Issue Date:  -  Friday, 12 May 2006

Twelve thousand dollar fine for incident with mobile plant

A Busselton company has been fined $12,000 for failing to provide a safe workplace after a worker was struck and injured by a reversing grader.

Cowara Contractors Pty Ltd pleaded guilty and was convicted and fined in the Busselton Magistrates Court on May 10.

In May 2002, a Cowara Construction employee was directing trucks to offload limestone road base, which was then being spread by a grader onto the sub-base.

The employee noticed a stick protruding from the sub-base and decided to remove it because it would eventually rot and create an indentation in the road.

When the employee went to remove the stick, he was struck by the reversing grader and sustained severe bruising, a chipped shoulder bone and a cracked pelvis.

WorkSafe WA Commissioner Nina Lyhne said today the incident highlighted how much care must be taken when work involves plant such as graders with workers in the surrounding vicinity.

“We are concerned enough about work involving mobile plant that we have made this one of our priority areas and it is receiving some extra attention,” Ms Lyhne said.

“There are some very specific safe practices associated with this type of work, and it is clear that some of these safe work practices had not been put into place by this company.

“The grader involved was not fitted with reversing beepers, and the injured employee did not see or hear it coming.

“The employees working near the machinery were not wearing the reflective vests they had been provided with, and were not using radio communication between the grader operator and those working on the ground.

“No spotter was being used, and there were no exclusion zones to keep workers a specified distance from the mobile plant.

“The company did have some safe systems in place, but they clearly did not go far enough in a work situation fraught with potential risks.”

There were 18 deaths in WA involving these machines between 2000/01 and 2004/05, and mobile plant incidents result in around 880 injuries in WA each year that are serious enough for the worker to need at least a day off work.

Safe systems of work must be in place to ensure employees and other pedestrians are not exposed to hazards where mobile plant is in operation.

The system of work should provide for the elimination of any interaction between ground personnel and mobile plant, but if this is not practicable, some or all of the following safe work practices should be in place:

• Exclusion zones so personnel and mobile plant are kept separate;
• Effective means of communication between operators and ground personnel;
• Job Safety Analyses, pre-start meetings and toolbox meetings;
• One-way circuits eliminating the need for reversing;
• Familiarity among all workers with the blind spots of vehicles;
• Appropriate ground speed for the conditions;
• The fitting of revolving flashing lights, mirrors and audible reversing alarm; and
• The wearing of high-visibility vests or the like.

“There have been several serious injuries this year involving mobile plant, and this case is a timely reminder of the risks involved if safe work practices are not in place,” Ms Lyhne said.

“The Commission for Occupational Safety and Health has published a Guidance Note on the Safe Movement of Vehicles at Workplaces, and all relevant workplaces should have a copy readily available for workers.

“The worker involved in this incident was lucky to have escaped far more serious injury, and this case should serve as a warning to all employers to ensure all possible safe work practices are in place and that all employees are provided with the instruction and training necessary to carry out these safe work practices.”

Further information on working with mobile plant and copies of the Guidance Note on the Safe Movement of Vehicles at Workplaces can be obtained by telephoning WorkSafe on 9327 8777 or on the website at www.worksafe.wa.gov.au.