On 21 August 2025, a company was sentenced in the Mackay Magistrates Court for breaching section 32 of the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (‘the Act’). The defendant pleaded guilty to failing to comply with its primary health and safety duty, thereby exposing workers to the risk of death or serious injury.

The defendant owned and operated a sugar mill and refinery at Racecourse in Queensland. Surrounding the mill were three effluent ponds that store liquid by-product of the sugar milling process. Testing of the water quality within the ponds was conducted by the defendant on a weekly basis to ensure that it attains a certain quality level prior to it being released into waterways. Water samples were obtained using a discharge pump contained within a pumphouse adjacent to Abbotts Road, Palmyra. The pervious practice had been for workers to obtain water samples using a syphon, but the syphon failed and was not successfully repaired or replaced.

In order to operate the discharge pump, workers needed to first start a ‘priming pump’ within the pumphouse. The priming pump operated to ‘prime’ the discharge pump to ensure there was enough water and pressure in the discharge pump before it started pumping. The priming pump was operated by a belt drive system that was open with no form of guarding to prevent contact with the exposed moving parts or pinch points. Both of the drive belts were loose and out of adjustment tension. The priming pump had no guard around the drive belts.

The pump system was in a poorly maintained state, with all adjusting bolts and mounting bolts heavily corroded, dry, with no oil, grease, lubricant, or rust prevention coatings. The cooling fan screen guard of the end cowling of the main pump drive motor was completely corroded away leaving jagged metal edges and offering no safety protection for workers against the risk of entanglement or contact with the hazard of the moving cooling fan.

On 1 September 2021, the injured worker commenced a day-shift at the Racecourse Mill. At approximately 10:10am that morning, the injured worker, accompanied by another, travelled to the Abbotts Road pumphouse to obtain a water sample for testing. The injured worker had been obtaining water samples from this pumphouse on a weekly basis since March 2020. Once within the pumphouse, the injured worker pressed the start button for the priming pump (located on a wall of the pump house) but observed that the two drive belts on the priming pump would not rotate and as a result the priming pump did not start. The injured worker then pressed the stop button to stop the priming pump and walked around to the other side of the pump work to access the drive belts.

The injured worker grasped the 2 drive belts with her hand and applied downward pressure. She then stood back from the drive belts and asked the other worker to press the start button. The other worker pressed the start button, but the drive belts still did not rotate. The injured worker once again placed pressure on the drive belts. As she did this, the drive belts suddenly grabbed traction and started to rotate. As a result, the injured worker’s left hand was dragged with the drive belts and drawn into the pulley of the pump which resulted in the severing/crushing of the top of three fingers (the ring finger, middle finger and index finger) of that hand.

The injured worker was driven to the Mackay Base Hospital and was subsequently transferred to the Mater Hospital for treatment by an orthopaedic surgeon. The tips of her fingers were unable to be reattached. The injured worker was discharged from hospital on 3 September 2021. The injured worker remained under the care of an occupational therapist and returned to work on light duties after approximately 10 days.

Following the incident, the Defendant installed guarding to cover the moving mechanisms of the priming and discharge pumps within the pumphouse.

In sentencing the defendant, A/Magistrate Kirkman-Scroope noted its early guilty plea, which her Honour considered to be deserving of significant credit. Her Honour noted that the Defendant was a significant employer in the region and accepted that it was a good corporate citizen, despite not being a first offender, it having a prior conviction from 2019.

A/Magistrate Kirkman-Scroope found that the offending did not disclose a complete disregard of safety obligations and noted that the hazardous equipment was not under direct management or control of defendant. Her Honour noted that the injured worker’s action may have been a contributing factor, but that was not deserving of much weight given the nature of the statutory duty.

A/Magistrate Kirkman-Scroope noted the post incident measures, but acknowledged that care must be taken in giving credit for things that should have been done earlier, lest the purposes of the Act be defeated. Her Honour noted the need for deterrence, particularly general deterrence. Her Honour remarked that, whilst the outcome was serious and had an enduring impact on the injured worker’s life, and was a relevant aggravating factor, it was not determinative of the penalty.

A/Magistrate Kirkman-Scroope noted that the plant was hazardous, with unguarded moving parts, and the likelihood of injury was high. Her Honour said that the workers were required to operate the pump whilst it was in a state of disrepair. Her Honour said that the blame for the offending rested solely with defendant and that the offending was protracted. A/Magistrate Kirkman-Scroope noted both the defendant’s cooperation with authorities and post incident remediation, which her Honour considered were indicative of remorse.

Her Honour held that the appropriate penalty was a fine of $100,000 and exercised her discretion not to record a conviction.

OWHSP contact: enquiries@owhsp.qld.gov.au