Forestry and timber processing company, Juken New Zealand Limited, was fined NZ$57,000 and ordered to pay reparations of NZ$12,000 today after an employee was seriously harmed when his finger was caught in a timber veneer dryer. Sources: Scoop Independent News, WorkSafe NZ
The incident on 1 November 2013 resulted in a partial amputation and crush injury to the index finger of the victim’s right hand.
WorkSafe New Zealand’s investigation found that Juken New Zealand Limited failed to guard the dryer to prevent employees from accessing the dangerous nip points of the chains and sprockets on the machine.
Juken New Zealand Limited was sentenced in the Masterton District Court under the Health and Safety in Employment Act for failing to take all practicable steps to ensure the safety of its employee.
WorkSafe New Zealand’s Chief Inspector Keith Stewart said that in 2012 another employee at Juken New Zealand Limited also suffered a similar accident on a dryer.
“For this type of accident to be repeated indicates a significant failure on behalf of the company to learn from a previous accident,” said Keith Stewart.
“It is critical that companies review health and safety incidents and ensure similar events don’t happen again. In this case if Juken New Zealand Limited had installed proper guarding on all their machinery this incident could have been prevented and a worker would not have been injured.”
