"There are conflicting reports as to how far (he) fell"

Whenever the Aluminium Plant Safety Blog takes a pause in posting incidents that necessarily does not mean that incidents are not occurring. On the contrary incidents of varying degrees from near misses, to injuries to fatalities happen with regularity in our industry. When we do not post, our backlog of stories grows. We pray that there will be a time where there are no incidents, where all of our workers go home safely. We acknowledge that may never happen, but we still pray. Here is a recent story that emphasizes the need for safety education when working at heights.

A worker has died in Australia after falling a "considerable distance" at work. The worker fell to his death at an alumina refinery one midday during the week of November 22, 2015.

Conflicting reports suggest the worker fell between 10 and 40 metres, local government agencies reported.

Friends and family of the deceased were left reeling by the news of his death.

A friend wrote on Facebook: "Words cannot express the pain nor emptiness that is engulfing all our hearts and minds at the moment. He was a true gentlemen, a valiant young man taken too early."

"Cannot express how much sadness we feel - we love you brother and our hearts are with you Liz and babies," said another friend.

WA Today reported that The Department of Mines and Petroleum, which is investigating the incident, said the worker had entered a digester vessel that had no scaffolding.

It said he fell a "considerable distance" to the bottom of the vessel.

The deceased was a contractor at the refinery.

The aluminium company , which owns the refinery, said in a statement that it was "deeply saddened" by the death.

It said at approximately 12.30pm yesterday a contractor was fatally injured in a fall at the alumina refinery.

"The entire workforce has been affected by the tragic loss of our colleague and our thoughts are with his family and friends.

"The refinery’s current focus is on the wellbeing of its people and counselling services are being provided to employees and contractors on site. All non-essential work activities have been suspended, however production is being maintained."

The company said no other employees or contractors were injured in the accident and the alumina company is now working closely with the relevant authorities.

A GoFundMe page has been set up for the family and has so far raised more than $21,000.

The Aluminium Plant Safety Blog offers our sincere condolences to the deceased worker’s family, friends, and coworkers. In the past we have edited out the personal comments made by loved ones in the news media articles for fear of placing blame on the company. Unfortunately, overtime we fear that some readers may become sterile to our postings. We can assure you that each every injury and fatality has a backstory that would make a stoic person weep. The sadness that family members, coworkers and friends endure is cannot be comprehended. On many plants we have visited we will ask about recent or notable incidents. The reply will always start with a worker’s name. With that worker’s name, and what happened. Coworkers never ever forget a serious incident or a fatality. That awful memory travels with them throughout their career. Two types of safety for a worker. Safety can be either personal. Such as a worker experienced an incident or had a coworker injured. That forms the basis of why they are safe. It became ingrained in their dna. If not personal, safety can be impersonal. Where worker is believes in safety because his boss tells him, or his company tells him that safety is requisite for employment. It is the goal of every safety professional to make each worker have a personal relationship safety through variety means. Not by experiencing an incident.

The Occupational Safety & Health Administration has great information regarding fall protection. It can be viewed here.

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