My daughter, 18, had her entire scalp ripped off by a fruit juice factory machine - she thought she was going to die

A DAD has told how his daughter thought she was going to die after her entire scalp was ripped off by a machine at a fruit juice factory.

Alexandra Trandafil, 18, lost her long locks after they were brutally torn from her head at Nippy's packing and processing plant.

She was working as a shed hand at the factory in Waikerie, South Australia, on November 12, 2020, when the near-death experience unfolded.

The teen was tasked with clearing a blockage on a conveyer belt where fruit was sorted and washed – while the machine was still on.

Two moving chains – one at ankle height with a safety guard over it and another at head height without – were operating at the time.

As she tried to retrieve some oranges that had tumbled off, Alexandra's hair horrifically became tangled in the device and her scalp was ripped off.

DANGERS WERE 'FORESEEABLE'

"(We are) thankful that they've pleaded guilty and she was in no way in the wrong," he told the Advertiser.

"We are vindicated that Alex had no wrongdoing in the incident."

The company had been warned about the potential dangers of similar equipment seven years before the incident.

Although the machinery was not the same as the one which injured the teen, the tribunal ruled the risks were "exactly the same."

Magistrate Eaton said: "The risk [of harm] was not only foreseeable, it had actually been foreseen."

Nippy's said it had since spent more than $60,000 (£30,000) overhauling safety procedures around the machines.

The fruit juice firm also failed to provide Alexandra with any training about the risks of working near the conveyor belt.

Nippy's did not maintain a safe work environment and had no warning signs of the possible dangers, the tribunal found.

The shed hand role was Alexandra's first full-time job, which she began during a gap year so she could save up to travel.