07:59 am, Monday 18 February, 2008

Source: Adelaide Now

WORKCOVER payouts to injured workers are about to be cut by the Rann Government.

The move comes   more than a year after the controversial cuts were  recommended by the group’s board.

A report into WorkCover by financial expert Alan Clayton is before Cabinet and about to be released, with business and economic experts saying cutting benefits is the only way to reduce WorkCover’s rapidly growing liabilities.

It is understood the report recommends reducing payments, with a senior Labor source saying unions will be told “they will just have to eat it”.

The liabilities are now at $849 million but there is widespread speculation they could top $1 billion by the end of the year.

The Government wants legislation to reform the current scheme before Parliament by the middle of this year.

Business and economic experts have told The Advertiser there are few options for the Government other than reducing benefits.

Business and the Opposition say the review has taken “far too long” and Liberal industrial relations spokesman Duncan McFetridge said yesterday the Government was “tearing itself apart” over the recommendations.

He also is accusing the Government of delaying the decision during a federal election year in which workers’ rights was a dominant issue.

At the same time, another report, prepared for the University of SA by compensation expert and economist Dr Kevin Purse, has found moves aimed at saving WorkCover money by outsourcing compensation claims management have failed.

WorkCover compo to be cut1 “““”””The Government is under extreme pressure from employers, and the WorkCover board, to bring in changes to lower premiums, rein in administration expenses and reduce employer levy rates to between 2.25 and 2.75 per cent.

In November, 2006, the board recommended cutting benefits but the Government ordered another review by financial experts Alan Clayton and John Walsh.

Industrial Relations Minister Michael Wright told Parliament last week the unfunded liabilities of WorkCover were now $849 million – up from $694 million in mid-2006.

Dr Purse’s report says outsourcing claims management was supposed to save 15 per cent a year in costs. He says that while the number of claims fell by nearly 13,000 between 1995 and 2007, administration costs blew out by $75 million.

His report also says WorkCover has been hurt by a high turnover of claims managers, a “conspicuous deterioration” in the corporation’s financial performance, and the level of service to injured workers.

Business SA director of employer advocacy programs David Frith said SA’s scheme was the worst performing in the country.

A South Australian Centre for Economic Studies report prepared in December shows the cost of workers’ compensation to the state’s employers rose by 5.4 per cent in 2006-07 compared with a fall in every other state and territory. The report said SA had risen “to the top of the league ladder” for compensation costs.

Mr Frith said injured workers were not returning to work soon enough because current legislation did not provide the incentives needed to get injured workers rehabilitated.

Business SA has recommended incremental reductions of weekly benefits to employees, cutting off benefit payments at 104 weeks based on an employee’s capacity to work, reducing the maximum weekly benefit payment to 125 per cent of average weekly earnings, reducing an employer’s obligation to provide re-employment from 12 to six months and limit employer liability for significant disabilities not related to employment.

“We expect the Clayton-Walsh report to contain some of these recommendations,” Mr Frith said.

The WorkCover board had proposed cuts to workers’ entitlements such as reducing weekly income maintenance payments, capping entitlements to medical expenses, limiting solicitors’ capacity to charge injured workers and ceasing maintenance until disputes were resolved with any arrears paid to the worker where the dispute was resolved in favour of the worker.

Mr Wright said yesterday the Clayton report would be given thorough consideration but the Government was absolutely committed to providing a scheme which struck the right balance between the rights and needs of workers, employers and the WorkCover corporation.

He said any changes to the scheme would be aimed at getting people better and back to work faster while at the same time reducing costs to employers.

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04:25 pm, Sunday 17 February, 2008

Source: The Age

A GRIEVING Melbourne man is suing his late fiancee’s employers, claiming that their negligence contributed to her murder — and to his subsequent pain, suffering and depression.

Ken Chan, 49, alleges that the death of his fiancee, West Melbourne computer shop employee Juan “Joanne” Zhang, “was caused by and contributed to by (her company’s) breach of the duty of care it owed to her”.

In a statement of claim before the County Court, Mr Chan describes how he developed a serious heart problem, post-traumatic stress disorder and nervous shock after Ms Zhang was murdered by a colleague.

The 35-year-old was stabbed by computer technician Yiwen Pan, 26, as she walked alone to her car carrying the day’s takings of $9100 on May 18, 2006. Ms Zhang was taking the money to her employers’ Notting Hill premises when Pan, a problem gambler, struck.

After stabbing Ms Zhang up to 60 times, Pan bundled his victim, still alive, into the boot of her own car and drove it to a street in St Kilda. After her cries for help subsided, and Pan was satisfied that Ms Zhang was dead, he went to the casino, where he spent four hours losing about $3300 of his haul.

Ms Zhang’s body was not found for five days, during which time Mr Chan desperately searched for her. He had been told that hair and blood had been found at her work car park and was told by police to expect the worst.

Mr Chan’s lawyer, Slater and Gordon’s Adam Hill, said that it would be alleged that the negligence of Ms Zhang’s employers, Computers & Parts Land Pty Ltd, brought about or contributed to her eventual death.

“But for their allowing an untrained person to carry a large amount of cash, her death would not have occurred,” Mr Hill said.

In his statement of claim, Mr Chan alleges that his fiancee’s employers failed to employ suitably trained security people to transport money between premises, failed to have Ms Zhang accompanied by another staff member, failed to provide her with a distress alarm, failed to implement WorkSafe cash-in-transit guidelines, and permitted the details of the amount of money that Ms Zhang was carrying to be known. As a consequence of his fiancee’s death, his statement says, he is claiming damages for the pain, injuries, illness and income loss he has suffered.

According to Mr Hill, the claim has the potential to be a textbook workplace injuries case. He said its circumstances echo a precedent-setting 2002 High Court decision that ruled that the parents of 16-year-old jackeroo James Annetts had the right to sue for “nervous shock” over his death in Western Australia’s Gibson Desert. The teenager’s employer had sent him out, unsupervised, with a 17-year-old colleague, who also perished.

Compensation for “nervous shock” is usually only paid when the sufferer is present at the scene of a workplace death.

The High Court found that James Annetts’ employer, Australian Stations Pty Ltd, owed a duty of care to his parents, Sandra and Leslie Annetts, who had been forced to wait four months for any news of the fate of their son.

OHS NEWS TIP – Cash Handling Safety Procedure

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03:49 pm, Sunday 17 February, 2008

Source: The Herald Sun

STRESSED and injured police officers have racked up $7.3 million in compensation claims in 12 months.

Victorians are paying more than $20,000 a day to foot the bill for police compensation, documents reveal.

Police accumulated 26,004 days of stress and injury leave last year.

And stressed officers account for more than two thirds of 833 WorkCover claims lodged by police last financial year that led to more than $4.1 million in payments.

Documents obtained under Freedom of Information reveal 239 Victorian police took more than 16,550 days off between July 2006 and June last year on stress leave alone. Inner-city cops were by far the state’s most stressed with 78 police taking 5684 days’ compensation leave.

Throughout the state, the average police claim was 31 days off work and $8869.50 in compensation. The average stress claim was 69 days and $17,465.50 in compensation.

In Region 1, which takes in inner-Melbourne suburbs such as St Kilda, Richmond, Prahran, Collingwood, Brunswick and the city, 278 police took 8229 days off in compensation.

Six of 10 individual claims worth more than $70,000 were by Region 1 police. One claim, for more than $93,000, was from an officer who had been off work for 295 days with spinal problems.

Police Association assistant secretary Bruce McKenzie said the claims were the tip of the iceberg with many more police “stressed to the limit” but too proud to seek help.

He said even “hardened, career cops” were breaking down because of post-traumatic stress and injuries after conflicts such as the G20 riots.

Victoria’s police force of about 11,000 lodged 239 stress claims during the period and 444 claims of spinal, joint and muscular injuries.

Opposition Leader Ted Baillieu said police were “crippling under stress”.

“Frontline officers in Melbourne and the country are squeezed between a rising tide of violence and inadequate resources to do their jobs effectively,” he said.

Victoria Police spokeswoman Sen-Constable Sharon Darcy said there had been 12 fewer stress claims last financial year than in 2005-06. Officer safety was a priority, she said.

A spokeswoman for Police Minister Bob Cameron said police numbers would rise by 350 by 2010.

OHS NEWS TIP – Stress and Fatigue Policy

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08:16 am, Thursday 14 February, 2008

Source: The Blacktown Sun

FEARS about asbestos fibres briefly halted storm-damage repair work in Blacktown.

WorkCover ordered a contractor to cease roof repairs on two buildings in Forge Street, Blacktown, until the company improved safety conditions.

On Friday, WorkCover inspectors reported all conditions had been complied with, but that they would continue to monitor the site.

The work suspension followed complaints from Steve Keenan and Sammy Manna, who are work-safety organisers for the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union.

“Workers were at risk, with many operating at heights without harnesses and most working without masks or other safety gear [that would] protect them from inhaling deadly asbestos fibres,” Mr Keenan said.

“Asbestos fibres were also being allowed to blow over neighbouring workplaces, homes and schools.”

A WorkCover spokesman said inspectors found some workers were not using safety harnesses correctly and issued two prohibition notices.

“On the ground there were other workers, working underneath where the asbestos was being removed,” he said. Mr Manna urged contractors and tradespeople to make sure they worked in safe conditions.

“They should not work [with asbestos] unless they have a licence to remove asbestos and they have proper safety equipment,” he said.

OHS NEWS TIP – Asbestos Removal Safe Work Method Statement

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08:02 am, Thursday 14 February, 2008

Source: The Courier Mail

A MAN has died after he was struck by his own tractor on a southern New South Wales farm, police have reported.

Colin Rynehart, 51, was run over and killed at about 9am today in an apple orchard at Old Tumbur, Batlow, south-east of Wagga Wagga, police said.

Mr Rynehart, a local man, had been driving the tractor loaded with fruit bins full of apples around the property and had just delivered a load of fruit to the packing shed when the incident occurred.

Inspector Steve Lowe of Cootamundra police said Mr Rynehart was seen to drive out of sight behind a row of trees when witnesses heard a loud noise and a yell of pain.

Farmworkers told police they then saw a driverless tractor rolling down the hill, he said.

“(They) ran to the aid of the driver and he was found still conscious,” Insp Lowe told AAP.

“He told the people there the tractor had run over him.”

A rescue helicopter with paramedics raced to the property, but the man had suffered serious injuries to his spine, abdomen and internal organs and died at the scene.

Police established a crime scene and notified WorkCover of the incident, who later attended for an inspection.

Police scientists examined the tractor, which was taken away for further mechanical scrutiny, and detectives interviewed farm staff.

“It’s just a tragic accident in the workplace,” Insp Lowe said.

A report will be prepared for the coroner.

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07:14 am, Thursday 14 February, 2008

Source: Parramatta News

When they picked up their lunches and walked out the door today, some workers had less chance of coming home than others.

New Federal Government figures show your choice of occupation significantly affects the probability that you will be killed at work, with blue-collar jobs heading the most-dangerous list.

Miners, agricultural workers and those working in transport run a greater risk of meeting their end on the job, data from the Australian Safety and Compensation Council shows.

But if you work in finance, you can breathe easy. The profession is the safest of those studied.

And even in high-risk industries, adhering to safety protocols can reduce the risk to a minimum. “Mining and construction are inherently dangerous,” says Lindsay Fraser, assistant national secretary of the Construction Forestry Mining and Energy Union. “You can have mine failures like at Beaconsfield. It is dangerous, but if everything is done to the book, then it’s not.”

The council’s Statistical Report Notified Fatalities for 2006-07 shows the overall number of workplace deaths has increased since it began compiling figures in 2004; 162 people died in the past financial year, up 16 per cent from four years earlier.

The construction sector recorded 28 deaths, followed by agriculture, forestry and fishing (27), transport and storage (27), manufacturing (18) and mining (14). Those five industries accounted for 70 per cent of all workplace deaths.

Miners were the most at risk, with 8.8 workers killed per 100,000 on the job in 2006-07.

At the other end of the list are finance workers, none of whom have been killed at work since statistics have been compiled. Health and community service workers and communications services workers also recorded a zero death rate in the past financial year.

While the figures show a rise in overall deaths, experts say it is unlikely workplaces are becoming less safe.

The chief executive of the National Safety Council of Australia, Colin Seery, says although one death is one too many, he does not believe the figures in the report are cause for alarm. “If you drill down into the numbers and the changes, there are other factors [involved],” he says. “Look at the number of workers in the workforce. We don’t believe there has been a rise since 2004.”

The report also shows jobs that involve driving or operating machinery are statistically the most dangerous, vehicle accidents causing 30 deaths. Being hit by moving objects killed 29 people, as did being hit by falling objects, followed by falls from a height (28) and contact with electricity (13). Perhaps not surprisingly, tradespeople account for 37 deaths, and labourers 26. More than 90 per cent were men.

Steve Irwin’s fatal mishap with a stingray is also included. Along with two stuntmen, a jockey and two horse trainers, and a parks worker hit by a falling tree branch, Irwin’s death took the number in the cultural and recreational industry to a record high of seven.

Older workers are not so lucky. Although most deaths occur in the 34 to 44 age group, also the largest demographic in the workforce, those aged 55 years are over-proportionally represented at 41 per cent of deaths.

The program leader at agricultural sector safety body Farm Safe, John Temperley, says as the farming population ages, workers become less agile and are at increasing risk of being run over.

He believes the ASCC’s 2006-07 figure of 27 agricultural deaths is too low. Differing figures between Farm Safe and the ASCC could be explained by deaths being reported to police instead of occupational health and safety authorities. “It’s more like 90 a year,” he says.

It’s not just those on the job who are at risk, but also bystanders. Of the 162 workplace deaths reported in 2006-07, 16 were bystanders.

Industry Comparisions

Deaths per 100,000 workers:

Mining: 8.8

Agriculture, forestry and fishing: 6.4

Transport and storage: 5.3

Construction: 3.5

Personal and other: 2.3

Recreational services: 2.1

Government administration and defence: 1.6

Manufacturing: 1.4

Electricity, gas and water: 1.2

Wholesale trade: 0.4

Property and business: 0.3

Retail: 0.2

Accommodation, cafes etc: 0.2

Education: 0.1

Finance: 0

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02:12 pm, Wednesday 13 February, 2008

Source: The Esperance Express

A YOUNG Canadian woman was seriously injured in a farm accident 120km west of Esperance last Wednesday.

The woman, 19, was a backpacker who had only been working on the property for three weeks before the accident occurred.

It is understood that her sleeve was caught when she reached across a power take-off shaft, causing her right arm to be amputated between the shoulder and the elbow.

The Hopetoun police were advised about the accident Wednesday evening but the Munglinup Ambulance had already left the Springdale Road property by the time the police arrived at the scene.

The woman was flown by the Royal Flying Doctor Service to Royal Perth Hospital, where she has since twice undergone surgery.

A Royal Perth spokesperson said that the surgery had gone well and that the woman is in a stable condition.

Worksafe is investigating the accident and an inspector arrived at the property Thursday afternoon.

The young woman involved will be interviewed once her condition allows.

It is expected that a Worksafe inspector will return to the property at a later date to conduct interviews with those first on the scene.

There were no witnesses to the accident.

OHS NEWS TIP – Power Take Off Safety Procedures

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11:46 am, Wednesday 13 February, 2008

Source: ACA

An investigative report seeking to uncover the health risks of carwash reclaim water has sparked response from one water reclaim manufacturer and also the Australian Car Wash Association (ACWA).

Channel Nine’s A Current Affair is a nightly tabloid program, made popular by sensationalist journalism. The program tested samples gathered at 10 carwashes in Brisbane, Australia, for six kinds of waterborne bacteria, including E. Coli.

According to the results of the testing, bacteria levels varied anywhere from ten times to almost a million times higher than what is expected of fresh, drinking water. The program said nine of the ten carwashes showed levels of bacteria that could potentially cause risk to the health of carwash patrons and employees.

Samples for the test were gathered out of the hose in self-serve wash bays or by using concealed containers attached to the car in automatic or hand wash facilities.

The program did not speak with anyone who had been made sick by reclaim water, nor did it cite any numbers of those who might have been affected by reclaimed water so far. It did interview a carwash employee to establish risk to staff members at hand carwashes.

As previously reported by Professional Carwashing & Detailing, drought restrictions across Australia mean the public cannot wash their vehicles at home and must use professional carwashes. Many of these carwashes use reclaimed water to lessen their impact on the drought.

The program interviewed a supplier of carwash reclaim systems, who said his reclaim system could not keep up with all of the bacteria that could multiply in carwash water. A carwash operator told the program he only used reclaimed water in the automatic bay of his self-serve carwash in order to reduce risk to the public.

In a response broadcast after the report, the Australian Car Wash Association said it is working with Australia’s Workplace Health and Safety to develop a code of practice for the use of recycled water in carwashes.

According to Greg Boston, past president of the ACWA and now a state representative, the association is uncertain as to what initiated the TV report.

“The general opinion amongst operators is that it had little impact on the public and didn’t necessarily result in the over dramatized outcome the media may have liked. Prior to this report we have had dialogue with the Queensland Department of Workplace Health and Safety regarding the safe use of reclaim water in carwashes,” Boston wrote in an e-mail to PC&D.

Boston said the association is carrying out its own research in this area, engaging the services of environmental consultants to conduct research, both qualitative and now quantitative, on identifying any bacteria with risk potential in carwash reclaim water.

“Our investigations indicate there presently is no such information available worldwide. Our goal is to develop some manageable industry guidelines which are acceptable to workplace health and safety authorities nationally,” Boston said.

Clearmake, an Australian manufacturer of industrial water treatment and recycling equipment, also issued a response to the report.

In the Feb. 11 response, Clearmake says it shared concerns raised by Channel 9’s A Current Affair program. Clearmake used the response to specify differences in its reclaim process that would eliminate concerns about bacteria.

The response did not say if any of the 10 carwashes tested in the report used Clearmake equipment.

According to the company, Clearmake is also assisting with the development of an industry code of practice, including a set of water testing standards to be met when using recycled water in commercial and industrial wash down applications.

OHS NEWS TIP – Cleaning Safe Work Procedures

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10:20 am, Monday 11 February, 2008

Source: United Press International

A woman is suing a hospital in the Australian city of Ballarat after allegedly finding her miscarried fetus among her personal belongings.

The unidentified woman alleges workers at Ballarat Base Hospital accidentally placed the fetus inside her bag of personal belongings, mere hours after she suffered a traumatic miscarriage, the Melbourne Herald-Sun reported Saturday.

While the hospital would not officially confirm the December incident, Ballarat Health spokesman Luke Mullane did offer the woman the facility’s deepest apologies.

“We are extremely saddened and deeply regret what occurred and feel greatly for the family,” Mullane said.

The Australian hospital has also been targeted by several other lawsuits, including one in which a woman died of excessive bleeding after allegedly being misdiagnosed.

Two other suits involve alleged negligence on the hospital’s part, which resulted in a 11-year-old girl suffering a brain injury and a 34-year-old man suffering a groin injury.

OHS NEWS TIP – Work Place Safe Work Procedures

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11:29 am, Thursday 7 February, 2008

Source: Collie Mail

CONCERNS have been raised that Bluewaters employees could be killed due to low health and safety standards.

This is according to Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) organiser Doug Heath who said the union had a number of concerns about occupational health and safety (OHS) standards in place.

Mr Heath said there were serious concerns workers could be killed on the project unless management lifted its game and took concerns seriously.

“There are concerns in relation to the standard of OHS with a number of incidents where the standards have fallen well short of industry standards,” he said. Griffin Coal executive general manager business development Frederik Suhren said the company would investigate these claims.

“The safety of those employed by Griffin, either directly or indirectly is of the utmost importance to Griffin,” Mr Suhren said. “The concerns raised by the CFMEU are serious and warrant immediate investigation.

“Griffin will cooperate with all parties involved to ensure that the construction of Bluewaters can continue in a safe and timely manner.”

Mr Heath said the issues included a lack of adequate fall protection and the failure to provide a safe environment and workplace.

He said cranes were being erected onsite last week with no exclusion zone, so employees were able to work in close proximity to the crane.

“Any object which falls from the crane while it is being erected has the potential to kill workers in the area below,” he said. “Safety standards are not good enough.”

Mr Heath said there had been quite serious breaches of safety standards and a number of complaints had been reported to WorkSafe. He said there had been ongoing safety concerns over the life of the project since the end of 2006.

“Last month in January, there were four deaths on construction sites with one in WA,” he said.

He said until standards were improved there was potential for deaths to occur onsite. Mr Heath said other problems the CFMEU were dealing with included the employment of local workers and the payment of superannuation. He said workers were coming from interstate to fill jobs that could have been taken by local workers.

Mr Heath also claimed about 70 employees were not paid superannuation at all.

“The main contractor failed to pay superannuation in accordance with the Superannuation Government Act to all workers from June to October last year,” he said.

He said it was a substantial breach of the Act, and action had since been taken by the Australian Tax Office.

“I would say it would be close to $100,000 in superannuation owed, possibly more,” he said.

Mr Suhren did not comment on either of the above claims.

OHS NEWS TIP – Work Place Safe Work Procedures

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