WorkSafe is urging manufacturing businesses to enhance safety standards, highlighting that too many workers are losing their fingers in industrial machinery accidents.
Since mid-March this year, manufacturing companies in New Zealand have been penalised with fines and damages totalling more than half a million dollars. WorkSafe revealed three cases in the manufacturing sector where employers failed to adhere to basic machine safety standards, resulting in finger amputations. WorkSafe referred to this as a “persistent problem”:
“All three cases are from the manufacturing sector, which has a persistent problem with machine safeguarding and is one of the country’s high-risk industries,” WorkSafe principal inspector Mark Donaghue said in a statement.
Thompson Engineering in Timaru was fined $247,500 and ordered to pay reparations of $35,000 after an employee had two of their fingers amputated and a third degloved in an accident in January 2022. The incident was caused by a punch and shear machine, which was used as a substitute when the regular machine was out of order.
In another case, an employee of Anglo Engineering in Auckland had three fingers partially amputated following an accident involving a punch and forming press in March 2022. The company was fined $200,000 and was ordered to pay reparations of $35,337.
Auckland’s Flexicon Plastics was also fined $74,392 and ordered to pay reparations of $33,000 after an incident in August 2022: An employee amputated two fingers and degloved a third. According to WorkSafe, the employee was cleaning a machine when its power switch was accidentally activated because the interlock was not functioning.
Donaghue expressed his dismay at the frequency of workers sustaining life-altering injuries. Saying that these accidents at work can be prevented.
“These sorts of incidents are avoidable. Workers should not be suffering harm like this in 2024, and businesses have no excuse. WorkSafe is notified of machine guarding incidents from across the country every week and is regularly prohibiting dangerous machinery as part of its proactive and targeted assessments. WorkSafe has a role to influence business to make sure they keep people healthy and safe – that’s why we’re speaking out on this issue,” he said.
“If you are unsure whether your safeguarding is up to scratch, engage a qualified expert as soon as possible,” he added.
New Zealand implemented the Machinery Act in 1950, safeguarding the efficiency of machinery in work environments. But after more than 70 years, reports show that workplaces are still failing to comply, resulting in a number of workers being injured due to unsafe machinery.