Nearly a million dollars in safety fines after bricklayer almost killed

A Granville bricklaying company and its director have been fined nearly three quarters of a million dollars after a worker almost died from electric shock on a Hammondville construction site in 2012.
The worker had been installing vertical metal bars into brickwork at a residential and commercial construction when he made contact with overhead power lines, suffering electrical burns to his hands, arms and torso. After being pronounced dead at the scene, he was revived by the Director.
SafeWork NSW charged the bricklaying company and its director for failing to comply with the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (NSW). The judge found that the Director of the company failed to exercise due diligence by not checking that the scaffold was a safe distance from power lines and verifying that a risk assessment had been conducted.
Two other companies, at the same site, were fined $500,000 in 2014 and $75,000 in 2015 respectively, over the incident.
Executive Director of SafeWork NSW, Peter Dunphy said the incident could have been prevented if the business had a few simple safe work systems in place.
“There was a clear risk that the bricklayer could receive a potentially deadly electric shock if they came into contract with the power lines while working from the scaffolding,” Mr Dunphy said.
“The Director should have verified that a safety assessment had been conducted, ensured the scaffolding was a safe distance from power lines and advised the bricklayer of the risk.
“Unfortunately, this did not occur and the bricklayer almost died in an incident that was completely preventable.
“Fines from this incident now total almost three quarters of a million dollars, serving as a strong deterrent to those in the construction industry thinking about ignoring safety laws.”
Failure to manage health and safety can result in serious incidents. So, as well as putting staff wellbeing at risk, businesses can be left exposed to substantial financial penalties, criminal and civil prosecution and loss of reputation.
Don’t risk noncompliance. ISOsafe’s services will protect your business. We will prepare safe systems of work, safety instructions and all other documentation you require. Call us now 1300 789 132 or email us at enquiries@isosafe.com.au, to learn more about our services for businesses and their owners.

How to protect your business from E. coli

Escherichia coli (E. coli) are bacteria that normally live in the intestines of healthy people and animals, primarily cattle. Most strains of this bacteria are harmless. E. coli 0157:H7 is a specific strain of E. coli that causes illness. In milder cases it causes bloody diarrhoea, nausea, vomiting and stomach cramps. Unfortunately, it can also lead to more severe conditions that result in kidney failure and death.

The total number of reported cases of E. coli poisoning varies each year, ranging between 700-1000. It is important to note here, that many cases go unreported.

E. coli is spread by coming into contact with a source of contamination. This is usually raw meat or animal faeces, hence the food industry is particularly at risk. However there have also been a number of outbreaks at open farms and petting zoos where the general public are able to handle animals. E. coli can also be spread from person to person, so other family members can be infected even if they have not been in contact with the primary source of contamination. A significant association has also been made between sufferers who have handled raw leeks and potatoes from sacks!

Below are some simple steps you can take to prevent an outbreak from affecting your business.

There are several ways in which people become infected with E. coli 0157:H7, these include, but are not limited to:
•   Eating raw meat, unpasteurised milk or cheese
•   Eating unwashed vegetables that have been fertilised with infected animal manure
•   Not washing hands after touching animals
•   Infected water supply
•   Contact with infected people

The good news is that much of the risk can be reduced simply by practising good personal hygiene. You should ensure that your employees wash their hands thoroughly with soap and hot water:
•   after using the toilet
•   after contact with animals or animal environments
•   before taking meals
•   before handling ready to eat food
•   after handling raw meat and unwashed vegetables

What your employees need to do when preparing food:
•   remove any loose soil before storing vegetables and salads
•   thoroughly wash all vegetables (including salads) that will be eaten raw
•   do not prepare raw vegetables with utensils that have also been used for raw meat
•   keep raw meat and unwashed vegetables away from ready-to-eat foods during storage and preparation
•   use different chopping boards, knives and utensils for raw and ready-to-eat foods, or ensure they are washed thoroughly between uses
•   cook all minced meat products (e.g. burgers, meatloaf, meat balls) thoroughly, until steaming hot throughout and no pinkness or red meat is visible when you cut into them
•   only leave cooked foods, meat and dairy products out at room temperature for a maximum of 2 hours
•   store uncooked meats below cooked meats, salad, fruit or vegetables that might be eaten raw to avoid dripping meat juices onto ready to eat food
•   store uncooked and cooked meats on different plates. Avoid all contact between raw and cooked meats
•   people who have been ill should not prepare food for others for at least 48 hours after they have recovered 

If you run a kitchen, then think about how your equipment is used and the cleanliness of your storage and preparation areas. Separate equipment must be used for raw and ready to eat foods. 

ISOsafe offer a variety of food safety courses, all of which include guidance on E.coli. For further details on any of our food safety courses, simply call us on 1300 789 132

The training and compliance paradigm

Well-trained staff and qualified professionals are essential in making sure the business is safe. Companies that provide health and safety information and training, not only meet their legal responsibilities, but also ensure staff know how to work safely and without risks to themselves or others.

Effective training will contribute towards making your employees competent in health and safety and it can help businesses avoid the distress and costs that accidents and ill-health can cause.

Training can be on the job, online or in a classroom setting. In-company training can be useful as the course can be designed to fit the organisations exact needs.

ISOsafe’s fully tailored training solutions will consider your organisations health and safety documentation, general operational policies and procedures, site specific needs, and include organisational branding.

Our training solutions are pragmatic, focusing on environments and situations that the learners are familiar with, thereby making the training more engaging. An example of this is our sought-after Risk Assessment in Practice training. By using the organisations scenarios for hazard identification and risk assessment, it makes the learning readily applicable to learners.

Many clients have found our training to be particularly effective in ensuring company processes are adhered to, resulting in operational efficiencies and greater customer satisfaction.

To learn more about our training solutions, contact us today.

Are you killing your sedentary workers?

One news story that keeps coming back time and again is that of the health risks associated with sedentary jobs. It doesn’t take a genius to realise that sitting down all day is bad for our waistlines and general health, but research suggests that the long-term risks are worse than previously thought.

Sitting causes cancer?

One particularly scary headline that has been doing the rounds claims that sitting for eight hours at work is directly linked to breast and colon cancer. Looking into the details of the research, however, it becomes clear that sitting for long periods merely increased the risk of developing either form of cancer (in conjunction with other contributing factors like obesity).

Time magazine went even further, claiming that an eight-hour day increased the risk of developing cancer by 66%. This horrific sounding statistic is tempered by looking at the specific incident rate – the odds of a 30-year old man developing colon cancer by the age of 60 is just under 1%.

The importance of movement

Although the study indicates that the chances of developing colon cancer are quite small, they also help to underscore the importance of getting away from the desk regularly. By spending two out of every eight hours of a working day standing (or better still, moving), workers can reduce their colon cancer risk by 0.8%.

Obviously this sounds impractical, but the same net result can be achieved by spending just 15 minutes each hour walking away from the desk. For instance, instead of calling or emailing a colleague in the next office, walking to speak to meet them and having a conversation face-to-face – talking directly may even raise the standard of communications throughout the business.

A ticking time bomb

In the same way that the symptoms of asbestos exposure take many years to develop, the full impact of a sedentary lifestyle may take decades to become apparent. The move from traditional physical labour, to an information-based economy has changed the way we work, encouraging us to do less physical exercise as part of our normal work routine.

It is important then that employers take the potential dangers seriously as part of their standard workplace risk assessments. Every employee should already be subject to a workstation health check to verify that their screen is positioned correctly and is glare-free, and their chair provides suitable support for the lower back.

But in light of mounting evidence that sitting all day is incredibly bad for health, employers should also be looking at ways to encourage employees to take more exercise. Risk assessments and operating procedures should be adapted to encourage light exercise during the working day – like suggesting employees use stairs rather than lifts, or that they stand for 10-15 minutes every hour.

Keeping employees safe and healthy is not only important for their wellbeing, but it also has a direct impact on productivity, and therefore profitability. If your workforce develops long term illnesses related to desk-based work, your business will suffer as a result.

So over to you – how does your business approach the potential problems related to an increasingly sedentary workforce?

Contact ISOsafe today to learn more about our office-wellbeing initiatives for your workplace.