10:57 am, Thursday 17 May, 2012

Photo: WorkSafe Victoria

An Epping-based business and its company director have been prosecuted over serious workplace health and safety charges for the second time in four years.

The company and its director were convicted and fined a total of $124,000 after being charged under the Occupational Health and Safety Act over safety violations in August and December 2009.

In sentencing this week, Magistrate Elizabeth Lambden said that she would have expected safety to be part of the organisation’s day to day operations after it was prosecuted in 2006 for a workplace fatality.

In August 2009, a worker had his finger crushed while using a pipe-bending machine designed by the director. A light curtain, which should automatically stop the machine if a beam was broken had been over-ridden.

Another worker had the tip of his finger partially severed in December 2009 as he tried to remove a piece of metal that had just been cut by saw. The victim’s glove was caught by the saw which did not stop at the rate required by Australian Standards.

An investigation conducted by WorkSafe revealed that the company did not have standardised or consistent training and keys which allowed machines to be over-ridden were kept in them which meant they were not adequately guarded. It was also revealed that the company director failed to take reasonable care for the health and safety of workers who might be affected by his acts or omissions in the workplace.

The company pleaded guilty to one charge in relation to each incident under the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004. It was convicted and fined $98,000 plus $8000 in costs.

The company director pleaded guilty to one charge in relation to the August 2009 incident under the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004. He was also convicted and fined $26,000.

The company and its director were first prosecuted in December 2009 over a death of a man at its Epping factory in August 2006. Both were convicted and fined $100,000.

WorkSafe’s General Manager of Operations, Lisa Sturzenegger said that effective machine guarding as well as training of workers were fundamental obligations for all employers and should be a priority for directors, managers and supervisors.

“Ensuring machines are adequately guarded at all times and regularly checked to ensure safety mechanisms are not being circumvented is a basic part of running the business. It maximises productivity and is an investment in the business.

“When machines are not guarded – and that includes guards not being set up or working correctly or being over-ridden – serious consequences can happen in an instant.

“As this case shows, the courts take these issues seriously. Apart from the effect on the individual, a conviction and fines can have significant financial consequences for companies and the people who lead them,” said Ms Sturzenegger.

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02:01 pm, Monday 14 May, 2012

Two police officers were seriously ill after accidentally breathing toxic fumes at the Sydney drug exhibit centre.

One of the police officers were administered the last rites as he lay on life support three years ago. According to the Sydney Morning Herald, the victim was on induced coma after his lungs completely shut down. Four months earlier, the victim and a fellow policeman was perfectly healthy, until they were directed to conduct a “drug audit” in March 2009 at the Sydney Police Centre’s drug exhibit centre.

They went to an overcrowded 4×5 metre room and were confronted with shelves of drugs and other chemicals up to 15 years old. Some of the drugs they were to audit had been used in prosecutions as far back as 1996. Court destruction orders were attached to these drugs but they had remained in the unventilated room.

The toxic fumes met the officers as they entered the room. Temperatures of up to 40 degrees increased the conversion of these chemicals to harmful vapours.

Three years have passed but neither of them can work. The two officers sued the NSW Police Force for damages, saying that there was severe negligence on the part of their employer. Court documents seen by The Sun-Herald says that the victims “were not given any training to conduct a safe audit, there was no mention of any safety precautions, special equipment or what to do in case of an emergency or exposure to drugs.”

The victims also claimed that were not issued with masks, gloves or any protective equipment. One of the officers said that they smelled an “intense strong chemical odour” as they were beginning the drug audit but their superiors neglected to address their concern.

Both victims claim that on March 18, 2009, a particular toxic exposure directly contributed to their dire medical conditions. They were examining a cardboard box containing 10 bags. One of the officers removed one bag and saw that it contained a bulk beige powder. He noticed that the plastic bag had disintegrated and that it had a strong smell. Seeing the potential for further danger, he once again requested for personal protective equipment but was told that there was no budget for it.

As the days went on, one of the victim’s condition worsened and he began to suffer severe headaches, coughing, a burning sensation in his nose and throat, shortness of breath and occasionally tasted blood in his mouth. He went on to suffer a second exposure to the toxic drug fumes a month later, this time in the high-security bulk drug safe at Sydney police headquarters in Surry Hills.

The other officer did not return to work after the first toxic incident. However, his condition worsened, with severe tightening in his chest, asthma, sleepless nights and anxiety especially after he was told that his colleague was on life support and may not live. His colleague pulled through after three weeks in coma.

Both victims sued the NSW police with alleged negligent acts, including failing to provide a safe system of work and protecting them from risk of physical, mental or psychiatric injury.

WorkCover is prosecuting the police force for breaching the Occupational Health and Safety Act but it has not pleaded guilty. The police force will file its defence, and the matter will be brought back to court on May 24.

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10:14 pm, Wednesday 7 December, 2011

A postal company has been fined after a contractor lost his right leg when he was run over by a forklift at work at the Toowoomba Mail Centre in July 2008.

The victim was three days shy of his 73^rd birthday when the accident happened. Surgeons weren’t able to save his lower right leg leading to its amputation. He spent more than a month at the hospital.

The Federal Court heard that the postal company admitted to breaching the Occupational Health and Safety Act when they failed to properly control pedestrian traffic in the loading dock. They also failed to provide sufficient training to contractors. NEWS.com.au reports that the company was fined $160,000 and was ordered to pay $80,000 in legal costs.

Justice John Logan said that he acknowledge that the postal company has made efforts to improve its safety strategies, but also said that any penalty should reflect the need for deterrence.

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