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23/01/2012

WorkCover Prosecutions

Source: WorkCover News Issue 86 Jan 2012

1. A maritime construction company was fined $130,000 after a man was crushed to death by heavy machinery while trying to transport a boat from Rozelle.

2. A western Sydney manufacturing company and its director were fined a total of $127,000 after a high powered industrial blender was turned on with a man still inside it causing fatal injuries.

3. Four companies and a Director were fined $452,750 after a worker had his arm severed while working on a rail construction project at Sandgate, in the Hunter Valley

4. A heavy duty labour and machinery hire company was fined $125,000 after a ramp on one of the company´s industrial trucks collapsed in Kiama severley injuring a 42 old workers who was left a paraplegic.

5. An appeal lodged against a $185,000 fine and conviction following the death of a Prestons woman crushed in Mascot, was dismissed.

2/11/2011

Sydney Morning Herald Article - Friday 28th Oct. 2011

SPECIAL REPORT - ´Waking up to the Problem´

Article by Melinda Ham

Waking up to the problem

Author: Melinda Ham
Publication: Sydney Morning Herald (17,Fri 28 Oct 2011)
Edition: First
Section: News and Features
Keywords: legislation (1)

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SPECIAL REPORT WorkCover NSW SafeWork Awards

New laws will offer greater protection against fatigue-related injury, writes Melinda Ham.

If you work for more than 17 hours straight, research shows your fatigue and level of impairment is equal to a blood-alcohol concentration of more than 0.05 - or being drunk on the job due to a lack of sleep.

Although it´s illegal to drive a car while this impaired, construction, oil, gas and mining companies, as well as public institutions such as hospitals, still allow workers to administer drugs and carry out other medical procedures, operate heavy machinery or drive cranes in this sleep-deprived state. But the situation is poised for changez.

Delivering a paper on the topic at the Safety Institute of Australia´s Safety Conference this week, a researcher at the University of Sydney and principal consultant with Benchmark OHS Consulting, Dr Margaret Chan, implored companies to take fatigue seriously.

"Most of them are putting their fatigued workers at risk of severe injury," Chan says. "They must have due diligence and do something about it now before it´s too late; before a worker gets hurt or dies or the company gets really penalised."

Workers will soon have greater protection - namely, to be able to demand compensation from their employers if they injure themselves while fatigued - when new laws are implemented across the country from January 1.

In addition, WorkCover NSW is increasing its penalties for companies that don´t conduct due diligence for fatigue. Companies may be liable to pay up to $3 million and individuals in responsible positions, such as managers, face payments up to $600,000 or up to five years in jail.

"The big problem is that a lot of workers don´t even know their rights," Chan says. "From next year, it´s not just direct employees but independent contractors and contractors who work from home who will be covered by this legislation."

And what about a company´s possible argument that a worker should have known better because they were trained in safety procedures? It´s simply no defence, Chan says.

"Workers take short cuts when they are really tired," she says, adding that they may ignore safety signage in the same way a person under the influence of alcohol could.

Chan stumbled unexpectedly on the link between safety and fatigue while researching for her PhD. During time at four large-scale construction sites in China from 2006, she asked executives, safety managers and workers to rate safety risks on a list of 290. Nearly eight out of 10 chose fatigue as their first choice.

So what can companies do? Chan says it´s about increased vigilance. The ideal situation is for companies to limit the maximum number of hours permitted on a shift - for example, truck drivers already have a 12-hour limit per shift and a stipulated number of breaks at regular intervals.

Alternatively, if a company requires employees to work longer hours to meet deadlines or cover staffing shortfalls, under the new laws requiring it to show "due diligence", it will have to create a system to deal with the resulting fatigue and the potential repercussions.

"Companies already have to provide toilets, drinks and other items for workers´ welfare. For fatigue, they will have to provide a bed where staff can take a nap if they can´t travel home, or other ways they can de-stress, such as a shower or television room."

Headline: Waking up to the problem
Author: Melinda Ham
Edition: First
Section: News and Features