South Australian juice company Nippy’s has been fined $120,000 after one of its workers was scalped in a “traumatic” workplace accident.
According to ABC News, the company pleaded guilty and received a criminal conviction for failing to comply with its health and safety duty.
In November 2020, an 18-year-old employee was working at Nippy’s packing shed in Waikerie when her hair became tangled in a segment of unguarded machinery, eventually tearing her entire scalp from her head.
Days following the incident, the young woman had an unsuccessful scalp reattachment, has since had multiple surgical procedures and requires ongoing treatment.
“In an instant, her young and hopeful life flipped into shock, trauma, ongoing pain and disfigurement,” said deputy president Magistrate Katherine Eaton in her findings.
“She endured not only the pain and shock of her physical injury but the terror of looking up and seeing her hair and scalp hanging from the machine in front of her.”
Magistrate Eaton said the machinery was still turned on when the worker reached down to retrieve a fallen fruit, and her hair pulled into an unprotected sprocket and drive-chain system.
However, the worker said she and other employees had completed the same tasks several times before without any issues.
The magistrate continued, “The risk [of harm] was not only foreseeable but had also been foreseen”.
A company’s assessment in September 2013 identified a risk of possible injury to “hands and hair” from unguarded moving parts.
Recommendations following the assessment included installing additional guards around the equipment. However, the company failed to implement such measures.
“It allowed a culture to develop on the plant floor where the risk was either unrecognised or ignored, and workers were expected to enter the area while the plant was operating to clear blockages,” said Magistrate Eaton.
Following the incident, surgeons could only reattach part of the 18-year-old’s scalp.
“Despite the treatment that she has had and will continue to have, there is no escaping the permanent loss of a significant part of her hair and the scar tissue over her scalp where that hair used to be,” she added.
Jeffrey Knispel, one of the company’s directors, contacted the father of the worker involved to offer an apology and $2500 in immediate compensation within 24 hours of the incident.
An additional $2500 was later paid to the family to support transport and accommodation costs while the employee underwent medical treatment.
The company also conducted a risk assessment the day after the incident, and a guard over the conveyor’s sprockets and drive chain was installed for $500.
Another $60,000 was spent on other safety upgrades, and an additional $50,000 “reparation” payment was given to the victim and her family.
“I take into account what I accept as the genuine personal and corporate remorse demonstrated by the immediate apology and offer of help,” Magistrate Eaton concluded.
“In light of these factors, I consider specific deterrence a lesser consideration, as I conclude the likelihood of Nippy’s reoffending to be low.”
