Timber firm cops $52,500 fine for injured worker

A Northland timber company has been fined more than $52,000 after an employee suffered serious injuries when his foot became trapped in an unguarded conveyor belt.

Mt Pokaka Timber Products was fined $52,500 by the Kaikohe District Court and ordered to pay reparation of $20,000 to Kerikeri teenager Reuben Fasher.

Mr Fasher suffered a large penetrating laceration injury to the inside of his right foot on November 10, last year, and was hospitalised in Whangarei for 17 days.

The Department of Labour, which brought the charges, said Mr Fasher was working with a conveyor that had only been in full production two weeks before the accident.

He was stationed at the end of the conveyor waiting for timber product to be fed through the de-duster machine.

During a break in the flow of wood, the victim rested his arms on the table and placed his right foot underneath on the channel guiding the chain.

He was pulled off his feet hitting his head as he fell, and the chain took his right foot around the drive sprocket trapping it between the chain and the teeth of the sprocket.

The 17-year-old said his foot was on the mend after having a skin graft.

Mr Fasher had been in the job for only four-and-a-half months when the injury occurred and thanked the company for the support it provided during his recovery.

He is happy with the court's decision and the time it took for the matter to be disposed off.

The Department of Labour's John Howard said Mt Pokaka Timber Products had an obligation to ensure all new machinery was subjected to thorough hazard identification before beginning service and that trapping points on conveyors were appropriately guarded.

"The company failed to identify the trapping point between the chains and sprockets as a hazard and there were no guards to ensure the safety of employees working on or near this conveyor," he said.

Mr Howard said the accident at Mt Pokaka Timber Products could have been avoided if the company had put in place adequate machine guarding.