon Humphries said the incident highlights the importance of conducting effective risk assessments and safe guarding machines to industry standards.

“The machine should have been guarded and the worker’s training should have included safe work instructions for clearing jams and cleaning when the guard had to be opened.

“This incident could have been easily avoided if the machine was guarded adequately.”

ENDS

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