Worksafe Victoria charged Ace Metal Treatment Services with three offences relating to the death of a 50-year-old Alfredton man on October 29, 2019.

He died in an industrial shed on Williamson Street after becoming trapped in a machine while working. The Courier reported at the time two colleagues discovered the man after they were alerted to an alarm.

Paramedics and firefighters freed the man but he was pronounced dead at the scene.

The matter was listed for a committal mention at the Ballarat Magistrates' Court on Thursday.

WorkSafe Victoria asked the court for an adjournment for a summary jurisdiction application, which if approved, will allow the matter to be heard in the Magistrates' Court rather than the County Court.

Defence barrister Stephen Russell said if the application was approved, counsel would proceed straight to a plea hearing.

He said counsel had made an offer to the prosecution as to the charges Ace Metal Treatment Services would plead guilty to.

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The Melbourne-based company did not enter a plea on Thursday. The summary jurisdiction application will be held in July.

Ace Metal Treatment Services was is facing three charges under the Occupational Health and Safety Act.

The company allegedly failed as an employer to 'provide and maintain for employees a working environment that was safe and without risks to health'.

The company is charged with failing to 'control the risk associated with plant' and failing to provide 'information, instruction and training' for employees to perform their work safely.

The incident occurred on the same day an industrial manslaughter bill was introduced into Victoria's parliament.

The laws were passed on November 27, 2019, meaning employers who negligently cause a workplace death face fines of up to $16.5 million.

The Delacombe death was the fourth workplace death in Ballarat in just over 18-months.

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