06:00 am, Saturday 18 August, 2007

Source: AAP

HEALTH and safety officials are investigating the death of a Melbourne man believed to have been overcome by fumes while working inside a steel chemical storage tank.

Colleagues of the 42-year-old Werribee man found him slumped inside the tank, which was undergoing maintenance at a worksite in McArthurs Road, Altona North, around 3pm (AEST) yesterday, Worksafe Victoria said.

The watchdog’s executive director John Merritt said the man’s death highlighted the dangers ofworking in confined spaces.

“Limited means of entry and exit, poor ventilation and the presence of toxic gases and vapours all pose serious risks to workers in confined spaces,” Mr Merritt said.

“These are issues for people in agriculture, construction and manufacturing, warehousing, the water industry, even retail.

“It’s not uncommon for incidents to result in multiple fatalities because other workers who are unaware of the risks, or who are attempting a rescue, can also be overcome by toxic vapours or gases or submit to low oxygen levels.”

An investigation into the Werribee worker’s death was still in its early stages, he added.

It’s the 18th work-related death reported to Worksafe Victoria so far this year, equal to the number reported in the same period last year, a Worksafe spokesman said.

OHS NEWS TIP - Confined Spaces Safety Procedure

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05:40 pm, Thursday 16 August, 2007

Souce: AAP

A MAN suing WorkCover and Foti Fireworks has received the green light to go ahead with his case in the NSW Supreme Court.

Dusan Lovric and his wife Todora are suing the workplace safety watchdog and the pyrotechnics giant for negligence over an accident at Foti’s Leppington factory in June 2003.

Mr Lovric, 58, lost nine fingers and suffered burns to 77 per cent of his body when a machine he was working on exploded, leaving him in a coma for six weeks.

His wife claims she suffered psychological trauma as a result of his injuries.

The 2003 blast was the second major incident at the factory in three years, with an employee dying in a blast and fire in August 2000.

WorkCover prosecuted Foti following the accident for breaches of the Occupational Health and Safety Act, issuing the company a series of improvement notices and ordering that work cease at the factory until the measures were implemented.

Mr Lovric alleges Foti continued to manufacture fireworks at the premises whilst “simultaneously and flagrantly disregarding” the improvement orders.

He is suing the company, and also attempting to bring a landmark negligence suit against WorkCover for failing to enforce the recommended improvements to work safety.

WorkCover attempted to have the case against it dismissed and argued there was no reasonable cause of action.

But Justice Ian Harrison today dismissed the application with costs.

“My own view is that the plaintiff will face a significant task in establishing the existence of the duty for which he contends,” Justice Harrison said.

“As far as I can determine, this is a novel case.

“It is difficult to see how the plaintiff could expect to receive favourable answers at all.

“(However) it seems to me that the plaintiff’s contentions support the existence of a reasonably arguable, even if only a very weak, case.”

Were the watershed case to succeed, it would establish a duty of care in the exercise of WorkCover’s statutory functions.

This would extend to an expectation it would take affirmative action to ensure, in circumstances where a serious breach was detected, that improvement notices were complied with.

OHS NEWS TIP: Safety Procedures

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07:00 am, Thursday 16 August, 2007

Source: Fairfax

THE State Rail Authority has been fined $385,000 for workplace safety failings that led to the 2003 Waterfall train disaster.

Seven people were killed and 16 injured when a dead man’s pedal failed to stop the train after its driver collapsed of a heart attack.

In imposing the record fine on a government department, the NSW Industrial Relations Commission found that State Rail Authority management, now known as RailCorp, knew of problems with the foot pedal in their Tangara trains as far back as 1988.

The pedal was supposed to cut power to the wheels and activate the brakes if a driver became incapacitated and removed his or her foot, Justice Patricia Staunton said in her finding.

The commission heard evidence arising from an inquest and inquiry into the disaster on Sydney’s southern outskirts on January 31, 2003.

The driver of the Port Kembla-bound train, Herman Zeides, 53, who died after being flung from his cabin when the accelerating train hit a stanchion, was overweight. Justice Staunton said State Rail had been advised from 1988 that the pedal would remain set if a driver weighed more than 115 kilograms.

The prosecution was launched by the WorkCover Authority of NSW, which charged State Rail with failing to ensure safe work premises and failing to provide adequate information, instruction, training and supervision for its employees. The authority faced a potential maximum fine of $825,000, but Justice Staunton allowed a 25 per cent discount because of its guilty plea. She also took into account the its “genuine effort to rehabilitate itself in relation to overall safety performance”.

But Justice Staunton could not conclude beyond reasonable doubt that if a vigilance control system had been in place, the train would not have derailed.

She said she did not find the defendant had wilfully disregarded its responsibilities, saying it was “mindful of safety but hampered by management inertia” and “protracted decision making on known and significant safety issues that instead required a ready response and decisive action”.

Safety planning “may have been hampered by protracted budgetary considerations”.

“The result was a totally inadequate response to what should have been at the forefront of the defendant’s considerations, which was the running of a rail system underpinned by a rigorous adherence to safety as its paramount consideration.”

The disaster had “galvanised State Rail into action” and it appeared to have “left no stone unturned in addressing its safety responsibilities arising directly from the Waterfall incident”. The foot levers had been removed and a new safety system installed.

The fine is believed to be the largest penalty imposed by the commission in a workplace safety case. In 2005 the commission fined AGL $325,000 after a gas explosion at Kogarah railway station and shopping centre in 1995 which killed two people and injured 16.

A survivor of the derailment, Christiana Gruenbaum, 59, was the last of the injured taken from the wreckage. Her husband, James Ritchie, was killed. She said yesterday the fine was “a drop in the ocean” compared with the heartache and pain caused to many families.

“For a big organisation like the State Rail Authority of NSW, that fine is nothing,” she said.

She added: “State Rail had years and years of knowing about these faults on their trains and they never did anything to fix them.”

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04:16 pm, Wednesday 15 August, 2007

Source: Fairfax

WARRNAMBOOL’S Midfield Meat Processing has been fined $40,000 after a trainee worker chopped off a thumb and three fingers in January last year.

Midfield Meat Processing, a division of the Midfield group of companies, has pleaded guilty in the Warrnambool Magistrates Court to two charges of breaching the Occupational Health and Safety Act.

In imposing the fine, Magistrate Michael Stone said it was a serious accident and the company had failed to protect the welfare and safety of its staff.

Mr Stone said trainee Nelson Kuol had lost function in his hand and in discussing the impact of the injury remarked it was highly unlikely the injured worker would be a successful pianist.

Mr Stone said Midfield had been a good corporate citizen and had an exceptional safety record with no prior convictions.

The company was fined $40,000 without conviction  and ordered to pay $2313.07 costs. The court heard that on January 13 last year Mr Kuol was working with a single-hand hock cutter on sheep carcasses when he chopped off three fingers and a thumb from his left hand.

He was later transported to St Vincent’s Hospital in Melbourne where the fingers and thumb were reattached.

The court heard that Mr Kuol was a trainee who had not been assessed as competent and was working unassisted.

He was removing two hocks simultaneously when the accident occurred.

The court heard the general risk of hock cutters shearing off workers’ body parts was identified during an assessment in 2000.

The hock cutters were estimated to have been used 14 million times at Warrnambool without incident and the risk was estimated as
small.

Midfield is looking at an automatic hock cutting process which would cost $130,000 to install.

“Changes have been made in the workplace in an endeavour to prevent an occurrence such as this from happening again.”Andrew Westlake

The company spent up to $18,000 improving the system after the accident and now uses double-handed hock cutters.

The court heard Midfield had an annual occupational health and safety budget of $145,000.

Midfield Group operations manager Andrew Westlake said the company deeply regretted the accident .

He said the company was grateful that surgeons were able to successfully reattach all of the employee’s fingers.

“Everyone is entitled to come to work each day and go home uninjured,” Mr Westlake said.

“It must always be an employer’s greatest priority.

“Changes have been made in the workplace in an endeavour to prevent an occurrence such as this from happening again.”

Mr Kuol’s injury was assessed at nine per cent and Midfield had assisted with tutorial support, a laptop and internet access. The injured worker is undertaking VCE studies and declined to rejoin the company.

Midfield  has an annual turnover of $200 million and employs more than 500 people.

The company, which took over Bayside Meats in the early 1990s, had no prior convictions for occupational health and safety offences.

OHS NEWS Tip - Hock Cutter Safe Work Procedure

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08:00 am, Wednesday 15 August, 2007

Source: GoldCoast

GOLD Coast nightclubs are likely to be told to turn their music down and their lights up because of serious concerns about health and safety.

A Liquor Licensing source told The Gold Coast Bulletin the organisation had received a report on excessive noise levels at Gold Coast nightclubs highlighting ‘real concerns’ staff and patrons could end up with permanent hearing damage.

Tests have shown many of our nightclubs frequently exceed 110 decibels which overseas studies have shown can damage hearing after 15 minutes exposure a day.

Police licensing officers have also tested a number of Surfers Paradise nightclubs with light meters and found they are well below the minimum Australian standard of 17 lux, the brightness scale used to measure light.

“Some of nightclubs on the Gold Coast have been so far below the standard that their highest reading is 11 lux and even if people don’t really understand this light scale, it is clear how big a difference there is between 11 and 17,” said the source.

Senior Gold Coast police confirmed a noise report had been compiled and sent to Liquor Licensing and they also confirmed light meters had been used in tests at Gold Coast nightclubs recently.

“This is another blow to a Gold Coast industry already beset with a raft of major problems including illegal drug use and sales, bikies’ influence, violence and spiked drinks to name a few,” said a Queensland Government source.

“This time these are health issues, workplace issues that show up the nightclubs for not being anywhere near accepted practice.

“It highlights that in at least some of their work practices, these Gold Coast nightclubs are still in the 1980s and these are real issues that will have to be addressed.”

The police report has recommended nightclubs operate at a maximum level of 96dB.

“The report explained there are accepted medical studies that have been available for some time from the UK showing that three out of four nightclubbers are at risk of permanent hearing damage.” said the source.

“Many of these nightclubbers are reporting symptoms that could lead to incurable tinnitus (continual ringing in the ear) or premature deafness.

“(The report) also touched on some problems encountered by staff and police at some Gold Coast nightclubs with not being able to communicate instructions to patrons because of the extremely loud noise.”

Licensed Venues Association secretary Tom Tate said he would be surprised if there were excessive noise issues at mainstream Gold Coast clubs.

“I can imagine there might be some problems with venues that have high-energy bands, but that would be all,” he said.

“If there are safety issues with poor light, then I won’t argue there, but there surely can be a lighting difference from the dance floor to walkways, so that the right ambience can be maintained.”

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06:00 am, Tuesday 14 August, 2007

Source: AAP

A MIDDLE-AGED Department of Main Roads repairman was crushed to death late last night in a freak accident on the Western Freeway.

Police at the scene said a group of Main Roads workers had been doing routine maintenance on the underside of an overpass on the Western Freeway about 11pm last night when one of two workers in a cherry picker was caught between the device and the overpass.

It is believed the dead man, 56, received fatal crush injuries from being pressed against the overpass when the cherry picker rose unexpectedly, but his colleague was able to escape injury by crouching down into the cherry picker’s bucket.

Acting Inspector Corey Allen said the Main Roads work group was closeknit and had been very shaken by the experience.

Members of the police forensic crash unit and Workplace Health & Safety inspectors are investigating the incident. Safety Procedures

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04:03 pm, Friday 10 August, 2007

Source: AAP

A PORT authority accused of causing lead contamination in a West Australian town could face fines of up to $1 million after being charged with causing pollution with criminal negligence.

The community at Esperance became concerned in January after thousands of mystery bird deaths, believed to have been caused by lead poisoning.

Subsequent testing found 13 residents had high levels of lead from dust escaping during loading of Magellan Metals lead carbonate at the Esperance Port Authority (EPA).

The state’s Department of Environment and Conservation says it has now charged the port “in relation to lead contamination and nickel odour” in Esperance, 731km southwest of Perth.

Charges include one of causing pollution with criminal negligence – which carries a maximum penalty of $1 million.

The port was also charged with failing to notify a chief executive of a discharge that was likely to cause pollution; emitting an unreasonable emission; and causing an emission not in accordance with a licence.

A state parliamentary inquiry examining the lead contamination was told Magellan Metals was not informed lead dust from its product was escaping during the loading process.

OHS NEWS TIP - Environmental Policy

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07:00 am, Friday 10 August, 2007

from Target’s Waurn Ponds store after a fusebox fire yesterday morning.

CFA operations officer Bob Barry said  fire broke out as an electrician was working on a switchboard near the  store about 8.20am.

Mr Barry said a food court and the Target store were clogged with smoke and 30 people, who were mainly Target employees, were evacuated.

Firefighters used fans to remove smoke from the store.

Mr Barry said fire investigators were probing the cause of the blaze and WorkSafe was also involved.
Rural Ambulance Victoria spokesman John Mullen said paramedics were called, as there were initial reports that the worker had been electrocuted and  suffered facial burns.

But the man  suffered just minor burns to his hands and  opted to receive treatment from a GP.

OHS NEWS TIP - Fire & Emergency OHS Policy

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08:00 pm, Thursday 9 August, 2007

Source: AAP

THE Victorian Department of Education today was slapped with an $8000 fine for failing to make an overcrowded teachers’ lunchroom safe.

The small lunchroom at Altona Primary School, in Melbourne’s southwest, was proven to be a risk to teachers and breached occupational health and safety rules, Worksafe Victoria said.

Risks to teachers included scalding from hot drinks, trips and slips, stress and low morale, resulting from a noisy and crowded environment, WorkSafe officials found.

Worksafe Victoria said the education department failed to comply with two improvement notices issued in 2004 and 2005 by health and safety representatives at the school. The department pleaded guilty to the offences.

It is the first time an employer has been found guilty of ignoring a provisional improvement notice placed by an employee, Worksafe Victoria general manager Eric Windholz said.

“Health and safety representatives are a crucial element in making Victorian workplaces safer and when they raise issues of safety, employers must listen and act,” Mr Windholz said.

Mr Windholz said failing to obey the inspectors’ directions was an extremely serious offence.

“It doesn’t matter if it is a manufacturing company, a construction site or a school, safety must be taken seriously,” he said.

“Any company that ignores the directions of an inspector can face fines of more than $250,000.”

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04:00 pm, Wednesday 8 August, 2007

Source: AAP

Almost all of the safety recommendations from an inquiry into the fatal Waterfall train crash have been implemented although compliance had slipped in some.

Seven people were killed when a commuter train crashed at Waterfall, south of Sydney, in 2003.

NSW Transport Minister John Watkins said a quarterly progress report from the Independent Transport Safety and Reliability Regulator (ITSRR) showed that 170 of the 177 recommendations had been verified and closed.

But he said the report to the end of June also had identified some slippage.

“ITSRR felt it necessary to review the state of two recommendations previously claimed for closure relating to RailCorp’s response to incidents,” he said.

“The other slippage relates to inspection of stabled trains.

“The government is keen to get every last recommendation implemented on time but where there is new information that can lead to safer outcomes we should use it.

“That is why we are also conducting a three-month independent safety health check of RailCorp.”

Mr Watkins said progress also had been made in resolving the claims of crash victims.

“All claims involving victims and their families have been either resolved, agreed in principle or are waiting for final settlement to be reached,” he said.

“Two claims by emergency services workers attending the accident remain unresolved and those are both due to appear before the courts.”

The report also showed:

- Two recommendations previously claimed for closure have revised target dates, including one related to automatic train protection, which is being trialled by RailCorp.

- A timetable for the implementation of national communications technical standards has been set for 2010.

- Four recommendations have been referred to the National Transport Commission.

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