business – Page 198 – SafetyAtWorkBlog

Prosecution of manufacturer of plant

On 25 January 2010, Jalor Tools P/L was convicted of two breaches of the 1985 version of Victoria’s OHS Act following the death of Ekaterini Peripetsakis in the week before Christmas in 2006. Ekaterini was hit in the chest by a piece of the router tool that broke off at very high speed striking killing her. She was working in her family’s cabinet making business.

Jalor Tools was prosecuted by WorkSafe Victoria because there was no information provided about the maximum permissible operating speed of the router – between 6,000 and 8,000 rpm. Continue reading “Prosecution of manufacturer of plant”

Australia’s Comcare issues safety alert on quad bikes

On 22 January 2010 Comcare issued a safety alert concerning the use of quad bikes (available on the Comcare website from 25 January 2010):

“Employers who own and operate quad bikes should be aware of the hazards and potential safety risks.

Following some recent accidents while operating quad bikes, a draft Code of Practice is currently being developed by the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries and Distributors [FCAI] relating to the ‘Use of All Terrain Vehicles in the Workplace’.

Heads of Workplace Safety Authorities (HWSA) has also formed a working party comprising of OHS Regulators and industry representatives to look at strategies to improve quad bike safety. Continue reading “Australia’s Comcare issues safety alert on quad bikes”

Something fishy in Tasmania’s abalone industry

Recently, SafetyAtWorkBlog received a long anonymous email concerning the death of David Colson, Tasmanian abalone diver who drowned in October 2007. The Coroner completed his inquest into the death and released his investigation findings in early January 2010. An earlier blog article on the findings can be found here

The correspondent pointed out that Allen Hansen, founder and managing director of Tasmanian Seafoods, the company that was to receive the abalone harvested by David Colson and Tony Burton, and a director the Tasmanian Abalone Council for an Export Award. The award was in fact an Export Leadership Award.

There is no indication that workplace safety is a criteria in the awarding of the Export Leadership Awards. The Award website describes Hansen as

“…truly an industry ‘builder’ and has made an outstanding contribution to developing the premier image of Tasmanian abalone.”

Attitudes to OHS in the abalone industry

The Coroner found that Allen Hansen’s company, Tasmanian Seafoods, did not have any procedures in place for when a boat did not return on time. Continue reading “Something fishy in Tasmania’s abalone industry”

D/O liability insurance gets to England’s High Court

Insurance policies for directors and officers (D&O) liabilities have yet to gain much application in terms of occupational health and safety penalties. But D&O insurance policies are in Australia and are established in other countries.

According to Wikipedia:

“Directors and Officers Liability Insurance (often called D&O) is liability insurance payable to the directors and officers of a company, or to the organization(s) itself, to cover damages or defense costs in the event they suffer such losses as a result of a lawsuit for alleged wrongful acts while acting in their capacity as directors and officers for the organization.”

A decision by the High Court in England throws further light on the application of D&O. Continue reading “D/O liability insurance gets to England’s High Court”

Finger amputation and arc flash burns

SafeWorkSA has issued media releases on 20 January 2010 concerning two recent decisions from the Industrial Relations Court. The first of these will a situation of bypassing a machine guard that is all too familiar to OHS professionals –

“a pair of vice grips had been attached to the finger guard at the front of the press, restricting its full range of movement and allowing access to the main moving parts during operation”.

The plant was a Hallbank 40 Tonne Front Press and the operator, Karen Carter, was unfamiliar with the machine. Prior to this hearing there was a dispute of facts hearing concerning who set up the press prior to the incident. Continue reading “Finger amputation and arc flash burns”

Getting safety promotion right

The Health & Safety Executive (HSE) has come in for a lot of “stick” over the last few years by seemingly over-reacting to OHS hazards. In many cases, these reports have come from a misinterpretation of OHS rules and guidelines or a misunderstanding of the basic principles of safety. In some cases it is simply a beat-up my England’s tabloid media.

However, this attitude to safety and the creation of a misperception of OHS has annoyed the HSE. Below is a video that the HSE produced, going by the tone of the video, in response to the bad press.

The “Right People” campaign seems familiar to many other campaigns attempted around the world and the introduction depicting silly headlines shows that the HSE is think-skinned.

Much more successful is the HSE’s recent campaign about safety in farming. Continue reading “Getting safety promotion right”

Update on New Zealand cool store explosion

On 15 December 2009, a New Zealand Court penalised two companies and a director with fines totalling over $NZ390,000 over an explosion in a coolstore that result in the death of one firefighter and injuries to others. In the comments section of a previous blog article the following questions were put to the New Zealand Department of Labour (DoL). Their responses are included below Continue reading “Update on New Zealand cool store explosion”

Category: business

Prosecution of manufacturer of plant

Like this:

Australia’s Comcare issues safety alert on quad bikes

Like this:

Something fishy in Tasmania’s abalone industry

Like this:

D/O liability insurance gets to England’s High Court

Like this:

Finger amputation and arc flash burns

Like this:

Getting safety promotion right

Like this:

Update on New Zealand cool store explosion

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this: