‘Tis the Season to be Safe

BRUCE McCLURE, General Manager CMPA comments on recent statistics submitted by WorkSafe Victoria highlighting the increased risk of incidents over the November to February period.

WORKSAFE Victoria has noticed a trend in the increase of incidents in the Extractive Industries over the four months from November through to February. All members and their staff are requested to make note of this unfortunate trend and to discuss the possible causes, ways and methods of eliminating this increase in incidents. This period of time is normally a time of joy, of excitement particularly for families what with Christmas, school holidays and changes to families as children and family members enter new areas of employment or start at new school.

Let us ensure that none of our members become a statistic at this or any time of year.

INCIDENT RISK SIGNIFICANT OVER THE NOV – FEB PERIOD

WorkSafe Victoria has identified a clear trend for incident rates in the extractives industry to increase around the Christmas and New Year holiday period. In recent years some of these incidents have resulted in serious injuries to workers with the consequences felt not only by the individual, but by family, friends and the wider community. At a time of the year when the focus is on loved ones and celebration, employers must be aware of, and take action to reduce the increased risks, making sure everyone gets home safely.

WHAT YOU CAN DO

The cause of incident at this time of year varies, but it’s likely there are some key risk factors that become more common – look out for these, discuss them with your employees, and encourage supervisors to raise them at toolbox meetings/shift changeovers so everyone is aware of the actions they should take to maintain safety.

Are any non-routine activities taking place?

These may be occurring during shutdown or maintenance periods. Review work practices and risk control measures for the tasks involved and consider if refresher training or additional supervision is required.

Will skilled workers be on leave and/or will temporary workers be coming in?

Plan in advance for when skilled or specialist workers will be away to ensure tasks are suitably scheduled and supervised.

Are plans in place to manage possible seasonal weather extremes?

Periods of dry weather followed by heavy rainfall can contribute to some incidents. Ensure control measures are in place and that everyone onsite is aware of the risks.

Maintain awareness of key hazards

Mobile plant, electrical work, rock falls, fires, hand tools, manual handling and ventilation are all potential sources of serious injury. Maintain focus on
controlling risks around these hazards.

Celebrate safely

All in the workplace have a duty to take care of their own and others safety. Ensure awareness of your workplace policies and the expectation that those onsite are fit to work without compromising their own or workmates safety.

There may be other hazards, in addition to those listed above, that come up around this time of year and is specific to your site.

Talking with workers and supervisors and looking at previous injury and ‘near miss’ data may help you identify these.

While it may not be necessary to implement new controls over this time, you must consider this based on changes to activities, schedules and roles that will occur at your site over these months. Learn from the incidents of previous years to ensure the holiday period is a happy time for all to relax and recharge for the coming year.

Editors note: The statistics used in this article are based on the mining industry.

The next Management Committee Meeting is in February 2013 and will have Rob Kelly, WorkSafe Manager Earth Resources Unit in attendance. All members are welcome.

WORKSAFE QUARRY ACTIVITIES REPORT

WorkSafe Victoria recently released a quarries activity report.

There were 41 sites visited for the first quarter of 2012/13 and only 1 Prohibition Notice was issued. It is envisaged that more sites will be visited in the pursuing months as new WorkSafe inspectors start working in the field.

WorkSafe inspectors have taken compliance action on 58 safety breaches and issued a total of 52 notices (exc. voluntary compliances) in the financial year to date.

The Notices are made up of:
47 Improvement Notices
1 Prohibition Notices
4 Dangerous Goods Notice
6 Voluntary Compliances

*please note, that only notices written under Project 133 are included in the above data.

REPORTED INCIDENTS FROM JULY TO SEPTEMBER 2012

10/7/12 – Excavator overturned

30 tonne excavator breaking rocks. The right hand track has come off the
ramp and excavator fell onto its side. Worker in vicinity, no injuries.

8/8/12 – Finger jammed

Maintenance worker placing rams to unscrew a crusher bowl, jammed index finger in a ram when it returned. Surgery undertaken to repair crush/laceration.

15/08/12 – Front end loader overturned

A plant operator was using a loader pushing up some materials with the
bucket. The ground appeared to be soft, the loader tipped onto the right
side. No injuries.

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