A TEENAGE girl who lost parts of two fingers during a metal fabrication class has wept in court on the first day of the hearing to determine if the case against the Department of Education and Training should proceed to trial.

Madelaine Dole, now 18, had her pinkie finger amputated to the first knuckle and a rod inserted into her ring finger before it was cut down to the second knuckle, following an accident at school three years ago.

Then a Year 9 student at Kangaroo Flat Secondary College, Madelaine was involved in an accident when her hand was caught in a pedestal grinder while she attempted to make a photo frame during a classroom exercise.

The Victorian WorkCover Authority, under the Occupational Health and Safety Act, has charged the Department of Education and Training with five offences - in failing to ensure a person is not exposed to risk.

Appearing for the Victorian WorkCover Authority, Michael Tovey, QC, said the case centred on a number of particulars.

These included:

Whether a proper record of training procedures was kept at the school;

Whether safe working procedures and practices were posted around the classroom;

The degree of supervision while students were operating the machinery; The condition of the grinder; and

The adequacy of the instruction and training.

Madelaine told the court it wasn't hard to recall the details of her accident.

"A lot of those things stick in your mind," she said.

Appearing for the department, Ray Ross, QC, asked Madelaine whether she had been told to wear protective earmuffs when operating the machinery.

"No sir," she said.

Despite repeated questioning by Mr Ross, Madelaine denied she was talking to friends when working with the grinder, and denied she had ever properly been instructed on how to use the machine.

"I wouldn't know if it was correct," she said.

Crying several times during her evidence, Madelaine said she had done "very little" of the theory classes associated with the workshop.

Mr Tovey said she had done just 20 per cent of the required theory course work.

The case against the department also involves student Christopher Burnett, who suffered a similar injury at Kyneton Secondary College in October, 2005.

Mr Tovey said that incident was different, in that Christopher was attempting to grind a bicycle chain - which he described as "wholly inappropriate".

The hearing, which is expected to call nearly 30 witnesses over eight days, will continue this morning.