A Victorian factory worker who lost three fingers in a gruesome workplace accident is seeking a six-figure compensation payout as he struggles to move on from what he describes as a “life-changing” injury.
Adam Bix, 35, was working at exhaust system manufacturer MPI Global’s Melton factory in October 2020 when his hand was crushed by a faulty press machine, amputating four fingers.
The company was convicted and fined $40,000 in the Sunshine Magistrates’ Court in August following a WorkSafe Victoria investigation.
MPI Global pleaded guilty to one charge of failing to provide or maintain a plant that was safe and without risks to health.
Mr Bix, who has been unable to return to work, still has flashbacks and nightmares about the incident and has been diagnosed with PTSD.
He experiences phantom limb pain, as well as constant pain from his remaining index finger which was reattached with two metal plates.
“I will never forget what happened on that day,” he said.
“It has been a long process. It has put a toll on my mental health.”
The new dad, who has a six-month-old daughter, struggles to help with his partner with the baby due to his injury, and has been unable to resume former hobbies.
“I used to be an avid gamer, that’s very difficult to do, I also used to love going fishing,” he said.
“Ever since the injury I haven’t even gone to pick up a fishing rod.”
On the day of the injury, Mr Bix, who has Type 1 diabetes, was using the press machine to make end caps for mufflers when he had a hypoglycaemic episode.
There was a guard at the front of the machine that needed to be removed to access the steel plate and, while there was a safety rod in place to ensure the press did not come back down before the guard did, this rod had disconnected, WorkSafe found.
Mr Bix tried to reconnect the safety rod and resumed operating the press, which shortly afterwards crushed his hand, destroying three of his fingers.
“All I remember is the adrenaline kicking in, I pulled my hand out of the press machine and stumbled backwards, another one of the employees there caught me,” he said.
“If no one was there I could have ended up with a cracked skull.”
Due to the shock he didn’t realise at the time how serious the injury was.
“I just kept going in and out of consciousness,” he said.
A WorkSafe investigation found it was common for the safety rod to come loose, meaning the press would start working without the guard being fully down.
Workers would fix the safety rod by adding new nuts and bolts that were found around the workplace and not specifically designed to keep it in place.
They had advised MPI Global around a dozen times that the safety rod was broken.
“It beggars belief that workers could raise so many concerns about this broken piece of machinery and yet it wasn’t fixed,” said Shine Lawyers Ballarat legal practice manager Arsan Mutluel.
“This incident underscores the critical need for a safe workplace and a robust systems of work to prevent such devastating accidents. Adam’s injuries are nothing short of horrific, and he’ll spend the rest of his life paying the price for his employer’s failure to maintain proper safety standards.”
Mr Mutluel said it “shouldn’t take a catastrophic injury like this to highlight how important safety is in the workplace”.
“Every short cut taken is just an injury waiting to happen,” he said.
“This is a shocking reminder of the need for workplaces everywhere to ensure their safety standards are impeccable.”
Shine Lawyers is “progressing a personal injury claim on Adam’s behalf and will work to ensure he’s properly compensated for the life-altering injuries he suffered”.
“And to raise awareness about the imperative need for a safe work environment, ensuring that preventive measures are in place to avoid similar tragedies,” Mr Mutluel added.
Mr Bix’s claim is still pre-court and his lawyers hope it can be resolved without the need to issue formal proceedings.
“To be honest at the start I blamed [the company] but in the end I just thought, there’s no point blaming anyone,” Mr Bix said.
“I’m not going to hold grudge for what happened, just move on and try to enjoy my life as best I can. For my mental wellbeing I thought, you know what, the more I hold onto this the more it’s going to affect me.”
MPI Global was also ordered to pay costs of $6478.
The court found that it was reasonably practicable for the company to use an interlocked physical barrier on the press machine and to ensure the machine was regularly serviced, checked daily, and that components such as the safety rod were repaired.
WorkSafe executive director of health and safety Narelle Beer said in a statement after the ruling that the company’s disregard for safety had left a worker with life-altering injuries.
“This case highlights the awful damage that can be done when employers fail in their duty to do everything they can to provide a safe workplace,” Dr Beer said.
“There are absolutely no excuses for neglecting to properly guard machinery or undertake regular servicing and repairs to ensure they can be used safely.”
It was the fifth amputation-related WorkSafe prosecution in the past year, with outcomes totalling more than $380,000 in fines, enforceable undertakings and costs imposed by the courts.
In the same period, WorkSafe accepted 126 claims for workplace amputation injuries.
Last financial year WorkSafe doled out nearly $13 million in fines to dodgy Victorian businesses.
MPI Global has been contacted for comment.
