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.
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.