Waste Management fined $400k for accident at Kerepehi tyre shredder in Waikato

Waste Management Ltd has been fined $400,000 after a worker's arm was caught in a tyre shredder. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Waste Management Ltd has been fined $400,000 after a worker's arm was trapped in a tyre shredder at Kerepehi in the Waikato.

A judge in the Hamilton District Court has also ordered the company to pay $50,000 in reparation to the worker, whose arm was trapped in the machine in November 2017.

WorkSafe said that when debris obstructed the conveyor belt to the tyre shredder, the worker attempted to remove it while the machine was running and his arm became trapped.

"The worker was unable to activate the emergency stop, but eventually managed to free his arm," the agency said.

"As a result of the incident the worker suffered degloving injuries and a broken forearm."

A subsequent WorkSafe investigation found guarding was missing from the conveyor belt which fed tyres into the machine, as it had been removed for modification. Despite having no machine guarding, the machine was still in use.

WorkSafe's Waikato area manager Danielle Henry said not only was it unacceptable that the machine was being used without guarding – there was no safe system of work in place.

"There was an emergency stop button, but its location meant it couldn't be reached if a worker became trapped in the machine, which is what happened in this incident," she said.

"As well as this at the time of the incident the victim was operating the machine alone, when there should have been adequate supervision to assist in the case of an emergency.

"A robust safe system of work, such as lock out tag out, would have prevented the tyre shredder and components being operated while the effected guarding was being modified.

"Businesses need to quit removing the very guarding that is in place to keep people safe. Waste Management NZ should not have allowed this machine to be used without guarding or safe processes in place. Its failure to implement these simple safety measures has left a worker with severe injuries."

Waste Management rubbish trucks have been involved in several fatal accidents in recent years.

The company, owned by the Beijing Capital Group, is building new sorting and recycling plants at Henderson and Hamilton.