09:36 pm, Tuesday 24 May, 2011

WorkSafe is investigating the death of a 50-year-old mechanical engineer who fell at a printing business in Canning Vale, Western Australia in early May.

The man was believed to have been adjusting machinery while standing on a ladder when he fell around two metres, sustaining serious head injuries.

He remained in a coma on life support last week, and died in Royal Perth Hospital on Saturday.

Acting WorkSafe WA Commissioner Lex McCulloch said any work-related death was a tragedy, and relayed his sincere condolences to the man’s family.

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11:08 pm, Tuesday 17 May, 2011

WorkSafe WA is investigating the death of a 50-year-old man, who suffered head injuries when he fell from a ladder last week.

The mechanical engineering manager had been adjusting machinery while standing on a ladder at a printing business in Perth, when he fell two metres and sustained severe head injuries.

He remained in a coma on life support last week, and died in Royal Perth Hospital on Saturday.

Acting WorkSafe WA Commissioner Lex McCulloch said any work-related death was a tragedy and would be investigated.

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10:31 pm, Tuesday 19 April, 2011

A man was trapped under a one tonne steel cage at a building site in Frankston this morning after scaffolding he was working on collapsed.

Emergency crews were called to the Peninsula Link building site about 8.10am.

The 26-year-old was working on the scaffolding about three metres above the ground at a bridge being built over the Frankston bypass southeast of Melbourne.

The accident happened after the steel cage collapsed and knocked down the scaffolding the man was standing on.

Workmates used a crane to lift the steel cage off him before paramedics arrived at the scene.

He was flown to the Alfred hospital with significant bruising to his collarbone and back, a cut to his head and a suspected broken shoulder.

He was flown to the Alfred hospital.

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10:15 pm, Tuesday 19 April, 2011

WorkSafe is investigating an incident where a man fell three metres at a building site in country Victoria yesterday.

The 44-year-old man has been flown to Melbourne’s Alfred hospital with serious head injuries and remains in a critical condition.

The fall occurred at a Buninyong building site, near Ballarat.

WorkSafe spokesman Michael Birt said that no barrier had been set up across a gap on the site.

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10:42 am, Wednesday 6 April, 2011

WorkCover is investigating the death of a man after a roof collapsed at an abattoir in the NSW Hunter Valley this morning, emergency services say.

Fire and Rescue NSW spokesman Superintendent Rick Parkes said emergency services were called to the abattoir in Scone about 7.15am, after part of the roof fell in.

One person was reported missing and 290 factory workers were evacuated.

NSW police said the man’s body was found beneath fallen debris and is yet to be recovered.

Earlier, Superintendent Parkes said fire crews had reached the man using a powersaw, finding him trapped under rubble and fallen ice.

A crime scene has been established.

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09:25 pm, Monday 28 March, 2011

The annual Compendium of Workers’ Compensation Statistics Australia 2008–09 has been released by Safe Work Australia.

The report details the latest OHS statistics Australia-wide.  A summary of the key findings include:

There were 128 735 serious workers’ compensation claims in 2008–09.

Men were almost twice more likely to be injured than female employees. There were 8.8 serious claims per million hours worked by male employees, compared to 6.4 serious claims per million hours worked by female employees.

Employees in agriculture, forestry and fishing sustained the highest incidence rate of all industries: 25.2 serious claims per 1000 employees, nearly twice the national rate. Transport & storage employees experienced 25.0 serious claims per 1000 employees, while there were 23.4 in manufacturing and 21.8 in construction.

Two-thirds of all serious claims were the result of injury with sprains and strains of joints and adjacent muscles alone accounting for 43% of all serious claims.

Manual handling mechanisms (muscular stress while lifting objects and muscular stress while handling objects) resulted in 33% of all serious claims. Falls (from a height on the same level) accounted for 20% of all serious claims.

The back was the location on the body that was most often injured, accounting for 22% of all serious claims. Other common locations were hand, fingers and thumb (13%), shoulder (9%) and knee (9%).

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05:38 pm, Friday 12 November, 2010

“Telling your workers to ‘be careful’ isn’t going to cut it,” WorkSafe Victoria’s Executive Director for Health and Safety Ian Forsyth said after the prosecution of an employer over the death of a worker.

The Melbourne Magistrates’ Court has fined the owner of a building company $30,000 after a man fell to his death in a construction site under his control.

The defendant was convicted of two charges under the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004.

The business owner was contracted to renovate a house in Lower Templestowe. He employed two casual workers, including the victim, to carry out the domestic construction work.

The court was told the defendant fell short of safety standards after merely warning workers to be careful.

In June 2008, a casual worker died after falling over three metres through a hole to the ground floor.

Investigations revealed that holes in the home’s first floor had been cut out by an electrical contractor, but had left some uncovered.

Instead of taking precautionary measures like barricading the area or covering the hole, the defendant merely told his workers to be careful.

“This incident is a reminder to everyone responsible for a workplace to actively identify and eliminate safety risks,” Mr Forsyth said.

“[The defendant] was the primary contractor and had the key to the workplace.

“If you’re assuming control of a workplace, responsibilities come with it. You’ve got to be vigilant about the risks.

“The take-home message here is clear – if you’re responsible for a workplace, you need to be actively looking for hazards every day and taking steps to eliminate them.”

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04:38 pm, Thursday 11 November, 2010

A worker has received an electric shock in Northern Melbourne when he came into contact with an overhead powerline on Tuesday.

22,000 volts coursed through his body before a colleague was able to save him by kicking him free.

The two were working at height while taking down an advertising across the entrance road of a shopping centre when the incident took place.

Ambulance Victoria said the injured worker, who is believed to be 28-years-old, sustained burns to his arm, chest, abdomen and pelvis.

“The man was moving a metal rod at the top of the sign when it came into contact with a high-voltage power line,” said paramedic Andrew Best.

“He was unable to remove himself from the power cable and his colleague kicked the metal rod, effectively breaking the circuit to the man.”

Paramedics said the workmate’s act likely saved the injured man’s life and praised him for his quick thinking.

Emergency crews arrived at the scene within two minutes and saw the worker dangling on the 10-metre-high sign. They climbed up, applied soothing gel on the man’s burns, gave him medication for the pain.

They put on a neck brace on the worker and slid him down on a spine board with the help of a fire truck’s hydraulic platform.

He was taken to Alfred hospital, where he was reported to be in a serious but stable condition.

A WorkSafe investigation is underway.

According to a WorkSafe spokesman, the man was lucky to survive such a high-voltage shock since they are often fatal.

“The difference between a fatality and serious injury in these cases is really negligible,” he said.

“He is exceptionally lucky so far.”

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08:36 am, Friday 5 November, 2010

A man has been airlifted to hospital following a farming accident near Shepparton on Tuesday.

Reports say a man fell from height at a farming property at Arcadia about 3:30pm (AEDT).

A 63-year-old man reportedly fell six metres while cleaning the top of a silo.

He was suspected to have sustained spinal injuries and was taken to the Alfred Hospital.

WorkSafe Victoria is looking into the incident.

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10:30 am, Thursday 4 November, 2010

The winners of this year’s Work Safety Awards Western Australia have been announced on Friday.

WorkSafe WA Commissioner Nina Lyhne said the winners were great examples of excellent workplace innovations and occupational safety and health systems in the state.

“These awards provide the opportunity for innovative Western Australians to gain national recognition for their achievements,” she said.

“They recognise outstanding occupational safety and health management, solutions and innovation in both public and private sector workplaces in WA that reduce the risk of work-related injury and disease.

“Awards such as these are all about encouraging best practice in safety and health, and the winners are leading the way by making a significant contribution to making WA workplaces safer.”

Park Engineers won the best safety and health management system. The company, which is one of the country’s leading steel engineering and fabrication companies, operated mainly in the mining and construction sectors.

Park Engineers has developed a comprehensive and integrated safety and health management system with a strong emphasis on risk management.

Salmat Pty Ltd won the best solution to an identified workplace safety and health issue. The company, which assembles Australia Post’s unit loading equipment, developed a device designed to assist in assembly of the unit loaders and reduce back strain.

The company recognised that the device can help reduce manual handling injuries, and now uses the machine across its operations.

Pia Carter from the Department of Fisheries in Broome won the best individual contribution to safety and health by a person with no formal responsibility for occupational safety and health.

Ms Carter had found that cleaners accessing a four metre high seawater storage tank were exposed to fall hazard and confined space-related risks.

As a result of the identified hazards, the Department installed a cable and harness system to prevent falls, along with a system of safe procedures for working in confined spaces.

Danny Norton from Sinclair Knight Merz won the best individual contribution to safety and health by a person with responsibility for occupational safety and health.

A Senior Electrical Engineer, Mr Norton developed an assessment protocol and procedures to reduce the risks associated with switchboard arc flashes.

His work has helped to ensure a safer work environment for all workers in the electrical industry.

“Each of the category winners of the 2010 Work Safety WA Awards is a very worthy winner, and each now has the opportunity for their achievements to be recognised across Australia,” Ms Lyhne said.

“I heartily congratulate the winners, along with everyone else who nominated for the awards, and encourage businesses of all sizes to nominate for the 2011 Work Safety Awards Western Australia.”

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