The Case

WorkSafe Victoria v Lazo Paper Pty Ltd (2024)

Lazo Paper Pty Ltd is a cardboard manufacturing company based in Keysborough, Victoria. At Lazo Paper’s factory, workers operate a large roller gluing machine, which applies glue to each side of the paper before it is processed through the laminating press machine. To operate the gluing machine, workers are required to feed the paper sheets between two large metal rollers.

On the day of the incident, two workers were instructed to clean the gluing machine. Both workers came from non-English-speaking backgrounds. One of the workers had not received any training on how to safely clean the gluing machine.