12:00 pm, Tuesday 12 December, 2006

Article from: AAP

A RIDE operator has been jailed for almost three years after a backpacker suffered brain damage in a 20m plunge because she was not properly secured into the ride.

Steve Jay Clark, 43, was found guilty in Cairns District Court yesterday of causing grievous bodily harm to English tourist Lucy Keen, 27, on May 29, 2004.

The court was told Clark was hungover on the day of the accident in which Ms Keen plunged 20m to the ground.

Clark failed to properly secure her in a flying fox ride at Cape Tribulation in Queensland’s far north.

The ride is a carrier suspended on cables that enables riders to enjoy a sensation akin to flying.

Prosecutor Angus Edwards said Ms Keen required 24-hour care and wasn’t likely to recover from her injuries.

He said Clark had never expressed remorse for the injuries inflicted on Ms Keen.

The jury took one hour to find Clark guilty.

He was sentenced to two years and eight months jail, with a non-parole period of 16 months.

Ms Keen’s parents, who travelled from England to be at the trial, embraced and cried as the verdict was read out.

Procedings are continuing with the tour Company.

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11:50 am, Monday 11 December, 2006

Former RAAF maintenance workers will file a class action against the federal government in their battle for compensation over health problems resulting from work on the F-111.

An inquiry five years ago heard former RAAF members who used toxic chemicals to repair the fuel tanks of the strike-fighters suffered a range of health complaints from cancer to blackouts and breathing problems.

The government has already paid out more than $20 million but has rejected many claims for lump sum payments because of what it says is a lack of scientific evidence linking chemical exposure to health problems.

The maintenance program, known as deseal-reseal, was conducted at the RAAF base at Amberley in Queensland between 1975 and 2000.

Compass Legal Solutions representative Debra Daniels will file class action proceedings in the Queensland Supreme Court.

Ms Daniels said while she could not go into detail before filing the claim, she expected up to 600 former workers could join the action.

“There’s been ongoing discussion with members of the RAAF and only a small number of those have received ex gratia payments – the majority have been excluded,” Ms Daniels said.

“Compensation discussions broke down so this was the only avenue that our clients could take.”

Ms Daniels said the issue was one that should concern the wider community.

“I believe the public will be surprised once they hear the background of the whole debacle,” she said.

“They signed up to serve their country and now the Commonwealth has neglected them and cast them aside.

“We have lost a number of them recently through suicide and death from injury, illness or disease – that’s been distressing for the remainder as well.

“We are hoping the Commonwealth comes to the party and gives these personnel the compensation they rightly deserve.”

The action – which has been two years in the planning – is being supported by the Vietnam Veterans Federation, which is setting up a fighting fund for applicants.

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10:20 pm, Thursday 7 December, 2006

Article from: AAP

A FISHERMAN has been flown to a Tasmanian hospital after his finger was chopped off.

The 45-year-old man “severed a finger on his left hand whilst commercially fishing for rock lobster”, Tasmanian Police Inspector Darren Hopkins said.

The accident occurred just after 7pm (AEDT) today at Low Rocky Point, south of Strahan on Tasmania’s remote west coast.

A satellite phone was used to alert emergency services.

“The Westpac Police Rescue Helicopter was tasked and airlifted the male from the area at 9pm to the Royal Hobart Hospital,” Insp Hopkins said.

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03:17 pm, Thursday 7 December, 2006

Article from: AAP

A TRUCK driver has been crushed to death by a load of steel at an Adelaide scrap metal factory.

Police said the man was killed at about 9am (CST) today at the Normetals Pty Ltd factory at Ottoway in Adelaide’s north-west.

The 33-year-old was unloading one tonne of steel from his semitrailer when the accident happened.

SafeWork SA inspectors and police are continuing investigations at the metals processing factory and will prepare a report for the state coroner.

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12:10 pm, Thursday 7 December, 2006

Article from: AAP

JAMES Hardie has been forced to close a western Sydney factory after exposing its workers to asbestos.

The Australia Manufacturing Workers Union (AMWU) said it first alerted plant managers at the Rosehill factory to the asbestos exposure after a union safety inspection on November 3, News Ltd reports today.

However, the union said James Hardie allowed the factory, that once produced asbestos but now makes cement sheeting, to stay operating for almost another four weeks, until November 28.

About 100 employees were working near the exposed friable asbestos for that time, the union said.

A James Hardie spokesman said the company was only notified in writing of the union’s concerns on November 22, six days before the plant was shut.

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11:04 am, Thursday 7 December, 2006

Article from: AAP

A MAN was electrocuted as he worked in an air-conditioning vent of an electrical goods supplier in central NSW.

The 26-year-old contractor was working on the roof of Kaye’s Electrical in West Dubbo about 1.30pm (AEDT) when the accident happened.

“The police were called to the scene of the accident yesterday afternoon but we still can’t release the name of the man,” Inspector Dave Minehan of Dubbo police said today.

“WorkCover are conducting their own investigation into this matter and we are preparing a report for the coroner.”

A spokesman for Kaye’s Electrical said the man was a contractor called in to repair the air-conditioning.

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09:50 am, Wednesday 6 December, 2006

Article from: AAP

THE federal Government will pay $3.1 million in compensation to five sailors injured in one of Australia’s worst peacetime naval disasters, following an eight-year legal battle.

Two other sailors will meet government lawyers tomorrow in a bid to resolve their compensation claims, which lawyers hope will finally draw the saga to a close.

The seven were injured in an explosion aboard HMAS Westralia in 1998.

Four sailors were killed when a burst fuel hose sprayed diesel oil onto a hot engine, causing a fireball to rip through the engine room of the ship.

In August, the federal Government admitted liability after reaching settlement with the two companies whose work was blamed for starting the engine room blaze.

The decision cleared the way for the surviving crew members and the families of the dead men to claim compensation.

A spokesman for law firm Slater and Gordon said the $3.1 million compensation agreement for five of the sailors was signed yesterday.

The lawyer for the remaining two sailors, Max Jeganathan, said the Registrar of the District Court of WA ordered them to meet federal government representatives for pre-trial mediation tomorrow.

Mr Jeganathan said he hoped commonsense would prevail and the cases could be resolved swiftly for survivors Graeme Hollis and Kevin Herridge.

“There’s been various types of very, very tragic and sad injuries that have been suffered by these clients ranging from post-traumatic stress disorder to depressive disorders to various other psychiatric conditions and psychological distress that they’ve all had to endure,” he said on ABC radio.

“We just hope that the federal Government comes with a reasonable and a positive attitude, as we will, hopefully to get these two gentlemen some closure before Christmas so we can have all seven cases settled and finished with so they can move on with their lives.”

The ship was decommissioned in Perth in September.

Melissa Munday, one of the five to receive compensation, said she hoped settling her claim would help her end memories of the disaster.

Ms Munday was a member of the ship’s fire brigade and had to stand guard over a dead body to prevent firefighters trampling it as they fought the blaze.

“It’s not the money, it’s the fact that it’s finally over and I can concentrate on getting on with life,” she said.

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12:00 am, Tuesday 5 December, 2006

A man who became a paraplegic in a Canberra workplace accident almost ten years ago has won an interim judgment of $7.25 million.

It’s understood the ACT Supreme Court has ruled the man, 32 year old Michael Hay, is entitled to the money, although a finding has not been made about who was responsible for the defective cherry picker or the accident.

Mr Hay was injured when the cherry picker he was standing on collapsed as he worked on a communications tower in 1997.

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12:00 am, Tuesday 5 December, 2006

William Hill spent four days on life support after falling four storeys from a building.

RED tape and changes to workers compensation laws have robbed a 22-year-old Ruse man of four years of his life.

In March 2003, William Hill was on a crane when he plunged four storeys from a building on a construction site, shattering his face, elbows and hip, and puncturing both lungs.

Since the accident, William has endured countless operations to rebuild his caved-in face and correct his injured hip and elbows.

But he has not been allowed to return to his computer science studies because his specialists, WorkCover and his case manager “will not sign off on his case”.

Recuperating from an operation on his jaw last Saturday and speaking through his father William Sr, William said he had one simple wish – to get on with his life.

“He had finished one year of his degree and he was working to save for a car in the university holidays when the accident happened,” William Sr said.

“He’s had so many operations we’ve lost count and he is in a lot of pain in his teeth and jaw and elbows, but all this time he could have been doing some of his degree from home and getting on with his life.

“He gets frustrated by his situation and all the waiting. He’s lost four years of his life and he gets nothing.”

William Sr said changes to the workers compensation laws in November 2001 - which were meant to get victims back to work faster and include the 15 per cent mobility clause - often worked against victims.

“There are so many other people in the same or a worse situation than William,” he said.

“The pendulum has swung too far away from the victim. William had to sit through the Industrial Relations Court for a whole week and relive what happened to him so WorkCover could sue the company.

“We can’t launch civil action because he doesn’t have less than 15 per cent mobility.

“He’d have to be practically dead for us to be able to take action.

“That’s a fine victory for WorkCover but there was nothing in it for us.”

William Sr said his son’s latest operation should have been his last but complications with the surgery might postpone the signing off of William’s case.

“This operation was to have teeth implanted and that would have been it but they told us there wasn’t sufficient bone in the jaw,” he said.

Campbelltown State Labor MP Graham West said the workers compensation law changes were aimed at stopping lengthy court battles with insurance companies.

“All laws need to be continually reviewed to ensure they are working,” he said. “This case is a concern and if this man has been held up I will raise this with the minister.”

A spokeswoman from WorkCover said the organisation would look into William’s case if he contacted the WorkCover claims assistance service on 13 10 50.

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02:43 pm, Monday 4 December, 2006

Article from: AAP

A 27-year-old man has died after an altercation on a mine site near Newman in the remote north-east of Western Australia.

The man, who lived in the southern Perth suburb of Spearwood, died at Royal Perth Hospital after being airlifted by the Royal Flying Doctor Service following the incident about 2.15am (WDT) on Sunday.

Police allege he struck his head on the ground after being pushed during an altercation with another man at the Yandi iron ore mine site.

A 21-year-old Forrestfield man was later arrested and charged with grievous bodily harm after police intercepted him about 30km from Mt Magnet.

Police said the charge was likely to be upgraded once a post-mortem examination was completed.

The Forrestfield man was due to appear in Geraldton Magistrate’s Court today.

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