Lochert Bros Pty Ltd was convicted on two counts and fined in April 2025, following a serious workplace incident in March 2023.(ABC Riverland: Shannon Pearce)
A Riverland citrus exporting company has been fined $129,000 after an employee was degloved in a workplace incident.
In March 2023, a 22-year-old employee's left forearm was degloved and suffered lacerations while working at a Lochert Bros Pty Ltd citrus packing facility in Ramco, South Australia.
In an online judgement from the South Australian Employment Tribunal, the incident was said to have taken place when the employee reached into a high-pressure washing machine while it was operating to dislodge stuck oranges.
The machine was designed by the company and custom-built approximately 30 years prior.
The sleeve of the victim's jacket became caught in a pinch point and her arm was pulled by the rotating drive chain into the pusher bars.
She suffered a degloving injury between her elbow and wrist and underwent surgery at the Royal Adelaide Hospital which included a split thickness graft from her left thigh.
Tribunal deputy president Stephen Lieschke said the injuries were extensive and severe.
Charged on two counts
The company was charged on two counts: committing a Category 2 offence against the Work Health and Safety Act 2012, and failing to ensure the pressure washer's emergency stop control complied with Work Health and Safety Regulations 2012.
It was found the control was not prominent, nor was it clearly and durably marked and immediately accessible to each worker operating the plant. It was also not coloured red.
The particulars of the offence also found the company had failed to provide information, training, instruction or supervision to protect workers from risks.
Mr Lieschke said Lochert Bros entered an early guilty plea within four weeks of its first appearance, allowing for a reduction in penalty.
A conviction was recorded for each count, a fine of $129,000 was issued and Lochert Bros was ordered to contribute to the informant's legal costs.
Safety compliance priority
SafeWork SA was notified of the incident and investigators attended the workplace on March 10, 2023.
Lochert Brothers was issued with 44 improvement notices by SafeWork following several compliance inspections in the months after, including 18 relating to inadequate machinery guarding.
On 20 June 2023, the company advised SafeWork SA it had spent a total of $12,669.98 on repairs and safety upgrades to the pressure washer post-incident.
The tribunal heard that following the incident Lochert had appointed Liz Fourie as a chief executive and the company had since spent more than $250,000 on various safety upgrades.
The workplace incident occured in Ramco, in South Australia's Riverland West region.(ABC Riverland: Anita Ward)
Lochert Bros said it conducted an audit of its safety compliance where the incident occurred, and that it planned to arrange a similar audit of its transport division and site.
Mr Lieschke said the victim had made a good recovery, felt supported by Lochert Bros with ongoing employment and had taken note of the safety improvements.
However, he said the victim had unnecessarily struggled financially while [still] recovering, after she did not receive her entitled workers' compensation for unexplained reasons.
Mr Lieschke said Lochert had acknowledged income support should not have been lost, and a voluntary ex gratia payment of $20,000 was made to the victim before Christmas 2024.
Lochert Bros was contacted for comment but did not respond before publishing.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-04-30/lochert-fined-degloving-workplace-injury-riverland/105230424
