A Manawatū concrete manufacturer has been fined $357,000 after a worker had his arm severed by a conveyor belt in November 2021.
The victim was cleaning a conveyor belt at Dunlop Drymix in Feilding early one morning when his right arm was grabbed by rollers as he reached for a dropped tool.
He was alone at the time and had to leave the area to look for help.
Surgeons were unable to reattach his arm and he remains off work.
A WorkSafe investigation found that the conveyor's off switch was located in the next warehouse, and its emergency stop switch was disconnected and non-functional.
There was also no standard operating procedure for the cleaning of the machine, insufficient risk assessment and staff were not trained to clean the machine safely.
The company was sentenced at Palmerston North District Court today for its health and safety failures.
Dunlop Drymix, one of New Zealand's largest dry cement manufacturers, was made to pay the worker $60,000 in emotional harm reparations on top of a $297,000 fine.
Area investigation manager Paul Budd said that proper safeguarding to industry standards could have prevented the "life-changing injury".
“Although a business might have standard operating procedures for machinery while it’s in use, it’s critical to think about how that extends to cleaning and maintenance too.
"Those uses can’t be dismissed as out of sight and out of mind because they are happening out of hours."
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