For the latest update on OHS News and information from across Australia.

OHS News - July 2008

NSW: Construction Industry Focus of Safety Show

Thursday July 31th 2008 12:08 p.m.

This year's Safety Show Sydney will focus on safety solutions for the building and construction industry, with a special feature area that incorporates height safety equipment, scaffolding nets, appliance tagging and testing, safety and isolation switches and power distribution cords.

Regarded as one of Australia's most dangerous industries, building and construction has a workplace death toll twice the Australian average.

The convention, which showcases the latest in safety technology, will be held from October 28 to 30 at the Sydney Showground. It will be held alongside Sydney Materials Handling, a show dedicated to load, move and shift solutions.

The two events are expected to host more than 350 occupational health and safety specialists offering everything from asbestos removal to warehouse management systems.

WorkCover NSW will also run a series of free workshops on workplace safety issues.

OHS News Tip: Residential Construction Industry Work Method Statements
OHS News Tip: Commercial Construction Industry Work Method Statements

WA: WorkSafe Prosecutes 8 Companies For Failing to Provide a Safe Workplace

Thursday July 31th 2008 07:50 a.m.

After a 16 month investigation, WorkSafe WA will prosecute 8 companies, including Fortescue Metals Group,  the company of Australia's richest man, Andrew "Twiggy" Forrest,  in connection with two deaths and serious injuries to seven others at a Pilbara construction camp during Cyclone George in March 2007. 

The companies to be prosecuted are Spotless P & F, Pilbara Infrastructure, BGC Contracting, Laing O'Rourke, Spunbrood, WorleyParsons, Spotless Services and FMG.

The companies face a total of 49 charges under the Occupational Safety and Health Act 1984, including failure to provide and maintain a safe working environment, failure to maintain accommodation and failing to ensure temporary structures could withstand potential cyclones.

Severe winds destroyed temporary accommodation at the construction camp, 100km south of Port Hedland, which was part of FMG's $3 billion Pilbara mine and infrastructure development.

WorkSafe WA Commissioner Nina Lyhne said that the large number of charges demonstrated the breadth of occupational safety and health responsibilities.

The cyclone deaths prompted the issuing of two Safety Bulletins and reminders to local government authorities about WorkSafe's reporting requirements for building and construction projects.

The charges carry fines ranging from $200,000 to $400,000.

OHS News Tip: Commercial Construction Industry Work Method Statement

SA: $50,000 p/y WorkCover Post

Thursday July 31th 2008 07:35 a.m. Source: Adelaide Now

The state's most powerful union boss, from a Labor faction that offered crucial support for WorkCover laws, has been given a $50,000-a-year post on the WorkCover board.

The Advertiser understands Peter Malinauskas, who replaced Right factional heavyweight Senator Don Farrell as secretary of the Shop Distributive and Allied Employees Association, will be appointed within weeks.

The deal to get Mr Malinauskas on the board was secured this month by former industrial relations minister Michael Wright, a member of the Right, before he lost responsibility for WorkCover to Paul Caica, of the Left, in last week's Cabinet reshuffle.

The new WorkCover laws caused a deep factional split in the Labor Party but Premier Mike Rann won the day with the help of key Right figures in convincing ALP members the laws were necessary.

Deep divisions over WorkCover still exist.

The Government faces a censure motion, moved by the Australian Workers' Union, at the ALP state convention on August 16.

Mr Malinauskas would replace SA Unions secretary Janet Giles. She quit the board in February in protest at the new laws.

By law, the board must consist of nine members. Among requirements are that "two members must be appointed in consultation with worker interests".

Mr Caica is understood to have met the board yesterday but he would make no comment.

Mr Malinauskas yesterday said: "I have not had any discussions with the Government about this for the past fortnight. I'm still waiting and I haven't heard anything official, so I'm just not in a position to be able to provide any comment."

Opposition Upper House MP Rob Lucas said the appointment was "typical of the Rann Government's arrogance when WorkCover is facing a $1 billion unfunded liability crisis".

OHS News Tip: Workplace Safety Work Method Statement

WA: 52-yro Man Dies From A Falling Scissor Lift

Wednesday July 30th 2008 07:29 a.m. Source: The Australian

A worker has been killed after a hydraulic lift fell on him at BHP Billiton's Nelson Point operations in the West Australian mining town of Port Hedland.

BHP had suspended all rail and port operations at the centre until further notice, the resources giant said in a statement.

The 52-year-old Port Hedland man was conducting maintenance work on the scissor lift when it fell on him at 11am (WST) yesterday, police said.

WorkSafe WA is investigating and BHP is conducting an internal investigation into the matter.

BHP said the man's next of kin had not yet been notified.

OHS News Tip: Scissor Lift Safety Work Method Statement

WA: Poor Sentencing For Workplace Death

Wednesday July 30th 2008 07:20 a.m. Source: The West

Lawyers for the family of a woman killed during cyclone George said yesterday it was pathetic that the catering firm she worked for could walk away with a maximum fine of $400,000 if found guilty of safety breaches which led to her death.
  
As WorkSafe prepares to prosecute four companies in relation to the death of kitchen hand Debra Till, Perth lawyer Sharad Nigam said it was shameful that the Occupational Safety and Health Act listed maximum penalties of $400,000 for each charge.
  
He called for the maximum penalties to be removed from the legislation so that judges could determine the appropriate fine based on the severity of each case.
  
“The $400,000 is grossly inadequate when there is a mining boom, which is the case here,” Mr Nigam said.
  
“There should be open discretion to the court so it can assess the amount of financial penalty for these types of breaches because the current maximum amount would have no effect at all.”
  
He said Mrs Till’s death fell into one of the worst categories of workplace negligence cases because the camp overseen by Fortescue Metals Group had 72 hours warning of a cyclone.
  
Instead of being evacuated. Mrs Till, who was employed by Spotless P&F Pty Ltd, was told to shelter in her donga.
  
When it was battered by winds of up to 275kmh she was flung into the air and crushed by flying debris.
  
He said new laws should require negligent employers to pay the same amount in fines as they paid in compensation to the family of a dead relative.
  
And current laws needed to be rewritten so penalties imposed were in proportion with the huge profits made by mining companies and their contractors.
  
Construction union deputy Joe McDonald agreed that the existing fines were paltry and went a step further yesterday, calling for harsher laws.
  
“The $400,000 maximum payout is woefully insufficient to allow members of the Till family to rebuild their lives after the tragic loss of Debra Till, a mother of two,” he said.
  
Eight companies, including one owned by the richest man in Australia, Andrew Forrest, will be prosecuted in connection with two deaths and injuries to seven people during cyclone George in March last year.
  
FMG, Spotless P&F Pty Ltd, The Pilbara Infrastructure Pty Ltd, BGC Contracting, Laing O’Rourke Pty Ltd, NT Link, WorleyParsons Services and Spotless Services Australia face a total of 49 charges under the Occupational Safety and Health Act.
  
All eight companies are due to appear in Perth Magistrate’s Court on September 10.
  
Spotless did not return phone calls this week.

OHS News Tip: Workplace Safe Work Method Statement

NZ: NZ Aluminium Ordered To Pay Emploee $5000

Tuesday July 29th 2008 07:45 a.m. Source: The Southland Times

The Employment Relations Authority has ordered New Zealand Aluminium Smelters to pay $5000 to a Tiwai Point aluminium smelter employee after he suffered continuing skin rashes arising from his work.

Martin McAtear, an Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union member, had sought $10,000 compensation in an authority hearing against the smelter, saying a recurring skin rash that appeared over an 18-month period did not need to happen.

If his crew leader, Douglas Ronald, had acted on his requests to be put on crane-driving duties from time to time, instead of being mostly confined to a hot working environment at the "fires", his heat rash would have been controllable, Mr McAtear said at the hearing earlier this year. Instead, it worsened and became infected.

Mr Ronald said at the hearing he expected his process controller at the time, Mr McAtear, to be on the fires as that was his job, while it was difficult to rotate staff when there was not a full complement of crew.

In her written decision, Employment Relations Authority member Helen Doyle says Mr McAtear's direct bosses at the smelter, Mr Ronald and David Carrick, took no specific steps to rotate him off the fires to prevent or minimise his heat rash before it required medical intervention.

She accepted a submission from Mr McAtear's union lawyer, Tony Wilton, that there was evidence to support a deliberate course of behaviour to not rotate Mr McAtear rather than mere negligence.

There had been a breach of the aluminium smelter's obligation to provide a safe workplace, her decision said.

She limited compensation to the humiliation, loss of dignity and injury to Mr McAtear's feelings. He was not entitled to be compensated for the injury itself because he was covered by ACC.

Mr McAtear, who has worked at the smelter for 25 years, said yesterday he was pleased with the outcome and he felt vindicated in taking the action.

"I have had overwhelming support from the employees down there." New Zealand Aluminium Smelters operations manager Paul Hemburrow said Mr McAtear was a long-serving and valued employee and it was pleasing the matter had been worked through and a mutually agreeable solution had been found.

Mr Ronald declined to comment yesterday, while it is understood Mr Carrick has moved to Australia and is working at another Rio Tinto smelter.

Mr McAtear also took a personal grievance case against the smelter after he said he was directed to lift some flue caps by Mr Ronald when he had a medical certificate saying he was to avoid heavy lifting. He said he suffered further injury as a result of the instruction.

Ms Doyle found in her decision that Mr McAtear was submitted to an unjustified action when asked to lift a flue cap but she was not satisfied the evidence supported a compensation payout.

Mr McAtear should have refused to lift the flue cap, she said.

OHS News Tip: Workplace Safe Work Method Statement

QLD: Incorrect Heavy Machinery Procedures Leave 9 Construction Workers Fired.

Tuesday July 29th 2008 07:30 a.m. Source: The Australian

Nine workers have been sacked after they allegedly used a contractor's heavy machinery to build an earth ramp over which they jumped one of the worker's vehicles.

The worker's Toyota Hilux was then crushed by an excavator and bulldozer before being carted off.

The destruction on July 17 at a work site on a key section of the Queensland Government's water grid known as the northern pipeline interconnector was filmed on a worker's mobile phone.

The workers allegedly first used a contractor's excavator and bulldozer to build an earth ramp.

They then drove a 1980s model Toyota Hilux at speed over the ramp in a spectacular jump.

Three workers were in the Hilux when it took the jump at a pipeline work site land adjacent to Walton Road, Beerwah.

The utility truck was then crushed by the excavator and the bulldozer.

A crane used on the pipeline was allegedly used to place the wrecked vehicle onto a flatbed truck for removal.

The pipeline is part of the $9 billion water grid being installed across southeast Queensland by the Southern Regional Water Pipeline Alliance (SRWPA).

A spokeswoman said SRWPA was aware of footage showing "intentional demolition of a private vehicle using sub-contractor machinery by workforce on the northern pipeline interconnector".

"Workers directly associated with the incident have been dismissed," the spokeswoman said.

"The alliance will not tolerate such behaviour on any of its work sites.

"The SRWPA has comprehensive workplace health and safety policies and procedures regarding safe behaviour in the workplace, including the operation of vehicles and machinery."

The SRWPA has reserved its legal options.

"To date, the alliance's only action against the individuals has been termination of employment," the spokeswoman said.

OHS News Tip: Earth Moving Safe Work Method Statement
OHS News Tip: Commercial Construction Safe Work Method Statement

QLD: Ex-RAAF Workers Seek Compensation

Monday July 28th 2008 07:27 a.m. Source: Brisbane Times

Up to 2000 former air maintenance workers could seek compensation for illnesses contracted while working on toxic F-111 planes if a new mediation scheme is approved.

According to Brisbane law firm Herbert Geer partner Simon Harrison, the case of the ex-RAAF workers affected by poisonous chemicals used to fix leaking fuel tanks is unique in Australian history, making it difficult to resolve by traditional methods.

A group of 25 of the former workers currently represented by Mr Harrison have high hopes for the new mediation process.

If successful, the scheme could resolve recompense issues for not only the 25 represented, but for the thousands of ex-RAAF employees who have suffered from various injuries as a result of exposure to the chemical SR51, which was used at the RAAF's Amberley base, west of Brisbane, between 1973 and 2000.

Mr Harrison said the whole compensation issue needed a "fresh start" and, so far, progress looked promising.

"The indication that we have been given by the inquiry committee is that our proposed way is something that will be actively considered," Mr Harrison said.

In his submission to the Parliamentary Inquiry into the Concerns of F-111 Deseal/Reseal Maintenance Workers, Mr Harrison said there had to be a "third way" of delivering justice because the common law and existing statutory schemes were not working.

"The injured have been let down by a statutory scheme which is not designed for the nature of these claims and the common law alternative was in reality, no alternative," he said.

Mr Harrison said the Howard government's ex-gratia scheme, which offered some sufferers payments between $10,000 and $40,000, was well intentioned but had not "delivered".

"The issues (of the complaint) are too unique to be addressed by a process set up for generic matters and individual complaints as opposed to en masse chemical exposure claims," he said.

Mr Harrison said there had been schemes set up in other unique circumstances, such as the Jayant Patel cases, where the Queensland Government established a specific arbitration process to streamline settlements and finalise matters.

Mr Harrison said his clients would enter the inquiry in good faith but time was against them due to their injuries.

"People have already died. They will never be compensated. Obviously we want things to move quickly so those still around can have themselves and their families compensated."

Mr Harrison said he would also like to see the inquiry widened to look into the disposal of SR51.

A previous Deseal/Reseal Board of Inquiry found the disposal process was poorly specified and supervised.

"It's important to know whether the disposal protocols in place ensured that the contaminants were contained," Mr Harrison said.

He said he would welcome partnering or advising State and Federal Governments in relation to addressing these matters.

OHS News Tip: Chemical Handling Safe Work Method Statement

WA: Fortescue Mining Faces Up To $7 Million In Fines

Monday July 28th 2008 07:23 a.m. Source: Perth Now

Companies owned by mining billionaire Andrew Forrest face fines of up to $7 million over the death of a worker and serious injuries sustained during a Pilbara cyclone.

Cyclone George, a category five storm, killed two workers and injured several others in March last year when 275km/h winds sent temporary accommodation buildings at a mining construction site flying and flattened the area.

The camp, 100km south of Port Hedland, was part of the iron ore miner's $3 billion Pilbara mine and infrastructure development.

Two workers died on the Fortescue Metal Group's railway construction camp - one of them a kitchenhand and the other a construction worker.

Craig Allan Raabe, 42, of Gympie in Queensland, died in hospital two days after the cyclone. He was an employee of a contractor to BGC Contracting, part of the Buckeridge Group of Companies, associated with colourful Perth businessman Len Buckeridge.

BGC faces four charges of failing to provide and maintain a safe work environment in relation to the death, and injuries to three employees.

Debra Till, 47, was killed while working for the property and maintenance services company Spotless P & F.

The WA government's safety watchdog Worksafe has laid 49 charges against eight companies including Mr Forrest's Fortescue and its wholly owned subsidiary Pilbara Infrastructure.

After a 16-month investigation Pilbara Infrastructure has been charged with 12 counts of failing to provide a safe working environment and five counts of failing to maintain the premises on employer-provided accommodation.

Fortescue has been charged with failing to provide and maintain a safe working environment causing serious harm to a contractor.

The company which constructed the accommodation units or "dongas", Spunbrood, trading as NT Link, has refused to comment.

The designer of the dongas, Spotless Services Australia, faces eight charges over alleged failure to ensure the dongas could withstand a cyclone.

Spotless Services did not immediately return AAP's calls.

Railway construction and maintenance services company Laing O'Rourke was also charged and would not comment.

All other charges, apart from those laid against WorleyParsons, Australia's largest engineering firm, carry a maximum penalty of $400,000.

WorleyParsons faces a single charge of failing to provide a safe working environment, with a maximum penalty of $200,000.

FMG and Pilbara Infrastructure, civil construction company BGC and WorleyParsons have all said they will defend the charges against them.

It is understood Fortescue made confidential ex-gratia payments late last year to the families of two deceased.

Sydney man Desmond Baker, 74, also died in the cyclone when it struck his temporary hut at nearby Indi station.

WorkSafe says Mr Baker was not employed at the time and is not the subject of any of the charges.

OHS News Tip: Cyclone Safe Work Method Statements

WA: Fortescue Faces 18 charges of Failing To Provide a Safe Workplace

Friday July 25th 2008 08:01 a.m. Source: ABC News

The company of Australia's richest man, Andrew Forrest, is facing 18 charges over its safety standards after two workers died at a camp during Cyclone George.

WorkSafe has laid one charge against Andrew Forrest's Fortescue Metals Group and 17 charges against its subsidiary, The Pilbara Infrastructure.

Debra Till, 47, and Craig Raabe 42, died when the category five storm ripped through their Pilbara railway camp in March last year.

Seven other workers were injured.

The charges relate to failing to provide a safe workplace.

Several other charges have been laid against other companies associated with the incident.

The charges come a week after it was confirmed an inquest into the deaths of Debra Till and Craig Rahb would begin next month.

OHS News Tip: Workplace Safe Work Method Statements

VIC: Man Crushed To Death By Heavy Machinery

Friday July 25th 2008 07:34 a.m. Source: News.com.au

Brewing giant Fosters faces fines of up to $2 million after pleading guilty to charges over a workplace death in Melbourne.

Cuu Huynh, 58, was critically injured when his head became caught between a pressurised door on a machine and a railing at the company's Abbotsford plant on April 13, 2006.

He died in hospital seven days later from asphyxiation.

Fosters Australia Limited today pleaded guilty in the Victorian County Court to two counts of failing to provide a safe workplace.

The global beer giant faces fines of almost $1 million on each count.

Mr Huynh was attempting to fix a problem with the depalletiser, a machine that moves empty bottles through a pressurised door to a chamber where the bottles are unloaded before being filled with beer, when he was killed.

Prosecutor Paul Holdenson QC told today's pre-sentence hearing a worker had been injured in almost identical circumstances four years earlier, but the company had not improved safety since.

A similar depalletiser machine at the Abbotsford factory was fitted with a protective guard, the court heard.

Mr Holdenson said workers at the brewery were discouraged from shutting down the depalletiser machine in order to fix its problems.

The court heard many workers at the factory were unable to read the company's standard
operating procedures because they did not speak adequate English.

Mr Holdenson called for Fosters to be fined a "substantial" amount.

The pre-sentence hearing before Judge Jane Campton was continuing.

OHS News Tip: Working Around Heavy Machinery Work Method Statement

QLD: Safety Audit Finds 80 Breaches

Thursday July 24th 2008 08:35 a.m. Source: ABC News

Spot checks of 40 high-risk construction projects on the Gold Coast has found more than 80 safety breaches.

Some were extremely dangerous, including the unsafe set-up of swing stage scaffolds.

The audits were conducted by Workplace Health and Safety inspectors after the deaths of construction workers Steve Sayer, 52, and Chris Gear, 36, who were killed when the swinging stage they were using failed on a Broadbeach building site on June 21.

Two Workplace Health and Safety inspectors were also working full time on the investigation into the fatal accident.

Industrial Relations Minister John Mickel yesterday told a budget estimates hearing nine specialist construction inspectors had been conducting audits of the high-risk projects, including high-rise developments.

"The audits have seen inspectors issue over 80 enforcement notices, more than 30 prohibition notices and over 50 improvement notices to contractors and principal contractors," he said.

"The notices were issued for a variety of hazards, including the unsafe set-up of swing stages; scaffold maintenance and incomplete scaffolding; lack of edge protection and falling object protection; traffic management; lack of information, instruction and training; and unsafe electrical switchboards."

Breaches of the Workplace Health and Safety Act which do not pose a risk of serious bodily harm may attract an improvement notice, which orders the problem to be fixed.

A prohibition notice requires immediate action and could mean an immediate stop is put to the activity or the use of equipment if an inspector believes the issue is likely to cause serious injury.

The use of swing stage scaffolds was suspended after the accident, pending an assessment of their use around the state.

Inspectors on the Gold and Sunshine coasts have since issued more than 25 enforcement notices to principal contractors, suppliers and erectors and installers of plant.

Inspectors have also conducted spot checks in the Brisbane CBD, with regional areas to be commenced shortly.

A tripartite reference group of Workplace Health and Safety, unions and the construction industry had also been formed to determine whether to permanently ban the controversial scaffold.

Opposition industrial relations spokesman Tim Nicholls said there were concerns not enough inspections had taken place before the accident.

"I understand, post the event, certainly it is an opportunity to react, but the concern that many people raised was whether enough had been done prior to those events occurring," he said.

Mr Mickel said local MPs would always claim there were not enough inspections.

"You will always get people who say that the inspectors were not hard enough. If you talk to employers, they will say that they are too hard. It is always a matter of getting the balance right," he said.

He said on the Gold Coast in 2007-08, inspectors carried out 2198 workplace assessments related to construction activity and issued 1217 notices.

"This was the highest number of notices issued and the highest rate of notices issued for assessment of the construction industry of any district in southeast Queensland," he said.

"That is why I thought your comments about those inspectors were unfair. I must say that I have written to those inspectors saying that I have faith in them."

He said there had been a decline in fatal and non-fatal injury claims on workers' compensation since 2003-04.

"There has been heightened workplace health and safety on the Gold Coast over the last 12 months," he said.

"The number of enforcement notices issued has increased by 38 per cent since 2006-07.

OHS News Tip: Scaffolding Safe Work Method Statement

QLD: Rising Fuel Prices Causes Fatigue Amongst Truck Drivers

Thursday July 24th 2008 08:26 a.m. Source: ABC News

Truck drivers across the country will next week park their rigs and stop work to protest against rising fuel costs and declining pay rates.

Organisers aim to shut the industry down for a fortnight, with drivers complaining they've had to bear the brunt of a rise of 50 cents a litre in the price of diesel in less than a year.

They say while the big players can pass on that added cost, smaller owner-operators are paying thousands extra on their fuel bill every month.

The Transport Workers Union (TWU) says the soaring costs and a desperation to meet repayments on trucks are forcing truckies to work harder, longer, and faster, putting them and the wider public at risk.

The union's Tony Sheldon says the TWU is now threatening to escalate the protest into a full-scale blockade.

"It's breaking point. Drivers are literally being forced to put their lives and other's lives at risk," he said.

OHS News Tip: Fatigue Management Safe Work Method Statement

TAS: Chemical Handling Takes Its Toll

Monday July 21st 2008 09:03 a.m. Source: The Ausralian

When Phillip Moon joined the Royal Australian Air Force in 1970, he was a super-fit 17-year-old keen to follow in the footsteps of his father who served with the navy in Korea.

He wanted to defend his country, make some mates, see the world. He never imagined the air force would make his life a living hell.

Moon spent most of his career as a storeman and packer at the RAAF base in Amberley, 50km west of Brisbane, home to Australia's fleet of F-111 strategic bombers.

During his time at Amberley he came in contact with more than 200 different chemical products, was doused almost daily in aviation fuel and supervised the burn-off of old drums of SR51 - a notoriously corrosive sealant - without gloves or other safety equipment. The stench of the burnt-off fumes was so strong it made many men vomit and gave them piercing migraines.

Today Moon, 56, suffers 30 serious health problems including asthma, diabetes and breathing difficulties. His liver is twice the size it should be. He has no sense of taste or smell, experiences anxiety attacks and stutters when stressed.

“I suffer short-term and long-term memory loss,” he says. “I can't remember my childhood, just one or two little things. I can barely remember joining the air force.”

When prime minister Robert Menzies ordered 24 F-111s in 1963, Australians were told the bombers would revolutionise the nation's defence capabilities. But today hundreds of F-111 workers and their families are suffering from cancer, leukemia and severe mental-health problems caused by exposure to toxic chemicals. Others have already died, some by committing suicide.

Many of those still alive have not received a cent in compensation. They say the F-111's toxic legacy should be a national scandal.

Unlike in most other aircraft, the fuel tanks in the F-111 bomber did not contain internal bladders. This meant workers had to work inside the fuel tanks, stripping and resealing them with chemical sealants to prevent leaks. About 1300 people - including 100 civilians - were involved in the deseal/reseal program at Amberley between 1977 and 2000.

The chemicals they were exposed to included benzene, a known cause of leukemia and hematological cancer; chromium VI, known to cause pulmonary, lung and gastrointestinal cancer; and carbon black, which has been linked to lung and oesophagus cancer.

Former maintenance worker Barry Willis, 64, worked shifts of up to 11 hours inside the cramped tanks dressed only in his shirt, shorts and boots. At times the heat was unbearable; sometimes it was near freezing.

He says workplace health and safety was non-existent: open cans of chemical sealant were stored in the refrigerators where the men kept their lunch.

“I used to be so bad my skin would excrete a yellow substance all over my body into the white pillow sheets,” he says. “My wife couldn't get the stains out of them.

“I've had skin irritation for 20 years. I still have headaches. I've had breathing difficulties. I had sexual problems; my testicles swelled up so big they looked like footballs. I've had growths all the way up my body: my toes, legs, crotch, underneath my arms.”

When he complained about his symptoms to the RAAF, Willis says he was sent to “quacks” who knew less about chemicals than he did. Others were sent to psychiatrists, psychologists or just told to go away.

Willis says he knows at least 35 former F-111 maintenance workers who have died in recent years, most from cancer or suicide.

After numerous complaints of memory loss, fatigue and skin problems, the deseal/reseal program was suspended in January 2000 and the Howard government launched a board of inquiry which criticised the RAAF for failing to take the workers' health complaints seriously.

“If anybody is to be held accountable,” the inquiry said, “it is the air force itself.”

A rigorous four-year study of health outcomes, commissioned by the Australian Defence Force and undertaken by the University of Newcastle, found a 50 per cent increase in cancer among men who worked on the F-111 deseal/reseal program.

“The increase in cancer was a very strong result,” says John Attia, co-author of the Study of Health Outcomes in Aircraft Personnel. “That was the thing that really struck us.”

The study also found an almost two-fold increase in depression and anxiety, a 2.5-fold increase in sexual dysfunction and a two-fold increase in obstructive lung disease.

In response to the study, the Howard government announced a $21 million compensation package _ including one-off payments of up to $40,000. The payments were described by maintenance workers as woefully inadequate. Many said $40,000 wouldn't cover their medical bills. Hundreds of RAAF workers and their families say they have been cheated out of restitution.

“I have not received any personal compensation from the government,” Willis says. “The Howard government did not accept compensation claimants unless they had deseal/reseal stamped into their personal records booklet.”

Moon, who also hasn't received compensation, thinks it is “scandalous” that welders, general hands and storemen who worked at Amberley have been told they were not involved in the deseal/reseal process.

“How do they think they got the drums on to the planes?” he says.

Carolyne and Ross Olsen have been suing the commonwealth for six years. Ross worked on the deseal/reseal program from 1979 to 1981 and today suffers neuropathy - damage to the peripheral nervous system - rheumatoid arthritis and psoriasis. He has lost all feeling below his mouth and has been taking chemotherapy drugs for 11 years to stop his body attacking itself.

“He's got major problems with his short and long-term memory. Friends used to call him the walking dictionary because there wasn't a work he didn't know. Now he can't even read a book,” Carolyne says. “The amount of stress it's put on me has been horrendous. I've had to have counselling.”

After years of stalling, the Olsens were eventually offered $117,000 in compensation. This was cut to $87,000 when it was discovered Ross was on a Totally and Permanently Incapacitated pension. The Olsens were then told they would have to pay $208 a week. “That's not compensation, it's an insult,” Carolyne says.

But after years of suffering, F-111 workers and their families finally have cause for optimism. The Rudd Government has launched a parliamentary inquiry into the deseal/reseal program, delivering on an election commitment made by Alan Griffin, now Veterans Affairs Minister.

The parliamentary inquiry, chaired by Arch Bevis, has received 84 submissions from affected servicemen and defence organisations. The inquiry begins public hearings today in Canberra and will move to Brisbane next week.

“It provides an opportunity for the issue to be aired publicly and dealt with properly,” Griffin says. “I hope it provides closure for some people.”

But he warns that increased compensation cannot be guaranteed, even if recommended by the inquiry.

“Parliamentary inquiries can have a mind of their own,” he says. “We want to see what the recommendations are before we commit to implementing them.”

Bronwyn Bishop, Opposition spokeswoman on veterans' affairs, tells The Australian that the parliamentary inquiry has bipartisan support.

“I think having this inquiry is a step in the right direction. I just hope it's a fair dinkum inquiry looking for real answers, not just more rhetoric from the Government. This Government has a history of holding inquiry after inquiry.”

Ian Fraser, from the 340-strong desealers support group, says: “We want to see fair and reasonable compensation. So many people have received nothing while some have had quite good payouts. What I'm hoping for is a holistic response to the issue, not people being assessed on a case-by-case basis.”

Liz Agerbeek, founder of the F-111 spouse support group, says: “We've got our hopes up that we'll see justice. This is a tragedy, the biggest industrial tragedy in military history. And it's a moral issue: we believe we've been treated badly.”

She wants the Government to provide all F-111 workers with repatriation health cards and to commission a study into the health impacts on their wives and children, whom she says have suffered as much as the men.

“We were all impregnated with contaminated semen so we have these very rare cancers,” says Agerbeek, whose husband Rudi worked on the deseal/reseal program from 1976-79.

She knows some spouses whose children have been born with extra limbs.

“I have had cancer of the vulva. Others have lost bowels and bladders and their baby-making machinery. We've all had menopauses from hell. We also suffer from the same things as the men: depression, mood swings and skin problems.”

The 62-year-old says her marriage almost fell apart.

“I have three children with strange medical problems,” she says. Her eldest son has a motor-neurone condition similar to Asperger's. Her daughter was born with partial retinas. Her youngest son has had serious heart problems since the age of eight.

“The kids have been so badly psychologically damaged by this,” she says. “I think about all those poor little kids with parents who are mentally stressed, financially stressed, and I shudder for their future.”

After finishing his day's work at Amberley, Moon would hand wife Glenda his filthy, fuel-soaked clothes to put in the washing machine. “But the chemicals just stuck to the bowl,” he says. “All our clothes became contaminated.”

Soon, Glenda was covered in rashes and haemorrhaging so badly that, like many spouses, she needed a hysterectomy.

Today the Moons rarely leave their two-bedroom home in Bundaberg, Queensland. Phillip needs a walker to get around; Glenda's psoriasis is so bad that driving the car makes her hands bleed. Some days they cry about the children they never had.

Phillip says a compensation payout under $5 million for those worst affected by chemical exposure would be insulting.

“We want to restart our lives,” he says. “We're not living, we're just existing.”

The defence sub-committee of the joint standing committee on foreign affairs, defence and trade is due to deliver its report on October 23.

OHS News Tip: Chemical Handling Safe Work Method Statement

QLD: Public Asbestos Scare

Monday July 21st 2008 07:38 a.m. Source: Tweed Daily News

Passengers flying in and out of Gold Coast Airport may be exposed to potentially deadly asbestos fibres in coming months.

Airport bosses have confirmed the presence of asbestos in the terminal ceiling, which will be disturbed when reconstruction work on the terminal gets under way within the next six months.

A leaked memo to airport staff alerted the Tweed Daily News to the problem.

Yesterday, Gold Coast Airport chief operating officer Paul Donovan stressed there would be no risk to passengers or staff.

"No-one is at risk. There will not be two million people affected by this," Mr Donovan said.

"We will be removing it after hours so that neither staff nor passengers will be introduced to it."

Mr Donovan said the airport had not yet informed the public about the presence of asbestos because its%renovations had not yet started.

He assured airport users that every step had been taken to ensure their health would not be put at risk in any way.

"We will be operating within the asbestos code of practice for management and control.

"Every safety precaution will be used. The area of removal will be sealed off by plastic walls.

"There is a 65-page manual that prescribes the management and control of asbestos that we are adhering to."

Asbestos was outlawed in Australia in the late 1980s because of its link to illnesses such as asbestosis, mesothelioma and lung cancer.

When disturbed or broken, asbestos materials can release minute asbestos fibres which can be inhaled into a person's lungs, with the effects not being evident for decades.

Mr Donovan said he could not confirm how much asbestos was in the ceilings in the terminal.

"The construction company had to submit their plan for removing the building and getting rid of it to us," he said.

"We walk the talk when it comes to our safety and environment%policies."

The Transport Workers Union of Australia (TWUA), which represents more than 50 baggage handlers at the airport, was unaware of the situation when contacted by the Tweed Daily News yesterday.

Hughie Williams, branch secretary of TWUA Queensland, said he would pull the workers from the airport if there was any threat to them from the asbestos.

"We are going to pursue it. We will have one of our officials investigate it," Mr Williams said.

"The airport will have to take absolute total care, or we will not be having baggage handlers at the airport if there is any chance they will be exposed.

"If there is asbestos then we will be addressing that with the airport. "No-one should be allowed in the terminal."

Mr Williams said he was concerned for workers' safety.

"We have a lot of members at the Gold Coast Airport. We will take it up with the Gold Coast City Council and make sure that our people in there are safe," he said.

"We have to take all precautions to ensure the safety of our members."

In the leaked memo, Gold Coast Airport's workplace health and safety officer assured there would be no risk to any employees during terminal reconstruction.

The memo also tells staff the airport will do everything in its power to ensure no-one was exposed to asbestos fibres.

Preliminary work for the $100 million terminal redevelopment began in April and is scheduled to be completed by March 2010.

OHS News Tip: Asbestos Removal Safe Work Method Statement

WA: Catering Firm Offers No Relief

Friday July 18th 2008 07:33 a.m. Source: The West Australian

Catering firm Spotless has denied responsibility for the death of a mother of two at a Pilbara camp during cyclone George.
  
Kitchen hand Debra Till was killed in March last year when winds of up to 275kmh flattened the camp where she was employed by Spotless, one of Australia’s biggest corporate services companies.
  
Perth lawyer Sharad Nigam said yesterday Spotless had inflicted further grief on John Till, her husband of 29 years. “They have not rendered any assistance so far and the fact they are denying that the deceased was killed in the course of her employment has created further distress for the family,” he said.
  
It a document dated November 13, 2007, Spotless claimed Mrs Till’s injuries did not fall within the scope of the Workers’ Compensation and Injury Management Act. The company also disputed whether Mr Till was in part dependent on Mrs Till.
  
But Mr Nigam said Spotless was wrong to shirk responsibility, pointing out that Mrs Till’s terms of employment required her to live at the camp and it was therefore incumbent upon her employer to accept duty of care. He said a post-mortem determined no precise cause of death could be established, however, contributing factors included head injuries, crushing and asphyxiation.
  
Rather than evacuate the camp, Mrs Till had been told to shelter from the cyclone in a donga and when it was battered by winds she was flung into the air and crushed by flying debris.
  
“She was required to live at the camp site by virtue of her employment,” Mr Nigam said.
  
“The donga in which she was contained was blown away from its location and when it landed she suffered fatal injuries because of the impact.
  
“Mr Till maintains that the cause of Mrs Till’s death being asphyxia is consistent with the impact of cyclone George.”
  
Spotless spokeswoman Marcia English refused to say yesterday who should be held responsible for Mrs Till’s death, saying only: “Spotless has complied completely and fully with the WorkSafe investigation and the situation is still under review.
  
“The dependency claim has a statutory defined process and we have been working through that process without any delay in response as it is tragic circumstances which Spotless continues to treat very seriously.
  
“We hope that the claim can be resolved as soon as possible.”
  
The storm left two people dead and 28 more injured. A directions hearing into the two deaths at the camp, which was overseen by Fortescue Metals Group, will be held at the office of the State Coroner on August 5 when it is expected that a date will be set for the inquest.

OHS News Tip: Safe Work Method Statements

VIC: Doctors Working In Fear

Thursday July 17th 2008 09:15 a.m. Source: Herald Sun

Doctors in Victoria's emergency departments are working in fear of psychotic, drug-fuelled and aggressive patients.

Two-thirds believe the departments have become increasingly violent.

Only 10 per cent of those polled denied they were becoming more dangerous, with a quarter saying they could not comment.

Doctors used the survey to call for legislative changes to protect medical, nursing and health staff as the number of serious assaults in the emergency departments increases.

"Patients are becoming more abusive and demanding, due to the lack of resources that staff have available," one doctor said.

Another demanded "more protection of staff in emergency departments, with the ability to turn away violent/abusive patients".

Last December a Herald Sun investigation showed serious attacks involving weapons or resulting in injury had soared 60 per cent in a year at 12 of Victoria's largest emergency departments.

Health workers have fled their jobs after being attacked or threatened, while others have been left suffering post-traumatic stress, depression or drug and alcohol problems.

The issue has prompted the Australian Medical Association to call for safe rooms to isolate aggressive and mentally ill patients, banning repeat offenders and installing metal detectors at high-risk emergency wards.

A decade after beginning his career in emergency departments, Dr Nathan Bushby, 34, is in no doubt the violence is escalating.

In January, Dr Bushby was working at a Melbourne hospital emergency department when a person affected by the drug "ice" bit him on the arm, which required treatment.

Weeks later a colleague was treating a teenager with a chest complaint when her drunk mother pulled a knife and threatened the doctor if he did not do more tests.

Dr Bushby said the fear of danger was taking a toll on many health workers.

"When I was bitten, I was inserting a drip into him as he was shackled to the bed because he was so violent. But he managed to swing his head around and bite me," he said.

"The guy has bitten you, but you are still obliged to treat him, that is the frustrating thing. You wonder why you bother helping these people."

Having seen teams of five security guards regularly called to "take down" violent patients, Dr Bushby said he was concerned that police were increasingly using emergency departments as dumping grounds for people with violent personality disorders.

OHS News Tip: Safe Work Method Statements

VIC: 40 Yr/o Man Crushed To Death By A Crane

Thursday July 17th 2008 09:08 a.m. Source: Nine MSN

A man has been crushed to death in an industrial accident north-east of Melbourne.

He was crushed between a crane and the tray of a truck at a property in Ninks Road, St Andrews, north-east of Melbourne, about 5.20pm (AEST) on Wednesday, police said.

The victim, aged in his mid-40s, died at the scene.

Police and WorkSafe are investigating.

OHS News Tip: Crane Safe Work Method Statements

WA: Twiggy's Firm Faces Inquest Over Cyclone Deaths

Thursday July 17th 2008 08:53 a.m. Source: The West Australian

Andrew “Twiggy” Forrest, Australia’s richest man, will next month become embroiled in a coronial inquest into the deaths of two workers at a Pilbara railway campsite.
  
News of the inquest comes as the State’s safety watchdog is expected to claim that important safety procedures were not followed at the camp overseen by iron ore miner Fortescue Metals Group, which is controlled by Mr Forrest.
  
Mother-of-two Debra Till, 47, and Craig Allen Raabe, 42, were killed and 28 people were injured when cyclone George battered the camp in March last year with 275kmh winds, destroying staff dongas. The tragedy raised the prospect of multi-milliondollar damages claims against FMG and other employers with staff at the site. It sparked an investigation that has so far spanned more than a year.
  
WorkSafe revealed yesterday that its report — expected to be central to the coronial inquest that begins on August 5 — determined who should be prosecuted for occupational health and safety breaches and had been seen by the State Solicitor’s Office.
  
“WorkSafe has received legal advice in relation to potential prosecution action over the deaths and injuries that occurred during cyclone George in March 2007 from the State Solicitor’s Office,” WorkSafe WA Commissioner Nina Lyhne said.
  
“That legal advice is still under consideration, but I am confident that WorkSafe’s investigation will be finalised in the very near future.”
  
The long-awaited inquest is expected to bring relief to the families seeking answers about why senior staff at the camp did not evacuate workers before the cyclone hit.
  
Mr Forrest has vigorously defended the decision, saying the shelters — dongas — that were blown apart were designed to be cyclone-proof.
  
Fortescue executive director Graeme Rowley also confirmed in January that without-prejudice payments were made to families of Mrs Till and Mr Raabe before Christmas. But yesterday Jean Cook, 63, the wife of injured worker Graham Cook, 68, said she was frustrated that families were being forced to wait so long for answers.
  
She said her husband had not understood why terrified workers were instructed to shelter in their dongas.
  
Mr Cook’s right eye was sandblasted during the cyclone, leaving his vision blurred. He died from heart problems this year.
  
Lawyers for Mrs Till’s family have issued a writ of summons for negligence against FMG.
  
FMG said it was co-operating with the investigation.

OHS News Tip: Safe Work Method Statements

NSW: Suppressed OH&S Report Brings Relief

Wednesday July 16th 2008 07:53 a.m. Source: Start Company

A long suppressed review into NSW occupational health and safety laws has been released, revealing recommendations to ease the OH&S duties faced by businesses in that state.

The review by retired Supreme Court judge Paul Stein was finished early in 2007 but has only now come to light as part of a NSW submission to a federal inquiry into OH&S harmonisation.

The NSW Business Chamber, which has been calling for the release of the suppressed report for 16 months, today welcomed the release of the review.

Spokesman Paul Ritchie says the review highlights that changes need to be made to an OH&S system that is widely regarded as the least business-friendly in the nation.

“We have the most onerous system in Australia, the highest number of prosecutions, inspectors and fines, and yet we have injury rates worse than the national average. That says we have a system that isn’t working properly and producing the safety outcomes we need,” he says.

A key recommendation made by the Stein review is to replace the current absolute duty of care on businesses with a duty to do whatever is “reasonably practicable” to ensure workplace safety.

Such a change would decrease the incidence of absurd prosecutions – for example, the NSW Police Force being prosecuted where police are injured in the course of duty – and improve safety outcomes, Ritchie says.

“This is a more sensible approach that recognises you need a collaborative, not adversarial, safety culture in workplaces – that’s what we and others argued and Stein has agreed,” he says.

The review also recommends giving businesses the right to appeal prosecutions to the Criminal Court of Appeal and the introduction of offences where unions abuse rights of entry conferred under OH&S laws.

It is not all one way traffic, however, with Stein also recommending that unions should retain their right to bring prosecutions and that employers should retain the burden of proving compliance with OH&S laws.

But on balance, the NSW Business Chamber argues, the Stein recommendations would improve the NSW system and should be carefully considered by the national review.

“NSW is out of step with the rest of Australia on OH&S, and we are hoping the national review will help to bring it into line,” Ritchie says.

OHS News Tip: Safe Work Method Statements

VIC: Failure To Remove Asbestos

Tuesday July 15th 2008 07:58 a.m. Source: Mesothelioma

Following their complaint that asbestos had not been properly removed from one of Victoria's largest building sites, members of the Construction Forestry Mining and Energy Union have walked off the shopping center project over concerns of worker health and safety.

On Wednesday, nearly 350 workers refused to continue working on the Westfield Doncaster Shoppingtown site after finding out that asbestos removal was taking place at the site while they were working. They were concerned that asbestos fibers from the ripped down ceiling tiles may have spread into the air-conditioning duct, which would circulate them throughout the shopping center.

Myer, the center's owner, responded saying that it was following all the proper procedures regarding asbestos handling and that Worksafe Victoria had approved the work on the site and confirmed in a written report that there was no cause for concern during their inspector's visit. The company added that it performs ongoing scheduled air quality tests and the latest results showed no presence of airborne asbestos fibers.

However, the CFMEU said that Myer's failure to have the potentially deadly substance removed before its union workers began work on the shopping center is a violation of health and safety regulations. The union's assistant state secretary Bill Oliver said the union wasn't aware of the presence of asbestos until members saw a removal contractor moving contaminated tiles while they were working. 

OHS News Tip: Asbestos Removal Work Method Statements

NSW: Workplace Bullying Stops Now

Tuesday July 15th 2008 07:52 a.m. Source: The Sydney Morning Herald

The reported suicide of ambulance officer Christine Hodder after she was allegedly bullied at work is, sadly, only the latest in a string of disturbing reports on the escalation of workplace bullying.

Recent reports from NSW alone reveal bullying at all levels in the workplace, with cases involving nurses, public servants and even high-profile professionals and executives featuring in the news.

Bullying may be happening in your workplace, but you may not know it. Many people feel humiliated about reporting it, do not know who to report it to, or do not think anything will be done.

To make things more complex, harassment and violence is often involved. Harassment can be a single instance of offensive or humiliating behaviour, relevant to some characteristic of the individual, such as race or sex. Bullying, by contrast, is unreasonable behaviour which is repeated, including things such as spreading malicious gossip, physically and socially isolating the target, undermining them, making undue public criticisms and claiming others' work as one's own. It is done over time and frequently in subtle ways. Often, there is no proof and no witnesses.

Workplace bullying is a health and safety issue, and needs to be recognised as such. Occupational health and safety is not just about protecting workers from disease, but ensuring their well-being at work. Doing so is in the best interest of the employer. The costs of prolonged litigation are extreme.

But it should not just be about the fear of litigation. Bullied and harassed workers cannot perform at their best: absenteeism and turnover go up, satisfaction and commitment go down. For the target, bullying means anxiety, fear, depression and it can lead to suicide.

But the message is not getting through to employers: failing to tackle workplace bullying adequately means much greater costs for organisations through the workers' compensation process, increased premiums, and damage to reputation. In Australia, claims for compensation over stress account for only 7 per cent of the total number of compensation claims but 27 per cent of the total cost.

The government organisations that administer workplace safety legislation, however, have begun to recognise bullying as an important issue. Hopefully, the Federal Government's plans to standardise occupational health and safety legislation across the states will firmly and specifically tackle bullying as an issue that affects many workers and their families.

OHS News Tip: Workplace Bullying Work Method Statements

NSW: Two-Tonne Slab Kills 53 yro Man

Wednesday July 9th 2008 07:51 a.m. Source: The Sydney Morning Herald

A 53-year-old man  has died after being crushed under a concrete slab which fell off a moving forklift at Port Kembla, south of Wollongong.

Ambulance crews were called about 10.15am today, and later found the  man under the block at Foreshore Road, Port Kembla.

The incident occurred at the site of the Brick and Block Company, an Australian masonry company that makes bricks and blocks.

The man was freed a short time before 11am and taken to Wollongong Hospital in a critical condition, an ambulance spokesman said.

He died a short time later from chest injuries.

The man was trapped for about 15 to 20 minutes, and suffered severe chest injuries, the ambulance spokeswoman said.

A WorkCover spokesman said an  investigation into the incident had begun.

OHS News Tip: Forklift Work Method Statements

NQ: Crane Safety Breach Costs $20k

Wednesday July 9th 2008 07:50 a.m.

Australian Canopy Crane has been fined $20,000 for a fatal 2006 fall at its Cape Tribulation Research Facility in north Queensland.

The company is run by James Cook University, Griffith University and the University of Queensland. It pleaded guilty to breaching section 28(1) of the Workplace Health and Safety Act 1995, for failing to ensure the health and safety of others was not affected by the way it conducted its business or undertaking.

The January 2006 incident involved a worker performing maintenance work alone. He was on the jib of a tower crane when he fell 50m to the ground.

The Workplace Health and Safety Queensland (WHSQ) investigated. It found the crane’s jib had not been fitted with a static line, the man was not wearing a harness, and there was no adequate emergency system for retrieving someone if they fell.

After the incident, the company took action to comply with the Australian standards for tower cranes, and reviewed their health and safety management procedures for ongoing crane maintenance.

According to the industrial magistrate who handed down the sentence, this was the company’s first offence, but the hazard had been identified prior to the incident, but action had not been taken.

OHS News Tip: Crane Work Method Statements

NSW: The Health and Safety Brawl Begins

Tuesday July 8th 2008 07:46 a.m. Source: The Australian

Big business is set for a brawl with unions and state leaders over occupational health and safety laws, with the Australian Industry Group calling for a shake-up of standards and enforcement regimes.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd last week signed a deal with state and territory leaders to harmonise occupational health and safety laws, but the content ofthose laws is still far from agreed.

The AIG has urged the Government to reject NSW's tough safety standards, which force employers to prove they are not to blame for workplace accidents.

The group has also called for a consistent protocol for enforcement of OHS laws, in a draft submission to the Government's national review of OHS laws, which is due on Friday.

AIG director Mark Goodsell said a major consultation process with its members, including key players in the manufacturing, construction and transport sectors, revealed they were overwhelmingly concerned about inconsistent enforcement of safety laws. "How the regulator behaves is a vital part of driving safety culture in companies," Mr Goodsell said. "There's no point having good laws if they are not enforced sensibly, consistently and innovatively."

AIG will also urge the Government not to use NSW's onerous safety standards across the country, but instead to apply Victoria's standard of doing everything "reasonably practicable" to prevent an offence.

Mr Goodsell said the lesser standard applied in the states that had the best safety records.

But the proposal will put businesses on a collision course with unions, which want tougher obligations imposed on employers and to be able to prosecute safety breaches, as they can in NSW.

Mr Goodsell said NSW's laws involved a denial of natural justice for employers.

The fact that unions had the right to prosecute employers in NSW stood out as "an anachronism", he said.

"It's impossible to reconcile proper criminal law processes with the ability of a union, who may have yesterday been arguing with a company over wages and conditions, to stand in the role of a prosecutor in a criminal matter," he said.

The NSW and Queensland premiers last week warned that the Government's moves to harmonise OHS laws must not result in any reduction in workplace safety.

At the Council of Australian Governments meeting in Sydney last Thursday, state and federal leaders agreed to bring forward the harmonisation plan by one year, to 2011.

OHS News Tip: Work Place Health and Safety Work Method Statements

NSW: Company Fined After Insufficient Safe Work Procedures

Tuesday July 8th 2008 08:21 a.m.

Stowe Australia has been fined $190,000 after being found guilty for the electrocution death of a worker at a Marrickville telephone exchange.

The investigation by WorkCover NSW found the company had well-established and documented safety systems in place. However, supervisors did not ensure the necessary safe work method statements were available on site.

The absence of these documents led to the work team adopting their own practices to carry out the work at the exchange.

Documented details of the exchange’s electrical circuitry had also been inaccurate. For example, one switch was powered from two distribution board sources at different levels in the building, result in a risk to workers rewiring emergency exit lighting.

Proper procedure would have seen the circuitry identified before work commenced, but the court found the breakdown in safety procedures ultimately resulted in a fatality.

OHS News Tip: Work Place Health and Safety Work Method Statements

WA: New Standards For The Construction Industry

Monday July 7th 2008 09:47 a.m.

Worksafe WA says it is implementing a new National Standard for Construction Work, in a move towards a greater consistency of safety regulation across Australia.

According to the safety authority, the construction sector remains one of Australia’s highest risk industries. The national standard will aim to protect people from construction work hazards. It was adopted in the state on 3 January 2008 for general construction, with domestic construction taking it up on 1 October 2008.

Some of the changes relate to new requirements to written safety documentation such as safe work method statements and Occupational Safety and Health Management Plans.
The authority has published guidance material dubbed the SubbyPack to explain the changes and provide assistance with compliance and completion of documentation.

OHS News Tip: Construction Industry Work Method Statements

QLD: A Win For Businesses

Monday July 7th 2008 07:46 a.m. Source: The Blues Country

The Council of Australian Governments has agreed to push ahead with plans to create a "seamless national economy" through initiatives including harmonisation of occupational health and safety laws.

Other significant reforms for business included new rules allowing interstate movement of tradespeople, standard business reporting mechanisms and standardised environmental assessment and approval processes.

The COAG ‘communique’ released yesterday states the "reforms will make life simpler for businesses and consumers, while continuing to provide the necessary protections and access for consumers and the community".

The harmonisation of occupational health and safety regimes has long been identified as a key issue for business, with the inconsistencies of current approaches resulting in unnecessary cost and complexity, particularly for those businesses that operate across jurisdictions.

COAG recognised legitimate concerns about workplace safety and reaffirmed its requirement that there be no reduction or compromise in workplace safety.

COAG has also agreed to develop a national trade licensing system that will remove inconsistencies across state borders and allow for a much more mobile workforce.

Under current arrangements, an array of occupational trades is licensed to varying requirements in each State.

COAG’s agreement will result in a new national system that will be signed off by COAG in December 2008.

The system will see a national approach to the licensing of a range of economically important trades. COAG has agreed that the national system will initially apply to the following trades:

• air conditioning and refrigeration mechanics occupations;

• building occupations;

• electrical occupations;

• land transport occupations (passenger vehicle drivers, dangerous goods);

• maritime occupations;

• plumbing occupations; and

• property agent occupations.

Small Business Minsiter Craig Emerson says the initiative will result in 800 work-related licences reduced to 100.

Business name registration

COAG has also agreed to a new Business Names Registration system.

The Commonwealth will establish a one-stop online shop for businesses to interact with government, that will mean businesses can apply for their business name and Australian Business Number in one step.

Once the system is in operation, businesses operating in more than one State will no longer need to register separately in each jurisdiction, leading to significant savings in registration fees.

The system will also provide an interface for improved interactions between business and government, placing information needed by business operators in one place, regardless of their location.

Standard business reporting

A new Standard Business Reporting program was also agreed by COAG that will radically streamline the myriad of financial reporting requirements on businesses.
It will provide a new online reporting channel to government.

The Commonwealth is committing $243 million to this program over four years. Standard Business
Reporting will save business around $800 million each year once it is fully implemented.

Consumer product safety

COAG also made moves to streamline processes associated with ensuring the safety of consumer products.

COAG has agreed that the Commonwealth will assume responsibility for the making of permanent product bans and standards under the Trade Practices Act 1974.

States will retain powers to issue interim product bans.

Conveyancing

A new electronic conveyancing system is to commence in 2010.

It will provide an efficient national platform to settle property transactions, lodge instruments with land registries and meet associated duty and tax obligations electronically through a national system.

The system is anticipated to reduce substantially costs to business through reduced delays and expense associated with transferring title, simplification processes, elimination of costs and complexities of dealing with eight different systems and increased accuracy in transactions.

The Productivity Commission has estimated that the consumer policy framework reforms alone could provide a net gain to the community of between $1.5 billion and $4.5 billion a year, through more effective consumer laws and better enforcement, and increasing productivity and innovation, through reducing compliance costs for business and increasing consumer confidence.

COAG has also agreed to a number of priority areas for competition reform, covering anti-dumping, parallel importation of books, rationalisation of occupational licences, national transport policy and further reforms to infrastructure access, with implementation plans to be considered in October 2008.

The Commonwealth will request the Productivity Commission to undertake reviews of Australia’s anti-dumping system and parallel import restrictions on books.

The financial impacts of the reforms related to the seamless national economy, including on States’ revenue and costs, will be calculated and incorporated in the overall finalisation of financial arrangements between the Commonwealth and the States. Furthermore, the Commonwealth will make incentive payments in respect of major progress on regulatory reform.

Queensland

The Commonwealth will provide up to $510 million towards Queensland’s priority projects, subject to due diligence.

The Queensland Government is ready to roll-out community level irrigation planning and infrastructure investment.

The Commonwealth will provide up to $115 million to assist Queensland with this project.

Sunwater is currently planning the modernisation of its delivery system to reduce water loss and the Commonwealth will contribute up to $40 million to assist the modernisation process.

The use of coal seam gas water, currently having to be dealt with as a significant waste management issue, is a potential significant water resource.

The Commonwealth will provide $5 million for the conduct of a detailed feasibility study to examine the viability of using coal seam gas water as an alternate water resource.

In addition to these infrastructure projects, the Commonwealth will provide up to $350 million for the future purchase of water entitlements from willing sellers in the Queensland section of the Murray-Darling Basin.

Together, these initiatives will deliver long lasting benefits to Murray-Darling Basin communities in Queensland and downstream.

OHS News Tip: Safe Work Method Statements

SA: Two Men Airlifted To Hospital After A Heavy Vehicle Accident

Saturday July 5th 2008 10:02 a.m. Source: ABC News

Two people will be airlifted to hospital after a truck collision on a remote stretch of road in South Australia's far west.

Police say two trucks sideswiped each other on the Eyre Highway, 70 kilometres from the Nullarbor Roadhouse about 6.30pm (ACST) on Saturday.

Police say toxic chemicals were leaking from one of the trucks and hazardous materials experts were called to the scene.

South Australian authorities said fog and the remoteness of the area posed a challenge.

State Emergency Service workers from South Australia and Western Australia freed a male truck driver from the wreckage.

He will be taken by the Royal Flying Doctor Service to hospital along with another injured person.

Police have closed the highway between the West Australian border and the Nullarbor Roadhouse.

OHS News Tip: Heavy Work Method Statement
OHS News Tip: Hazardous Materials Work Method Statement
OHS News Tip: Vehicle Accident Work Method Statement

WA: Unions Cheif In Workplace Safety Row

Saturday July 5th 2008 10:02 a.m. Source: Perth Now

The head of WA's labour movement has refused to comply with a demand by militant union boss Kevin Reynolds to sack his challenger from an influential government board overseeing the state's workplace safety laws.

A letter from Mr Reynolds to UnionsWA chief Dave Robinson calling for Darren Kavanagh's removal from the Carpenter Government's Commission for Occupational Safety and Health creates a test of the 59-year-old's personal influence.

Mr Robinson declined to remove Mr Kavanagh, and referred the matter to the state executive of UnionsWA for a vote on Tuesday. In a written response to Mr Reynolds, Mr Robinson said Mr Kavanagh was very competent and professional in his role as one of the union movement's three representatives on the Commission for Occupational Safety and Health.

"I have asked Mr Reynolds to reconsider his request for Mr Kavanagh to be removed,'' Mr Robinson said.

Mr Reynolds, state secretary of the Construction Forestry Mining and Energy Union, has had Mr Kavanagh removed as the CFMEU's representative on several committees because he no longer works for the union.

The former scaffolder was once regarded as Mr Reynolds's protege, but in May he announced he would challenge for the position of state secretary at the union election in September, saying Mr Reynolds's push to use union resources for the re-election campaign of his MP wife Shelley Archer was ``morally wrong''.

Mr Kavanagh was sacked from his job as a safety adviser at the CFMEU last month after sending union members a flyer asking them to vote for him. Mr Reynolds claimed the flyer was sent out using a stolen union membership list, and called police.

Mr Reynolds would not discuss why he tried to have Mr Kavanagh removed from the government board.

Mr Reynolds's request follows a period of tense relations between the CFMEU leadership and UnionsWA during last year's federal election campaign, when the tactics of the union's assistant state secretary Joe MacDonald and other officials caused headaches for Labor.

Tony Cooke, chairman of the Commission for Occupational Safety and Health, told The Weekend Australian Mr Kavanagh was a highly effective advocate for the union movement on the board.

He had been instrumental in amendments to asbestos legislation and made a difference to worksites across the state, Mr Cooke said.

OHS News Tip: Asbestos Removal Work Method Statement

VIC: Workers Walk Off The Job After Asbestos Concern

Friday July 4th 2008 11:10 a.m. Source: The Australian

The Construction Forestry Mining and Energy Union has staged a dramatic walkout on one of Victoria's biggest building sites, claiming asbestos had not been removed properly from the shopping centre development and it was putting workers at risk.

Up to 350 workers walked off the job on the Westfield Doncaster Shoppingtown site yesterday morning after discovering asbestos was being removed in the Myer redevelopment while their members were still on site.

They are concerned that asbestos dust from ceiling tiles that have been ripped down may have gone into the air-conditioning duct, which would circulate air into the entire shopping complex.

But Myer says it has adhered to all occupational health and safety laws, Worksafe Victoria gave the OK to the site on Wednesday and the latest air testing revealed there was "absolutely no presence" of airborne asbestos in the shopping centre.

CFMEU assistant state secretary Bill Oliver said the failure by Westfield and Myer to have the asbestos removed before the start of the refurbishment was a breach of health and safety regulations.

"We've raised our concerns with Westfield and with WorkSafe but as far as we are concerned, until we get evidence this asbestos removal is being carried out safely, Westfield is failing to provide a safe workplace," he said.

Mr Oliver said the union was unaware of the extent of the problem until an asbestos removal contractor began trying to take away affected tiles alongside their staff yesterday morning, breaching an occupational health and safety audit that stated the asbestos had to be removed before the start of refurbishment.

Myer national corporate affairs manager Mitch Catlin said the company had adhered to all occupational health and safety laws. "WorkSafe inspected the Myer Doncaster site (on Wednesday) and confirmed in a written report that there are no issues of concern noted at the time of visit," he said.

A Westfield spokeswoman said last night regular safety checks at the site had detected no airborne asbestos. "Westfield has undertaken in good faith to discuss any concerns the CFMEU may have with operations at the Myer site," she said

OHS News Tip: Asbestos Removal Work Method Statement

QLD: Safety Standards Must Rise

Thursday July 3rd 2008 10:01 a.m. Source: The Age

Queensland will not accept reduced workplace safety standards under a national scheme, Premier Anna Bligh says.

Speaking ahead of Thursday's Council of Australian Governments (COAG) meeting in Sydney, Ms Bligh welcomed moves towards standardised business rules, saying there was a persuasive argument in favour of national consistent regulation.

"But the easiest way to get uniformity across a country like Australia is race to the bottom and accept the lowest common denominator. The challenge I believe for the federation is to seek national consistency by seeking national best practice," she told ABC Radio.

"Queensland certainly, and I don't think any other states, would be accepting a new workplace health and safety regime that diminished the safety of Australian workplaces and nor do I think the commonwealth is seeking that."

Thursday's COAG meeting is set to discuss standardisation of a range of regulations affecting business.

Ms Bligh said she expected some robust discussions but nothing like Wednesday night's State of Origin rugby match in which Queensland defeated NSW 16-10.

She said there was now a great deal of goodwill between states and the commonwealth to outcomes in the national interest.

"There is priority today on establishing agreement around a substantial number of business regulations," she said.

"Some of these might only seem quite small but if you are a business trying to do business between the states, sometimes it is the little things as well as the big things that get in the way of sensible outcomes.

Ms Bligh said some proposals were straightforward, such as national register of business names to replace individual state and territory registers.

She said there were some much more substantial and difficult areas on which to achieve national consistency, such as occupational health and safety regulation.

All these compliance issues took up time and money which could be used for business expansion or service delivery, she said.

"This is an important area where state and commonwealth governments not only should, but I believe can, work much better together."

OHS News Tip: Occupational Health and Safety Work Method Statement

QLD: Heavy Vehicle Accident Kills Man

Thursday July 3rd 2008 09:43 a.m. Source: News.com.au

A man has died after a large truck rolled over him on a Brisbane worksite.

The 25-year-old Kangaroo Point man was fitting new tyres to the prime mover at Rocklea, in Brisbane's south, about 4pm (AEST) yesterday, police said.

The truck rolled over the man, causing major head and upper body injuries.

He was taken to the Princess Alexandra Hospital in a critical condition but died a few hours later.

Workplace Health and Safety inspectors are investigating the incident.

OHS News Tip: Heavy Vehicles Work Method Statement

NSW: Nobody Injured After Train Derails

Wednesday July 2nd 2008 11:56 a.m. Source: The Daily Advertiser

Investigations have commenced into an industrial accident at Bomen yesterday afternoon.

Piles of concrete railway sleepers were left scattered on the side of the track after two transport wagons derailed on a spur line in the industrial centre.

Nobody was injured in the accident.

Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC) crews attended the scene to complete a routine check-up of the track to inspect any damage that may have been caused before starting the hefty clean-up operation.

The ARTC was conducting investigations into how the accident happened yesterday afternoon.

Fortunately, the accident took place off the main rail line and did not cause major delays to any movements on the major rail link or the industrial areas rail network.

The wagons were part of a 10-car transport carrying more than 1000 sleepers destined for the $2.1 billion upgrade of main rail line between Melbourne and Brisbane.

Bomen-based Wagga manufacturing company Austrak is making many of the new sleepers for the project to replace all timber sleepers on the line.

In addition to being sturdier than timber ones, concrete sleepers do not expand with heat and will therefore allow trains to continue at a steady pace in warm weather.

OHS News Tip: Safe Work Method Statement

TAS: Workers In Doubt Of Safety

Wednesday July 2nd 2008 11:52 a.m.

A leading workplace safety expert concluded that sending men back into the area of the Beaconsfield mine where Larry Knight was killed was inconsistent with risk-minimisation principles.

An inquest into Knight's death in the 2006 Anzac Day rockfall at the Tasmanian goldmine yesterday heard the criticism was made in an official report by occupational health and safety expert Michael Quinlan.

Miners have told The Australian they believed they should never have been sent back to the seismically vulnerable level 925 of the mine after it was affected by a major rockfall in October 2005.

This issue was considered by the Tasmanian Government's investigation of the tragedy headed by Greg Melick SC, who was assured by mine management that it reopened 925 for mining only after receiving geotechnical advice.

Counsel for the mine Stephen Russell told the inquest in Launceston that Professor Quinlan's report to Mr Melick concluded that "from an OHS perspective" sending men back to level 925 after October 2005 was inconsistent with risk-minimisation.

However, Mr Russell said Professor Quinlan had also concluded that there was "no evidence" this decision was made "for financial reasons".

Lawyers for Knight's family and the Australian Workers Union, as well as counsel assisting the Coroner, want to call witnesses to examine whether financial pressures played a role in the circumstances leading up to Knight's death.

Counsel for the Knights, Kamal Farouque, said they had only recently obtained access to 58,000 emails that might shed further light on any role played by the mine's financial situation.

Miners have alleged they were told by management that if production slipped, Macquarie Bank would "close the mine down". The bank, as the biggest secured lender to the mine operator Allstate Exploration, had a hold on the mine profits following a contentious 2002 deal in which it purchased $77 million in intercompany debt for only $300,000.

Professor Quinlan was part of the Melick special investigation team that probed the causes of the rockfall that killed Knight and trapped fellow miners Todd Russell and Brant Webb 925m underground for 14 days.

However, Mr Russell urged the court to exclude Professor Quinlan's evidence because the University of NSW professor was not expert in geotechnical issues.

Mr Farouque told the inquest Professor Quinlan concluded there was no "systematic risk assessment" in place when Knight was killed.

However, the mine's senior counsel, David Neal SC, told the court eight geotechnical experts had given advice to guide decisions about how to limit the impact of seismicity at levels 915 and 925.

He said that to call Professor Quinlan and Allstate's then administrator, Michael Ryan, to give evidence would "blow out this inquest by weeks", with each extra day costing the parties up to $20,000.

Watched by Knight's brother Shane, Dr Neal urged Coroner Rod Chandler to apply a "cost-benefit" approach and to exclude many of the 28 witnesses identified by opposing counsel.

Mr Chandler adjourned the case to consider the mine's submissions. Hearings are due to resume late this month

OHS News Tip: Workplace Safety Work Method Statement

ACT: Employee Electrocuted By Building

Wednesday July 2nd 2008 10:31 a.m. Source: SafeToWork

Both a company and the person in charge of a workplace were convicted after a 2003 electrocution death of an employee.

Patrick Neville Skeers and Territory Commercial Roofing were fined $12,000 and $30,000 respectively and convicted by the ACT Magistrates Court of offences under the ACT Occupational Health and Safety Act 1989.

The March 2003 incident came about when a number of employees were fixing cladding to a wall with 25mm screws when one penetrated an electrical cable. As a result, the metal cladding and the roof became electrified.

One of the employees touched the steel frame of the building and was electrocuted and killed.
The defendants had not checked the course of the electric cabling in the workplace, and had not ensured the power was disconnected.

The maximum penalty during 2003 was $25,000 for an individual and $125,000 for a company. This has since been revised to $250,000 for individuals and $1m for companies, as well as up to seven years in jail.

OHS News Tip: Working Around Electricity Work Method Statement

VIC: Injured Employees Forced To Work

Wednesday July 2nd 2008 09:28 a.m. Source: The Australian

A packaging company that demanded two employees return to work with broken arms has been fined $100,000.

In Broadmeadows Magistrates Court in Melbourne, Magistrate Charlie Rozencwajg fined Lakeside Packaging Pty Ltd after the company pleaded guilty to seven charges under WorkSafe laws.

Charges included failure to provide safe systems of work, failure to provide training and supervision to enable employees to work safely, and failure to provide health and safety information to the workers in their first language, Mandarin.

Zhi Hong Fu and Guoping Cai were both on section 457 visas when they were injured at work in unsafe conditions.

In April 2006 Mr Fu broke his right wrist and suffered other serious injuries when he was doing electrical work he was not qualified to perform at the company's Campbellfield premises.

He returned to work four days later with his arm in plaster, which forced him to drill with his left arm, steadying it with his chin.

Mr Fu's left arm broke when the drill moved.

"The impact of the two accidents and injuries to both of my hands has been devastating," Mr Fu said.

"Australia seemed a beautiful country. I wanted my daughter to have a better education in Australia.

"Now she and my wife have had to return to China."

The incident occurred only weeks after Mr Fu's colleague Guoping Cai broke two bones in his right forearm in an unguarded printing machine when he was clearing a paper blockage.

He required a skin graft and bolts were inserted in his arm.

Mr Cai spent two weeks in hospital but after release was forced to return to work while still suffering from significant injuries.

Lawyer for both workers, Penny Flint, said the case was one of the worst examples of employer abuse she had ever seen.

"This case demonstrates the importance of safety in the workplace not only to foreign workers on section 457 visas but to workers in general," Ms Flint said.

OHS News Tip: Manual Handling Work Method Statement

NZ: Asbestos Products Being Imported Into New Zealand

Tuesday July 1st 2008 09:01 a.m. Source: The National Business Review

Building products with asbestos in them are putting builders at deadly risk, a new report commissioned by the Department of Labour says.

The report, obtained by NZPA under the Official Information Act, says many builders would not know asbestos if they saw it.

And while local manufacturing of those products ceased in the late 1980s, builders might also be at risk of imported goods from countries where there is no such ban.

New Zealand has a ban on importing raw asbestos but no ban on importing asbestos in goods as long as they are labelled, and no testing for them at ports.

The report's author is former national operations manager for Occupational Safety and Health, Mike Cosman .

Now a consultant, Mr Cosman said he knew of several unlabelled imported products in recent months that had tested positive for asbestos.

They included roofing materials, flooring and even tape.

But he said there was no way of knowing how much was coming into the country at the moment. Much of it is from southeast Asia, where there are no constraints on manufacturing with asbestos.

"There is little rationale for not introducing a ban as safer alternatives are available for the vast majority of uses."

New Zealand factories stopped making building products containing asbestos in the mid-1980s after the fibre became clearly linked with respiratory illnesses and cancer.

Asbestos is deemed safe if intact. But builders and home renovators are still vulnerable to exposure if they unknowingly disturb old housing materials with asbestos in them.

Mr Cosman 's report also found low awareness of asbestos in the construction industry.

"The older workers tended to think asbestos was yesterday's problem, that it had all been sorted in the 80s, and younger workers, of which there were an increasingly number in the industry, know nothing about it."

The Department of Labour said it was carrying out a wider review of asbestos handling in the workplace, which might include a ban on imported asbestos products.

In late April, a cancer researcher said he believed one in 10 Australian carpenters born before 1950 would die of a fatal asbestos-linked cancer, mesothelioma.

Professor Julian Peto said the use of brown asbestos or amosite, and blue asbestos or crocidolite, in building products in Australia and Britain until the 1980s had been completely uncontrolled.

"Carpenters would chop it up with power saws without much concern at all."

The Australian Council of Trade Unions has called for a national inquiry to examine ways of eliminating asbestos from workplaces and homes

OHS News Tip: Asbestos Removal Work Method Statement

NSW: LPG Safety Fears

Monday June 30th 2008 08:21 a.m. Source: Dandenong Leader

A Noble Park man has delivered a glove slap to Melbourne's petrol stations for not providing hand protection at the pump.

Wojciech Smiglewski wants service stations to supply gloves to shield hands from harmful chemicals contained in fuel and its vapour.

Mr Smiglewski said service stations that did not supply gloves to motorists in his native Poland were subject to hefty fines.

He said he always took his own gloves when filling up his Ford Falcon with unleaded fuel.

"We must have the bloody gloves," he said.

"It's because of the fumes and the chemical component. You are getting the fumes straight into your hands and even touching the pistol from the pump is unsafe."

But Service Station Association CEO Ron Bowden scoffed at the suggestion and said gloves were "not required" at Australian petrol outlets. "It's not necessary.

"There's nothing toxic about it. "All I know is it's not an OH and S (occupational health and safety) requirement under Australian law."

Deakin University occupational hygienist Steve Atkinson said petrol was now safer than ever. "There is a small quantity of benzene in unleaded petrol, but there's a lot less now than there ever has been," Mr Atkinson said.

"I don't really see the need for people to wear gloves at the petrol station," he said.

"The total exposure from filling your tank once a week is minimal.

"If you're splashing petrol on your hands at the petrol station, you're doing something very wrong," Mr Atkinson said.

He said recently-introduced legislation meant the benzene content in petrol was now restricted to less than 1 per cent.

OHS News Tip: LPG Work Method Statement

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