‘Loved by so many’: Lemitech pleads guilty following fatal conveyor accident at Lethbridge chicken farm

The shocking death of a “much loved” 34-year-old worker at a Victorian poultry farm has resulted in a $325,000 fine for the company responsible. Liam Harrington was working on a conveyor system at Lemitech Pty Ltd’s Lethbridge farm in March 2023 when he became entangled in the rotating components of the tail pulley, a tragic incident investigators say could have been avoided. WorkSafe Victoria’s report detailed that ‘Shed 4’ at the farm had been refurbished in 2022, including the installation of a conveyor system by an overseas company with no Australian office. The system, designed to move chicken manure from six manure belts onto a horizontal belt, had several safety flaws, including a lack of emergency stop buttons and isolator switches near the tail pulley where Mr Harrington was working. The report said workers regularly removed a metal guard on the tail pulley to check the belt’s tracking. “The guard was not always fastened to the conveyor, sometimes it would just be ‘floated’ on top of it,” the WorkSafe outcome noted. While workers performing maintenance would turn the conveyor off, someone at the controls could not see if another person was working on the tail pulley. On March 21, 2023, a worker began the routine manure run at about 9am. By 11.45am, after a build-up of manure was noticed and Mr Harrington did not answer calls, a quick search found him entangled in the roller of the tail pulley of the horizontal belt. He had died from his injuries. Lemitech pleaded guilty in the Geelong County Court to failing to address the risk of entanglement, admitting it had not installed essential safety measures on the conveyor system. The company had not fitted a fixed interlocked guard with viewing windows on the tail pulley, provided a maintenance jog function to operate the belt at slow or short distances while the guard was removed, or added interlocked in-running nip guards over the roller. In sentencing, the court highlighted the “inherent safety flaws in the system of work” and noted the offender’s swift response to fix the risks but also said it demonstrated “how easily and quickly the risk could be remedied”. The court also considered “the dreadful impact on the family” and the potential gravity of the breach was “one of serious or catastrophic injury or death”. The company relied on the expertise of the overseas installer, but despite this the system was “inherently dangerous”, and the offender should have changed it before the incident. The court noted that Lemitech and its director showed “genuine remorse”, co-operated with the investigation, and had no prior safety breaches. With those factors in mind, the company was fined $325,000. The fine would have been $400,000 if not for the guilty plea. Following Mr Harrington’s death, tributes poured in, with friends, colleagues, and local clubs remembering the 34-year-old as a vibrant and much-loved member of the community. The Apollo Bay Football Netball Club described him as a “famous club man” and “the life of the party”. “Knowing that he is no longer here with us makes me feel so very sad for his loved ones … Rest in peace Liam. You were loved by so many,” the club wrote. East Belmont Cricket Club honoured him by naming him 12th man in its Men’s 4th XI team for this weekend’s grand final, while The Gym at Apollo Bay paid tribute to the “local larrikin” and lamented that he had “gone far too young”. His former employer, First Nation Real Estate Golden Plains, also remembered him fondly. “Much loved within the community and will be sadly missed by many.”