1. Workers Death Results in Fine for Construction Company
Another construction company has been issued a fine following the death of one of its workers.
Tragedy struck when the construction company was upgrading a section of the Hume Highway
by erecting a bypass when the 39 year old truck driver was crushed between 2 vehicles. The
incident which occurred in 2010 occurred when the driver was filling out paperwork.
The company was found guilty of failing to provide adequate safety procedures for refuelling on
the site, of which it was the principal contractor. This incident should serve as a reminder to
other construction contractors that every aspect of the site and work processes needs to be
considered from a safety standpoint and the appropriate safe work procedures developed
accordingly if liabilities such as this one are to be avoided.
The construction company was fined $350,000 following an investigation which found that the
company had not sufficiently trained their workers to adhere to safety procedures.
The company was the principal contractor responsible for the erection of the $250 million
Tarcutta Bypass on the Hume Highway.
Read further about the incident from a post on SafetyCulture.com.au:
An investigation conducted by WorkSafe found that the company did not ensure
adequate safety when refuelling at the site.
Results of the investigation:
• There was no designated refuelling times or places
• Work was allowed to recommence before the refuelling operator had left the area
• There was no adequate system of communication between the loader driver and the
refuelling operator
• The front-end loader operator was not trained to safely refuel vehicles.
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2. The company pleaded guilty to breaching the Occupational Health and Safety Act.
WorkCover General Manager of the Work Health and Safety Division, John Watson said
serious injury or death could be avoided.
“[The company] had a safe work method statement for refuelling plant but they had not
ensured their staff that operated mobile plant equipment had been trained in the
procedure.
Source:
http://www.safetyculture.com.au/news/index.php/12/construction-company-fined-over-w
orkers-death/
This incident, although tragic and sad is particularly interesting because it highlights the danger
of not training workers adequately.
The company, although implementing safety procedures, failed to ensure all workers were
informed and educated on these procedures which resulted in the death of the driver and a fine
for the company.
Companies need to be aware of the need to not only conduct a hazard identification and risk
assessment, but also ensure that once a safe work method statement and safe system of work
have been developed workers are appropriately educated in order to ensure their safety. It is
not good enough to just develop safety procedures, workers are the ones engaged in
dangerous activities and so they are the ones that need to be trained on how to operate safely
on site.
The general construction white card teaches workers in the construction industry about the
hazards that they may have to face and how to deal with them, but site specific training also
needs to be conducted in order to safely operate and avoid incidents such as this one from
occurring in the future.
http://www.whitecardaustralia.com/white-card-news/workers-death-results-in-fine-for-constructio
n-company/
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