In Broadmeadows Magistrates Court in Melbourne, on July 2, Magistrate Charlie Rozencwajg fined Lakeside Packaging. The company pleaded guilty to seven workplace health and safety charges under WorkSafe Victoria laws. These breaches included failure to provide information to employees in their first language (in this case Mandarin); failure to provide safe plant and systems of work; and failure to provide the necessary information, instruction, training and supervision to enable employees to work safely.

It is believed to be the first prosecution in the nation in relation to people hurt while in Australia on 457 visas.

Lakeside, the court found, forced two temporary skilled workers on the 457 visa scheme to operate unsafe equipment, causing injury. Magistrate Rozencwajg said that the case sends a strong message for employers to ensure that when foreign workers are trained, the training must be in their own first language.

WorkSafe Victoria prosecuted the company on behalf of Guoping Cai and Zhi Hong Fu, who were both on Section 457 visas when they were injured as they worked in unsafe conditions.

The Australian government has welcomed the fine.

Lawyer for both immigrant workers, Penny Flint, called the case “one of the worst examples of employer abuse” she had ever seen.

“This case demonstrates the importance of safety in the workplace, not only to foreign workers on section 457 visas but to workers in general,” Ms Flint said.

On April 5, 2006, Zhi Hong Fu, 52, broke his right wrist and suffered other serious injuries (including two broken teeth) as he fell from a ladder while performing electrical work for which he was not qualified.

He returned to work on April 10 with his arm in plaster, yet was forced to drill with his left arm as he steadied it with his chin.

On June 30, 2006, he hurt his other arm using a two-handed drill while building a scaffold. This, too, was a task for which he was unqualified.

While Fu worked on his own, the drill jammed, kicking back against his left wrist.
However, his employer, Mensol (Tom) Najdovski, ordered him to finish the job on the same day, so Fu had to use his injured right hand and chin to support the drill to finish the job. It was later discovered that his left arm, too, had suffered a fracture.

After being summoned back to the company ten days later to disassemble a machine (despite his left arm still encased in plaster), he was soon given a letter warning regarding his job performance. The worker was later sacked after another bout of sick leave, including periods in hospital.

“The impact of the two accidents and injuries to both of my hands has been devastating,” Mr Fu said.

The incident occurred only weeks after Mr Fu’s colleague, 35-year-old Guoping Cai, broke two bones in his right forearm on March 16, 2006 when as he tried to remove misfed paper in an unguarded printing machine. He required a skin graft and doctors had to insert bolts in his arm.

Cai spent two weeks in hospital, but after release was forced to return to work while still suffering from significant injuries.

The 457 visa offers an immediate opportunity for industry to source temporary overseas skilled labour when none is available locally. Six reviews into the 457 visa system are underway.

Australia’s Minister for Immigration and Citizenship, Chris Evans, says the penalty should send a message to all employers that health and safety laws should apply equally to migrant workers as they do to Australians.

The Opposition is critical of the Government: “The Immigration and Citizenship Minister, Senator Evans now has multiple reviews all looking into the 457 visa”, said Shadow Minister for Immigration and Citizenship, Senator Chris Ellison.

WorkSafe Victoria reports that it is investigating four other cases involving injuries to people in Victoria on 457s.

Comment below to have your say on this story.

If you have a news story or tip-off, get in touch at editorial@sprinter.com.au.  

Sign up to the Sprinter newsletter