09:08 am, Friday 22 October, 2010

The Brisbane Industrial Magistrates Court has fined a recycling company over a vehicle-related accident that claimed the life of an employee.

The Mackay company has been fined $120,000 after pleading guilty to a breach of section 24(1) of the Workplace Health and Safety Act 1995, having failed to ensure workplace safety.

The court was told the 56-year-old woman’s job was to sweep metal away from the trucks’ underside at the firm’s scrap metal yard in Mackay.

On October 7 last year, she died from massive crush injuries after she was run over by a loaded truck.

Workplace Health and Safety Queensland’s investigation found induction meetings were provided for drivers and operators. However, the company had no adequate risk assessment in place for truck drivers and sweepers. The company also failed to have standard radio transmitting protocols, and there was no evidence that workers were trained on how to use the radios.

Aside from the fine, Industrial Magistrate Sheryl Cornack ordered the firm to pay investigation and court costs of $5400.

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08:45 am, Wednesday 20 October, 2010

The Brisbane Industrial Magistrates Court has fined a transport company after its manager and a truck driver of another company were hurt during unloading of a truck trailer.

The defendant pleaded guilty to breaching s.24(1) of the Workplace Health and Safety Act 1995. It was fined $34 000 and ordered to pay investigation and court costs of $1566.50.

On 11 March 2009, the 49-year-old manager was assisting the 64-year-old truck driver with the unloading of a 250-kg hydraulic ram when it shifted and moved.

As a result of the ram’s movement, the truck driver’s head became pinned against the mast of a forklift. The manager, who was able to jump out of the way, sustained wrist injuries in the process.

The court was told that defendant failed to implement measures that were sufficient to prevent such an incident. It also heard that the driver was exposed to risks of falling objects, and that the method for unloading was performed in a way that placed employees and other persons at risk.

According to the Workplace Health and Safety Queensland, an effective risk management should have been applied to ensure suitable control measures were enforced.

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07:05 am, Monday 11 October, 2010

A woman required surgery following a truck accident in Port Douglas in far north Queensland on Tuesday.

The 54-year-old woman sustained injuries while working at the Port Village shopping centre, said Sergeant Damien Meadows.

She was helping the driver of the delivery truck in reversing into a loading bay when the lower part of her body became pinned by the vehicle.

She was taken to Cairns Base Hospital where she was in a serious but stable condition.

“The truck’s been seized by police for a mechanical and workplace health and safety wish to have a look at the vehicle as well as Queensland Transport,” Sergeant Meadows said.

“It’ll undergo a mechanical inspection to see if it’s currently compliant.

“Police also want to speak to the driver a bit further in relation to it as well – he was breath-tested.”

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09:22 pm, Friday 1 October, 2010

The Queensland government and various stakeholders will form a new committee to address the increasing physical assaults on bus drivers.

The Bus Safety Committee will be composed of drivers, transport company representatives, the Transport Workers Union (TWU), Translink, police, and the workplace health and safety and transport departments.

According to Translink, 79 assaults on bus drivers had been reported in the last financial year.

“That’s a figure of concern and one which deserves the coordinated attention of government departments and the TWU,” Transport Minister Rachel Nolan said.

Hughie Williams, TWU secretary, said something must be done on the increasing the number of assaults.

“Over the last 12 months there has been an enormous increase in dangerous assaults on bus drivers, particularly around the Sunshine and Gold Coast areas,” he said.

“It is only a matter of time before a driver may lose control while being assaulted with potential for collision, injuries and loss of life.”

The new committee will have its first meeting on October 5.

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08:33 am, Thursday 30 September, 2010

Changes are being proposed for the transport industry in the form of stricter guidelines for commercial vehicle drivers in South Australia.

According to Road Safety Minister Jack Snelling, the proposal can positively impact safety for all road users.

He told the Parliament the guidelines will be more rigorous than the nationally-agreed medical standards for granting drivers’ licences.

“While the vast majority of commercial vehicle drivers will be unaffected, the authorisation of the use of the guidelines will allow a tougher regime to be applied on a case-by-case basis as the Registrar of Motor Vehicles deems appropriate,” Mr Snelling said.

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06:38 am, Tuesday 28 September, 2010

WorkSafe Victoria has withdrawn the charges against three companies over the death of a 17-year-old worker at a Ballarat gold mine.

The young man was working at the mine when a truck hit him in December 2008.

An earthmoving and civil construction company, a fleet services firm, and the mine operator had been charged of failing to provide information, supervision, training and instruction; ensure a person is not exposed to risk; and ensure workplace access is safe.

At the committal hearing in the Ballarat Magistrates Court yesterday, WorkSafe withdrew all the charges due to insufficient evidence against the defendants.

The mother of the teen worker expressed her disappointment, and vowed to explore other avenues for further legal action.

“We will not give up until we have tried all angles,” she said.

According to WorkSafe spokeswoman Charlotte Bull, withdrawing charges at committal hearings is not uncommon.

“One of the purposes of a committal hearing is to test the strength of the evidence,” she said.

“In this case it was determined the evidence wasn’t strong enough.”

In a separate hearing last month, The 37-year-old truck driver pleaded guilty to failing to take reasonable care of others in relation to the vehicle accident.

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07:05 am, Saturday 25 September, 2010

The death of a man at a southern New South Wales construction site has resulted to improvements in refuelling practices, a senior roads official said.

A 39-year-old truck driver has been killed at a Tarcutta bypass site in July 1 after being pinned between a fuel tanker and a reversing front-end loader.

Charlie Blomfield, general manager of Roads and Traffic Authority’s Hume Highway office, said making worksites safe requires a lot of effort, but there is always room for improvement.

“There’s been a number of changes that have been brought in, particularly in the way refuelling is undertaken, but a lot of that at the moment is going through police and WorkCover investigations and I know the industry as well as ourselves will respond once the outcomes of those investigations are known,” he said.

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07:36 am, Wednesday 22 September, 2010

Truck drivers are urging Geelong police authorities to look into transport companies that set unrealistic deadlines, pressuring drivers to take drugs to meet the targets.

Geelong police said it will be working with the transport industry to maintain road safety for all motorists.

Truckies have called for an investigation after 14 drivers were tested positive to using prohibited drugs in New South Wales this month.

The alarming finding in the state has prompted NSW police to declare war against drugged-up drivers.

The national secretary of the Transport Workers Union said drivers may have felt the need to take drugs for fear of failing to meet the strict deadlines and losing payments.

“I have been speaking to drivers over the last few months, and they are all talking about how tough economically it is at the moment,” he said.

“When drivers are talking like that, you know they are financially pressured to make ends meet, and some can end up making poor decisions to break even.

“Some drivers may break fatigue laws, others take drugs.”

However, he clarified that he is not making an excuse for the workers who break laws.

“At the end of the day, it cannot be condoned.”

The union secretary said WorkCover NSW and police should investigate allegations that bosses threatened to penalise their drivers for not meeting unrealistic deadlines.

NSW police has already taken steps to keep drugged drivers off roads by setting up checkpoints in designated areas.

A driver tested positive of drug use will be issued a notice prohibiting him from driving in the next 24 hours.

Samples will then be sent to a laboratory to confirm the results, and the driver concerned will be prosecuted accordingly.

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01:30 pm, Tuesday 21 September, 2010

Truck drivers traversing Bruce Highway is concerned of the road’s shape, which they said isn’t getting any better.

One man who has been working for the transport industry for 27 years said highway was in a bad shape.

“There are too many accidents,” he said.

He plies the Brisbane to Rockhampton route and back twice weekly, and observed the Gin Gin to Miriam Vale stretch of the Bruce Highway was the worst.

“The road needs to be wider and it is not designed for the volume of traffic that use it,” he said.

The veteran truckie said the traffic condition gets worse during the holidays.

“We need four lanes all the way or we need more overtaking lanes.

“The surface of the road is too soft and it takes only a little bit of rain to wash it away.”

A New South Wales truck driver agrees that Bruce Highway was in a bad condition.

“New South Wales roads are a little better than here but Victoria has the best roads in Australia,” he said.

“It is unfair they give us this to work with.

“This is our workplace, where’s the workplace health and safety,” he said.

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03:22 pm, Thursday 16 September, 2010

A bakery in Geraldton has been charged for failing to provide adequate rest breaks for its delivery drivers.

WorkSafe is prosecuting the company for its alleged breaches of the Occupational Health and Safety Act.

The safety watchdog alleges the company allowed its drivers to work for more than 17 hours a day during a 24-hour period.

WorkSafe also alleges that the company, which regularly transports products from Geraldton to Karratha six days a week, allowed drivers to work without the appropriate medical certification.

The firm has been convicted of similar breaches on two previous occasions.

The Geraldton Magistrates Court is expected to hear the case on October 21.

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