08:21 am, Monday 30 June, 2008

Source: Dandenong Leader

A Noble Park man has delivered a glove slap to Melbourne’s petrol stations for not providing hand protection at the pump.

Wojciech Smiglewski wants service stations to supply gloves to shield hands from harmful chemicals contained in fuel and its vapour.

Mr Smiglewski said service stations that did not supply gloves to motorists in his native Poland were subject to hefty fines.

He said he always took his own gloves when filling up his Ford Falcon with unleaded fuel.

“We must have the bloody gloves,” he said.

“It’s because of the fumes and the chemical component. You are getting the fumes straight into your hands and even touching the pistol from the pump is unsafe.”

But Service Station Association CEO Ron Bowden scoffed at the suggestion and said gloves were “not required” at Australian petrol outlets. “It’s not necessary.

“There’s nothing toxic about it. “All I know is it’s not an OH and S (occupational health and safety) requirement under Australian law.”

Deakin University occupational hygienist Steve Atkinson said petrol was now safer than ever. “There is a small quantity of benzene in unleaded petrol, but there’s a lot less now than there ever has been,” Mr Atkinson said.

“I don’t really see the need for people to wear gloves at the petrol station,” he said.

“The total exposure from filling your tank once a week is minimal.

“If you’re splashing petrol on your hands at the petrol station, you’re doing something very wrong,” Mr Atkinson said.

He said recently-introduced legislation meant the benzene content in petrol was now restricted to less than 1 per cent.

OHS News Tip: LPG Work Method Statement

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10:45 am, Sunday 29 June, 2008

Source: Brisbane Times

A Queensland construction union has blamed the Rudd Government for “draconian” health and safety practices at building sites on the Gold Coast.

Eight days after two construction workers fell to their deaths while working on a Gold Coast high-rise, the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) has warned that more deaths will follow as a result of low safety standards set by the Government’s industry watchdog, the Australian Business and Construction Commission (ABCC).

CFMEU Queensland secretary Michael Ravbar accused the ABCC of favouring developers’ profits over worker safety.

“Developers know that if complaints are made against them, nothing will happen so safety is compromised,” he said.

ABCC commissioner John Lloyd rejected the CFMEU’s allegations. “As is evidenced in our history of prosecutions, we apply the law equally to clients, head contractors, subcontractors, unions, union officials, shop stewards and workers,” he said.

Labor had promised to scrap the ABCC but since taking office has said it will stay at least until 2010, when it will be replaced with a specialist building and construction division under Fair Work Australia.

The delay has angered unions around the country.

Mr Ravbar said that the latest deaths “go all the way to Mr Rudd”.

About 5000 Gold Coast workers downed tools last Monday to protest against deteriorating safety standards.

The Queensland branch of the Builders and Labourers Federation is threatening to name and shame construction companies on the Gold Coast from tomorrow if they have not improved safety conditions.

A spokesman for Workplace Health and Safety Queensland said the industry’s injury and fatality rates on the Gold Coast are below the state average.

OHS News Tip: Scaffolding Work Method Statement

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10:23 am, Sunday 29 June, 2008

Source: Courier Mail

Construction worker Chris Gear spoke about his fears of working at a high-rise site in the months before he and a workmate fell 26 floors to their deaths at the Gold Coast last weekend.

Close friend and fellow worker Aaron Ahipene said he and Mr Gear had talked about possible safety problems at the Meriton Pegasus site at Broadbeach, where Mr Gear, 36, and Steve Sayer, 52, died.

Mr Gear and Mr Sayer worked for a formwork company, Pryme, which was sub-contracting its services to Meriton.

Department of Workplace Health and Safety investigators have yet to complete their inquiries into last Saturday’s tragedy.

Workers and union officials have told The Sunday Mail they believe early investigations focused on whether counterweights on the top of the building became unsecured and failed to hold steel cables attached to the swinging stage, or “cradle”, on which the men who died were working.

Mr Ahipene said he and Mr Gear had discussed their fears for the past six months.

“We talked about the fact that there shouldn’t be anyone working up there (on top of the building) at all,” he said, referring to other sub-contractors, not the company for which the dead men worked.

 There was speculation on the site last week that other workers on the roof may have mistakenly dislodged the counterweights.

Union official Michael Ravbar said Workplace Health and Safety officers, after inspecting the Broadbeach site following the deaths, had issued three probation notices, four improvement notices and written up “three foolscap pages” of alleged breaches.

Mr Ravbar, state secretary of the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union, said the union would meet workers on Tuesday and hold talks with Meriton officials later in the week.

Meriton yesterday defended its safety record, and said breaches found by government inspectors were minor.

“I understand there are some minor issues. I dare say if Workplace Health and Safety go through any site there will be minor issues,” said Meriton general manager Peter Spira.

Those breaches were not related to the major investigation of the swinging stage, Mr Spira said.

“We pride ourselves on our workplace safety. Clearly something went wrong. We want to find out what went wrong.”

Mr Spira said the swinging stage had been used without problem in the building of the apartment tower.

The two sub-contractors had been completing concrete patchwork on the outside of the building as part of regular finishing touches, he said.

“The structure is well and truly finished. That’s why it is so perplexing. It’s a standard procedure (using a swinging stage) we’ve used on so many buildings in Australia.”

Industrial Relations Minister John Mickel said Workplace Health and Safety officers would conduct blitzes on Gold Coast construction sites and would show zero tolerance if they identified safety risks.

CFMEU officials will also conduct spot checks, and have warned they will order members to walk off the job if any safety concerns are identified.

Mr Mickel said that in a comprehensive investigation of the Broadbeach incident, “two investigators are working full-time on the investigation, statements have been taken, documentation has been collected”.

OHS News Tip: Scaffolding Work Method Statement

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09:52 am, Friday 27 June, 2008

Source: The ABC News

A safety audit will be conducted at a Canberra construction site this morning after a worker fell from a roof.

The 21-year-old plumbing apprentice fell more than 3 metres to a concrete floor at the Tuggeranong Sports Complex construction site yesterday.

He was taken to the Canberra Hospital.

Dean Hall from the CFMEU ACT branch says all work has stopped at the site.

“Today there’s trauma response workers attending the site mid-morning,” he said.

“The union will also be on site to give advice and help conduct a safety audit for the site.

“We’re very encouraged by the contractor’s response in dealing with the union.”

OHS News Tip: Working Around Heights Work Method Statement

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09:52 am, Friday 27 June, 2008

Source: Bus News

Governor-General Michael Jeffrey AC, CVO and MC has appointed Martin Dolan as Chief Executive Officer of Comcare for one year starting from 1 July 2008.

Comcare is the Commonwealth’s occupational health and safety and workers’ compensation authority.

Acting Minister for Workplace Relations Brendan O’Connor says Dolan is highly experienced in workers’ compensation and Occupational Health and Safety issues, having acted in the position of CEO Comcare since July last year.

Dolan was also Deputy CEO of Comcare in 2006, interim CEO of the Australian Energy Market Commission and Executive Director of Aviation and Airports within the Department of Transport Regional Services.

O’Connor says Mr Dolan brings extensive knowledge and experience in safety matters to the position and will provide strong leadership to Comcare.

Comcare administers the Australian Government workers’ compensation scheme under the Safety Rehabilitation Compensation Act 1988 and the Occupational Health and Safety Act 1991.

OHS News Tip: Workplace Work Method Statement

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09:48 am, Friday 27 June, 2008

Source: The Wimmera Mail-Times

A Horsham engineering business was fined $60,000 at Horsham Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday for unsafe workplace and practices in 2006.

T.J. and F.L. Pohlner were convicted of having failed to provide a safe system in the workplace and $15,000 for having failed to provide adequate instructions, training and supervision for employees.

Magistrate Andrew Capell also ordered T.J. and F.L. Pohlner to pay $3334 in costs.

T.J. and F.L. Pohlner, based in Old Hamilton Road, is a heavy structure engineer business that provides road maintenance rollers for local government.

The court heard that on August 11, 2006, a T.J. and F.L. Pohlner employee, 23, seriously injured his knee when working on a vibrating drum roller.

Worksafe Victoria prosecutor Virginia Whalan said the employee, a qualified boiler maker, was not used to working on that particular roller.

Ms Whalan said the roller was not functioning properly, and the company had used lifting chains and jacks in an attempt for it to work.

She said the employee was standing on a platform when a hook hit him in the knee, severing an artery and chipping a bone, which required surgery.

A Worksafe Victoria inspector visited the site, issuing improvement notices, which the company complied with.

Mr Whalan said the likelihood of an accident occurring was fairly high.

“In sentencing this matter I ask the court to consider not necessarily the outcome but what was potentially the worst outcome,” she said.

Defence solicitor Bryan McCormack said his client, Trevor Pohlner, 78, had managed the family company since 1963 and it was the first time there had been a health and safety issue at the workplace.

Mr McCormack said at its peak T.J. and F.L. Pohlner employed more than 30 staff but at the time of the incident, 2006, there were 22 employees.

He said there were now eight employees and the business was for sale.

Mr McCormack argued that the roller had been used in the same manner since the 1960s without incident.

But he said Pohlner had taken responsibility and was remorseful, and changes to the roller had now been made.

Magistrate Capell said companies must take preventive measures.

“The legislation requires workplaces to take nothing for granted,” he said.

Magistrate Capell said the employee could have fallen off the platform or bled to death if the hook hit a major artery.

“It is sheer luck that no-one was injured or killed,” he said.

“Whether or not there hadn’t been an accident for years, it only takes one accident to shatter a family.”

OHS News Tip: Workplace Health & Safety Work Method Statement

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11:57 am, Thursday 26 June, 2008

Source: ABC News

A full incident inquiry will be completed by Tom Brown Drilling Services after one of its staff was injured near Port Wakefield yesterday.

The driller’s offsider was airlifted to the Royal Adelaide Hospital after falling onto his back while undertaking routine drilling tasks.

The managing director of GulfX Limited, Merryl Gray, which contract the drilling service, says she is happy to report the worker has since been released from hospital.

“We are very pleased to say that he has been discharged from hospital, he sustained bruising through his pelvic area from his fall and some damage to his teeth, but we’re really pleased he’s been discharged and he’s on the mend,” she said.

SafeWork SA is also investigating the incident and has issued a prohibition notice on the rig until a safer work system can be developed.

OHS News Tip: Safe Drilling Work Method Statement

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10:13 am, Thursday 26 June, 2008

Source: Gold Coast

A Robina man who plunged seven storeys from a Surfers Paradise high rise remained in a serious condition in hospital yesterday as his workmates returned to work.

Walter Torres, 20, was injured when he fell from the Solaire Apartments on the corner of Ferny and Cypress avenues while abseiling to clean windows on Tuesday.

The accident came after two construction workers fell 26 floors to their deaths from a Broadbeach high-rise development on Saturday.

Andrew Horchner, operations and safety manager for All-Industrial Abseilers — the company Mr Torres works for — said the company had been given the all-clear to return to work.

“One thing Workplace Health and Safety talked to us about yesterday was that all our process and work measures and risk assessments were all in good order. They said we could continue on with work on that site and on other sites,” said Mr Horchner.

“There’s no problem. It was potentially an operator’s error but there’s still an ongoing investigation. Until they are able to speak with the gentleman, we can’t formalise anything.

“We have gone through all the other staff and informed them of what happened and reiterated all our procedures.”

Mr Horchner said some of the men who were working on the site where the incident happened on Tuesday took yesterday off but would ‘hopefully’ return to work soon.

“We have got a few … who were onsite having a bit of a break to chill out a bit and to relax. We are offering them counselling as an employer,” he said.

Other employees of the company returned to work as normal yesterday, including a crew working on the Blue C Apartments on McLean Street, in Coolangatta.

Mr Horchner said it was one of the safest jobs in the world, as long as the proper safety precautions were taken and appropriate training provided.

“It’s a very safe industry, a very safe work method, and a lot of that is because you’ve got highly competent operators working with ropes and they are looking after their own own safety,” he said.

“The industry worldwide has had over six million man hours with no recorded deaths and only a small percentage of injuries.”

OHS News Tip: Safety Harness Work Method Statement

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09:30 am, Thursday 26 June, 2008

Source: Cairns.com.au

An investigation into the workplace death of crane operator Dick Cooper has ended with a James Cook University-owned company being fined $20,000 for failing to meet safety obligations.

Mr Cooper, 64, plunged 48m to his death while performing maintenance on the Australian Canopy Crane’s jib at Cape Tribulation in January 2006.

The experienced JCU crane driver, who lived at the rainforest research station, was not wearing a safety harness.

Yesterday, Australian Canopy Crane Pty Ltd pleaded guilty in Mossman Magistrates’ Court to failing to ensure his health and safety.

The company knew it was required to install “static line” safety equipment on the crane, but failed to do so.

“Regrettably, the static line, while purchased, was not attached,” Magistrate Thomas Braes said.

“Apparently the delay was because of doubt about how it should be installed.”

No conviction was recorded.

Laurie Cooper, who found her husband after the fall, said: “It’s not going to bring Richard back, but hopefully it’ll make it easier for someone else.”

National Tertiary Education Union state secretary Margaret Lee welcomed the decision, but described it as “a pittance, considering the terrible harm and hurt.”

If the static line was attached, Ms Lee said he “would just have dangled there.”

Crane operations are now managed by the university.

OHS News Tip: Safety Harness Work Method Statement

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03:13 pm, Wednesday 25 June, 2008

Source: Gold Coast

A Nerang tree lopper who survived a 10m fall on to a concrete driveway yesterday had not owned the business for long.

David Andrew Buckler was trimming palms at a home on leafy Yarraowee Drive, Nerang, when it is believed his shoe spike failed to grip properly while climbing his way around a treetop.

Within seconds the father of two plunged down the thick trunk and landed on concrete below, suffering multiple fractures and leaving a spike imprint and blood on the driveway.

It was the third work accident in recent days on the Gold Coast involving a fall.

On Saturday two construction workers were killed when they fell 26 floors from a Broadbeach apartment complex and on Tuesday a window cleaner survived falling seven stories from a Surfers Paradise high rise.

Police said one of two spotters working with Mr Buckler, watched the frightening fall and was so shocked he was unable to properly recount the event.

Scientific officers, accident and investigation police and Queensland Workplace Health and Safety officers were trying to piece the puzzle together yesterday afternoon as Mr Buckler lay in hospital, unable to talk.

He was last night in a stable condition.

The team inspected Mr Buckler’s harness, ropes and chains, which lay strewn on the driveway, and taped off an area around his truck.

Tree loppers use spiked shoes and a harness around the waist and the tree to inch their way to the top. Police said in this case the equipment did not appear to be at fault.

The owner of the home, Peter McAulay, said his wife was home and phoned him in distress when the accident occurred about 11am.

The pair had hired Mr Buckler’s Quote and Cut Tree and Palm Services to trim the dozens of palms on their large suburban property. Mr Buckler was a quarter of the way through the job when he fell.

Although hurt and suffering suspected head injuries, Mr McAulay said the tree trimmer was coherent and able to move his fingers.

“My wife was in shock,” he said.

“The workers were very distraught and very upset. As far as we can see he worked very safely.

“It seems to have been a bad week for this sort of thing.”

Lumberjack friends of Mr Buckler arrived at the accident scene during the afternoon after hearing about the fall and were able to explain to police and workplace investigators how to use the safety equipment.

They described their friend as a hardworking bloke in his thirties who had two young girls.

He had just started out in the business but had been in the industry for a long time.

A Workplace Health and Safety spokeswoman said the accident was under investigation.

Mr Buckler remained in a stable condition yesterday but was unable to yet talk to investigators

OHS News Tip: Tree Felling Work Method Statement

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