10:06 pm, Monday 29 August, 2011

Workcover is investigating an incident where a worker was partially driven over by a heavy roller at roadworks at Beresfield, near Newcastle this morning.

The injured man aged 43, was part of a roadworks crew on a busy road when the incident occurred.

Investigators are determining whether the injured man may have tried to jump aboard the roller as it was being moved.

The roller, which had three large rubber wheels on the front and four on the back, partially struck the man before its driver was able to stop it and drive it forward.

The man suffered multiple injuries to his legs, ribs, shouler and chest.

He was taken to John Hunter Hospital in a serious condition.
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12:58 pm, Thursday 18 August, 2011

Queensland’s safety watchdog, Workplace Health and Safety Queensland, is investigating a fatal incident that occurred last week at a lagoon at Roma.

A truck driver was standing near an excavator that was de-silting the lagoon when the excavator hit a tree and a branch fell. The falling branch struck the truck driver on the head.

He was taken to hospital, but later died of his injuries.

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08:32 pm, Wednesday 17 August, 2011

An Adelaide building firm was fined by an Industrial Magistrate after a work box full of building materials fell seven storeys at a city building site.

The company pleaded guilty to breaching section 22(2)(b) of the Occupational Health Safety and Welfare Act 2006, in that it failed to ensure that people other than employees were safe as a result of its work activities.

In August 2008 at a building site in Coglin St. Adelaide, a fully-laden work box (known in the industry as a ‘dog box’) plunged 30 metres when the tower crane which was lifting it malfunctioned.

The box landed in the laneway separating the site from an adjoining business. A plastic bin beneath was crushed. Some hoarding was damaged, and there was minor structural damage to the guttering of a neighbouring building.

The cause of the equipment failure was found to be a design fault in which a gearbox component of the crane was subject to fatigue stress.

The court found that there should have been an exclusion zone over the laneway would have meant that any materials falling would not have exposed any person to risk.

The court imposed a conviction and fined the company $41,250 after a discount of 25% to account for the company’s early guilty plea, cooperation, contrition and reparations.

“It was significant that the lift on this occasion was one of the few that occurred outside the footprint of the building site,” says SafeWork SA Acting Executive Director, Bryan Russell.

“However despite that exception, it was only luck that someone was not beneath or near the load when it landed, due to the lack of an exclusion zone.

“Any exception or variation to an established work task, especially something as high risk as a crane lift, must be subject to the same rigorous safety analysis as the more frequent events.”

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07:42 pm, Wednesday 17 August, 2011

WorkSafe Victoria has issued a safety alert highlighting the importance of protecting workers from trench collapse.

The alert was prompted by a number of recent incidents where workers have been seriously injured after being engulfed while working in trenches that have collapsed.

Wet weather and increased ground moisture has created a higher risk of ground slippage and engulfment.

Trenches greater than a metre deep can pose a significant risk to workers, especially those who are bending down to work on pipes or other services. The risk of fatalities will also considerably increase with depth.

Before trenching work starts, ensure:

• work is planned so it can be done safely, including determining appropriate engulfment protection and site security requirements

• a safe work method statement (SWMS) is developed for high risk work that involves mobile plant or if the trench depth is 1.5m or more

• an emergency response plan (ERP) is developed to deal with potential incidents (eg worker rescue, ground slip or flood).

When undertaking trenching work, ensure:

• a competent person, experienced in trenching works, supervises and monitors the work

• workers are instructed on the ERP and SWMS (and it is followed)

• workers never work ahead of the protection or remove it prematurely if protection is being progressively installed

• materials, spoil and plant are kept away from the edge of the trench

• workers not involved with the work and the public can’t access the trench and works area

• where there is a risk of children or other members of the public accessing the works area, secure and stable site fencing is provided to prevent access

While the trench remains open, the contractor should ensure the trench and site security is inspected regularly – and as soon as possible – after any event that could affect the safety of the trench (eg a storm or ground slip).

Workers must be protected while undertaking any work where they are required to enter a trench and there is a risk of engulfment. When appropriately used, the following methods can provide the required protection:

• batter the walls to a safe angle. bench the walls to form one or a series of steps.
• shore up the walls to support the sides.
• work inside trench shields.

Trench shields do not support the ground – they provide protection to workers within the shield, therefore workers must stay within the confines of the shield at all times.

A safe method to enter and exit the trench or shield must also be provided (eg a sufficiently long, secured ladder and landing platform).

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04:54 pm, Tuesday 26 July, 2011

Last Wednesday, a workman was buried when a trench collapsed in Templestowe, a suburb in Melbourne.

He was dug out by his workmates and suffered suspected fractured ribs, a suspected collapsed lung and leg injuries.

Advanced life support paramedics attended the scene and he was taken to the Royal Melbourne Hospital in a serious but stable condition.

‘He’d been working in the trench about halfway down when the walls have collapsed, similar to a mudslide, forcing him to the bottom about three and a half metres down, filling it with dirt,’  said intensive care paramedic Craig Hazelwood.

‘The 25-year-old man had dirt up to his ears so his workmates, without any regard for their own safety, jumped in and started digging.

‘I climbed in and assisted until we could free his boots and he was able to walk to the top of the trench and was loaded into the ambulance.

‘We put a drip in his arm and gave him a significant amount of pain relief to make him more comfortable and fluids to stabilise his blood pressure.

‘He’s very lucky that he was a fit young man and that his workmates jumped in so quickly to free him.’

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11:39 am, Tuesday 19 July, 2011

Ambulance Victoria issued a media alert concerning a workplace incident involving a power drill at Newport in Sydney’s northern beaches last month.

A man was using a power drill on a screw when the tool slipped and the drill bit flew into his left eye resulting in serious injury.

The man removed the bit and walked to the nearby surgery, where Advanced life support paramedics attended.

‘Our main concern was his loss of sight from that eye’, said Paramedic Alan Mercer.

‘An eye patch had been placed over his eye to keep it still and prevent any further damage.

‘We reassured him and offered him some pain relief but he told us he could cope with the discomfort.

‘He was then taken to the Royal Eye and Ear Hospital in a stable condition,’ Mr Mercer said.

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05:39 pm, Thursday 14 July, 2011

A 43-year-old crane operator/rigger has died at a construction site in Karratha, in Western Australia’s Pilbara region yesterday morning after being crushed by a slab of concrete.

WorkSafe WA is investigating.

The man was reportedly crushed after the slab fell while being lifted by a crane.

As reported by safetyCulture, it is the fourth work-related incident in Western Australia in a week after a worker was crushed to death by a crane last week at a Port Hedland port and rail operation. The 27-year-old Port Hedland man died after the heavy machinery collapsed and fell on him at the iron ore loading facility at Finucane Island.

Another man lost a leg at a Port Hedland mining facility last Friday.

A fourth worker was injured on Monday after becoming pinned in a chute at a brick factory in South Guildford, a suburb of Perth.

Kevin Reynolds, State Secretary of the CFMEU WA, said, “Unions must be given greater access on these sites to induct a greater level of safety as a preventive measure. Companies need to see the value in working with unions and allowing proper union safety protocols to operate on their sites. Union sites are safer sites.”

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11:48 am, Wednesday 8 June, 2011

Between September and November last year, Workplace Health and Safety Queensland (WHSQ) conducted an audit of major construction projects in and around the Brisbane.

Approximately 235,000 or 10.5 per cent of employed persons in Queensland are construction workers.

Compared to other workers, construction workers have a significantly higher rate of serious injury claims– on average over 4000 each year.

WHSQ conducted the audit campaign to help improve health and safety on major construction sites.

Inspectors visited 11 major construction projects managed by eight principal contractors and assessed:

• the adequacy of safety management systems; and
• compliance with workplace health and safety and electrical safety laws.

Only minor deficiencies were identified on two of the 11 projects audited. Inspectors found that systems had generally been implemented to ensure workers were informed and consulted on important safety issues.

In total, 60 non-compliance issues were identified by inspectors– with most issues remedied before inspectors left the site. Inspectors responded to a small number of the issues by issuing improvement notices.

The results indicate that the following key areas require ongoing commitment from the principal contractors:

• work at heights
• work around mobile and static plant
• access and housekeeping
• electrical safety.

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10:48 pm, Thursday 28 April, 2011

WorkCover is investigating an incident yesterday where a woman aged 56 fell into a trench on a construction site at Mortdale.

The woman fell almost four metres through a fence in her backyard into the site next door.

She was taken to St George Hospital with serious head, neck and back injuries and is in a serious but stable condition.

Police said the woman was carrying out maintenance on her fence when it gave way, collapsing into the site next door.

The woman’s son heard her scream and called an ambulance.

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09:04 pm, Wednesday 20 April, 2011

Workplace Health and Safety Queensland is investigating the death of a 24-year old man was who crushed by a collapsing house during a building relocation.

The incident occurred yesterday at Bundaberg Airport where the man was part of a removalist crew lowering the building at the airport when a jack failed, causing the building to collapse on top of him.

The man, who was from Banyo, died on his way to hospital.

Bundaberg Police Superintendent Rowan Bond said the Bundaberg Aero Club had taken possession of the building, which had been moved to the new location on Friday.

The aero club had hired a team of contractors to relocate the building to the airport and were planning to refurbish it for members to use.

It sat on blocks until yesterday morning, when a crew began to lower it.

“Work had only just started lowering it down,” Supt Bond said.

The man, who was a sub-contractor, had only recently relocated to Bundaberg and commenced employment with the removal firm.

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