02:06 pm, Monday 26 July, 2010

The Industrial Relations Court of South Australia has convicted and fined the owner of a defunct scrap metal business over a workplace explosion in 2007.

The former scrap dealer was fined $11,250 on July 22 for violating s19(1) of the Occupational Health, Safety and Welfare Act 1986. The incident left an employee with severe burns to his body.

Industrial Magistrate Michael Ardlie  heard the employee was operating an oxy-cutting equipment to dismantle an air conditioning unit in November 2007.

It was found the air conditioner refrigerant had not been removed from the unit. The explosion occurred when the refrigerant came into contact with the spark of the cutting equipment.

The man, who had been working for the company for only four days, suffered burns to his face, neck, hands and forearms.

The court heard the company did not provide any personal protective equipment other than a pair of rigger gloves. The employee was wearing his own safety sunglasses and other personal protective equipment when the incident took place.

The company has already ceased operations.

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01:18 pm, Monday 26 July, 2010

The suspension of construction work has been lifted at an Adelaide’s desalination plant on Friday following a site safety audit.

Work was suspended after a 35-year-old worker died at the site on July 16. The use of a soft sling lift has been blamed for the death of the worker.

The man was hit by a steel beam after the soft sling holding it snapped.

Project managers and three unions conducted a joint audit and identified around 300 safety issues that needed attention.

Unions said other issues include scaffolding, blocked pathways and rubbish build-up.

Improvements are being made on the safety issues identified. Darren Roberts from the construction union said workers appreciate that the problems are being addressed.

However, he said it is a tragedy a worker had to die for the safety concerns to be emphasised.

“It’s the most despicable aspect of our industry, it’s high risk,” he said.

Circumstances surrounding the worker’s death are still being investigated.

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08:07 am, Friday 23 July, 2010

A man has been killed in an industrial shed explosion in Mackay on Wednesday.

Emergency services received several calls after the blast in Len Shield St, Paget, in north Queensland, at 2.38pm.

The man was found dead when emergency crews arrived at the aluminium fabrication business site.

According to a police spokesperson, the deceased had been working on a boat with other men when the incident took place. He said no one else was hurt.

The Queensland Fire and Rescue Service (QFRS) said before the explosion occurred, the group was performing welding work on a boat’s fuel tank.

QFRS area director Steve DePinto said the explosion “ripped through the roof of the building and there was debris over a fairly large area’’.

“It was quite a violent explosion and there was a subsequent fire that had to be extinguished in the aluminium boat.’’

The blast caused extensive damage to the industrial building.

Workplace Health and Safety investigators are looking into the industrial accident.

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12:50 pm, Thursday 22 July, 2010

A man has been crushed by a 25kg rock while performing trench work near Narellan in Sydney’s southwest yesterday.

The 40-year-old man was laying pipes at a Camden Valley Way site at Smeaton Grange when the boulder fell on him around 7.45am.

Fire, ambulance and police crews worked together to free the man from the 4-metre trench.

The rescue team finally pulled the man out from under the boulder around 9.40am. He sustained serious injuries to his spine and pelvis.

“The man was struck by a large rock and couldn’t move. He was freed and rushed to hospital in a serious condition,” an ambulance spokesman said.

According to fire brigade spokesman Steve Hayes, freeing the man quickly was a result of a great team effort.

“It was difficult to remove him because of the nature of his injuries,” he said

“We had to lift him out vertically after he had been stabilised and packaged by the ambulance staff, and the police helped with the pulley.

“It was a great effort by everyone and a great result.”

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12:25 pm, Thursday 22 July, 2010

A mobile crane has burst in flames after falling from a bridge near Collinsville on Tuesday.

The crane driver has gotten out of the equipment in the nick of time before becoming engulfed by the fire.

The 44-year-old Bowen man sustained head lacerations due to the accident.

The crash, which happened in the early hours of the morning, incinerated the crane and caused damage to Jack Philps Bridge.

The accident blocked both lanes of the Bowen Developmental Rd until around 2pm, when one lane was opened. Both lanes were cleared for traffic after 5.30pm.

A contractor who had been driving in front of the crane went back to the scene after hearing about the incident.

“He should be dead. How he got out, I don’t know,” he said.

“It looks to me like he’s hit the bridge and speared down the embankment and it caught on fire. He’s dropped about four metres.

“He’s got a gash in the back of his head … he must have copped a fair thump.”

He noted the bridge did not have a good approach.

“It doesn’t surprise me this has happened. I’d say he’s met another vehicle on the bridge and its gone from there,” he said.

“He was driving a 20 tonne mobile crane to the Sonoma coal mine just west of Collinsville.

“The roof of the cab has been torn away from its mounting and the crane’s boom is inside the cab.”

The man was transported to Collinsville Hospital with what was to treat what was initially believed to be minor injuries.

RACQ-CQ Rescue assessed the man’s injuries before taking him to Townsville Hospital.

According to spokeswoman Leonie Hanson, they decided to seek further medical treatment due to the driver’s head injury.

“The doctor was particularly concerned about lacerations to the back of the man’s head,” she said.

“The doctor was unsure of the extent of the head injury and thought he was better off in a better equipped facility.”

The first fire crews who responded to the scene saw the crane being covered in flames. They failed to put out the fire because they did not have sufficient water.

“A grass fire had also started and because we didn’t have enough water to get the crane fire out we got the grass fire under control,” a Queensland Fire and Rescue spokeswoman said.

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08:11 am, Thursday 22 July, 2010

The South Australian Industrial Court has fined a leading mining company following the death of a worker at its South Australian mine.

The company pleaded guilty to failing to maintain a safe workplace. It was also ordered to pay compensation to the worker’s family.

The incident occurred at the Olympic Dam mine in SA’s far north in 2007 when a 75kg fibreglass nozzle fell from a crane onto the the worker.

The court was told the premises should have been vacated when the incident occurred.

The magistrate pointed out the lack of communication as cause for the tragic accident, but noted the subsequent changes made to prevent any recurrence.

The court set the fines at $76,000 and the compensation to the deceased worker’s family at $20,000.

The company said it fully accepts the court’s decision, and vows to learn from the accident to make sure it won’t happen again.

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09:32 am, Wednesday 21 July, 2010

A 13-year-old boy suffered serious injuries after being crushed by a tractor at Landsborough on Thursday.

Reports said he was run over by the tractor’s front tyre in Hapgood Road at the Sunshine Coast around noon.

According to a Department of Community Safety spokeswoman, the boy was conscious and breathing when emergency crews arrived at the scene.

He is believed to have suffered pelvic and hip injuries, the spokeswoman said.

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08:41 am, Wednesday 21 July, 2010

Recent accidents at mines in north Queensland highlight the importance of meeting workplace safety needs, a trade union says.

The Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) held its 25th annual safety conference in Mackay last week to discuss the concerns of mine workers and the development of better safety training.

Operations at two mines near Moranbah in north Queensland were stopped temporarily in the past month after workers suffered injuries in separate equipment-related accidents.

According to CFMEU district union inspector Greg Dalliston, the conference would discuss important issues such as chemical exposure, gas monitoring and shuttle car safety.

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01:36 pm, Tuesday 20 July, 2010

A man has suffered serious internal injuries following a tractor incident at Japoonvale, south of Innisfail, on Wednesday.

The incident happened around 12.30pm on Warrakin Road in far north England, where it is believed the 59-year-old man was run over by a tractor.

He was transported to the Innisfail Hospital.

Workplace Health and Safety officials are looking into the incident.

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01:09 pm, Tuesday 20 July, 2010

Work at 27 wharves has resumed on Wednesday after workers staged 24-hour stop work action the day before.

The Maritime Union of Australia (MUA) has called a 24-hour walk-off at wharves across the country after the death of a wharf worker on July 13.

The 41-year-old Merlbourne man was killed during pick-up and delivery operations at a dock in West Melbourne.

According to authorities, the worker was crushed to death by a 2.7-tonne steel beam as it was being lifted by a crane.

The walk-off was brought about by concern on worker safety as the July 13 incident was the third dock worker fatality in five months.

MUA said the shutdown also aimed to underscore the need for improved government regulation and enforcement and worker training.

MUA’s Paddy Crumlin said conditions need to change.

“We need to start getting some commitments off people that they’re going to fix this,” he said.

“That we’re going to have a single safety standard in this country, we’re going to have a single point of enforcement. That there is going to be training, that there’s not going to be casualisation and short cuts on labour at the expense of people’s lives.”

A spokesman for the West Melbourne dock operator said the company was investigating the cause of the incident and that counseling is being offered to its workers.

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