Operator of poultry farm sentenced in relation to worker’s death

In a case demonstrating the critical importance of safeguarding dangerous nip points, a Victorian poultry farm operator was convicted and fined $325,000 in relation to the death of a worker who became trapped in a new conveyer belt at the farm (WorkSafe Victoria v Lemitech Pty Ltd [2026]).

Conveyor system

In 2022, a company that operated a poultry farm raising chickens for egg production refurbished one of its sheds. The refurbishment included outfitting the shed with a new conveyor system that collected chicken manure from underneath the cages and transported it outside. The system had six manure belts, which collected and then deposited manure onto a horizontal belt, then moved the manure outside to an elevator that loaded it into a truck. The process of collecting the manure only needed to operate on 2 days of the week, due to the capacity of the belts.

Incident

On the day of the incident in March 2023, a worker commenced working at the farm and was advised they would perform the collection process at around 9am. About 10 minutes later, the truck driver who had arrived to collect the manure observed that the horizontal belt was operating. At around 10:50am, it was observed that the manure had stopped running into the truck. The manure belts were then turned off.

The conveyor system had several isolator switches to stop the belts from moving. At the time, there were three located by the elevator outside the shed and two located inside. However, neither the isolators nor emergency stops were located near the tail pulley. During the collection process, workers would check the horizontal belt tracking up to four times. To check how the horizontal belt was tracking, the worker would need to remove a metal guard on the tail pulley. This guard was not always securely fastened. Additionally, workers were often required to adjust the tracking of the belt to prevent it from rubbing against the frame of the conveyor. This would need to be done using a spanner while the belt was running, with the guard removed. Maintenance on the tail pulley, such as replacing parts or cleaning manure, required switching off the system. However, if an operator was standing at the controls, they could not see if another worker was working on the tail pulley.

At approximately 11:45am, a buildup of manure was found on the horizontal belt. Several workers searched for the worker responsible for the collection process, who had not answered his phone. They ultimately found him entangled in the tail pulley's roller. The worker suffered fatal crush injuries.

Judgment

The company pleaded guilty to breaching section 26(1) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004 (Vic) by failing to ensure that the workplace was safe and without risks to health, and was sentenced to pay a fine of $325,000, with conviction.

The Court found that the company had significant deficiencies in its system of work and had unreasonably relied on an overseas supplier for the operation of the conveyor system. In relation to the risk of entanglement in the rotating components of the tail pulley, the company failed to install:

a fixed interlocked guard with clear viewing windows on the tail pulley to allow persons to check the tracking of the horizontal belt with the guard in place;
a maintenance jog function on the conveyor system, in which the horizontal belt operated at a slow speed and/or could only travel a short distance, for use when the guard on the tail pulley was removed; and
interlocked in-running nip guards over the roller of the tail pulley.

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