Greens keep fighting ANSTO on nuclear safety

The Australian Greens Senator Ludlam is not resting on his “wins” against the Australian Nuclear Science & Technology Organisation.  On 22 October 2009, Ludlam issued a media statement.  Some quotes are below:

“If ANSTO believes its record is clean, it should make public the incident reports rather than waiting for the issues to be raised in Senate committees,” said Greens spokesperson on nuclear issues, Senator Scott Ludlam.

Good point. If one places this incident in the realm of workplace safety, the incident still would not become public.  OHS authorities usually only make public incident details after prosecution for, probably, sound legal reasons.  On OHS principles, issues that have relevance to other worksites should be communicated and, in some cases and industries, safety alerts are issued, but should a public notice be made of each incident that is reported? Probably not as disinterest and complacency would soon emerge.

“The ANSTO statement confuses the issue by referring to imaginary claims of a ‘spill’ and seeks to downplay an incident by noting, “The quantity of medical isotope in the vial was 1/10 of a teaspoon”.  The quantity of material exposed is irrelevant: as ANSTO well knows, it is the level of radioactivity of a given sample that matters, not how many teaspoons may have been dropped.

Agreed to some extent.  Quantity does not equal risk.

“ANSTO is also aware that there is no safe level of ionising radiation… as confirmed by the National Academies of Science BEIR VII report on “Health Risks from Exposure to Low Levels of Ionizing Radiation“.

There are umpteen instances of arguments over “safe levels” in OHS and environmental management.  It is likely that the Australian Greens will become more vocal when the determination of “reasonably practicable” becomes more widely applied throughout Australia.  Exposure levels are arguments that cannot be won in the short term and vary considerably as research continues

Whistleblower

“ANSTO’s whistleblower policy states that disclosure of threats to the health, safety and welfare of staff, and/or the general public is in the public interest.”

The environmental sector has relied on whistleblowers for decades – Silkwood, Brockovich, being obvious examples – or at least, relied on those who persist or become obsessed.

The call here by the Greens is likely to have many companies reassessing the application of their whistleblower policy, should they have one.  OHS doesn’t usually work through such a policy but it is an approach that may require reanalysis in line with the expansion of OHS law into the traditional areas of public liability.

One would hope that a corporation’s sense of social responsibility would be applied in such worker and public health matters.  Given the secrecy over nuclear power leaks and spills at England’s Sellafield plant, an important part of England’s weapons program for many decades, the Greens’ suspicion can be easily understood.

Kevin Jones

The OHS obligations of global corporations

BHP Billiton has issued a media statement concerning the death of a miner, Gregory Goslett, at its coalmine in Khutala in South Africa.  Due to the number of deaths the company has had over the last two years, attention on any safety issue at BHP is intense.  BHP’s short statement reads:

“It is with deep regret and sadness that BHP Billiton announces a fatal incident at its Khutala Colliery opencast operations in South Africa. At approximately 05:02 am on Tuesday, 20 October 2009 Gregory Goslett (27), Mining Operations Supervisor, was fatally injured whilst driving a light vehicle at the mine.

An initial investigation indicates that Gregory was travelling in a light vehicle when a piece of coal fell from a loaded 25 ton haul truck travelling in the opposite direction. The piece of coal went through the windscreen of the light vehicle and struck Gregory causing fatal injuries to him.

The company is offering all comfort, assistance and support to Gregory’s fiancée Tarryn, his parents and those affected at the operations. Our thoughts are with Gregory’s family, friends and colleagues at this difficult time.

Mining at the opencast area has been suspended and investigations are underway.”

The Age newspaper points out that

“The accident was of the type that BHP has previously moved to eliminate from its Pilbara iron ore mines in Western Australia after several deaths last year…..”

“A key safety change made by BHP in the Pilbara in response to last year’s run of fatal accidents was the improved management of the interaction of light vehicles with heavy vehicles.”

The circumstances of Goslett’s death illustrates the obligations, some would say challenges, that multi-jurisdictional corporations need to ensure that safety improvements are consistently applied across their workplaces, regardless of location or remoteness.

BHP Billiton has been tragically reminded of this but BHP is only one corporation in the global mining industry.  Safety solutions and initiatives must extend beyond jurisdictions, countries and commercial entities to each workplace where similar hazards exist.  (The oil refinery industry was reminded of this with the Texas City Refinery explosion) The communication and sharing of solutions is a crucial element of the safety profession around the world.

Kevin Jones

Unintended consequences of inadequate preparation

The Australian Government instigated a rebate scheme for ceiling insulation for domestic homes in order to the climatic impacts of heating one’s home.  The rebates effectively make insulation free and, as a result, there is a boom in insulation installation.

As with any boom in any industry, there is an influx of new workers.  The Australian newspaper reports the death of an installer in Brisbane in mid-October 2009 and the shortcomings this death illustrates.

The article says that the rebate scheme has been so popular that fibreglass batts are not available so installers are using foil-based reflective insulation.

Master Electricians Association president Malcolm Richards said the foil-based products should be banned in established homes because untrained installers were stapling foil on to live electricity wires.  He said the practice was the cause of last week’s tragedy in Brisbane and electricians were being increasingly called on to repair dodgy work.”

Firstly, electricians are always being called on to repair the botched electrical work of others.  Secondly, it’s not the fault of the foil suppliers so it seems unfair to ban a legitimate insulation product.

The Master Electricians Association is facing the problem that others face every day, unqualified workers doing the work normally undertaken by qualified workers.

The political opportunism by some in this article is regrettable.

The Australian Government should have learnt from its computers-in-schools initiative/debacle that there are ancillary costs with any government program and that these costs should be considered in the policy development and/or have relevant organisations consulted so that the necessary support services are prepared for the plan’s launch and operation.

The computers-in-schools program did not consider the software costs to use on the free computer for ever secondary school student.  The LPG conversion rebate did not consider the scale of demand.  The solar panel rebate scheme was cancelled even though the demand was great.  The home insulation scheme has drawn inexperienced installers into the industry.  All good intentions harmed through poor planning and some of that harm can be the death of workers.

Kevin Jones

Employer concerns on OHS law review

In support of the Safety Show mentioned in a previous article, the organisers have issued a media release which provides illuminating quotes on the issue of the Australian Government’s program for review of OHS laws:

One of those keen to comment is exhibitor at The Safety Show and chief executive of the Australian Federation of Employers and Industries, Garry Brack [significantly NOT a speaker at the Safety Conference ED.].

“We are concerned about the content of the model laws,” Mr Brack says. “New South Wales’ OHS Act is the most difficult piece of legislation in the developed world and we believe this is a lost opportunity to wind up with more balance.”

“If an employee does the wrong thing, the employer is found guilty. We’re not arguing that employees should be prosecuted but reject the notion that employers should be liable when employees fail to meet safety requirements.”

Clearly Brack has not compared the NSW OHS Act to the Federal Taxation legislation.

Brack reflects many of the perspectives of those who deal with OHS in the State of New South Wales.  The pent-up frustration is clear and the employers do not believe the reassurances from the Federal Government.

Brack also illustrates the desire for prescription in OHS law.  If people, in this case employers, know how to comply with a law, they are more likely to do so.

“Smaller employers don’t have the financial resources and in-house expertise to interpret what is ‘reasonably practicable’. They say ‘Tell us what we have to do’. They don’t wanted to return to the lunacy of years ago where every nut and bolt was defined but they do need a more prescriptive approach and help from regulators.”

He highlights a concern about the OHS laws shared by SafetyAtWorkBlog, small business has always struggled to provide an appropriately safe workplace.  “Reasonably practicable” does not help.  However, Brack’s desire for prescription is nostalgic at best, some would say fantasy.  This government has no intention of taking a seemingly regressive step to prescription and Brack has been aware of this for years.  At some point one has to accept reality and work with what is being offered.

Variations

Another exhibitor discussed the expectation that States will still add their own variations to the model OHS laws.  This option has never been hidden by the government or the various review panels.  In fact, this flexibility has been a major point in the government’s choice on harmonisation rather than uniformity.

“National legislation is highly desirable to avoid the massive duplication of work for national organisations,” Mr [Bill] Henman [of the College of Warehouse Training] says. “Unfortunately, the legislation will be enforced by various state jurisdictions and this will result in variation between states in interpretations, penalties and the finer points of the legislation. The devil is in the detail. [ED. please kick the next person who uses this cliche] Different penalties in different states currently affect the priorities of safety managers and standardised penalties would provide better outcomes.”

Henman needs to read the legislation and supportive documents to see that standardised penalties are proposed.  Though Henman is considering one of the most important issues that does not seem to be in consideration in much of the commentary on the legislation to date – improved safety.

“It’s very hard to say whether these new laws will make workplaces safer. The culture of those less safety conscious workplaces where the employer bends the rules has to change. One would hope the new laws will help engender better safety cultures.”

The Master Builders Association of NSW‘s OHS risk management officer, Tim Stootman, echoes the perspective of Garry Brack, looking at the  legislation through the experience of a New South Wales employer:

“Master Builders supports the review of OHS laws and believes that this is an opportunity for better, rather than greater, OHS regulation,” Mr Stootman says.  “Better, rather than greater, regulation will assist to improve OHS performance in the construction sector.

Master Builders supports the rejection of what could be called a ‘highest common denominator’ approach to OHS duties.  Essentially, this approach would have seen an absolute duty of care on employers to ensure the health and safety of their employees and provides unions with the right to bring a prosecution for a breach of the OHS law, the latter a provision adopted in recent changes to the law in the ACT.

The Draft National Model OHS Act is a positive step towards harmonisation of OHS laws in this country.”

Submissions to the government on the draft Safe Work Bill are being regularly posted at the Safe Work Australia website.  SafetyAtWorkBlog is watching the submissions and will draw attention to some of the more useful comments in the submissions.

Kevin Jones

Getting the OHS message out there

Next week in Australia is Safe Work Australia Week in which each State jurisdiction undertakes information and promotional activities in support of occupational health and safety.

In Sydney, the Safety Institute of Australia (SIA)  is hosting a Safety Conference.  A major theme, understandably, is Australia’s OHS law harmonisation and there are excellent speakers at the conference on the topic.

There has always been an operational tension between the conferences and the trade shows that accompany most of the Safety Institute conferences even though there is a contract between the SIA and Australian Exhibitions & Conferences, the trade show owners.  The tension is over which event gets priority in promotions.  Effectively this differs depending on promotional target but for years it has been possible to attend a trade show without having any idea that a conference may be in the room next door.

This year the trade show, technically “The Safety Show“, is offering free workshops on the harmonisation laws to show attendees with speakers from a law firm, amongst others, who is also hosting a panel discussion in the conference .  Why would one run a free event that competes with a partner’s conference for which the daily attendance fee is $A500???!!!

Admittedly, the conference is likely to include more detailed examinations of the laws as there is more time and many of the speakers are lawyers or academics specialising in the area but if one’s charter is to promote health and safety awareness and to advance the science and practice of safety, as the SIA states, is this appropriately met by speaking to a group of maybe 400 conference attendees or a potential 10,000 trade show visitors?

Kevin Jones

Accusations of poor nuclear safety

Australia does not (yet) have nuclear power but its most prominent nuclear reactor is at Lucas Heights in Sydney.  On 21 October 2009, the Australian Greens Senator Scott Ludlam was told that several incidents had occurred at the reactor since 2008.

According to a media release from the Greens, Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) revealed that

  • “A major recent event involving a vial being dropped and left unreported for up to three hours leading to exposure by workers.
  • An internal audit found gross deficiencies in safety procedures.
  • Management was unaware some workers present during the incident had not completed OHS induction training or a radiation safety course.
  • Procedures required upgrading since the incident.
  • Other incidents have occurred since and procedures are constantly being upgraded.”

A short AAP article on the comments is also available online.  The article is likely to gain considerable media attention through the inclusion of the following comment

“A spokesman for Senator Ludlam told AAP that if safety procedures could not be followed at Australia’s nuclear reactor, “God help” Australia if ANSTO was put in charge of a full scale nuclear power facility.”

It seems unfair to put out this story without some response from ANSTO.  Late this afternoon ANSTO released a detailed response to the Greens claims and AAP story which it claims were full of inaccuracies.  Below are some extracts of the statement which is available here in full.

“No incident of the type reported took place at the OPAL reactor.  An incident did take place on 28 August 2008 at ANSTO’s radiopharmaceutical production facility.   This was not a spill and no staff were exposed to significant radiation doses.   The incident took place in a shielded manufacturing enclosure.”

“ANSTO acknowledges that conservative decision making was not used at the start of this incident. Procedures have improved since as acknowledged in the Greens’ press release.”

“The quantity of medical isotope in the vial was 1/10 of a teaspoon and when the vial was dislodged the worker initially attempted to retrieve it and notified his supervisor within 30 minutes of the initial incident.   The vial was finally retrieved after three hours.   Molybdenum-99 production did not continue following the incident.”

“Incident reporting is a standard practice in the radiopharmaceutical manufacturing environment.   Senator Ludlam appears to have confused the reporting of incidents with an assumption of these incidents being severe or hazardous to workers.  This is not the case.”

Nuclear issues always need to be taken seriously and, as with any incident, must be investigated appropriately.  The Greens have made, understandable, political mileage out of the information revealed in the Senate hearings.  The comments match the interests of its constituents and members.

What it also indicates is that Australia has yet to enter a nuclear energy debate that has already been experienced in Europe and elsewhere over the last thirty years or so.  As nuclear energy becomes an increasingly important option for Australia in response to climate change, the debate is likely to be furious.

Kevin Jones

Dusty switchboard safety alert

The Northern Territory’s WorkSafe authority issues safety alerts infrequently so each new one is worth considering.  The alert released on 20 October 2009 concerns dust in exposed switchboard installed in remote locations.

sa0200907_000The alert is worthy of attention for several reasons but one is that electrical work in isolated locations can often be less safe than similar tasks closer to urban areas.  Some tradespeople in remote locations do only what they deem is necessary which is not always safe.

The other issue is identified in the alert itself.  Dust in electrical circuits can be a hazard in many circumstances and should be considered when installing switchboards.  The environment in which the electrical work is to be undertaken is an important consideration not only for the worker or tradesperson but also for the occupant of the house or the user of the article of plant, in the longer term.

Sometimes real bulldust is a greater hazard than political “bulldust”.

Kevin Jones