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

OHS News - July 2009

VIC: Army Fined For Cadet Death

Thu Jul 2 2009 07:15 a.m.

The Australian Defence Force (ADF) has been fined $210,000 by the Federal Court under the Occupational Health and Safety Act (the OHS Act) over the death of a cadet who had an allergic reaction to nuts.

Nathan Francis was a Year 9 student at Melbourne's Scotch College when he went on his first Australian Army Cadet camp in March 2007, in the Wombat State Forest in central Victoria.

He died from anaphylactic shock after eating one mouthful of food containing peanuts.

On the first day of the camp, Nathan had been given beef satay from an army ration pack, despite his parents providing a written letter telling the camp's organisers he was allergic.
Within half an hour the 13-year-old was unconscious.

Later that afternoon, Nathan arrived at the Royal Children's Hospital, but he was pronounced dead on arrival.

The federal health and safety body, Comcare brought the proceedings against the ADF through the Commonwealth.

The Court found the ADF had breached its duty to take all reasonably practical steps to protect the health and safety of its cadets.

But Justice North was unhappy with the outcome under the OHS Act, which essentially means one federal government agency, the ADF, pays another, Comcare.

He has called for laws to be changed since he is concerned that
such a sentence will not deter against future breaches because the penalty was essentially paid to the perpetrator.

Justice North, who described the case as 'every parent's worse nightmare,' strongly recommended the Victorian Coroner investigate the circumstances surrounding Nathan's death so the role of Scotch College could be examined.

Although it was an ADF program, Scotch College staff were running the cadet camp. However, the school has avoided responsibility so far because it is not covered by the OHS Act.

The ADF has since conducted an investigation into rations given to cadets and made improvements in the way allergies were managed.

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VIC: Equipment Manufacturer Fined for Confusing Plant Instructions

Tue Jun 30 2009 07:15 a.m.

A sales and distribution company has been fined $140,000 for failing to provide proper instructions for use of a rock crusher, which led to the death of a worker.

The company was charged under Section 24(1)(c) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act 1985 which covers the duties of manufacturers, importers and suppliers of plant. Under the OHS Act 2004, these duties are covered under Section 29 (“Duties of manufacturers of plant or substances” and Section 30 “Duties of suppliers of plant or substances”.)

In 2005, a man died at a Donnybrook quarry while carrying out routine maintenance on a rock crusher supplied by the manufacturer to his employer.

Part of the crusher, a steel plate weighing 1.3 tonnes, fell from its mounts and hit the man who was in the crusher box.

It was found that the sales company failed to provide to the worker's employer accurate information in a maintenance manual it supplied with the machine. The printed instructions were "confusing", "unclear" and "wrong".

Additionally, the judge said the training provided by the company was unsatisfactory, made more serious by the fact that the task was inherently dangerous and had clear and significant risks.

Manufacturers, distributors and retailers need to ensure that use and maintenance instructions are clear and easily understood. Safety issues must be addressed, while training and support services must be consistent with the formal instructions provided.

Charges against the employer will be heard at a later date.

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SA: Employer fined $72K Over Apprentice Death

Tue Jun 30 2009 07:15 a.m.

A company was fined $72,000 on Friday in the SA Industrial Court over the death of a first-year apprentice in 2006.

The fine was the highest on record in South Australia.

The company was charged with breaching s19(1) of the Occupational Health Safety and Welfare Act 1986, in failing to ensure a worker was safe from injury and risks to health at work.

The worker was employed by Engineering Employers Association SA Group Training Scheme Incorporated (EEAGTS) and was placed at the company as an apprentice. EEAGTS had earlier been fined $60,000.

The Court heard that the 18 year old worker had been operating a boring machine when his dustcoat, which was issued by the employer, got caught in the machine's rotating spindle.

He was sucked into the machine and flung around its inside with sufficient force to sever both his feet and injure most of his body.

The apprentice had been working for the company for about 10 months, had been working unsupervised and was trained by another apprentice.

A worker nearby was alerted to the incident by loud banging noises coming from the apprentice's work area and rushed to turn the machine off. However it did not have an emergency stop device.

The court ruled that the employer failed to:

* completely guard the machine;

* ensure the machine had interlocking devices to prevent contact with dangerous moving parts; and

* ensure there was nothing to prevent the accidental activation of the machine's continuous run button.

The company also lacked a personal protective equipment policy prohibiting the wearing of loose-fitting dustcoats.

Following the incident, the employer engaged an expert to review the entire operation and to implement new hazard assessments on all machinery.

The company was convicted and fined a total of $72,000 out of a maximum of $100,000.

The maximum fine for offences has since been boosted to $300,000, but does not apply retrospectively.

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VIC: Get safety off to a flying start in the new financial year

Tue Jun 30 2009 06:03 a.m.

WorkSafe has announced the areas being targeted in the 2009-2010 Safe Towns and Safer Work Zones inspection campaigns.

The campaigns target regional and metropolitan areas with teams of up to 10 WorkSafe inspectors visiting as many workplaces as possible over one week (see list below for locations and dates).

The program’s aim is to help small and medium sized businesses identify basic safety issues to reduce the number of injuries and fatalities, help people who have been hurt to return to work, and ensure businesses have appropriate WorkSafe injury insurance.

During each campaign, WorkSafe will provide small businesses with support and information about what they need to do.

WorkSafe’s Executive Director, John Merritt, called on employers and workers to join forces and put a stop to people being hurt or injured at work.

“We tell people that inspectors will be in the area and what they’re looking for.

 “Despite this, we frequently find people ignore the opportunity to make improvements. As a result they receive safety improvement notices or are prohibited from operating dangerous equipment or doing dangerous work.  
WorkSafe’s focus over the financial year will be on the major risks to small businesses, including:

• Improving the safety of hazardous manual handling, slips trips and falls, and plant these make up around 60% of Victorian workers compensation claims;
• equipment guarding;
• Getting people back to work as safely and sustainably as possible, and
• Ensuring small businesses have WorkSafe injury insurance to financially protect the business if someone is injured or killed.

“The aim of these campaigns is to help a small business community make improvements, together and at the same time, to build community capability so injuries and deaths are prevented rather than responding to issues after the event.

 “In the tough times many people are facing, no business can afford to have key people diverted from their real work to deal with a totally preventable issue.”

WorkSafe Inspectors visited nearly 2000 workplaces under both programs in 2008-2009 and issued 2030 improvement notices requiring small businesses to fix specific safety issues.
Another 37 Prohibition Notices were issued, ordering work to stop immediately due to serious risks to health and safety.

 “Doing these things is great for the productivity of your business and your community. They’re also the law.
To get started on improving , WorkSafe encourages small businesses to take advantage of its free and independent three-hour consultancy ( details at  www.worksafe.vic.gov.au/smallbusiness) or the WorkSafe publication ‘12 ways to make small business safer.”

WorkSafe has run Safe Towns and Safer Work Zones campaigns since 2004 as part of its strategic enforcement program, and is one of many inspection programs WorkSafe will be undertaking during 2009-2010.

QLD: WorkSafe Investigates Gymnast's Fatal Fall

Mon Jun 29 2009 06:14 a.m.

QLD workplace health and safety authorities are investigating the death of a 19-year-old woman in a gymnastics training accident last week in north Queensland.

Michelle Maitland, a former Queensland state gymnastics champion, suffered fatal head injuries when she fell from a 2-foot-high (60cm) tumbling trampoline while competing in a gymnastics class.

She was admitted to Townsville General Hospital in a critical condition, but later died.

Gymnastics Queensland executive director Wayne Hill said he was not clear on the circumstances of the accident.

"I think she hit her head on a floor well away from the tumble track," he said. "They've got matting around the tumble track and within all the requirements that we put down as the governing body -- it was just something that was totally freakish."

"As the sport's governing body in Queensland, we impose stringent safety measures, of which Townsville Gymnastics has a good track record of adherence and governance," he said.

"This was an unfortunate and extremely rare incident and we will cooperate fully with Workplace Health and Safety as part of its investigation."

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VIC: Builder Fined for Unsafe Extensions

Mon Jun 29 2009 06:05 a.m.

A builder has been fined $10,000 after he made unsafe alterations to a double-storey house in Williamstown.

The builder pleaded guilty to failing to obtain a planning permit, working without a building permit and failing to stop work.

Hobsons Bay City Council issued an order to the builder to stop work, after it discovered that he had made significant alterations to the house without building permits.

Further inspections revealed that the owner was proceeding with building work despite the order.

Hobsons Bay mayor Peter Hemphill said the works were particularly dangerous.

“The ground floor walls that supported the upper floor had been removed and the second storey walls that supported roof loads and provided the house’s wind bracing had also been removed,” he said. “The external brickwork and support beams in the garage were also removed. It was very lucky that no one was seriously injured or killed.”

The builder will pay $2492 to the council. The magistrate described the renovations as one of the worst cases she had presided over.

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WA: Worker Killed by Falling Steel Beam

Mon Jun 29 2009 05:59 a.m.

WorkSafe is investigating an incident that occurred last week where a 58-year-old man was killed on a construction site in Kwinana after he was hit by a falling steel beam.

The worker was standing in the bucket of an elevating work platform when he was struck by the steel beam.

He was rushed to hospital but later died.

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SA: Sawmill Company Fined for Unguarded Machinery

Mon Jun 29 2009 05:51 a.m.

A sawmill company has been fined $7,500 for failing to maintain plant in a safe condition which led to a worker injuring his leg.

The company pleaded guilty to breaching section 19 of the Occupational Health Safety and Welfare Act 1986.

The incident occurred at the company’s premises where it cuts wood to manufacture pallets, boxes and crates.

During an operation to cut timber with a twin-edge saw, a log fell from its position on the machine. A worker went to retrieve the log and was caught by his shorts in an unguarded chain and sprocket that were in motion.

A co-worker hit the emergency stop. The injured worker suffered a laceration to the groin area, but recovered fully and was able to return to work three weeks later.

A SafeWork SA investigation found a roller on the machine had been removed for repairs. Although the injured worker was partly to blame for venturing into a restricted area, the guard that would otherwise have covered the exposed chain and socket had not been replaced.

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