Company to pay burnt worker $52k
''There was no safe system in place for managing the problem." Simon Humphries, WorkSafe
A Queenstown tortilla company will pay a worker $52,000 in reparation after his am was crushed and burned in an oven.
Remarkable Tortillas’ former worker Daniel Mauricio Figueroa Varas, 19, lost three fingers and has had multiple surgeries after the November 2016 incident.
Miller Foods Limited, trading as Remarkable Tortillas, appeared in the Queenstown District Court yesterday for sentencing.
It earlier admitted failing to ensure Figueroa’s health and safety while at work.
The court imposed no fine, suppressing the reasons why, but said it would have been $337,500, if payable. The maximum penalty is a fine of $1.5 million.
The company was ordered to pay reparation of $52,282.
In a statement after the sentencing WorkSafe deputy general manager, investigations and specialist services Simon Humphries said an investigation found the machinery involved was ‘‘loaded with risks’’.
Figueroa was cooking tortillas in a commercial tortilla press and oven when a tortilla became stuck.
As he had been taught, the worker removed guarding from the machine and reached in to dislodge the stuck tortilla with a spatula.
After the spatula got stuck in the conveyer slats, he put on heatresistant gloves and reached in to get the tortilla and spatula out. His glove became caught and his right hand and arm were drawn into the oven.
The investigation found the company had inadequate health and safety systems, failed to ensure a risk assessment of the machinery was carried out, failed to provide suitable guarding, and failed to ensure that workers were adequately trained and were aware of an appropriate emergency system.
Humphries said the gas burners, the moving conveyer belt and the inadequate machine guarding all contributed to an avoidable incident.
‘‘Tortillas getting jammed was a known issue, but there was no safe system in place for managing the problem,’’ Humphries said.
After the sentencing Figueroa’s father, Christian Figueroa, said the reparation cost was ‘‘expected’’.
‘‘We are quite happy with that,’’ he said.
After prohibition and improvement notices from WorkSafe, Remarkable Tortillas have since installed an interlocking guard.