In a recent incident, a painter fell about 10 metres when the boom-type elevating work platform (EWP) that he was working in overturned.

 

 

Use the following control measures to prevent EWP’s from overturning:

• Select an EWP that is suitable for the task and site conditions.
• Ensure that an EWP is operated by a competent person who follows the EWP manufacturer’s instructions.
• Do not exceed the safe working load (SWL) of an EWP.
• Check ground conditions along an EWP’s planned travel path and its work area to ensure that the terrain is level and free from obstructions.
• Do not operate an EWP on slopes where the gradient exceeds the limits prescribed by the EWP’s manufacturer. If this is not possible, a different EWP or an alternative, such as scaffolding, may be required.
• When an EWP is located near the side of an embankment or excavation, ensure that the ground can support the SWL of the EWP.
• Locate and avoid underground services and voids. In circumstances where it is reasonable for an EWP to travel or stand above these, additional strengthening may be needed.
• Do not operate an EWP on soft surfaces, unless measures are taken to evenly distribute its load (eg mats or similar aids).
• Monitor weather conditions, such as rain and wind speed. Rain may soften the ground. Do not use an EWP when the wind exceeds limits specified by the manufacturer.
• Before moving an EWP, the boom should be fully lowered to its travel position. A lower centre of gravity provides more stability.
• Before raising the basket, chock the wheels and extend the outriggers (if they are required).
• Ensure that level indicators, where fitted, are used and monitored at all times.
• In an emergency, machine failure or when a warning device is sounded, stop operation, lower the basket to the rest position and make the EWP safe.

Earlier this year a scissor lift accident left a rigger in hospital with severe injuries.

Craig Rizza suffered a broken shoulder, two broken ribs, a punctured lung and needed 40 stitches, after the scissor lift tipped as he was erecting structural steel. This should serve as a reminder of the dangers that these machines can pose and of the need to follow all safety requirements. safety experts following the mishap revealed that the scissor lift was unfit for use. Its solid rubber wheels were severely weathered and in need of replacement. Despite this, the machine bore a sticker indicating that it had been inspected and approved for use only one week earlier. This scissor should never have been used for the erection of structural steel on an uneven slab. Outside work on an uneven surface should only be carried out using a scissor lift with large pneumatic tyres capable of withstanding and safely absorbing variations in slab conditions. Upon  inspection also revealed that the scissor lift had not undergone a compulsory 10-year inspection.

 Scissor lift safety  

• Materials must not be slung or attached to the side of a scissor lift, unless the attachment has been specifically designed, rated, tested, marked and approved by the manufacturer. 
• Do not operate a scissor lift on uncompacted ground. NOT a guarantee that it is safe. All operators must carry out pre-start checks daily – and if they believe an item is unsafe, don’t use it! 
• All hired scissor lifts must arrive on site with an operator’s manual and log book.

 

 

 

Tradesmen working on holiday houses could be at risk by pressure to get jobs done before Christmas.

The warning follows an incident at Waratah Bay in South Gippsland around 9am today when a painter fell more than four metres after a trailer-mounted elevating work platform tipped over on a slope behind a holiday house in Iluka Court.

The 41-year-old Traralgon man was flown to the Royal Melbourne Hospital with suspected spinal injuries.

WorkSafe’s Executive Director for Health and Safety, Ian Forsyth, said training, supervision and working safely would maximise the chances of people making Christmas.

“Make no mistake, this is a high-risk time of year. Had a delivery driver not come by allowing the alarm to be raised, this man could easily have been there for hours waiting for help to arrive.”

”A lot of pre-holiday maintenance, renovation and construction work is underway right now and is due to finish before Christmas.

“Planning the work, letting someone know where you are and having some means of communication in case something happens could save your life.”

“Two of the 20 Victorian work-related incidents this year have been as the result of falls after equipment has tipped throwing the occupant to the ground,” Mr Forsyth said.

 

WorkSafe is calling Victorian employers and workers to ensure high safety standards are in place after a spate of serious incidents this week

WorkSafe is investigating an early morning incident at a South Gippsland (Lance Creek) meatworks where a 32-year-old man suffered crushing injuries in a ‘knocking box’ used to kill cattle. He was hosing out the box when the hydraulics were activated. He was flown to the Alfred Hospital in a critical condition with crushing injuries to the head and upper body.

 

Early this afternoon, an electrician suffered burns while working on a power board at Olympic Park. This was the second serious electrical burns incident this week. On Tuesday a man received an electric shock while working on an advertising sign near the Northland shopping centre.

 

He was hurt when part of the board he was holding came into contact with 22,000 volt powerlines. On Wednesday a man working at Alexandra lost a finger and suffered serious damage to two others whole operating a circular saw.

“These incidents are a reminder to everyone responsible for a workplace to identify and eliminate safety risks,” WorkSafe Victoria’s Executive Director for Health and Safety, Ian Forsyth said. “Medical science is terrific at helping to put people back together again, but as the incidents this week confirm, the outcomes could have been a lot different.

 

“There's not much difference between the incident which kills and the one from which you walk away saying, "That was close!" “Telling your workers to ‘be careful’ isn’t going to cut it. “The fact that nearly 29,000 people - more than 550 a week - were hurt badly enough last year to make a workers compensation claim, shows that much more must be done by employers and workers to prevent safety incidents.  

 

Mr Forsyth said November-December was among the highest-risk period of the year for health and safety.

“Whether it is harvest season, warehouses and shops are flat-out and in the construction industry the pressure is on to get jobs finished before the long break in December and January. “Whatever the situation, work has to be well-planned so safety is a priority.“Now is the time to ensure safe systems are in place for all your workers – experienced or beginners, particularly as young workers are flooding into the market with school and university finishing for the year.

 

“Getting on top of training and supervision issues, ensuring shortcuts aren’t encouraged or taken, is essential, as is making sure people have right equipment to do their job safely.”

“Even before you get to the issue of potential claims and WorkSafe’s involvement, no one wants to be in a position of facing the parent or partner of someone who’s been hurt, or worse,” Mr Forsyth said.

Nineteen work-related deaths have been reported to WorkSafe this year compared with 25 at the same time last year. There were seven work-related deaths in Victoria in November and December 2009.

 

 

A Melbourne business owner was prosecuted yesterday after a worker on a domestic construction site under his control fell through a hole in the floor and died.The Melbourne Magistrates’ Court heard that Mr Wing Cheong Chan had control of the workplace but failed to ensure it was safe for workers – he simply warned them to be careful.

 

A casual employee died from his injuries in June 2008 after falling more than three metres through a hole on a first level floor to the ground floor. Mr Chan was convicted on two charges under the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004, and fined $30,000.

 

“This incident is a reminder to everyone responsible for a workplace to actively identify and eliminate safety risks,” WorkSafe Victoria’s Executive Director for Health and Safety Ian Forsyth said.

“Telling your workers to ‘be careful’ isn’t going to cut it.”

 

The court heard Mr Chan, who also co-owns a furniture-making business, was contracted to carry out renovation work at a Lower Templestowe home. He employed two casual workers, including the deceased, to carry out the construction work. A number of holes in the first floor of the house had been cut out by an electrical contractor to thread electrical cables through. While some holes were covered and secured, other holes were uncovered.

Mr Chan told his employees to be careful of the holes but didn’t take any steps to securely cover them or barricade the area off.

 

The worker, a 63 year-old man from Lower Templestowe, fell through one of the holes in the master bedroom to the ground floor below. He was taken to hospital with serious injuries and later died.

“Mr Chan was the primary contractor and had the key to the workplace,” Mr Forsyth said.“He hired the workers and he was responsible for who came on and off the site. “If you’re assuming control of a workplace, responsibilities come with it. You’ve got to be vigilant about the risks.

 

“Mr Chan could have eliminated or reduced the risks by preventing workers from coming on site unless each hole was covered or at least cordoned off. He could have barricaded off any areas or rooms where any holes weren’t covered.

“The take-home message here is clear – if you’re responsible for a workplace, you need to be actively looking for hazards every day and taking steps to eliminate them,” he said.

 

 

Two companies and a director were convicted yesterday after a 21 year-old worker on a building site suffered an electric shock when he came into contact with overhead powerlines.

The 2008 incident occurred despite warnings from the network electricity supplier to the company responsible for the site, Hometec Industries Pty Ltd, and director Carmine Salvatore.

Yesterday at the Melbourne Magistrate’s Court, Hometec and Mr Salvatore were convicted and fined $30,000 and $20,000 respectively.

 

Roofing and installation company CSR Building Products Limited was also convicted and ordered to pay $12,500 to the Institute for Safety, Compensation and Recovery Research (ISCRR) at Monash University, for failing adequately train and supervise workers installing the roofing.

CSR Building Products had engaged the injured worker’s employer and brother Mark Watson, who was convicted and fined $8,000 earlier this year for failing to perform a job safety analysis which considered hazards including powerlines.

 

The incident occurred when the injured worker was helping install a roof on a Neerim South domestic construction site, when he made contact with an overhead powerline. He suffered serious burn injuries to his right and left hands and left foot. “What has happened here is a number of failures in a chain of responsibility,” WorkSafe’s Executive Director for Health and Safety Ian Forsyth said. “Hometec and its director were warned about the no-go zone by the electricity supplier and ordered to stop construction work, yet they failed to do so. “CSR Building Products had a responsibility to make sure their contractors could do their job safely - which they failed to uphold.

 

“And the worker’s direct employer, Mark Watson, had an obligation to make sure the construction site was safe by performing a job safety analysis which considered risks including powerlines. “None of these parties managed to fulfil their responsibilities. The upshot of all of this is that a young worker suffered debilitating injuries with long recovery times,” Mr Forsyth said. Mr Forsyth said that there were no excuses for ignoring no-go zones.

“The risks around working near overhead powerlines are well known - the new no-go zone rules were introduced over a decade ago.“In this case, despite warnings from the network electricity supplier, the company and its director showed blatant disregard for the risks,” he said. Mr Forsyth said that employers had an added level of responsibility when supervising young workers. “Young workers are more likely to suffer a workplace injury than any other age-group, and more likely to be hospitalised as a result. Managers and supervisors need to be sure young workers are trained and supervised so that they can carry out their job safely,” he said.

A 48 year-old man has died after falling approximately 18 metres from a boom lift at a Wheelers Hill primary school construction site this afternoon.WorkSafe understands the boom lift was being operated by the worker on a temporary track, when the ground gave way on one side of the machine, causing him to fall to the ground.

A boom lift is an aerial work platform that consists of a platform or bucket at the end of a hydraulic lifting system.

“Falls from height are one of the biggest workplace killers in Victoria,” WorkSafe Victoria’s Acting Construction Director Allan Beacom said.“We know that the risk of injury from a fall increases significantly for falls above a height of two metres.

“Employers have to control risks from falls – if there’s no alternative but to work at height, you’ve got to have effective fall protection or some other backup system in place.“Don’t assume that because you’re never had an injury you’re working safely. It might just mean you’ve been lucky,” Mr Beacom said.

Since the start of 2009, seven Victorian workers have died after falling from height – three of which have been this year.In June, a 59 year old worker fell approximately 2.2 metres from a timber plank at a Northcote construction site.

In January, a 37 year old worker died at Laverton North when he fell approximately 20 metres from an aluminium work platform.

 

A metal products manufacturer has been convicted by a Melbourne magistrate over a fatal forklift accident.

In 2008, a 60-year-old worker fell over after being hit by a forklift. His head then hit the concrete. He was later found unconscious at work. He died in the hospital two days later.WorkSafe’s Trevor Martin said the work site had no qualified first aider.He also said “the company failed to call an ambulance or seek first aid for the worker.”

“The only staff member with first aid training was certified in 1984, and wasn’t alerted until it was too late.”Magistrate Andrew Capell said the company’s failure to seek first aid was “outrageous.”

The company was fined $163,500.
 

WorkSafe is investigating the death of a man at a grain handling facility in North Shore, a Geelong suburb, around 3.45pm yesterday.He fell from a grain storage bunker (not a silo) while securing a cover about 8m above the ground.

The fatality follows another serious incident, also at Geelong, yesterday when a house being re-stumped fell on to a man who was working underneath it.He was trapped until rescued by SES volunteers and flown to hospital in Melbourne.The Director of WorkSafe's Manufacturing, Logistics and Agriculture Division, Ross Pilkington, said virtually all fatalities and serious injuries were preventable because they could be foreseen.

"As in virtually all fatalities, the person who dies or is badly hurt while doing a routine task - that's why employers and workers must have a clear understanding of the potential risks in their industry and apply measures to control them.

"It is rare for a death or serious injury to occur where it could not be prevented.'

The death is the 16th reported to WorkSafe this year. It is the same as at the same time last year, and 12 at the same time in 2008.
 

WorkSafe inspectors are investigating after a large plastic water tank fell on man in West Melbourne today.WorkSafe understands the incident occurred at about 12.30pm at a vehicle rental company on Footscray Road.

The 53 year-old man died while helping a member of the public move a large plastic water tank of about 22,000 litre capacity.Today’s death is the 17th workplace fatality of 2010 and the third this month.It is the second workplace fatality to occur in the last eight days. A man died when he fell from a grain storage bunker in Geelong on August 23.

WorkSafe's Ross Pilkington said meticulous planning was needed when carrying out non-routine jobs - including using the right equipment, and ensuring people have appropriate skills and training."Victoria's workplace health and safety laws require employers to maintain a safe workplace.

 

“It's a fundamental obligation applying not just to day-to-day work, but particularly when jobs outside of the routine come up.“Having clear, well understood and applied systems of work with prevent incidents like this one.“Workers should be encouraged to speak up and be part of the planning process, and they should ensure they make a contribution."It's an old, but true, saying - poor planning leads to poor performance."

This is the fifth workplace incident this year where a heavy item has fallen on and killed a worker.In July, a 41 year old man died at Appleton Dock when a three-tonne steel beam fell from its clamps.In June, a female worker at a Woori Yallock vineyard was fatally struck by a falling tree limb during windy weather.In May, a 33 year-old man died in Wyuna after a metal silo full of barley toppled onto him.

 

And in January, a man died at Laverton when computer equipment fell on him while being unloaded from a truck. 

Call for focus on machine guarding after Laverton North death

13 August 2010 

 

A 34 year-old man has died from head injuries suffered while cleaning a machine at a poultry processing works in Laverton North overnight.WorkSafe is investigating the incident which happened around 9.45pm last night.“At this early stage, we believe the worker may have been caught up on a hook and chain system used for carrying birds around the factory,” WorkSafe’s Strategic Programs Director Trevor Martin said.

“Inspectors were at the workplace last night and inquiries are continuing,” he said.Last night’s fatality was the15th traumatic work-related death in Victoria this year. There had been 16 deaths at the same time last year.“Machine guarding remains one of the state’s biggest workplace safety issues – and it’s a particular risk for cleaners,” Mr Martin said.

 

“Cleaners being pulled into machinery with exposed moving parts is a real issue – workers are being badly injured and dying. Employers and those with responsibilities for workers need to wake up and start managing the risks.“If you manage, maintain or own machinery and equipment, you’ve got to make sure that all moving parts that can have contact with any part of the body have approved physical barriers or guards fitted.

“All staff, especially inexperienced workers, need to be trained and carefully supervised in the safe use of machinery and equipment.“Energy sources must be identified and isolated before starting machinery maintenance or cleaning; and machinery and equipment should only be used as recommended by the manufacturer,” he said.

So far this year, there have been outcomes to three significant WorkSafe prosecutions where cleaners been seriously injured through exposure to dangerous machinery.

 

In May, Turi Enterprises Pty Ltd and labour hire company Ken Enterprises Pty Ltd were convicted and fined after a 2009 incident where a cleaner suffered serious injuries from being pulled into an unguarded chicken neck breaker machine.

In March, Ararat Abattoirs (Aust). Pty Ltd and service provider Western Contracting (Vic) Pty Ltd were convicted and fined after a 2008 incident where a contract cleaner’s arm was caught in machinery when a conveyer chain unexpectedly started.And in February, Warrnambool-based Midfield Meat Pty Ltd was convicted and fined, and Hygiene Control Pty Ltd was fined without conviction, following a 2007 incident where a worker’s arm was dragged into an unguarded conveyer.