WorkSafe Victoria has reported that of seven recent work-related fatalities, three have occurred in regional areas on farms. The most recent death was misreported as involving a quad bike. In a media release issued on 10 May 2011, WorkSafe’s Ian Forsythe said, “Safety’s not just about what WorkSafe does. It’s about employers, workers and the … Continue reading “Farm deaths require radical approach”
Polite or ignorant? Coroners can be a polite lot, preferring what they would call ‘substance’ to emotion, accuracy to grand standing. They also hope that their Findings make a difference and help to protect people against a range of lethal circumstances. Ex-coroner Graeme Johnstone (Victoria) was an outstanding example in OHS. So any comments in … Continue reading “Authority in denial?”
Good OHS thinking and practice are being slowly asphyxiated. By far most suggestions by workers, unions or good consultants for Health & Safety improvements are ‘choked’ by management naysayers and bureaucrats more in touch with their current minister’s moods than workplace reality. Not choked immediately or blatantly. In fact, that person may be patted on … Continue reading “The Asphyxiation of OHS”
Workplace fatalities are terrible, lingering tragedies that generally don’t teach anything new about OHS failures. I couldn’t find anything new in the frightening detail in the article below (dated 14th December 2010) or in scores of Google searches of industrial/occupational fatalities; though disease fatality epidemiology can be informative. If all workplace fatalities in Australia were … Continue reading “How much significant information do workplace fatalities provide?”
Roll Over Protective Structures (ROPS) are a standard safety design feature on many items of agricultural equipment from tractors to quad bikes. But ROPS do not prevent a rollover, only minimise the risk of injury from a rollover. The Workplace Health and Safety Queensland has issued a safety alert over a tractor ROPS that failed. The background … Continue reading “In ROPS we trust”
There is a lot of silence on the quadbike safety front. An Australian industry code of practice seems overdue, the findings of a New Zealand inquiry into farm safety are yet to be finalised and released…… But the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics (ABARE) has today announced its first survey into farm safety … Continue reading “Reputable Australian government body announces first farm safety survey”
The issue of quad-bike safety continues to be controversial in Australia. This debate is not helped by inconsistent safety messages on television. Many of the news bulletins in Australia on 2 March 2010 showed the Leader of the Opposition, Tony Abbott, riding, seemingly for the first time, a quad bike on his trip to central … Continue reading “Aussie politician risks head injury in photo op”