McCain Foods (Australia) has been fined $145,000 after admitting to health and safety failings at its Ballarat plant.
Friday's conviction under the Occupational Health and Safety Act related to a 2007 incident where a maintenance fitter’s left thumb was amputated while working on a machine which peels and cleans potatoes on the company’s French Fries potato line.
The Ballarat County Court heard that two fitters and an electrician attempted to fix the broken machine, believing it to be isolated through its control switches - when it was actually on a manual setting.
When one of the fitters put his hand in the machine to loosen a chain, the machine started up, amputating his left thumb.
Since the incident, the company has complied with two improvement notices issued by WorkSafe Victoria, and developed an isolation lockout procedure for the machine.
They have also designed labels for each piece of plant indicating whether or not multiple isolations are required.
However, WorkSafe Victoria says this isn't the first time the company has been in trouble for breaching OHS.
“Being a leader in the community is about accepting responsibility and showing leadership in safety.
We expect large organisations with considerable resources to do the right thing,” WorkSafe's acting executive director, Stan Krpan, said.