Geelong tradies urged to ramp up safety measures following hundreds of WorkSafe claims

Victoria’s workplace safety watchdog has urged tradies to take extra safety precautions amid news hundreds of new claims have been accepted in recent years.

WorkSafe has accepted hundreds of claims from local tradies hurt in recent years as construction workers and employers are warned to take precautions.

Between July 1 2017 and June 30 this year, WorkSafe accepted 854 injury claims from construction workers in the greater Geelong area, encompassing the Greater Geelong, Surf Coast and Queenscliffe local government areas.

As of last Thursday for 2021-22, there were 165 construction industry accepted injury claims in the region, following 193 for 2020-21 and 170 for 2019-20.

The data reflects the year the injuries occurred.

Last financial year body stressing was the top cause of injury (52), followed by falls, trips and slips (48) and being hit by a moving object (44), the WorkSafe figures showed.

A WorkSafe spokeswoman said all employers, including those in trade-based industries, must do everything they reasonably could to protect their workers’ health and safety.

“This includes consulting with their workers and health and safety representatives on how to remove or reduce workplace risks,” she said.

“Workplace injuries can have a significant impact on a tradesperson’s health and can be career ending, but they are preventable.”

South Geelong 33-year-old Josh Howarth works in demolition and was using a grinder when a metal splinter got stuck in his eye last month.

“By the next day I couldn’t see out of it … I felt like I was looking under water,” he said.

Local tradie Josh Howarth recently hurt his eye. Picture: Mark Wilson

He went to an optometrist in Seymour near the construction site, where they worked at removing the splinter, and then attended a local Specsavers in Geelong for further treatment.

Mr Howarth, who said he was wearing safety glasses at the time of the incident, said his eye is fine now.

New research commissioned by Specsavers Australia found 60 per cent of tradies were continuously putting their hearing and eye health at risk by not wearing protective equipment while at work.

August is Tradies National Health Month, and optometrists and audiology professionals are joining forces to remind Geelong labourers, tradespeople, and home DIY-ers to be vigilant of looking after their eyes and ears to avoid long term preventive, and in some cases irreversible, damage.

Barwon Health acting director of emergency services Elleanor Lee said people with injuries related to the construction industry or DIY home repairs often presented to its emergency department.

“Hand injuries from using tools are common, with power tools causing significant injuries, sometimes resulting in the need for an operation and extensive hand therapy in order to fully recover,” Dr Lee said.

“Injuries from heavy building materials falling from height, as well as eye injuries from foreign bodies as a result of grinding metal and not wearing appropriate wrap around eye protection, are also common.”

Originally published as Geelong tradies urged to ramp up safety measures following hundreds of WorkSafe claims