Construction worker on new Royal Adelaide Hospital dies in hospital from critical injuries
CONSTRUCTION work at the new Royal Adelaide Hospital is on hold and will resume on Tuesday following the death of a site worker on Friday.
A CONSTRUCTION worker who suffered critical crush injuries in a worksite accident at the new Royal Adelaide Hospital site has died in hospital.
SafeWork SA announced on Friday afternoon that Jorge Castillo-Riffo, 54, died in hospital as a result of crush injuries to his head, neck and back.
SafeWork SA executive director Bryan Russell expressed his condolences to the family, friends and co-workers of Mr Castillo-Riffo.
“This death is a sad reminder of why we all need to remain vigilant in eliminating and
minimising work health and safety hazards,” Mr Russell said.
Mr Russell said SafeWork SA’s investigation into the incident would identify any breaches of the Work Health and Safety Act 2012 (SA) as well as all parties with potential responsibility for workplace safety.
“In light of yesterday’s tragic incident, SafeWork SA will deploy additional inspectors from next Tuesday to maintain an active and visible presence when workers return to the New Royal Adelaide Hospital construction site,” Mr Russell said.
“This is in addition to SafeWork SA’s unannounced day and night-shift visits to monitor
compliance with safety requirements,” Mr Russell said.
He said SafeWork SA would not release any further information while the investigation was underway, given information and items gathered may later be used as
evidence in legal proceedings.
Mr Castillo-Riffo’s death brings the state’s 2014 work-related death toll to 12. There were
15 work-related deaths recorded in South Australia last year.
This morning, hundreds of workers gathered for a 10-minute briefing at the North Tce construction site and were told work would stop.
Workers were generously putting money in donation tins as they entered the site ahead of the briefing to help support his family.
CFMEU state secretary Aaron Cartledge told workers Mr Castillo-Riffo’s family would have “some serious decisions” to make about his medical care over the next 48 hours.
“Hopefully they are in the positive for (him),” he told the briefing.
“But he’s in a very serious way and our thoughts are with his family and the decisions they have to make over the next few days.”
He also urged those involved in his recovery on Thursday morning to talk about what happened with family and friends.
“Those people on the frontline are probably feeling it pretty hard,” he said.
“I know I’ve talked to a few who witnessed it, seen it, it is something that will stay with you for a long time.
“We all think that we’re big and strong and that we have got nerves of steel.
“But as someone who has been through a few workplace accidents, it was a very clear reminder to me yesterday, that it comes back, even though it’s been a decade or more since I’ve seen a death on site.
“Those memories come back straight away.”
Project manager David Mayton said work was suspended out of respect.
“Knowing how well respected (he) is in the industry we think it’s appropriate we close the site until Tuesday,” he said.
“That will give (his) family and all you guys time to take stock of the situation.”
He said the response to the accident was “professional” and he was attended to by the site nurse within five minutes.
“I’d like to take time to thank all the people involved in (his) recovery yesterday — they all did a fantastic job,” he said.
Mr Mayton told the briefing SafeWork SA had placed a prohibition notice on the use of scissor lifts to work on the exterior of the development.
He said every work team would do an audit of the vertical movement of scissor lifts across the site on Tuesday morning.
“We have hundreds of scissor lifts on this project and they all need to be reviewed as a work activity, particularly in relation to the potential of being trapped in the vertical movement,” he said.
The scissor lift involved in the incident has been seized by SafeWork SA.
Mr Mayton said the site needed to be in the “best possible state” when workers returned to productive work.
After the briefing, workers told The Advertiser they wished him well and their thoughts were with him and his family.
Workers in shock
A SafeWork SA spokeswoman yesterday said Mr Castillo-Riffo was working on an elevated work platform at the time of the incident.
“Following medical care at the scene he was conveyed to the Royal Adelaide Hospital for treatment,” she said.
The first ambulance was called to the construction site, at the corner of West and North terraces, about 7.20am.
Workers on the site downed tools following the incident and were called into a briefing.
Upset and emotional workers began leaving the site about 9.30am after Thursday’s group meeting.
Mr Cartledge said yesterday that details of the incident were unclear and the workforce was shocked.
He confirmed Mr Castillo-Riffo had been using a scissor lift on level two of the construction site, at the eastern end.
“No one witnessed the actual incident, they just found him at the scene,” Mr Cartledge said.
“From there, SafeWork and police have got to do their work, we can’t speculate, it’s an active investigation.
“Our thoughts are with our member, our thoughts are with his family and we hope all the best for him.”
Mr Cartledge said the mood at the site was “very sombre” following the accident.
“A lot of guys knew this worker, he’s been in the industry for some time,” he said.
“He’s very popular on the sites and this is a small industry, the South Australian building industry, there’s a lot of guys that are devastated.
“It’s just not good to have people on the site when their mind isn’t on the job.
“There’s workers out there that are going to take some counselling, not only tomorrow but in the weeks to come.
“We’ll offer counselling where we can and go from there.”
Health Minister Jack Snelling said he had little detail about the incident and would be meeting with the builders.
“I think all I just want to do at the moment is indicate to the worker and his family that our thoughts and prayers are with him and his family at the moment, as they are with his co-workers as well who would have been presumably traumatised by what’s happened this morning,” Mr Snelling said.
He said any potential industrial action was a matter for the builders.
“We expect the builders to run a safe worksite, we expect them to comply with all of the occupational health and safety laws and we expect them not to cut corners.”
Opposition health spokesman Rob Lucas said his thoughts were also with the injured worker friends, family and co-workers.
He urged the government to ensure investigators had enough resources to swiftly complete their investigation.
“Obviously the sooner SafeWork SA inquiries can be concluded, if there are any lessons to be learnt, then they can be implemented for the greater safety for workers on the site.”
He said while the circumstances from the incident were not yet known, results from other inquiries into issues at the site, including crane incidents, were yet to be published.
“We have no evidence to suggest in any way (Thursday’s incident) is tied to the construction timelines.”
Development director for building consortium HYLC, Peter Salveson, said the incident would be subject to a thorough investigation.
“We’ve got police on-site at the moment and SafeWork SA who are investigating the cause of the incident,” he said. “Obviously we are cooperating fully with that.
“I’d prefer not to talk about any of the circumstances, it’s still being investigated so we still don’t have all the information ourselves at this point in time.
“The circumstances of the incident were quite traumatic in terms of particular people that were supporting him on site, and they’ve been offered counselling.”
Some of the workers wouldn’t speak yesterday, saying they had been gagged. Others were too distraught to talk. Those that did said their thoughts were with Mr Castillo-Riffo’s family
“We just heard it was an accident on a vertical lifter,” one worker said.
“It’s a tragedy.
“We were told not to talk to media.”
Another worker said employees had been sent home.
“We know very little,” he said
“It’s all very sad.
“It’s a terrible feeling in there.
“Some of us have been through this before but it’s just not what you need.”
He said management had handled the situation correctly.
“It’s what I do, so we’ll be back,” he said.
The worker said safety on site was not an issue.
“Everybody is terribly sad about what’s happened,” he said.
“There’s nothing untoward.”
Another worker said everyone felt upset about what happened.
“We didn’t know what to say, we didn’t know what to do,” he said.
“We just wanted to find our what happened, that’s all.”
He said workers were not under pressure to rush the job.
“Basically all we want is to go and finish it so everyone can be healthy and safe in this kind of environment,” he said
He said he wasn’t sure when they would be coming back to work.
Another worker said safety on the site was a joke.
“We all know the site’s not safe, s--- needs to change in this industry,” he said.