SafetyMatters

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20 November 2009, Edition 169


	Alert - Safe loading of elevated work platforms on tilt tray trucks

RISKY BUSINESS

This image serves to remind people of the dangers of unsafe work practices.

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News:

Alert - Safe loading of elevated work platforms on tilt tray trucks

WorkSafe has issued an Alert to inform people of the risk of injury when loading and unloading elevated work platforms onto and off tilt tray trucks.

View the Alert

Safe work at heights from work platforms

WorkSafe has released a handbook for the meat industry about controlling the risks associated with working on raised processing platforms.

Download the handbook

Health and Safety Solutions - Fumigated shipping containers

WorkSafe has released two Health and Safety Solutions about fumigated shipping containers.

View the Health and Safety Solution (1)

View the Health and Safety Solution (2)

Asbestos Awareness Week

Asbestos Awareness Week will be held from November 23 – 27 to remind people about the effects of asbestos. It also provides an opportunity to remember and support the families affected by asbestos-related diseases.

Workplace death toll at highest level in eight years

An increase in Victoria’s work-related death toll has prompted WorkSafe to call on employers and workers to take a zero-tolerance approach to safety issues in the last weeks of the year.

Company director and firm convicted and fined

A company director has been convicted and fined $65,000 for workplace health and safety breaches relating to his failure to ensure workers were properly trained and supervised.

Warning about working in the heat

A week of scorching temperatures has prompted a warning for people to be aware of the dangers of sun exposure and the need to be well-hydrated.

New road rules

VicRoads has urged Victorian drivers to take note of a number of new road rules that came into affect this month. The new laws apply to u-turns and overtaking, cyclists, seatbelts, parking and motorcycle passengers.

Click here for more information

SafetNet journal 177

The latest edition of the SafetyNet journal is now available.

View the journal

Safety in Australia eNewsletter - Issue 46

The latest edition of Safety in Australia’s eNewsletter is now available.

Read the eNewsletter

Fact sheet - Cutting fuel drums and empty containers

WorkCover NSW has released a fact sheet about potential explosion hazards when cutting fuel drums and empty containers. It follows a series of fatal accidents at workplaces while cutting 20, 60 or 205-litre steel fuel drums.

View the fact sheet

Man's leg broken in coal ship accident

A 23-year-old worker has been injured while working on a coal ship off the north Queensland coast. The man received a compound fracture to his right femur after machinery fell on him.

Transport company fined over unsafe workplace

A Bibra Lake transport company has been fined $30,000 over an incident where a worker’s legs were crushed under the wheels of a truck trailer.

WorkSafe inspection campaign looks at fish wholesalers

WorkSafe will conduct an inspection campaign to look at safety standards in fish wholesaling workplaces. The campaign aims to improve safety in an industry that presents specific hazards.

Fines over dangerous work practices

Two companies have been fined almost $30,000 each by an industrial magistrate over failures in their safety systems that resulted in serious injuries to workers.

Worker almost loses hand

A timber worker's hand was almost severed in a conveyor-belt accident at a Ta Ann rotary veneer mill near the Huon Valley. WorkSafe Standards is investigating.

Quad bikes and the workplace

Workplace Standards Tasmania has issued a Safety Alert to highlight the risks associated with quad bikes. It follows a new zero tolerance policy for breaches of duty of care responsibilities with quad bikes.

Read the Safety Alert

Turkey: One killed in boiler explosion

One worker has been killed and 25 people wounded in a boiler explosion in a south-eastern province of Turkey. The explosion occurred in boiler room of the building during maintenance of the government office.

Read more

NZ: Racing club’s failure to act a lesson to other employers

The Department of Labor has prosecuted a racing club after it failed to prevent the escape of two horses from a training facility onto a busy road near a North Palmerston race track.

NZ: Council pleads guilty over worker's death

Wellington City Council has pleaded guilty to failing to ensure the safety of an employee who was killed when his truck tumbled down a bank at a landfill. The man, 55, was excavating a steep track when his 40-tonne truck lost traction and slid to the bottom of the hill.

NZ: Man killed by falling glass

A worker has been killed by falling glass at a factory near Greymouth last night. The 56-year-old man was helping load the glass onto a forklift truck when the incident occurred.

UK: Man fined over injured worker

A Northamptonshire employer has been fined £60,000 after a worker was forced to undergo amputation after trapping his arm in a machine at his firm.

Canada: The Health and Safety Report

The Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety has released the November edition of its Health and Safety Report.

Download the report

For incidents around the world

Go to the Safteng website
http://www.safteng.net

Worker caught in roller
Worker suffers minor injuries during explosion
Eight injured in explosion at steel mill
Ammonia leak at ice cream affects 12 workers
Small fire put out quickly at plant
Gas leak closes meat plant
Utility worker killed in accident
Mine worker's arm caught in conveyor belt
Two men die after oil rig accident involving crane
Crews free trapped worker
Two miners die in tree fall
Two men injured by a falling piece of metal
Fatal ammonia release at terminal kills driver
Worker critical after receiving burns at factory
Worker on pole injured in fall
Worker hurt in 90 foot fall at mine
Workers injured in industrial accident
Gas leakage in plant affects 50 workers
Exploding barrel shoots over bullet train tracks in chemical accident
Boeing employee killed in apparent accident
Evacuation over after chemical leak in Iowa
Two dead, four injured in boiler explosion
Worker killed in crane collapse

Subscribe to Safteng.net incident alerts/weekly safety newsletter
http://www.safteng.net/subscribe_to_the_newsletter_alerts.htm

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