PLEASE TAKE
RESPONSIBILITY
A company providing packaging, film and
print services to the food industry has been
sentenced and fined $100,000 following an
incident that left a worker with serious hand
injuries.
All Flex Packaging fell foul of the Health
and Safety at Work Act on charges of
inadequately guarding machinery…
one of 11 manufacturing companies
that have been sentenced for machine guarding
failures this year. A worker operating machinery
at the company’s Wiri factory got his right hand
pulled into an exposed nip point between two
rollers. The hand was crushed and he suffered
degloving injuries and fractures to his hand.
WorkSafe found inadequate machine guarding,
no risk assessment by a competent person, no
safe operating procedure for the machine and
inadequate training for the machine operators
in the use of the machine. WorkSafe says the
industry needs to lift its competency in assessing
the risk that machinery poses and guarding
the machinery adequately. “WorkSafe is visiting
scenes too often where something has got
stuck in a machine, a machine has jammed or
something needed to be moved and a worker
has damaged a limb in the process,” head of
specialist interventions Simon Humphries says.
“It is time for the manufacturing industry to lift
its game and take ownership for the injuries that
are occurring on its watch.” All Flex Packaging
also had to pay $20,000 in reparation.
SEEDS IN SIGHT
A new building development by PGG
Wrightson Seeds at AgResearch’s Lincoln
campus is a significant step forward
for both parties - and for the burgeoning
research and innovation hub in the
Canterbury town, leaders of the two
organisations say. “It makes good sense
for us to join our key research and business
partners,” PGG Wrightson group
general manager seed and grain John
McKenzie says. “Collaboration with our
partners is an intrinsic part of how we
work. Science and people are closely
linked, so our shared approach will be
further enabled by a closer proximity.”
The new PGG Wrightson Seeds (PGW
Seeds) building is on the Springs Road
frontage of the AgResearch campus
opposite Lincoln University. “I visited
the site last week and construction of
the building is really taking shape. Our
Christchurch-based team are looking
forward to being closer to their Lincoln
based Kimihia Research Centre
colleagues, as well as our strategic partners.”
The building will house 90 staff
from PGW Seeds team, and AgResearch
chief executive Tom Richardson says
the investment further advances the
innovation precinct concept proposed by
his organisation in its campus development
strategy which seeks to enable
more seamless collaboration between
students, academics, researchers and
business. “We will soon see construction
starting just across the road from
this PGW Seeds development, at the
site of the new Lincoln University-AgResearch
joint facility which will house
700 scientists, academics and students
working side by side to address
New Zealand’s biggest challenges
and opportunities. Having these two
significant new facilities being built in
parallel is creating a real buzz of activity
and anticipation. Our vision is suddenly
becoming tangible for many and we’re
pleased with the approaches we are
getting from businesses enquiring about
options to join us here in Lincoln.” The
new PGW Seeds building is expected to
be completed in mid-2019.
www.foodtechnology.co.nz 37
/www.foodtechnology.co.nz
