07:02 am, Friday 12 November, 2010

Construction work in a college in Bendigo has been halted after a fire broke out at the construction site on Wednesday.

Students had to be evacuated after about 300 polystyrene cubes caught fire around noon.

Greg Stead, CFA station officer, said a spark from an oxy acetylene cutter may have started the fire.

“That sort of material produces a lot of heavy black smoke,” he said.

“It looked impressive, but it wasn’t serious.”

Paramedics responded to the scene to give first aid treatment to a worker who inhaled smoke.

The college principal said students were on their lunch break when the incident took place. They were evacuated to the school’s sports oval.

“The smoke was blowing in the other direction so they were taken to the oval until it was safe. I’ve since been to a site meeting and there will be a short delay while the safety of the buildings are assessed,” she said.

Reports say new buildings were being constructed at the site in Napier Street.

A WorkSafe investigator was at the site to conduct an investigation.

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07:58 am, Friday 29 October, 2010

A blast zone kilometres-wide would be produced by an explosion in Port Adelaide, in which fertiliser weighing up to 160 tonnes are stored, reports reveal.

SafeWork SA released a report stating that stockpiles of ammonium nitrate in a plant might “mass explode” and devastate nearby areas, including a planned residential zone.

It says even a fire at the plant would “produce a large volume of toxic gas” and force a mass evacuation.

According to the State Government, a plan is being worked out to relocate the plant by 2012.

It was revealed that the Environment Protection Authority and SA Health had also raised concerns over environmental, health and explosion risks.

The report by Safe Work SA said the expansion of Dock One – a residential area – would place residents as close as 380m to the stockpiles of the dangerous goods.

“The material has the potential to mass explode in certain circumstances (accidental contamination with other chemicals, in a fire situation, or through malicious action where other energetic materials are used to initiate such an explosion),” the report states.

“Although the company has developed a safety and security management plan for factory activities, such an explosion still has the possibility of occurring.”

Professor Stephen Lincoln of University of Adelaide’s chemistry department confirmed a gigantic blast would result if the stockpiles are ignited.

“If all of that exploded, the consequences would be devastating. You would have huge damage for a radius of at least a couple of kilometres around,” he said.

However, he explained that detonation of ammonium nitrate does not take place easily, and “there would have to be either gross negligence or an act of terrorism.”

Minister Paul Holloway of Urban Development and Planning said the company running the plant had been operating without incident for many years.

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08:21 pm, Friday 24 September, 2010

A construction company has been fined close to $20,000 by the SA Industrial Court yesterday over a worksite fire in 2008.

Industrial Magistrate Michael Ardlie heard a worker was cutting metal in a construction site in South Australia in March 2008 when sparks set the dry grass in the premises ablaze.

It then developed into a landscape fire, engulfing a brush fence and a neighbouring home.

Magistrate Ardlie said a man was sleeping inside the house during the conflagration.

“Fortunately that resident was alerted to the fire by the workmen on the site and avoided injury,” he said.

“Nevertheless, he was put at risk.”

He said the work site had fire extinguishers, but they were locked up.

The company was fined $18,750 after admitting breaching workplace safety regulations.

Magistrate Ardlie noted that it had already given away $40,000 to the home owner, nearby property owners and a building contractor by way of compensation.

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