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”
A recent media statement from the New Zealand Department of Labour on all-terrain vehicle (ATV) safety is annoying and disappointing. On 15 September 2009, the Palmerston North District Court today fined farmer Trevor Mark Schroder $25,000 and ordered him to pay reparation of $20,000 to his employee John Haar over an ATV accident on 26 November 2008 that left … Continue reading “When ATV helmets are “best practice””