08:46 pm, Friday 30 April, 2010

A golf club in Leichhardt has been fined $44,000 by the Ipswich Industrial Magistrates Court after a part of a worker’s right foot was severed while cutting grass.

The Club pleaded guilty on February 8 to failing to ensure workplace safety under section 24 (1) of the Workplace Health and Safety Act 1995.

Industrial Magistrate Matthew McLaughlin imposed a $44,000 fine. He also ordered the club to pay $1095.18 investigation costs and $71 court costs.

The Court was told the worker was driving a ride-on mower on the Leichhardt grounds on 30 January 2009.

He was retrieving gold balls from the fairway when his right foot touched the mower blades.

Three of the his toes and part of his foot were amputated due to the incident.

The Workplace Health and Safety Queensland investigation reveals that the club had not set up a OHS system for identifying and tracking faulty plant, nor had a risk assessment of the job been conducted. The club also failed to provide the worker any formal safety training.

The investigation also reveals that the mower had a defective solenoid (which cuts off power when the driver leaves the seat) and had no chute guard.

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06:44 pm, Friday 30 April, 2010

The Noosa Industrial Magistrates Court has fined a small construction company over a workplace incident which caused injuries to a worker.

The Sunshine Coast firm was found guilty on March 11 to failing to ensure workplace safety under section 24 (1) of the Workplace Health and Safety Act 1995.

Industrial Magistrate Bernadette Callaghan imposed a fine of $30,000, as well as $1162.14 investigation costs and $65.40 court costs.

The Court was told that a worker was working on a job at Noosa Heads on 7 August 2008 when a rotating winch handle struck him. He suffered a fractured left forearm as a result.

The Workplace Health and Safety Queensland investigation found the firm had previously acknowledged the risks associated with the task being carried out. However, it had not conducted and documented a risk assessment, and had only implemented administrative controls (verbal instructions) as a way of risk management.

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06:40 am, Friday 30 April, 2010

Construction in connection with broadband installation in Tasmania has been stopped after a worker received an electric shock from a power pole.

The Federal Government’s National Broadband Network (NBN Co.) is responsible for installing the new high-speed network as a nation building project.

NBN Co. head Mike Quigley has confirmed the accident, which took place in March while workers were rolling out fibre optic cables.

“I think it was related to an insulator on a pole,” he said.

Work in the project had to be suspended for over a week. Hundreds of workers are now undergoing induction on workplace safety.

“Any doubts [about safety], we stop,” Mr Quigley said.

“[The Government] didn’t need to tell us. I know how important this is.”

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06:39 am, Friday 30 April, 2010

Melbourne has convicted a drilling company on Wednesday over the death of a worker in a vehicule accident, making it the State’s first reckless endangerment conviction.

The court fined the company $750,000 under section 32 of the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004.

In December 2006, a 21 year-old worker was driving a Mack truck at Clobnane when he lost control of the vehicle on a steep slope. The truck overturned, crushing the man to death.

The Court held the company failed to ensure adequate instruction and training to its worker to handle the truck off-road on a steep slope. The Court also found the company failed to ensure the truck was in proper working order.

At the time of the incident, the worker had held a license to drive a Mack truck for little more than two weeks – which involved only eleven hours of driving lessons. He was told to operate the overweight truck in off-road conditions on a slope exceeding 10 degrees.

The court found the newly certified driver was not trained to understand gear selection for this terrain. He hadn’t undergone an induction or safety training, and had not had the opportunity to hone his skills under supervision.

WorkSafe also presented evidence that the truck’s primary brake and the emergency hand brake wasn’t working, and the secondary brake had been disconnected. In addition, the truck hadn’t been serviced for over six months.

“If the truck had been in proper working order and Bradley had been a properly qualified and experienced driver, there’s no reason why this task couldn’t have been safely completed,” WorkSafe Victoria’s Acting Executive Director for Health and Safety Stan Krpan said.

“The investigator who managed this case has told me this is the worst example of failing to maintain vehicles or machinery that he has seen in 24 years on the job.

“The prosecution was able to prove that through the actions of the company’s personnel, the company was recklessly indifferent to placing Bradley Alford at risk of serious injury because he was instructed to use an unsafe truck in particularly dangerous circumstances,” he said.

County Court Judge Felicity Hampbell, who sentenced the case, stated:

“A case such as this is a stark reminder that behind every occupational health and safety prosecution is a real person…someone’s sibling, child, spouse or friend, whose safety and wellbeing should at all times be the paramount concern of every employer.”

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08:10 am, Monday 26 April, 2010

A contractor’s disregard for safety procedures has exposed students of a Gold Coast primary school to asbestos.

According to Public Works Minister Robert Schwarten, the contractor has been suspended from doing any work in Queensland schools following the blunder on Wednesday.

He said the contractor did not follow safety protocols in undertaking the work, including checking the asbestos register, consulting staff and drawing up a work plan.

Instead, the contractor simply entered a classroom and started drilling holes in an asbestos-lined ceiling while students were in the premises.

“They basically went into a classroom with children in it, and none of those things should have occurred,” Mr Schwarten said in an ABC Radio interview.

“This contractor has been provided with all the information of how they go about going into schools and from what I understand, they’ve thumbed their nose at it. It beggars belief … I’m flabbergasted.”

He said Workplace Health and Safety would look into the incident.

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07:37 am, Monday 26 April, 2010

A worker has been thrown out of a crane’s cabin at a construction site in Melbourne on Thursday.

The incident took place around 5.30pm at a Springvale shopping complex.

Early reports indicate that a counterbalance of the crane fell off.

The construction worker, who was held by his safety harness, was left suspended 40 metres above the ground.

A colleague scaled the crane to free him. He was lucky to escape the incident unscathed.

Had the crane completely collapsed, it would have tumbled onto an electricity distribution terminal.

According to a spokeswoman for WorkSafe, the safety watchdog is investigating the incident.

“A rigger fell from the machine deck of a tower crane during the erection of the crane,” she said.

“Apparently he was held by his harness [and] he wasn’t hurt.”

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03:24 pm, Thursday 22 April, 2010

A sand quarry company has been fined on Monday after director suffered hand injuries due to an unguarded plant.

The company pleaded guilty before the Magistrates Court to failing to provide & maintain so far as was practicable for employees a safe working environment – plant & systems of work.

The sand supplies business at Ronald’s Road, Willung is run by a small family company. One casual employee and the company’s two directors (husband and wife) serve as workers at the sand quarry.

On 13 July 2009 the male director was standing on a platform operating a sand sieve when his left hand became trapped at the in-running nip points between the head drum and the conveyor belt.

He sustained de-gloving and bruising to his left hand, and had to undergo surgery.

Magistrate Edwin Batt was told sand quarry work involves excavating raw sand from the mine and loading it into the sand hopper by front end loader.

The sand passes through the hopper and travels up on the incline conveyor to a sand sieve. A worker can access the sieve by a ladder to the platform.

Magistrate Batt heard there is no guarding in place on the nip points and other dangerous parts of the plant while it is turned on. Coming in contact with the plant’s parts can result to nipped or de-gloved fingers and breaking or crushing of limbs.

The company was fined $6,000 and ordered to pay $2,787.52 in costs.

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01:53 pm, Thursday 22 April, 2010

Mining companies within Broken have been urged to incorporate health issues in their management plans.

The New South Wales Department of Industry & Investment conducted sessions with representatives of mining companies in the area yesterday to discuss fatigue management, health management and musculoskeletal disorders.

Heather Jackson, the manager of the Mining Industry Assistance Unit, said mining businesses must note health hazard areas so their term health impact on workers can be minimised.

“We’re really having a focus on that and encouraging the mines to control the exposures to these hazards at the source and therefore reduce the likelihood of people getting an exposure level that would result in a sort of chronic illness or degenerative condition,” she said.

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07:04 am, Wednesday 21 April, 2010

A 26-year-old worker has been gravely injured after a steel rod hit his head on Monday.

The accident took place at a steel fabrication business in Thomastown, where the steel rod was being shaped by a lathe.

WorkSafe Victoria believes the steel rod, which extended beyond the lathe, struck the back of the worker’s head after it bent.

The Craigieburn man is on life support at the Royal Melbourne Hospital.

The workplace incident has prompted WorkSafe’s Acting Executive Director for Health and Safety Stan Krpan to remind Victorian businesses of the importance of lathe safety.

“Lathes are common machines – you find them in workplaces ranging from small workshops through to large industrial operations,” he said.

“Because of the speed of the rotating parts, they’re also very dangerous pieces of machinery to operate. If things go wrong with a lathe, you’re looking at a very serious consequences occurring very quickly. Even the most experienced operators need to be incredibly aware of the risks and ensure precautions are taken.

“Safety checks need to include ensuring appropriate guarding is in place, that an emergency stop button is in reach of the operator, that operators are trained and supervised, and that operators are wearing protective clothing which isn’t going to come loose.

“Simple and inexpensive measures can be the difference between safety and tragedy.”

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07:00 am, Wednesday 21 April, 2010

SafeWork SA has launched a series of information sessions in the Greater Adelaide Area on the new licensing requirements that will take effect in Southern Australia later this year.

The first information session was held on April 12 and will continue to run until May 3.

The licensing changes will affect high risk workers, including those who operate a forklift, crane, hoist, elevated work platform or pressure equipment and perform scaffolding, dogging or rigging work.

The new requirements are in line with the National Standard for Licensing Persons Performing High Risk Work 2006.

Its purpose is to improve safety in workplaces where high risk work is performed. The changes will also make the training, assessment and licensing of high risk work consistent across the country.

Most states have either partially or fully carried out the new national standard. Subject to Government approval, South Australia will start issuing new High Risk Work Licences later this year.

According to SafeWork SA Executive Director Michele Patterson, there is already a strong interest in the sessions currently scheduled.

She says it is an encouraging sign, since it shows that industries and workers are eager to understand the new system and benefit from its introduction.

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