07:38 am, Tuesday 31 March, 2009

Source: Sydney Morning Herald

Two plumbers remain in hospital, one in a critical condition, after a gas explosion on the 29th floor of an apartment block in Sydney’s eastern suburbs yesterday.

The men, aged 22 and 20, received serious facial and hand burns in the blast, which ripped apart walls on the 29th floor of the unit block on Spring Street, Bondi Junction, about 12.40pm.

It is believed the explosion was caused by a ruptured gas pipe in the eastern tower above Bondi Junction’s Eastgate shopping complex.

Most of the 200 or so residents evacuated yesterday were allowed back into their units overnight.

But police warned the building would have little or no power, water or gas supply for at least the next three days.

Lifts would not work for at least a week. Residents would have to use the stairwell off Spring Street, police said.

Residents from the first 24 floors were allowed to go back into their units last night after police declared them safe.

Floors 25 to 29 remained a crime scene, police said. Residents from those floors were given emergency accommodation.

While police investigate what caused the explosion, the 22-year-old man is fighting for his life in Concord Hospital after being left with burns to 40 per cent of his body.

The 20-year-old received burns to 20 per cent of his body and is in a serious condition in Royal North Shore Hospital, police said.

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07:46 am, Monday 30 March, 2009

WorkSafe WA has issued a safety alert on the importance of adequately guarding power take-offs (PTOs) following the occurance of a number of injuries.

According to WorkSafe WA, guarding or shielding the moving parts of any machinery is crucial, but PTOs are an area of particular concern, particularly in the farming industry.

A PTO allows a farmer to harness the power of a tractor engine to drive a variety of machines.

It is common for clothing and body parts to become caught in unguarded rotating shafts. These incidents can result in serious injury, such as amputations.

Three different guards are required for PTOs in order to make all the moving parts safe. These include guards on the power output coupling, the implement power input coupling and the power take-off shaft.

WorkSafe says the guards must meet the relevant Australian Standard and be the correct size and length for the application.

The following additional safety measures should be taken when working with PTO equipment:

• disengaging the power drive;
• stopping the tractor engine;
• ensuring controls are in neutral and the hand brake is applied;
• removing the engine key;
• wearing clothing with no loose ends or strings to catch on or be caught by the machinery;
• keeping long hair under a cap or tied back to prevent it from being caught by the machinery;
• checking guards regularly for wear and damage; and
• repairing or replacing damaged or missing guards.

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07:38 am, Monday 30 March, 2009

The Queensland Department Of Mines And Energy has issued a safety alert following a number of incidents involving man baskets separating from machines and crashing to the ground, injuring passengers on board.

The two most recent incidents cited by the Department, one of which was fatal, were inUnderground Mines.

According to the safety alert, both incidents involved a Failure Of Locking Devices in the host machines, such as Front End Loaders, which caused the man basket to detach and fall to the floor.

The machines were fitted with a quick hitch type mechanism which allows for the interchange of components. In both instances, the manually operated mechanisms were not locked in place, allowing the man basket to detach and fall.

A number of front end loader models allow a man basket to be attached either on the forks or in place of the bucket.

In many cases, locking the man basket in place only relies on a procedure where the operator checks to ensure the locking mechanism has been activated, either hydraulically or manually.

Mine managers should review the procedures that control attaching the man basket and ensuring positive locking, and also review training materials to treat security of the locking mechanism as a critical task during personnel lifting operations.

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07:31 am, Monday 30 March, 2009

Earlier this month, the Australian Safety And Compensation Council released its annual Compendium of Workers’ Compensation Statistics for 2006-07.

The report provides a detailed analysis of compensated work-related injury and disease among Australian employees.

This is the sixteenth report released as part of the Compendium series.

Preliminary data showed that in 2006-07, there were 236 compensated fatalities, which equates to 2.5 fatalities per 100,000 employees.

While the number of fatalities has decreased by 21% over the period from 2000-01 to 2005-06, there was little change in the number of fatalities in 2004-05 (255 fatalities) and 2005-06 (254 fatalities) demonstrating a decline in the rate of improvement.

The Construction Industry recorded the highest number of fatalities at 50, followed by the Transportand storage industry with 45 fatalities, then manufacturing with 36 and property and business services with 15.

The data also revealed there were 132,055 serious workers’ compensation claims in Australia in 2006-07, which equates to 14 serious workers’ compensation claims per 1000 employees.

Over the period 2000-01 to 2005-06, the number of serious claims decreased 6% from 144,740 claims to 136,575.

The most common injuries resulting in serious claims were:

• Sprains and strains of joints and adjacent muscles – 41.1% of all serious claims;

• Fractures – 8.4% of all serious claims;

• Open wounds (not involving traumatic amputation) – 8.4% of all serious claims; and

• Disorders of muscle, tendons and other soft tissues – 7.1% of all serious claims.

Other key findings include that men accounted for 68 per cent of all serious workers’ compensation claims with incidence rates almost twice that of women.

The results demonstrate the need for better Procedures And Policies to be implemented in the approach to current regulatory efforts to improve safety performance. “Even one work-related death is one too many,” said Bill Scales, Australian Safety and Compensation Council chairman.

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07:22 am, Monday 30 March, 2009

According to the Office Of The Federal Safety Commissioner (OFSC), building companies who wish to retain their OH&S accreditation under the Australian Government Building and Construction OHS Accreditation Scheme (Scheme) need to get reaccredited.

Accreditation under the Scheme lasts for up to three years, with the first accreditations due to expire at the end of 2009.

The reaccreditation process will involve the Building And Construction companies submitting an application to the OFSC.

The OFSC says companies should apply for reaccreditation well in advance of the expiry dates. All applications will be subject to a desktop assessment and an On-Site Audit.

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07:16 am, Monday 30 March, 2009

Source: The Townsville Bulletin

A massive explosion in a bitumen silo at the Bohle Industrial Estate yesterday morning was all boom and no bite.

The explosion, which happened in one of eight 60,000 litre bitumen silos at the Pioneer Road Services Pty Ltd complex on Enterprise Rd at 7.40am, blasted the roof from the silo and sent a cauldron of black smoke and flames hurtling skywards.

No one was injured in the blast which blew out the sides of the silo and sent its heavy, Metal roof flying through the air to land on top of an adjacent shed.

Pioneer Road Services executives would not comment on the incident yesterday, but Ken Beasley from Queensland Fire and Rescue Service said the explosion was most likely caused by kerosene which was being used as a cleaning agent in the bitumen silos.

He said the silo had been emptied of bitumen and was being cleaned before being refilled with a new batch of product.

Both Mr Beasley and Townsville Fire Station Officer Alun Williams said the Cleaning Procedureinvolved running kerosene through the pipes and inside the silo in order to break down any remaining bitumen residue.

Mr Williams said it was thought that for some reason the kerosene reached ignition point and set off the  explosion.

He said the cleaning process was fully automated which meant there was no human activity in the vicinity of the silo.

“Fortunately it was one of those places where there are not many workers required,” he said.

Mr Beasley said crews had the fire under control at 8.15am.

He said that heat generated by the blaze had caused temperatures to rise in adjacent silos and in order to prevent a chain reaction of explosions they were put under the hoses until their inside temperatures reached manageable limits.

“There was a lot of heat in the other tanks and we cooled them down and we will continue to monitor them until we’re sure they’re safe,” he said.

A spokesman from Workplace Health And Safety Queensland said officers were investigating the cause of the accident.

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07:31 am, Friday 27 March, 2009

Source: Manufactures Monthly

A waste management company has acknowledged the potential impact of a Workplace Health And Safety failings telling a magistrate contracts worth millions of dollars would be jeopardised if it was convicted.

Barry Bros Specialised Services pleaded guilty last week to one charge of failing to provide andMaintain A Safe System Of Work before Melbourne Magistrate Felicity Broughton.

The company was charged with having unsafe systems of work after a High-Pressure Cleaning Hose and restraining device failed during routine cleaning in the Burnley Tunnel on 3 June 2006.

A nearby employee of another company received serious leg injuries in the incident.

Barry Bros General Manager, Steven Pewtress, told the court a conviction would affect its capacity to tender for public sector work, which accounted for half its $50-million turnover.

WorkSafe argued that a conviction was warranted as the use of high-pressure hoses had inherent dangers and that having chosen to conduct such a business Barry Bros was responsible for ensuring work was conducted safely.

Barry Brothers was not convicted, but was fined $60,000. Magistrate Broughton said the firm took outstanding steps to improve safety after the incident, had demonstrated remorse and been of good character since it began in 1958.

Had it not pleaded guilty, she said, the company would have been convicted and fined it $80,000.

Barry Brothers operates in Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland and South Australia and was contracted by another company to carry out high pressure pipe cleaning services to flush drainage pipes under the Burnley Tunnel in Melbourne.

It engaged a third company, Total Gas Care Pty Ltd to use Closed Circuit Television to check the drains after which Barry Brothers’ employees would clean them.

The CCTV operator was a deemed employee of Barry Brothers.

A fitting connecting a high pressure water line to a control valve failed as did a device to restrain the high pressure water line during the water-jetting process.

The water line whipped around in an uncontrolled way hitting the CCTV operator’s lower left leg causing serious injuries, including a 15 centimetre wide open wound and a broken tibia. His other leg was also hurt.

Had Barry Brothers complied with the Australian Standard which requires an exclusion zone when operating high-pressure cleaning equipment and inducted the injured worker, the injury would not have happened.

WorkSafe’s Executive Director John Merritt said that particularly in tightening economic times safety had to be a priority.

“It is an investment in the future and a fundamental part of doing business.

“If you don’t, as was said in this case, your business is at risk. Financial penalties imposed by the courts are only a small part of the financial impact that injuries and deaths create.

“It doesn’t matter if the people affected by your work are direct employees, contractors, other people working nearby or members of the public. Safety obligations are clear and have been in place, largely unchanged, for decades.

“Making safety improvement after the event is better than nothing, but not much consolation for the person who’s been hurt or their family.”

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07:09 am, Thursday 26 March, 2009

Source: Sydney Morning Herald

Police say four men are lucky to be alive after a Load Of Steel Fell from a Crane, killing their colleague, in the NSW Hunter Valley last night.

A 34-year-old Campbelltown man died when four lengths of steel came loose from a crane and fell onto his work crew as they positioned a section of rail on a coal line near Telarah, a suburb of Maitland, about 11pm.

Four other men were seriously injured and one of them lost his leg, but Hunter Valley police said the incident could have been much worse.

“This is a very sad situation because somebody has actually been killed and the fact that four other workers were injured,” acting Inspector Glenn Blain said.

“They were lucky that it wasn’t worse in terms of people that were killed.”

He would not comment on why the steel came loose but said WorkCover NSW and the rail line operator were investigating.

The men, all Abigroup subcontractors, had a 72-hour window to complete their job, which was to construct a spur leading off the rail line, acting Inspector Blain said.

A WorkCover NSW spokesman said the crane was moving some steel when four lengths came loose and fell onto the workers.

“One man is dead and another man lost a leg.”

One of the four men seriously injured spent 45 minutes trapped by compression under a piece of the steel, a NSW Ambulance spokesman said.

He and another man, who were aged 47 and 33, were flown to Newcastle’s John Hunter Hospital with multiple injuries. A hospital spokeswoman said both men were in a serious but stable condition.

Two other men, aged 19 and 48, were taken by road ambulance to hospital. Both were treated for leg injuries and were in a stable condition, the spokeswoman said.

The man operating the crane has been interviewed by police, while detectives, forensic officers and WorkCover NSW representatives investigated the scene. Police will prepare a report on the man’s death for the coroner.

“The deepest sympathies of Abigroup and all its employees are with the workers and the families at this time,” Abigroup managing director David Jurd said in a statement.

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06:59 am, Thursday 26 March, 2009

Throughout the month of April, WorkSafe WA will target the presence of Dusts, Fumes And Fibres In Workplaces.

According to WorkSafe, dusts, fumes, and fibres are responsible for a significant number of illnesses and deaths.  The health effects of exposure to these airborne substances are often not felt until much later.

Many of these substances are combustible and can cause catastrophic explosions.

Inspectors will assess if hazardous or combustible substances are present in the workplace. If so, the inspectors will seek to identify, assess and control them.

The safety authority will be targeting Asbestos, laundry powders, diesel exhaust fumes, wood dust, flour and grain dust and silica. Industries to be inspected include automotive repairs, cleaning and laundry services, Construction, manufacturing, Cabinet Making and Food And Agriculture.

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06:45 am, Thursday 26 March, 2009

WorkSafe is investigating the injury of two men in a Chemical Accident earlier this week at a leather factory in Geelong.

A 32-year-old man suffered burns to his face while another male employee experienced breathing difficulties.

The incident occurred when two incompatible chemicals were mixed together during a treatment process for cattle hides.

The chemicals reacted and burned the man who was mixing them.

The mistakenly man put 200ml of potassium dithiocarbonate into a bucket, rather than sodium chloride.

He realised he had made a mistake, so added sodium chloride to the bucket, causing an explosion.

There were about 15 people working in the area at the time. One other man suffered breathing difficulties.

The burned man was from a labour hire firm. It’s believed he wasn’t wearing a safety mask.

WorkSafe is examining whether there was proper supervision and Training and use of Personal Protection.

The company has since made safety improvements in relation to separation of chemicals and intends to train people on the use of chemicals.

The area was made safe by washing away the spill with water.

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