New hard line approach to workplace health and safety
A SPATE of accidents and fatalities on construction projects has led to rising fears of unsafe practices in Queensland’s multibillion-dollar construction industry.
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RISING fears of unsafe practices in Queensland’s multibillion-dollar construction industry has led to a harder line on those who fail to ensure the safety of workers.
Latest figures, provided to The Courier-Mail, show hazardous building sites have been hammered by safety inspectors with the state recording a massive spike in stop-work notices, investigations and fines.
The State Government has vowed to ramp up the blitz, boosting inspector ranks by more than a third — adding 18 to its current 52.
There is also a major focus on respirable crystalline silica (RCS) dust exposure, considered a major health time bomb.
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New data shows Workplace Health and Safety Queensland (WHSQ) issued $1.4 million in fines in 2017-18, an increase of $930,000 year on year.
A total of 758 prohibition, or stop-work, notices were issued — almost twice as many as the previous year — due to concerns workers faced imminent risk.
Most common dangers included falling objects, exposure to live power lines, working at height without adequate safeguards, unsafe operation of heavy machinery and mishandling of potentially-lethal asbestos.
WHSQ inspectors handed out 1735 improvement notices — 655 more than 2016-17 — and 134 infringements/on-the-spot fines, 49 more than the previous year. They investigated 1143 incidents and accidents, down slightly on 2016-17.
A WHSQ spokesman said the most serious recent case to hit court was the Criscon Pty Ltd prosecution involving a double fatality at Eagle Farm in October 2016.
In September this year, Criscon was fined $405,000 for breaches of the Workplace Health and Safety Act and no conviction was recorded. WHSQ has appealed the decision on the grounds the sentence was manifestly inadequate. This is the first of several matters to be heard before the courts in relation to the workplace tragedy.
In June, Industrial Abseiling Pty Ltd was fined $250,000 and its director $30,000 following the death of a worker at the Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre in 2015.
In February, environmental services company, Veolia, was fined $200,000 after pleading guilty in the Gladstone Magistrates Court to breaching the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 following the death of a worker after an explosion in a gas kiln in Gladstone three years ago.
To help better safeguard workers, a WHSQ spokesman said it was currently recruiting 18 additional construction inspectors.
This is in response to a recommendation from a Workplace Health and Safety Best Practice review.
Head of Workplace Health and Safety Queensland, Dr Simon Blackwood, said every Queenslander deserved to go home to their loved ones safe and healthy at the end of every working day.
Dr Blackwood said that in addition to the enforcement and compliance work undertaken on a daily basis, WHSQ also conducted targeted campaigns.
The latest will focus on identifying and managing respirable crystalline silica (RCS) dust exposure in workplaces.
Considered the “new asbestos’’, this deadly dust is found in construction, foundries, tunnelling, brick, tile and concrete product manufacturing, monumental masonry and metal polishing.
“Silicosis is an aggressive form of pneumoconiosis — a debilitating respiratory disease — which can be fatal and any employer engaging in dry cutting of engineered stone must stop immediately,’’ Dr Blackwood said.
“WHSQ has uncovered disturbing and unsafe work practices — including dry cutting of stone, poor ventilation of work areas and a lack of personal protection equipment.
“All workers in the industry, or those who have previously worked in the industry, should undergo urgent health screening.’’
Dr Blackwood said enforcement action would be taken against any employer who failed to adequately to protect its workers.
October is National Safe Work Month, where workers and employers are urged to commit to building safe and healthy workplaces.
In Queensland, a month of awareness events culminates with the Injury Prevention and Return to Work Conference at Bowen Hills on Wednesday.
Latest data shows work-related injury and disease costs the Australian community almost $62 billion a year.
SERIOUS BREACHES
● The Criscon prosecution involving a double fatality at Eagle Farm in October 2016 is the most recent high-profile case to go before the court. Ashley Morris, 34, and Humberto Leite, 55, died instantly when two concrete slabs toppled over during construction of a foul-water drainage tank. In September, Criscon was fined $405,000 for breaches of the Workplace Health and Safety Act and no conviction was recorded. WHSQ has appealed this decision on the grounds the sentence was manifestly inadequate. This is the first of several matters to be heard before the courts in relation to the workplace tragedy.
● In June, Industrial Abseiling was fined $250,000 and its director $30,000 following the death of a worker at the Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre in 2015. French national Simon Vovard, 29, had detached himself from safety lines to shovel bird excrement out of a duct when a hatch beneath him collapsed, sending him tumbling into the convention centre’s main arena.
● In February, environmental services company Veolia was fined $200,000 after pleading guilty in the Gladstone Magistrates Court to breaching the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 following the death of worker Mark Chapelhow after an explosion in a gas kiln in Gladstone three years ago.
● In July 2017, waste recycling company Kelstra was fined $200,000 in the Richlands Magistrates Court. The business, which failed to do routine maintenance on an excavator, pleaded guilty to a Category Two offence under the WHS Act in which it exposed an employee to risk of serious injury or death. This was in relation to an incident in February 2015 when a worker was killed after being struck by an object while using an excavator to load demolition building waste into a truck at a site in Richlands. An item from the scrap metal he was loading hit him in the head.
SOURCE: Workplace Health and Safety Queensland
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