Emily Liang remembered as bright and bubbly friend and employee
A 34-year-old woman killed by a stone slab in a Dingley warehouse was mum to a baby and four-year-old, with her brother-in-law saying she “always smiled and laughed”.
Inner South
Don't miss out on the headlines from Inner South . Followed categories will be added to My News.
A mother of two killed when a slab of marble crushed her last Thursday morning in a workplace accident in Dingley Village is being remembered as “a lovely person” who was always cheerful.
Emily Liang had worked at RHF Stone for 12 years, since the company’s beginning, before last Thursday’s tragic accident.
Baki Bas, director of RHF Stone said Ms Liang loved her job and the people she worked with.
Mr Bas, who is Ms Liang’s brother-in-law, said the business had lost a professional and loyal team member who put her work first.
He said Ms Liang had “two little kids”, a one-and-a-half-year-old and a four-year-old.
“Emily was working with us from day one 2008,” he told the Leader.
“She was a lovely person that always smiled and laughed. She was easy going easy to talk to easy to deal with.
“Sadly she lost her life at work due to her dedication and perseverance.
”We are extremely devastated and heart broken by her death.”
Mr Bas said Ms Liang came from a family that had been involved in the stone industry since 1983.
“She knew everything about stone. She basically grew up around stone slabs,” he said.
Mr Bas said Ms Liang’s husband, Oliver, was devastated.
He said his employees were shattered, but keen to continue working.
“I offered them a week off to help cope with it, but they wanted to come back to work to help take their minds off it,” he said.
He said the community’s support at a time like this was vital, and thanked stakeholders.
“This incident was unprecedented and in over 12 years of our trading we have had absolutely no workplace incidents at all,” he said.
“We appreciate your support and all the messages and calls to our family and our business, it means a lot to us.”
MORE NEWS:
INSIDE CORKMAN COWBOY’S EYEBROW-RAISING BRIGHTON BUILD
WHY BAYSIDE’S POPULAR FOOD FEST HAS BEEN AXED
VANDALS STRIKE ON BAYSIDE’S QUIET RETAIL STRIPS
The young mum was the 21st person to die at a Victorian workplace this year, after 24 people lost their lives in 2020.
Recent WorkSafe Victoria statistics revealed that more than 27,000 claims were made to the agency last year, with 4800 injuries as a result of muscular stress when handling objects and 4415 incidents of being hit by moving object.
There were six deaths on farms in 2019 – including two infants aged two and three years old, who died in incidents involving machinery – and five deaths occurred on building sites.
Another 13 people were killed at work in Victoria last year including in factories and on work vehicles.
Worksafe is continuing its investigation into the Dingley incident, and it is understood the outcome may not be known for another six to 12 months.