05:02 pm, Thursday 11 March, 2010

A man has died today while delivering beer kegs to the cellar of a Birregurra hotel.

WorkSafe is looking into the circumstances surrounding the 54-year-old man’s death.

According to WorkSafe, carbon dioxide could have possibly leaked in the cellar.

While the investigation is at its preliminary stages, Acting Executive Director Stan Krpan reminded everyone of the risks of working in confined spaces with little ventilation.

“With or without a gas leak or chemical exposure, limited means of entry and exit, poor air circulation, and working in confined spaces, is risky. Employers need to understand these risks and develop appropriate controls,” he said.

“This is an issue across industry, not just hotels. For example, storerooms in the retail industry; silos and water tanks for agriculture workers; warehousing in manufacturing; and even construction sites and drains.

“It’s essential that appropriate controls and training are in place to manage these risks, because if they aren’t, the risk of death or serious injury is high.”

The tragic death earlier today was the second workplace casualty for the month. It is the 9th since 2010.

Four of the nine deaths took place in Victoria. Last year, 18 of the 30 reported workplace fatalities were in Victoria.

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10:13 am, Thursday 11 March, 2010

The Victorian Magistrates’ Court has convicted and fined a company on March 1 over a 2007 workplace incident which caused serious injuries to a worker.

Ace Tower Hire Pty. Ltd. (trading as Ace Energy Services) pleaded guilty to failing to provide and maintain safe plant and systems of work.

At the time of the incident, a new two storey office was being constructed inside the energy services company’s Kilysth warehouse.

A make shift platform, consisting of wooding planks resting across the tynes of a side loader forklift, was used for the construction work.

On 19 July 2007, one of the employees asked a workmate to help him affix a sheet of blue board while on the platform.

The employee directing the construction work then ordered the forklift operator to raise the tynes while he and his workmate were standing on the make shift platform.

As the driver raised the tynes to a height of about 4 metres, the make shift platform moved and the other worker lost his balance, falling at height.

The employee suffered a fractured skull, ribs, spine and shoulder due to the fall.

He also lacerated his spleen and has suffered memory problems because of the head injuries.

Magistrate Tony Parsons heard that side loader forklift should not have been used to lift anyone without the fitment of an approved safety work platform secured to the forklift.

The court fined Ace Energy Services $80,000.

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08:45 am, Thursday 11 March, 2010

A workplace health and safety lawyer says homeowners may soon face prison sentence of up to six years if a worker gets injured or killed on their property.

The alert comes on the heels of a court decision holding a Sydney homeowner liable for an electrician’s death in 2004.

Allan Harley was working on the Sydney home when he came into contact with a live wire, leading to his electrocution.

Just last week, the New South Wales District Court ordered the homeowner to pay the widow of Mr Harley $70,000 in compensation.

In his decision, the judge said the owner was aware, or ought to have been, that the live wire had been left exposed when a hot water system was removed years earlier.

Michael Toomah of the law firm Norton Rose says many homeowners are unaware of their responsibility to people who work on their premises.

“We owe that duty as a matter of law,” he said.

“I think that case will come as a surprise to a number of homeowners, but it is pretty consistent with where the law stands at the moment.”

According to Mr Toomah, homeowners have to take reasonable care to ensure that a task is safe before they ask a tradesperson to do it.

“That requires a bit of vigilance on their part when they are commissioning work,” he said.

The move to harmonise the Occupational Health and Safety Laws of all states will see this liability become a criminal matter from 2012.

“The fact that they are doing work at a home makes the home for that period a workplace,” Mr Toomah says.

“It means that the people at that workplace have a duty to that workman.”

Mr Toomah says a homeowner’s negligence would constitute a breach, with a corresponding criminal offence.

“[That offence] attracts penalties of up to $300,000 and/or six years’ imprisonment in a really serious case,” he said.

Mr Toomah says vigilance by homeowners is important especially if they have availed of the Federal Government’s criticised ceiling insulation scheme.

“That is precisely the sort of situation where you would want to go back and have another look at the work that has been done, and make sure that your home is safe for you and your family.

“I think certainly the insulation scheme debacle has given people a wake-up call as to the sort of things that could happen when shonky work goes on in your home.”

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06:00 pm, Wednesday 10 March, 2010

A man has died while fixing a roof on how a man died on a banana farm near Tully in far north Queensland on Monday.

Police, ambulance and fire crews are at the Dallachy Road property at Silky Oak.

Police say it is too early determine the exact cause of the man’s death.

According to Innisfail police district inspector David Tucker, their investigations indicate that the man died while fixing a roof from a cherry picker.

“We’re quite unclear at this point in time as to exactly what has occurred and as such, it may be some time before we determine an exact cause of death in this particular circumstance,” he said.

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05:36 pm, Wednesday 10 March, 2010

For failing to install a $5,000 guard for meat shredder, a company and its director have been fined $75,000 when a worker’s hand was caught in the machine.

The Broadmeadows Magistrates’ Court convicted and fined D R & J Fabbris Pty Ltd (trading as Fabbris Smallgoods) yesterday over a 2008 incident at the company’s Campbellfield factory.

Magistrate Ann Collins convicted and fined $50,000 the meat manufacturing company for failing to provide safe plant and failing to provide training, information and instruction to employees.

The worker was trained on the factory’s larger shredder, which had an interlocking guard. However, the worker was required to work on a smaller shredder, which was unguarded, when the accident took place.

The shredder became blocked with meat when the employee tried to get the meat off by pushing it with his hand, without turning the machine off. As a result, the shredder’s blades caught his hand.

The accident cost the middle three fingers of the worker, which were removed to the knuckle. He also suffered damaged nerves, constant pain, and restricted movement of his thumb.

WorkSafe Victoria’s Acting Health and Safety Director Stan Krpan said amputations were a major source of serious workplace injuries - with many reported in the manufacturing industry each year.

Fabbris Smallgoods’s director, Dino Fabbris, was separately convicted and fined $25,000 for failing to have the shredder guarded – despite working on the factory floor daily and taking managerial responsibility for the company’s two factories.

Mr Krpan said company directors have a responsibility over their workers’ health and safety.

“In this case, we have a director who was aware that the unguarded shredder was a hazard, and did nothing about it. This has resulted in prosecution for the company, and the loss of livelihood for a worker,” he said.

“This is a reminder to directors – especially those assuming a hands-on role in their company – that it’s their responsibility to step up to the mark and make decisions on health and safety for their company.”

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08:23 am, Wednesday 10 March, 2010

WorkSafe has highlighted that 600 civil construction workers were paid over $30 million in compensation for lower leg injuries in a span of 3 years from July 2006 to the end of June.

According to WorkSafe’s Construction and Utilities Director Chris Webb said, hundreds of plant operators suffer injuries while getting onto or off mobile plant yearly.

“At least 100 operators are injured badly enough to make claims on their employer’s workplace injury insurance,” Mr Webb said.

The civil construction industry employs 33,000 people, representing 13% of Victoria’s construction workforce. The workers are usually assigned to major infrastructure projects, local government housing estates and other developments.

The industry is also responsible for about 900 Workcover injury claims each year or 30% of all construction injury claims.

“They may not be high-profile injuries that result in deaths or are life-threatening, but in many cases, the difference between an operator suffering just a sprain or rupturing a tendon or breaking a bone is just luck, and luck eventually runs out.”

“Preventing these types of injuries is not rocket science or expensive” said Mr Webb.

“Keep the plant’s access in good condition, use the steps and grab-rails provided, take the last step to the ground, be careful and never jump down.”

Beginning this month, the safety watchdog’s inspectors will focus on civil construction sites, particularly on risks linked with getting on and off mobile plant, excessive noise and manual handling of heavy, large and bulk objects.

“Civil contractors need to proactively address safety at their sites and ensure they are controlling not just these, but all risks, as inspectors will take appropriate compliance action if they identify safety issues,” he said.

“Not only do the injured workers suffer, so do contractors’ financial expectations.

“Getting on top of the safety basics is good for workers and it’s good for business.

“They will have to pay up to 10 days of the injured operator’s wages and up to $582 of their medical expenses and there can be an impact on the contractor’s workplace injury insurance premium.

“At the job there’s lost productivity, costs from finding replacement staff and possible overtime having to make-up for time lost and a range of other issues for workmates and supervisors.”

Victorian safety information is available online at www.worksafe.vic.gov.au/construction.

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07:50 am, Wednesday 10 March, 2010

Workplace safety in Mid West construction sites will be scrutinised as WorkSafe is set to conduct a round of inspections in the area.

As part of its commitment to safety, WorkSafe inspectors will go to building sites along the coast from Jurien Bay to Kalbarri, including Geraldton.

According to WorkSafe chief inspector Chris Kirwin, the spotlight will be on scaffolding, electrical safety and manual handling of materials.

“We’re not sneaking up on anybody, we’re telling them what we’re looking for to have safety awareness training and safe work method statements and safety management plans,” he said.

“We’re going there with the full intention of looking at the compliance situation and we’re not shy about taking enforcement action by issuing notices when we do find breaches of the law.”

Mr Kirwin said the inspectors will have their hands full, since building approvals are up by 100 per cent in Geraldton.

“There’s a few construction of mines and things like schools are enjoying some federal funding at the moment, and there’s a lot of construction going on at schools, so yes we’ll be sending a gaggle of inspectors up there to start their inspection work.”

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09:14 am, Saturday 6 March, 2010

A 42-year-old mother of three was killed in a tragic tractor accident on Wednesday.

Muraka Jenny Vearncombe was on a footpath in North Ward when a tractor with an attached slasher being operated on a vacant lot nearby apparently ran over a pipe. She was killed instantly when the pipe flew in her direction and hit her on the head.

The impact was so great the pipe was later seen 50 metres from Ms Vearncombe’s lifeless body.

The 48-year-old man who was operating the tractor was taken to a hospital in shock.

Counselling was offered to emergency services and people in the surrounding businesses who witnessed the incident.

Police Senior Sergeant Darren Randall said initial investigations indicate it was an accident.

”It’s a tragedy. She was in the wrong place at the wrong time. She just happened to be in the exact trajectory of the pipe,” he said.

According to Sen-Sgt Randall, the long grass in the vacant lot may have hidden the pipe. However, they are not discounting the possibility that the pipe may have detached from the equipment.

The incident has been referred to Workplace Health and Safety Queensland for investigation.

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08:20 am, Saturday 6 March, 2010

Workcover Tasmania has published a 30-page guide for the construction industry, covering a wide array of topics from manual handling to demolition work.

The publication aims to raise awareness of the Tasmanian workplace health and safety legislation for everyone in the industry. It briefly discusses obligations of employers, principals and employees.

The publication also discusses the usual work tasks in the industry, and provides guidance on minimum health and safety standards that must be complied with.

Topics discussed include asbestos removal, chainsaw operation, electrical safety, nail gun use, scaffolding and trench work.

Click here to download the publication.

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10:03 am, Wednesday 3 March, 2010

Federal agency SafeWork has released a report on the procedures followed by workers who deal with asbestos removal and disposal.

The report entitled “Asbestos Exposure and Compliance Study of Construction and Maintenance Workers” discussed the awareness of the workers on the risks of dealing with asbestos.

However, the report also revealed the workers’ lack of knowledge of the substance itself. Many of the people surveyed do not recognize asbestos when they see it. Moreover, the workers often do not practice the necessary safety precautions when handling asbestos.

The report explains that construction workers usually do not use personal protective equipment due to lack of access to proper equipment or insufficient safety training on the matter.

SafeWork Chairman Tom Philips was disappointed by the findings on the report. He said that while the workers knew the dangerous nature of asbestos, the lack of implementation of safety controls is a seious concern.

He said the report can be used to educate workers on the hazards in dealing with asbestos. He noted that safety and environmental agencies should work together to deal with the issue.

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