07:39 am, Tuesday 19 October, 2010

Only a small percentage of homes insulated under the Federal insulation program have been affected by fire, the Climate Change Department claims.

The Government axed the insulation scheme after it was linked to deaths of four insulation installers and hundreds of house fires.

Martin Bowles of the Climate Change Department told a Senate committee that 197 house fires were found to be caused by faulty installation of insulation.

He said it is an insignificant figure considering that over 1 million houses were insulated under the Federal scheme.

“One hundred and ninety-seven fires roughly equates to less than 0.02 of a per cent, which is significantly less than what we understand to be the long-term average of those sorts of significant fire issues within insulation,” said Mr Bowles.

The Government is currently inspecting 50,000 houses to check the safety of the foil insulation.

Of the homes inspected, 46 per cent had chosen to have the insulation removed, while 40 per cent had safety switches installed.

According to Mr Bowles, 200,000 more home inspections will likely be completed by the end of 2011.

He said it is hard to set an end date for the rest of the homes since the inspection process is still being refined.

According to the Federal Opposition, the Government is not disclosing full information about the extent of the scheme’s problems.

“I find it astounding that in the thick folder of briefings before you, you don’t have any briefings that give us any other feedback about what these inspections have found aside from the 46-40-14 per cent data,” Liberal Senator Simon Birmingham said.

In a statement, the Government said it will not disclose the number of faulty installations uncovered by the inspections, saying it would create “unnecessary apprehension”. Opposition environment spokesman Greg Hunt says the refusal is unjustified.

“The Government’s excuse about hysteria if the true reality of the figure were released under the home insulation program is like the police saying we can’t release crime figures because people would panic,” he said.

“The public deserves the truth, the public can handle the truth.”

On Friday, a report by the auditor-general was released, pointing out areas where the Government had shortcomings about the scheme.

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07:55 pm, Tuesday 29 June, 2010

A Rockhampton firm has been charged by the Queensland’s Justice Department for safety breaches following an investigation into an insulation worker fatality last year.

A 16-year-old worker was working in the electrocuted.

The company is being prosecuted for violating the Electrical Safety Act and for its alleged failure to run its business safely.

It is also being charged under the Workplace Health and Safety Act for allegedly failing to have fall protection in place for workers working at height.

The matter is scheduled for mention in the Rockhampton Industrial Magistrates in August.

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09:16 am, Monday 7 June, 2010

The first prosecution over the death of an insulation installer linked to the Federal Government’s insulation rebate scheme has been adjourned until September.

A 25-year-old worker was killed on 14 October 2009 after installing ceiling insulation in a home at Meadowbrook, south of Brisbane.

His 18-year-old girlfriend and workmate sustained serious electrical burns to her leg.

The two workers’ employer has been charged for failing to conduct its business in a way that was electrically safe.

The company’s director and company manager have also been charged for failing to ensure the company’s obligations have been complied with.

The two company officials appeared before the Beenleigh Industrial Magistrates Court on Friday and the case was adjourned until September 3.

The Federal Government put a halt to its massive $2.45 billion insulation program in April following four installer fatalities, 100 house fires, and accusations of fraud and unsafe work conditions.

Investigations on the three other insulation-related deaths are ongoing.

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03:03 pm, Saturday 5 June, 2010

The prosecution over the death of a worker related to the Federal Government’s insulation rebate scheme has started in the Beenleigh Industrial Magistrates Court yesterday.

installing ceiling insulation in a home at Meadowbrook.

An 18-year-old colleague sustained severe burns to her leg.

The employer of the two workers has been charged with failing to conduct its business in a way that was electrically safe.

The company’s director and company manager have also been under prosecution for failing to ensure their company complied with its obligations.

The Government stopped $2.45 billion insulation program in April following the death of four installers, 100 house fires, and accusations of fraud and unsafe work conditions.

Investigations on two other Queensland deaths and another in NSW are ongoing.

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07:57 am, Tuesday 18 May, 2010

A Brisbane company and its officers have been charged over the death of an insulation installer and the injury of another last year.

A 25-year-old man was electrocuted while installing reflective foil in the roof of a home at Meadowbrook in October 2009. His workmate, an 18-year-old female, sustained severe burns.

The Queensland Government has laid charges against the company, its director, and its manager under the Electrical Safety Act.

Queensland’s Department of Justice alleges the enterprise was remiss in undertaking its business in a manner that is electrically safe.

The department also alleges the director and the manager were not able to guarantee compliance of the Act.

The Beenleigh Industrial Magistrates Court is expected to act on the complaints next month.

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08:45 am, Thursday 11 March, 2010

A workplace health and safety lawyer says homeowners may soon face prison sentence of up to six years if a worker gets injured or killed on their property.

The alert comes on the heels of a court decision holding a Sydney homeowner liable for an electrician‘s death in 2004.

Allan Harley was working on the Sydney home when he came into contact with a live wire, leading to his electrocution.

Just last week, the New South Wales District Court ordered the homeowner to pay the widow of Mr Harley $70,000 in compensation.

In his decision, the judge said the owner was aware, or ought to have been, that the live wire had been left exposed when a hot water system was removed years earlier.

Michael Toomah of the law firm Norton Rose says many homeowners are unaware of their responsibility to people who work on their premises.

“We owe that duty as a matter of law,” he said.

“I think that case will come as a surprise to a number of homeowners, but it is pretty consistent with where the law stands at the moment.”

According to Mr Toomah, homeowners have to take reasonable care to ensure that a task is safe before they ask a tradesperson to do it.

“That requires a bit of vigilance on their part when they are commissioning work,” he said.

The move to harmonise the Occupational Health and Safety Laws of all states will see this liability become a criminal matter from 2012.

“The fact that they are doing work at a home makes the home for that period a workplace,” Mr Toomah says.

“It means that the people at that workplace have a duty to that workman.”

Mr Toomah says a homeowner’s negligence would constitute a breach, with a corresponding criminal offence.

“[That offence] attracts penalties of up to $300,000 and/or six years’ imprisonment in a really serious case,” he said.

Mr Toomah says vigilance by homeowners is important especially if they have availed of the Federal Government’s criticised ceiling insulation scheme.

“That is precisely the sort of situation where you would want to go back and have another look at the work that has been done, and make sure that your home is safe for you and your family.

“I think certainly the insulation scheme debacle has given people a wake-up call as to the sort of things that could happen when shonky work goes on in your home.”

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