Vic company fined over timber mill death

A Victorian timber company has been fined $350,000 following a fatal timber mill incident in May 2018.

On the day of the incident, a worker was unloading timber from a conveyor belt when his clothes got trapped on a ‘pin protruding from the belts' rotating drive shaft.’ The man was dragged into the conveyor belt and killed.

The company pleaded guilty to two breaches of the Occupational Health and Safety Act in relation to the fatal incident.

A WorkSafe investigation found the risk of being trapped could have been minimised by covering the drive shaft or by changing its position.

WorkSafe Executive Director Health and Safety Narelle Beer said plant and machinery are a major cause of injuries and fatalities in Victorian workplaces.

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