All government
safety organizations are mandated to assure safe and healthful working conditions for
working men and women by setting and enforcing standards and by providing
training, outreach, education and assistance. Here is a recent story
where a government safety organization fined an aluminium company after a fatality.
A contractor worker fell through a manhole to
his death while carrying out high-pressure cleaning of a tank in 2009.
The deceased worker was employed by a
contracting company, which was contracted by an Australian aluminium company to
carry out the cleaning. The contracting company has already been fined more
than $120,000 Euro.
Deputy Chief Magistrate said she had taken
into account the aluminium company’s plea of guilty, its good record and
that it had put in place significant safety measures since the worker's death.
The court was told the incident could have
been prevented if what were called "scaff bars" had been placed
across manholes to stop workers from entering or falling through them.
The court heard there had been a previous
similar safety incident involving the deceased worker three years prior but the
hazard was not removed.
Deputy Chief Magistrate said the prosecution
against aluminium company was "about site safety and the measures taken by
aluminium company, and did not directly deal with the death of the worker".
However, Deputy Chief Magistrate said the
aluminium company "should have appreciated this hazard".
"The aluminium company had the primary
responsibility to protect workers and be proactive in their safety," Deputy
Chief Magistrate said.
"The hazard to workers was foreseeable
and easily remediated."
The aluminium company had been facing a
maximum fine of $140,000 Euros. The aluminium company was also ordered to pay $3,500 Euros
in court costs.
The Aluminium Plant Safety Blog
offers our prayers for the deceased workers family, friends, and coworkers. Words
cannot express the sadness, anger, confusion, etc. that results when a loved
one is killed at work. That is why it is imperative that these incidents posted by the APSB never be reproduced.
The story mentioned that three
years prior to the fatality the worker had a similar incident with an open
manhole. The details surrounding that incident are unclear. Nevertheless that “near
miss” was not properly addressed, because three years later the worker fell
into a manhole and died. All “near misses” need to be reported and investigated
properly.
Occupational Safety & Health
Administration (OSHA) describes a near miss as incidents
where no property was damaged and no personal injury sustained, but where,
given a slight shift in time or position, damage and/or injury easily could
have occurred. More information from OSHA on near misses can be found
here.
By the way has any of the readers
heard of the term “scaff bars”?
Please Comment.
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