#construction incidents

[white-card-online-blog]

Financial Cost of Construction Incidents

According to statistics more than 130 injury claims have been reported to WorkSafe Victoria from construction sites in Stonnington in the past five years, costing more than $7.5million in wages and medical bills.

These WorkSafe Vic statistics indicate that Stonnington has a far way to go in terms of construction safety. More than 100 of the 136 building site incidents involved workers being hit by moving objects or being injured as a result of slips, trips or falls –these are obviously areas of particular concern which employers in the construction industry need to address.

Although these figures seem bad, the CFMEU (Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union) says the figures may actually be worse, because these figures do not show the full extent of risks facing construction workers in the area.

The following excerpt from a post on www.theweeklyreviewstonnington.com.au explains:

Occupational health and safety manager Dr Gerard Ayers said fear of being sacked and suffering financial hardship discouraged some workers from reporting a risk or incident.

"Statistics like this are always misleading and many incidents, especially in the domestic building industry, go unreported," he said.

He said the union received hundreds of incident reports every week and accidents involving workers being crushed by large machinery were on the rise.

Reported accidents at construction sites in Stonnington have steadily declined from 29 in 2008 to 18 last year, according to WorkSafe. The figures come weeks after construction workers at a site in Claremont Street, South Yarra, narrowly avoided injury when a crane cable snapped and sent a six-tonne concrete container to the ground.

In total, 1900 injury claims were reported to WorkSafe in the past five years across all Stonnington workplaces, including hospitality, manufacturing and hospitals.

Source: http://www.theweeklyreviewstonnington.com.au/story/1351434/building-site-accidents-cost-75m/?cs=1472

Although WorkSafe statistics show a decline in construction site accidents in 2012 as compared to 2008, the CFMEU believes that the situation is probably worse than what is being reported to WorkSafe.

Being hit by moving objects and slips, trips and falls seem to be the greatest cause for injury and this is why employers need to guard against these hazards. Well according to the law, EMPLOYERS have a duty to provide and maintain a safe working environment which is without risks to the workers and their health as much as possible.

Responsibilities including making sure safe work method statements (SWMS) are developedfor all high risk construction work including work from heights or crane operation, workers are competent or are directly supervised bycompetent workers and the health and conditions of workers are monitored are all important aspects of construction safety.

One of the most important aspects that employers need to consider, first and foremost is that every worker is in possession of the White Card. This is proof that they are aware of the basic hazards and control measures needed for work on a construction site. The White Card course teaches prospective construction workers all they need to know about general construction safety to enable them to remain safe and work in a safe manner on a construction site. Not only is important for workers to complete the course for their own safety as well as the safety of everyone on site, it is also a mandatory requirement throughout Oz.

[construction-safety-australia]

Inquiry into Sydney Construction Death

It is tragic when construction incidents occur that claim the lives of workers but it is even more worrying when the accident could have been avoided but wasn’t due to a lack of safety. Such an incident is being investigated following the CFMEU accusations that safety concerns at a Sydney construction site were ignored just 2 weeks before they led to the death of a young worker. The accident occurred inside the former headquarters of the New South Wales Nurses Association.

The 22 year old worker was crushed by metal beams at the site on Australia Street in Camperdown last week. The young man suffered serious injuries to his head and chest which caused his death while a co-worker who witnessed the incident was treated for shock.

According to an article on the website Abc.net.au the New South Wales WorkCover Authority has launched an investigation. The post went on to say:

A WorkCover spokeswoman says two inspectors were sent to the site, and an investigation has begun to determine whether there was any breach of safety regulations.

She says two inspectors were sent to the site after the incident took place.

The union's State Secretary, Brian Parker, says concerns had been raised about the stability of the site, but nothing was done.

"We're not surprised.

Unfortunately, it's taken a young worker's life, 22-years of age, the same age as my son, put in an unsafe condition.

"We were on the site only two weeks ago. We bought up concerns about this particular site, about the demolition processes on this particular job," he said.

Mr Parker says work stopped, after workers expressed concern that slabs were unstable during the demolition work.

He says the concerns were ignored.

"We asked for expertise to be bought into it, engineers to sign off to say that the structure that was holding up these slabs was secure.

"But unfortunately, we never received that," he said.

Source: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-04-14/inquiry-into-worker27s-death-at-construction-site/4627880

It is important that employers and principal contractors realise and fulfil their responsibilities with regards to providing a safe and healthy work environment and safe system of work for their employees. This accident is an example of what can happen if safety is ignored.

A healthy and safe work environment is vital not only for workers to be kept safe, but also to ensure continued productivity. Healthy workers are happy workers and this translates to profit for the company.

Begin by addressing the safety issues on your site and decide on how hazards are going to be overcome. Hazards may be common to the construction industry or unique to your specific site. Consult workers when identifying these hazards because some hazards may only be known to those workers involved in the specific task. You can also go through injury records to identify the most common risks.

Now after you've made your list of possible hazards you can begin to assess the risk and determine its seriousness, this will allow you to concentrate on the most serious ones first.

Once identified, you can begin to discuss ways of removing the hazard altogether. If it is not possible to eliminate the risk, look for ways to minimise it.

Some of the ways risks can be minimised is changing work procedures, using protective equipment to perform tasks, conduct less risky tasks etc.

Make sure all workers are aware of these safe work procedures and provide a written copy on site that workers can access whenever needed.