06:04 am, Wednesday 29 August, 2007

Source: Fairfax Digital

A 35-year-old man has been killed by falling sheets of glass at a factory in Sydney’s west.

He died about 5pm yesterday when the sheets, weighing 1.5 tonnes, fell on him from a timber crate at the Granville factory where he worked.

The glass sheets were being used to make shower screens.

Police and WorkCover inspectors inspected the factory yesterday, a police spokesman said.

“This case highlights the serious consequences that can occur where there is inadequate systems of work in place around stacking materials,” WorkCover CEO Jon Blackwell said.

Neither police nor WorkCover would reveal the man’s identity.

Australian Manufacturing Workers Union’s occupational health and safety spokesman Dave Henry said the “tragic loss of a life” reflected the greater dangers faced by workers.

“Workers as a result of the Federal Howard Government’s Work Choices legislation are no longer comfortable or confident in removing themselves from dangerous situations,” he said.

OHS NEWS - Glass Handling Safety Procedure

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