Charges over worker death
A WESTERN Queensland abattoir and its sole director have been charged with industrial manslaughter after a twoyear investigation into the death of a worker.
Paramedics rushed to the goat abattoir in Charleville about 1pm on July 29, 2019 after reports a 46-year-old employee, Lê Tu n Nhã, had fallen into a machine that was used to remove pelts from animal carcasses.
In a statement released by Workplace Health and Safety Queensland shortly after the man’s death, it said he had been crushed while manually handling goat carcasses, after a conveyor belt which would normally feed them into a “dehairer’ machine stopped working.
“In July 2019, a worker was crushed to death when manually handling goat carcasses,” the statement read.
“He was trapped by a hydraulically operated stainlesssteel bucket.
“A conveyor belt moves and loads carcasses into a hydraulically operated stainless-steel bucket.
“Once the bucket is loaded, it raises up and tips the carcasses into a ‘de-hairer’ machine.
“The conveyor belt stopped when the ‘de-hairer’ feeder machine failed, and workers manually unloaded carcasses into the stainless-steel bucket.
“The worker was standing in the bucket when it unexpectedly began to raise.
“As the 46-year-old attempted to step out of the bucket, he slipped and became wedged under a steel lip on the machine.
“The bucket dropped to its ‘home’ position, crushing the man across the upper torso and stomach area.”
The independent Work Health and Safety prosecutor, Aaron Guilfoyle, has since charged owner Western Meat Exporters Pty Ltd and its sole director Campbell McPhee with industrial manslaughter.
The maximum penalty for industrial manslaughter by a corporation is a fine of $10 million. The maximum penalty for individuals is 20 years’ imprisonment.
Mr Guilfoyle has also charged Western Meat Exporters Pty Ltd and Mr McPhee with Category 2 offences under the Work Health and Safety Act for breaching health and safety duties and exposing workers to a risk of serious injury or death.
The charges arise from the same incident and carry maximum penalties of a $1.5 million fine and $300,000 fine respectively.
The charges against Western Meat Exporters Pty Ltd and Campbell McPhee will be mentioned in the Charleville Magistrates Court on Wednesday, September 22.
Lê Tu n Nhã was known to friends and colleagues as Jimmy Le.
The Vietnamese migrant was married and had one daughter.
Mr McPhee was contacted for comment but he declined.