SA winery Kahlon Estates fined $68,000 for workplace safety breaches that cost employee his leg A SOUTH Australian winery has been fined $68,000 for a workplace safety breach that resulted in an employee's leg being amputated. Kahlon Estate's Wines Pty Ltd pleaded guilty in the Industrial Magistrates Court to failing to ensure the safety of employee Sukhwant Virk in April 2011. An Indian national, Mr Virk was, at the time, a temporary Australian resident working for the Renmark winery as a cleaner. He came into contact with an unguarded metal auger - a device similar to a drill bit - that was used to push grape skins and juice through a pipe. Mr Virk's left leg became entrapped in the device and was so severely damaged that it was later amputated. In his judgment, Industrial Magistrate Stephen Lieschke said the winery had never carried out a risk assessment about the auger, only telling Mr Virk to clean it without standing atop it. "There is an additional factor in this case of the victim being a vulnerable young foreign student from a nation without a similar occupational safety focus," he said. As such it is not surprising that despite the warning Mr Virk had stepped up onto the edge of the hopper in order to check the effectiveness of his work and to no doubt demonstrate what an efficient employee he was. He said Mr Virk's victim impact statement outlined his "bleak future prospects" in India. "He points to the lack of acceptance of and facilities for amputees and a number of major disadvantages he will face," he said. He is also fearful of his marriage prospects and his ability to look after his parents, being their only child. Mr Lieschke said the dangers posed by the auger were "blatantly obvious" and "clearly foreseeable," adding Mr Virk's injuries could have been even worse. "The maximum risk included a fatal injury," he said. That was a real possibility in this case due to blood loss. There was also a possibility of both legs being trapped and crushed. Mr Lieschke said the winery had pleaded poverty, submitting "comprehensive financial documents" to attest to its poor financial position. "It was not so bad that it was unable to pay an expected fine," he said. The normally expected level of fine for such a serious offence will be a far greater penalty than would usually be expected for a business of this nature and size. I have taken this factor into account as a minor mitigating circumstance. Mr Lieschke fined the winery $85,000 but reduced that to $68,000 on account of its early guilty plea, co-operation with the investigation and provision of support to Mr Virk. He further recorded a conviction and ordered the winery's director, Mohinder Kahlon, undergo immediate workplace safety training. Finally, he ordered the winery publish a notice in the Australian Wine Industry Journal warning other companies about the dangers of unguarded augers.