Company fined after worker’s death

A company in Sydney’s west has been hit with a fine following the death of an employee who was killed at work.

Engineering services company Buddco was fined $600,000 after contractor Craig Tanner was trapped and killed by a mixing blade in a commercial ink tank.

The incident occurred in 2017, with reports noting the 42-year-old Engadine man was struck while cleaning the tank, with two others also being injured at a factory in Auburn.

NSW Better Regulation Minister Matt Kean commented on the tragedy: “No worker deserves to be injured on the job, let alone lose their life.”

“I can assure the community that SafeWork will do whatever is necessary to get to the bottom of this terrible incident, and those responsible will be held to account.”

Now, almost six years later, the organisation was found guilty of breaching the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 at the District Court of NSW.

“SafeWork NSW extends its deepest sympathies to the families of those affected by this tragic and preventable incident,” said the head of SafeWork NSW, Natasha Mann.

“SafeWork NSW is committed to ensuring workplaces across the state are operating at the highest possible standard to ensure workers are safe while working to prevent an incident like this ever happening again.”

Ms Mann continued: “Devastating outcomes like this should serve as a reminder for other companies to provide their workers with the safest possible working environment to ensure they make it home safe at the end of each shift.”

The court found that the company had not taken appropriate safety measures to disengage the machinery and that injury or death was obvious and foreseeable.

However, the court noted that Buddco was unlikely to reoffend due to good character and no prior breaches.

Buddco was reportedly supplying labour to DIC Australia. DIC was fined $450,000 for the incident back in 2021.