A retired chicken farmer is facing health and safety charges over a shocking incident which resulted in one of his workers losing part of his arm.
Safe Work SA has laid charges against Hillier Poultry, near Gawler in South Australia, after a worker became trapped in a feed mixer on the site.
The accident happened after the worker’s left forearm became entangled in an internal auger of the equipment, resulting in a traumatic amputation.
Hillier Poultry’s former owner Ashley Duffield is now facing health and safety charges over it.
A statement published on Safe Work SA’s website states: “It is alleged a worker was cleaning an outlet at the base of a feed mixer when the plant became energised on April 22, 2024, entangling the worker’s left forearm in an internal auger resulting in a traumatic amputation.
WA’s biggest courts and crime stories to your inbox
Sign-up to our weekly newsletter for free
Sign up
“It will be alleged the business failed to ensure, so far as reasonably practicable, the health and safety of workers at the plant.”
Safe Work SA alleges that Mr Duffield had “failed to maintain safe plant and structures, failed to perform adequate hazard identification and risk assessment and had failed to provide adequate information, training, instruction and supervision.”
However, speaking to NewsWire, Mr Duffield – who has since sold the business and retired – vowed to fight the charges in court.
He said: “I have always been very conscious of health and safety and up until this, had never had any accidents.”
“I had health and safety guidelines in place and had trained my workers, but on this occasion these were not followed,” Mr Duffield continued.
“I do not think it is fair to be charging me as I do not consider myself to be involved in causing the accident.”
Mr Duffield, 78, claimed the accident had occurred when one of the workers was cleaning the machine and the second mistakenly switched it on, unaware that his colleague was there.
He said the training he offered his workers stipulated that the machine must be switched off at the power when it was being cleaned – but on this occasion it was not.
He added: ”If the workers had done what they were trained to do, how they were trained to do it, there would not have been an accident.”
“I have always looked out for my workers and never had any accidents until this point – it had a really dramatic impact on the business,” Mr Duffield said.
Mr Duffield has been charged with a category two offence of failing to comply with health and safety duty, contrary to Section 32 of the Work Health and Safety Act 2012.
He is due to appear in the South Australian Employment Court on May 21.