The walkout from the Tasmanian Coronial inquest of the Beaconsfield Mine legal team has given the issues associated with the death of Larry Knight more media prominence than it would otherwise have received. The withdrawal also allows statements concerning the financial pressures on the mine to continue uncontested. An ABC podcast on the coronial inquest…
There is continuing concern in the United States about the thousands of claims of health problems by survivors of Hurricane Katrina related to living in trailers provided to them by the government. (A 23 July 2008 podcast includes a mention of this issue but the relevant information is within the first 3 minutes) The problem is that residents were exposed to toxic levels of formaldehyde.
This may sound familiar to some Australian OHS professionals as similar claims were made over formaldehyde exposure in temporary housing for government workers who were participating in the Federal government’s indigenous intervention program. The ABC reported that the government investigation found
“department’s response to the complaints was slow and inappropriate given the seriousness of the health risk.”
An earlier report on this matter containing commitments to health and safety by the Minister is available HERE
The full report by Tony Blunn is available for download as is the relevant media statement by Jenny Macklin, the Minister for Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs.
Large cranes are now a basic tool for high-rise construction. Over the last six months the United States has had several crane collapses. The latest occurred in Texas on 19 July 2008 and involved a mobile crane. The collapse resulted in four deaths and injuries to seven workers. Fed-OSHA is investigating but as this is the latest in a run of collapses there is increased media attention.
According to the most recent media statement by the company that owned the crane, Deep South Crane & Rigging
“The Deep South Crane and Rigging Company experienced a tragic industrial accident yesterday in Houston, TX, that resulted in the death of four members of our company family. Our thoughts and prayers are focused on our deceased co-workers, their families and friends, and the extended Deep South Crane and Rigging family.
We wish we had all of the answers on what happened and why – but we do not – and speculating on cause would not resolve anything. But we are actively working to find those answers. We are fully engaged and cooperating with OSHA in their investigation of the accident. Our common goal is to identify the root cause, correct any issue that may be found, and ensure that this type of tragic accident does not occur again.”
According to one article:
“An Associated Press analysis in June found that cities and states have wildly varying rules governing construction cranes, and some have no regulations at all, choosing instead to rely on federal guidelines dating back nearly 40 years that some experts say have not kept up with technological advances.”
Video and audio reports on the incident are available through the links below. SafetyAtWorkBlog will be reporting on any new information about the investigations
Company representative – http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/5896374.html
Crane investigations – http://www.khou.com/video/index.html?nvid=264952
Crane investigations/”competent person” – http://kut.org/items/show/13389
Exposure to ultraviolet light is a risk for outdoor workers, particularly, that need to be managed well. The best way to manage this is a point of debate in OHS management circles but I thought the medical argument on skin cancers and melanoma was over. Apparently not.
According to an article at BMJ Online, Associate Professor Scott Menzies says
“Sun exposure is clearly a major cause of this disease [melanoma]”.
Sam Shuster is not so sure.
“We need to know much more before we can balance the biological books on ultraviolet radiation, even if we can now close the chapter on melanoma.”
When you are discussing occupational safety with your occupational physician (assuming you have one) bring these articles to their attention so that any skin cancer management program you operate is as valid and robust as it can be. In OHS, a contemporary state of knowledge is an important base.
On 22 July 2008 the Tasmanian Coroner continued with his inquest into the death of Larry Knight at the Beaconsfield mine on 25 April 2006. Shortly after the start the legal team representing the mine walked out. Newspaper, radio and TV have covered this extraordinary development. Other reports in SafetyAtWorkBlog told of the lawyers’ attempts…
The Victorian Government’s investigation into level crossing safety is continuing. Yesterday the Parliamentary Committee on Road Safety ran a seminar on technological issues related to level crossings. Today (22 July 2008 ) I attended the morning session of a seminar on Fail-Safe technologies. The meat of today’s seminar was to be an open and frank…
Matthew Knott’s article in the Australian newspaper (21 July 2008 ) included telling comments from Barry Willis, a 64-year-old former maintenance worker at Amberley air force base. The article says
“workplace health and safety was non-existent: open cans of chemical sealant were stored in the refrigerators where the men kept their lunch.”
I have been critical of the military in the past as they are usually well-sourced on OHS and often speak proudly of their approach to safety. Yet just as with the BlackHawk Inquiry findings criticising the safety culture, Barry Willis saw no safety culture in the 1970s.
At the risk of sounding like an old grump, working in that decade was under a different set of cultural rules. Modern OHS legislation was being considered by most Western jurisdictions and industrial diseases were coming to the fore. In the early 1980’s I worked in industrial relations concerning award restructuring. One of the first elements to be restructured was allowances, many of them accurately described as “danger money” – removing roadkill, working at heights, confined spaces and a range of other hazards.
It can be argued that modern salary levels incorporate allowances for hazardous work but the issue of immediate compensation for a dirty or hazardous job, hopefully, has had its day.
Sadly, for people like Barry Willis, the consequences of a hazard, known or discounted, continue and the struggle for acknowledgement and compensation continues.