Tragedy has struck in a Melbourne suburb, where a truck driver was crushed by a scissor lift and a forklift while unloading stock. The incident has highlighted the need for proper safety and training for workers when working with plant. Where procedures are in place, they need to be followed in order for fatalities such as this one to be avoided.
SafetyCulture.com.au had this to say on the incident :
According to WorkSafe Victoria spokeswoman Rosanna Bonaccurso, the 37-year-old Bayswater truck driver was unloading pieces of equipment when the incident happened.
The incident occurred at a worksite car park in Chifley Drive. The victim was found by another worker at around 6.15am.
WorkSafe is conducting an investigation on the circumstances surrounding the incident.
This recent incident takes Victoria’s workplace death toll for 2012 to five.
Source: https://www.safetyculture.com.au.
The circumstances surrounding the incident are still unknown however WorkSafe Victoria is investigating what caused the incident and how the incident played out. Authorities are not sure of the cause of death as the man was found dead on site when the paramedics arrived. The worker who found the man is being treated for shock.
According to the HeraldsSun.com.au:
The 37-year-old Bayswater truck driver was delivering two pieces of equipment to a work site car park when he was crushed between a scissor lift and a fork lift, WorkSafe Victoria spokeswoman Rosanna Bonaccurso said.
Emergency services arrived at the Preston site at 6.15am (AEST) today and found the man dead.
He was believed to be on the scissor lift when the accident happened.
“How he was crushed will form part of our investigation,” Ms Bonaccurso said.
The man was found by another worker who is being treated in hospital for shock.
Ms Bonaccurso said the car park is part of a planned home improvement centre set to open soon.
Source: https://www.heraldsun.com.au.
This incident comes shortly after an incident involving a forklift injured a worker in a printing company. The company was $20,000 dollars after admitting to not providing a safe workplace for its employees.
Another incident involved a company who was convicted and fined $100,000 after a worker fell almost two metres from a pallet that had been raised by a forklift.
A third incident involved a chicken processing company who were fined $15,000, without conviction, after an employee was struck by a load fell and struck him causing him to suffer serious injuries including a broken leg.
WorkSafe also issued an alert regarding the use of forklifts following the irregularly large number of incidents that have occurred recently. WorkSafe has highlighted the need for the proper safety procedures and In particular separating pedestrians from forklifts. WorkSafe also recognised that Crushing is the most common form of risk involved with forklift injury.
According to WorkSafe.com.au:
Forklifts are one of the most dangerous pieces of equipment found in the workplace. Almost half of all people injured by a forklift are pedestrians. Simple measures can be put in place to separate foot and forklift traffic and help lower the injury rate.
Thinking strategically there are some obvious areas where forklift use should be prohibited or minimised, such as around tea rooms, time clocks, cafeterias, amenities and entrances. Designate exclusion zones for pedestrians and forklifts. Pedestrian exclusion zones should be enforced within a three metre radius of a forklift.
This distance should expand when the height of the forklift load or the speed travelled increases. If a pedestrian is within three metres of a forklift, employers are required to justify this practice through risk assessment and suitable risk control measures.
Pedestrian walkways must be clearly marked. Installing physical barriers ensures workstations are separated from forklift travel areas.
Audio warnings are just as important as visual ones. A mix of high volume alarms and horns coupled with flashing lights best warn pedestrians of approaching forklifts. Flashing lights are imperative in areas with high levels of ambient workplace noise.
Safety at intersections and blind corners can be enhanced by the addition of overhead dome mirrors, benefiting pedestrians and forklift operators. Avoid placing bins, racks or storage units that obstruct a forklift operator’s view at intersections or around corners.
Crushing is the most common form of forklift-related injury sustained by pedestrians. When you consider the difference in the load per wheel weights of a fully laden forklift and a standard family sedan you can better understand the impact being crushed by a forklift would have.
https://www.worksafe.vic.gov.au.
Just having the proper safety procedures in place is not enough, they need to be adhered to and enforced by employers and workers in order to avoid tragic circumstances such as these.
A more detailed list of responsibilities and procedures on forkllift safety can be found in the WorkSafe publication ‘Forklift Safety: Reducing the Risk’ which can be found at www.worksafe.vic.gov.au.
