A Dunedin fence post producer has been fined $52,000 and
ordered to pay $40,000 in reparations over an accident which
cost an employee his leg.
The worker's leg was dragged into a post-peeling machine at
Juro Corporation Limited (JCL) - trading as Great Southern -
in May last year, the Dunedin District Court heard yesterday.
The extent of his injuries meant that his leg had to be
surgically amputated below the knee.
An investigation by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and
Employment found that JCL had failed to identify hazards on
the post-peeling machine, which was more than 20-years-old,
and did not have guarding in place to protect workers.
"Regardless of the age of the machine, we have current
guarding standards that must be complied with to ensure
workers are kept safe.
"There is simply no excuse for this accident and its very
unfortunate impact on a worker who had every right to expect
to be safe at work,'' said Francois Barton, the Ministry's
Southern Regional Health and Safety General Manager.
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