Category: risk

New OHS advice on quad bikes

On 22 March 2010, Workplace Health & Safety Queensland released new guidance on the use 0f quad bikes.

There is no radical solution to quad bike deaths but there are some variations to existing advice which should be noted.

The most obvious is that “quad bike” is used through instead of ATV (all-terrain vehicle).  This may annoy manufacturers but is very sensible given that the risks listed with using quad bikes specifically says that

“Quad bikes are designed for particular purposes and within particular operating conditions. Using them outside these parameters can significantly increase the risk of severe injury or death.” Continue reading “New OHS advice on quad bikes”

Government can do much better on level crossing safety

The Victorian Government is likely to say the Auditor-General’s report into “Management of Safety Risks at Level Crossings“, released on 24 March 2010, supports the government’s initiatives.  This is true but the report says much more than just describing the State Government’s efforts as “satisfactory”.  (If my child’s report card said satisfactory, I would be talking to the teacher about why the performance was only “satisfactory”)

The report summary says the following:

“The rate of progress in improving safety and reducing accidents has been satisfactory.  There are, however, elements of the risk management framework and its application that can be improved.”
These elements are specified as
  • “improving how the committee is informed of the views of the rail managers, who run train services and maintain the infrastructure, about their risks and priorities
  • assembling information that will allow the committee to effectively manage and monitor the delivery of the Towards Zero strategy
  • improving the understanding of what causes level crossing collisions.” [link added]

Clearly the Parliamentary committee is not getting the full risk story from the rail managers. Continue reading “Government can do much better on level crossing safety”

Two farmers dead and two injured from contacting overhead electricity cables

On 16 March 2010, two farmers outside Rainbow in Victoria were killed when the windmill they were moving touched live overhead electricity cables.  According to preliminary reports from the emergency ambulance service, two work colleagues went to the rescue and were injured themselves.

A video report is available HERE.

According to media information from WorkSafe Victoria:

“A father and son died this morning while moving a 25-foot metal windmill which came into contact with a 12,500 volt power line.

The incident occurred while moving a 25 foot metal windmill was being moved using a tractor with a forklift attachment on it.” Continue reading “Two farmers dead and two injured from contacting overhead electricity cables”

Two new free OHS magazines from Australia

Two interesting and useful OHS publications have been released in Australia.  The West Australian Division of the Safety Institute of Australia has published its Australian Safety Matters magazine.  It is freely downloadable and available HERE.

The second is a publication from Workplace Standards Tasmania and relates particularly to OHS issues related to the electrical, gas, plumbing and building industries.  It’s published twice a year and is available for free download HERE.

How the treatment of traumatic brain injuries has changed and the positive role of workers’ compensation

An American workers’ compensation blog, Workers Comp Insider, posted a fascinating article on the workplace-related traumatic brain injuries.  The article discusses a new research paper by Peter Rousmaniere – “Gray Matters: The Employer’s Role in Brain Injury Recovery”.

The original article in Risk Management magazine is also a good example of clear writing on  a complex matter.

Clearly, workers who receive a severe brain injury should not be shuffled away into the Never-Never as is traditional.  There are counselling and rehabilitation techniques available that have originated from many sources, including contemporary wars. Continue reading “How the treatment of traumatic brain injuries has changed and the positive role of workers’ compensation”

UV sunscreens and nanoparticle risks

Most of the discussion about the safety of nanoparticles is split in to the consumer end use of the products or the occupational hazards of their manufacture.  Safety managers, however, need to look at the potential risks of nanoparticles from consumer products that are used in the workplace.  New Australian research again focuses on sunscreens. Continue reading “UV sunscreens and nanoparticle risks”

Gas, lungs, ladders, fruit picking and concrete pumping – latest workplace incidents

The media on 11 March 2010 was reporting the discovery of a the body of a hotel worker in  a beer cellar of a Victorian hotel.  WorkSafe Victoria is investigating the possibility of carbon dioxide.

As with so  many cases of confined spaces, a second man was lucky to be alive after venturing into the cellar to check on the hotel worker.  The police report suggested that the second man was making a delivery to the hotel.

At such an early stage in the investigation and with so little detail,it is hard to say more than what WorkSafe’s Stan Krpan said in a media release this afternoon:

“With or without a gas leak or chemical exposure, limited means of entry and exit, poor air circulation, and working in confined spaces, is risky. Continue reading “Gas, lungs, ladders, fruit picking and concrete pumping – latest workplace incidents”

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