A worker will be receiving $30,000 in reparations from their Auckland employer after their thumb was severed while cleaning machinery.
Mainland Poultry Limited was sentenced in the Papakura District Court on Monday over the October 2020 incident.
The company was fined $200,000 and ordered to pay $30,000 to the victim.
According to WorkSafe, while cleaning machinery, the worker's thumb got caught between the edge of an open latch and a rotating blade of a screw conveyor that had "inadequate guarding".
WorkSafe's investigation found workers were aware of the open latch to the blade but management did not because it was in an "obscured location".
The investigation also found that health and safety concerns at the site were "raised in an ad-hoc way" to management and that staff used workarounds their bosses didn't know about.
Hayden Mander said the injury was avoidable if the machinery was properly guarded.
“Mainland Poultry has now improved its health and safety procedures, but their experience provides a timely warning for other businesses," he said.
Mainland Poultry Limited was sentenced under a section of the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 which carries a maximum penalty of $1.5 million.
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