Annie Dunne from Tipperary was involved in a horrific workplace accident in November 2015.
A labour hire company in Australia has been fined AUD$60,000 (approximately €42,200) following a horrific accident in which an Irish backpacker had her scalp torn and her ear torn from her head.
According to the Sydney Morning Herald, T&R Contracting Shepparton Pty Ltd were fined the sum in Shepparton Magistrates Court on Thursday after pleading guilty to failing to provide a safe working environment by not providing instruction and training to Ms Dunne.
On 7 November 2015, Ms Dunne, who is understood to have been working at the fruit-picking plant to qualify for a second year Working Holiday Visa, was cleaning a conveyor belt at a packing shed in Shepparton when her head became tangled in a rotating drive shaft.
The court heard that staff members were required to clean the conveyor belts when they were energised and moving and after her hair became entangled in the drive shaft, her scalp and her ear were torn from her head.
Ms Dunne was subsequently airlifted to hospital for treatment and an online fundraising campaign set up shortly after the incident occurred raised AUD$35,514 (approximately €25,000) to go towards the costs.
T&R Contracting Shepparton Pty Ltd were also ordered to pay legal costs of AUD$8091 (approximately €5,700), while the company that runs the packing shed, Kalafatis Packing Pty Ltd, and its manager, Dimitrios Vagelatos, are also facing charges and are due to face court in February.
Commenting on the incident, WorkSafe’s Executive Director of Health and Safety, Marnie Williams, said that the requirement of workers to clean the machines while they were in operation was “staggering”.
“All workers at this business were exposed to serious risks to their health and safety because a safe system of work was not in place,” Williams said.
“There was no requirement to isolate the conveyors from energy sources during the cleaning process and no training provided to workers.”
“They (T&R Contracting Shepparton Pty Ltd) should have ensured the workers were provided with a safe working environment and appropriate training at the workplace and not just left it to chance,” Williams added.
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