08:54 am, Monday 31 May, 2010

The Cairns Industrial Magistrate Court has fined a company $60,000 when a quad bike accident caused the death of one employee.

The company, which owns a cattle station in Queensland’s far north, pleaded guilty in the Cairns Industrial Magistrates Court on 6 April 2010 to failing to ensure workplace safety.

The Court was told the worker was driving a quad bike when he crashed through the station’s barbed wire fence on 3 October 2008.

The man, who sustained serious head injuries, did not survive the incident.

The Workplace Health and Safety Queensland’s investigation found the failure of the company to ensure that its quad bike operators wore the proper helmets.

In imposing the fine, Industrial Magistrate Joe Pinder considered the fact that the company gave its cooperation throughout the investigation, entered an early guilty plea, and had no prior workplace health and safety prosecutions.

Aside from the fine, the magistrate imposed $5,639.63 investigation costs and $65.40 court costs.

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07:17 am, Monday 31 May, 2010

A man who caused an explosion at work by lighting a cigarette has been fined for violating occupational health and safety laws.

The man pleaded guilty before the Industrial Court to causing the blast at a workplace at West Croydon in Adelaide in June 2007. He was fined $4,000.

The Industrial Court heard the man was confined space.

He used his cigarette lighter, which led to a blast that left two other workers seriously burnt.

Last year, the worker’s employer was fined $30,000 over the same incident.

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08:08 pm, Sunday 30 May, 2010

The South Australian Industrial Relations Court has fined a work method statement in place that keeps people separate from transport machinery.

The company was convicted after pleading guilty to violating section 23 of the Occupational Health, Safety and Welfare Act 1986. It was fined $24,000 by the Court.

The law provides that a business must ensure the means of access to and exit from the workplace are safe.

In August 2007, a 56-year-old delivery driver tripped over a forklift’s tines. The man sustained head injuries as a result.

The court was told the man’s condition had worsened after the accident that he was unable to work anymore.

The court also heard the forklift was on its way out of a cold-room’s curtained doorway. In the course of SafeWork SA’s investigation, it was revealed that forklifts and pedestrians were required to use this common doorway at the worksite.

Industrial Magistrate Stephen Lieschke said the setup created “an unnecessary risk of collision… (which) existed on a daily basis.”

SafeWork SA says the incident is a reminder that there are hazards when people are not separated from working machinery.

“People have been killed and injured at workplaces where such systems have either failed or were non-existent,” Acting Executive Director, Juanita Lovatt said.

“A traffic control system, rigorously and consistently enforced, is a must at all workplaces where machines such as forklifts are operating in close proximity to pedestrians.”

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08:29 am, Wednesday 26 May, 2010

A man has been dragged 20 metres and crushed to death by the tip truck he was driving in Sydney’s northern suburbs on Thursday morning.

According to police, the 54-year-old driver was attempting to detach the back trailer from his tip truck on Brabyn Street at Denistone East when the truck rolled back.

A co-worker tried to pull him out from under the back wheels, to no avail. He then entered the truck’s cabin to stop the vehicle, but couldn’t work out how to operate the brakes.

The man was hauled for 20 metres until the truck came to halt after hitting two parked four-wheel-drives.

According to Eastwood police supervisor Sergeant Gary Lawler, the man suffered massive head injuries.

He was transported to Royal North Shore Hospital where he died.

The Construction Forestry Mining and Energy Union’s Rick Rech said inspection revealed the handbrake was not put on and the truck was not in gear when he got out.

Sergeant Lawler said the driver was on his way to a construction site at Denistone East Public School to deliver landfill.

The site foreman had reportedly asked the driver to unhook the trailer before driving it on to the site. He then parked on a hilltop and went to the back of the truck.

“While he was doing that the truck’s started to roll backwards,” Sergeant Lawler said.

“The [co-worker] attempted to pull him from under the truck but he’s been unable to help him.

“He then ran around to the front cabin and tried to stop the vehicle … [but] not knowing the ins and outs of how you operate a truck he’s been unable to engage the brake system.”

Police and WorkCover NSW are both looking into the incident.

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02:05 pm, Tuesday 25 May, 2010

A truck driver’s union has been critical of the slow response by the Federal Government on a report released 18 months ago.

The union, who is pushing for reforms in the truck-related accidents since the release of the report.

A recent casualty involved a truck driver who crashed his vehicle on the Calder Highway at Wedderburn in May 17.

According to the union’s national assistant secretary, the industry needs a better payment system that discourages risk taking among drivers.

“Fatigue – just like resorting to using artificial stimulants, just like manufacturing entries in log books – they’re all symptoms of a greater problem,” he said.

“That problem is the economic pressure in the industry.”

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01:43 pm, Tuesday 25 May, 2010

WorkCover is pushing to minimise fatigue in long-distance trucking.

WorkCover has launched a campaign in recognition that fatigue is a relevant safety and health risk for the 36,000 NSW truckers.

According to WorkCover, everyone involved in long-distance freight driver, employer, carrier, consignor or consignee.

As part of the campaign, WorkCover staff will visit businesses connected with transporting freight and give guidance materials. WorkCover will also conduct driver awareness days.

The driver awareness days are aimed at informing businesses of good fatigue management practices and how to recognise the signs of fatigue.

For the workplace visits, inspectors will focus on issues such as safety training for drivers, and workers compensation and injury management systems.

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12:58 pm, Tuesday 25 May, 2010

A worker has been killed when he was crushed by a road roller at a property in Clifton Grove.

According to Ambulance Service, the 45-year-old man died by the compactor near Orange in New South Wales central west around 11:00am (AEST) on Friday.

Police said the man was working on the excavation site when the roller tumbled into a large hole.

The man was crushed underneath the machine and died at the scene from his fatal injuries.

WorkCover is looking into the incident.

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12:32 pm, Tuesday 25 May, 2010

Fourteen safety violations were found in the latest round of intensive inspections by WorkSafe at Victoria’s snowfields last week.

Inspectors of the safety body visited Mount Buller, Mount Hotham, Dinner Plains and Falls Creek at a time maintenance and construction works are being done to get ready for the snow season.

According to WorkSafe spokeswoman Charlotte Bull, there is pressure to complete the tasks before the onset of the season.

She notes that her agency is advising businesses and workers not to make shortcuts or take risks.

“At times like this when there’s tight deadlines and lots to do, then companies might be tempted to compromise on health and safety in order to get the job done. So this is really WorkSafe’s way or reminding them, [if] they’re cutting corners, [they are] putting workers at risk,” she said.

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04:31 pm, Monday 24 May, 2010

WorkSafe has released a guidance note on earthmoving equipment being used as a crane.

It serves to inform employers and contractors on the safe use of earthmoving equipment to lift and transport freely suspended loads.

WorkSafe recognises equipment such as mobile crane.

While it proscribes the practice in some applications, the secondary use of earthmoving equipment can be practiced if the proper safeguards and safety procedures are in place.

Among the topics discussed by the guidance note includes the selection of the proper earthmoving equipment, the operator training and competency.

For more information, please visit the WorkSafe website.

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03:56 pm, Monday 24 May, 2010

The Perth Magistrates Court has fined a labour hire firm $30,000 following the death of an employee in a farm accident over a year ago.

The Perth company pleaded guilty to failing to provide a safe workplace as a labour hire provider and causing the death of a worker.

The accident took place at a grain growing farm near Miling in November 2008, where the worker was working alone operating an all-terrain vehicle (ATV). He apparently crashed into a wire gate, and was found the next day by a truck driver.

The man, who was not wearing a helmet, sustained grave head injuries. He died in hospital two days after the incident.

WorkSafe WA Commissioner Nina Lyhne said it is another reminder that labour hire firms had a responsibility to manage risks in the workplace.

“Labour hire companies have an obligation to ensure the workplaces in which they place workers are safe and healthy, something that clearly did not happen in this case,” Ms Lyhne said.

“The court heard that the workers on the farm involved were riding the ATV without wearing helmets as a matter of course, and that the wire gate was difficult to see.

“There had even been a previous incident in which someone had driven into a wire gate. The gate supports had been painted to make them more visible after the previous incident, but they had faded over time.

“The labour hire company that supplied the worker had not visited the farm at any time during the six months the man had been working there to check for hazards, identify risks and consider control measures.

“As a result, the company had no idea that the worker had not been provided with a helmet or that there had been a previous incident involving an unseen gate.

“The fact that the injured worker was not found until the next day should also serve as a reminder that workplaces must have procedures in place for remaining in contact with employees who are working alone, especially in more remote locations.

“Labour hire companies should be aware of the responsibilities they have in ensuring that host workplaces are safe for the labour they send to them.”

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