Classification and Labelling of Workplace Chemicals

Safe Work Australia is hosting a series of training & information sessions to increase understanding of the hazard classification, safety data sheet & labelling requirements for workplace chemicals in the model Work Health and Safety regulations, which incorporates the Globally Harmonized System of Classification & Labelling of Chemicals.

For more information, including locations, dates and times, visit Safe Work Australia's GHS Training page.

Hazardous Chemicals - GHS Classification and Communication

“Hazardous Chemicals – GHS Classification & Communication” is a training resource that provides an in-depth review of the hazard communication standards that play a vital role in minimising the risk of harm from chemicals at work. It is consistent with the GHS and the Australian Work Health and Safety Regulations and Codes of Practice.

Topics covered:
• Hazard Classification
• Hazard Communication
• GHS Pictograms
• Labels
• Safety data sheets

For more information, or to preview this training resource, click: Hazardous Chemicals - GHS Classification and Communication

Available as part of TrainNOW
Source: Safe Work Australia

International Workers' Memorial Day

April 28 was Workers’ Memorial Day, an international day of remembrance for workers who have lost their lives in workplace accidents.

On average, 300 Australians die at work each year. So far in 2013, 46 people have died on the job, according to Safe Work Australia.

A national memorial has been unveiled in Canberra, with eight stone poles representing the states and territories, and concrete ripples to symbolise the ripple effect a workplace death has on family, friends and colleagues.

"The National Workers Memorial is a place of reflection and acts as a reminder of the importance of staying safe at work," Workplace Relations Minister Bill Shorten said.

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Source: The Canberra Times

Crane overturns in workplace accident

In a recent workplace accident, a poorly maintained crane overturned during a lifting operation, causing serious damage to a car.

The incident

The incident occurred when the crane was being used to lift a yacht and the controls locked up during the de-rigging phase. Though the driver successfully freed the controls, the 35-tonne crane overbalanced and fell because the jib was still extended.

An investigation discovered that the crane was overdue for its annual examination and testing, and the controls were prone to locking up. The company also failed to provide a suitable lifting plan, which is an essential safety requirement.

The company pled guilty and was ordered to pay a total of £8,000 in fines and costs.

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Source: Isle of Wight Radio

Young workers have a much higher workplace injury rate than over 25s

A recent report has revealed that around 20% of workplace accidents are incurred by workers aged 25 and under. The report was compiled by Safe Work Australia and is titled Work-related injuries experienced by young workers 2009-2010.

Key findings on work health and safety

• The injury rate of young workers was 18% higher than for workers aged 26 and over. The rate of work-related injuries per 1000 workers is around 66.1 for young people, compared to 56.2 for workers aged 26 and over.
• The difference in work-related injury rates is highest in the manufacturing, accommodation and food services, health care and social assistance and construction industries
• Nearly 2/3 injured young workers did not apply for workers’ compensation after their work-related injury
• 2/3 traumatic injury fatalities to young workers involved a vehicle

Work health and safety regulators are finding practical ways to raise young people’s awareness of workplace hazards, and are working to improve work health and safety for young people and support employers to reduce these statistics.

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Source: Safe Work Australia media releases
The report can be accesed at www.safeworkaustralia.gov.au

Engineering company fined after an employee's foot was crushed by a machine

An engineering company was ordered to pay over £11,000 after an employee’s foot was crushed by a poorly-guarded machine.

The incident

The employee was operating a machine when his foot was crushed and trapped by the machine’s ram. He had to be freed by colleagues who were able to support him and release his foot. He had to have his right foot amputated, following the incident, and he also sustained fractures to his remaining toes and cut his head.

The Health and Safety Executive investigation

A Health and Safety Executive investigation revealed that if the machine had been better guarded, the incident would not have happened.

HSE inspector Alec Ryan said:
"This incident was wholly preventable and could have been avoided had the company carried out a suitable and sufficient risk assessment and taken the necessary measures to make the machine safe.

"The machine in question was very powerful and it is wrong that a worker was put at unnecessary risk because safety devices weren't working.

"Incidents of this kind are all too common and it is vital employers prevent access or exposure to dangerous moving parts at all times."

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Source: http://www.hse.gov.uk/press/2013/rnn-se-05713.htm

Employee pinned to the ground in workplace safety accident

A female worker was injured in a workplace accident when a lifting device fell from the back of a truck and onto her.

The incident 


The incident occurred when a driver was transporting goods to a customer’s premises. An employee of the customer was using a lifting device under the driver’s instructions, when an object began to roll backwards off the truck and pinned the employee to the ground. The employee suffered serious injuries including broken ribs, a fractured skull and spinal injuries.

The court heard that the driver had not received training in the use of the lifting device. The company was fined $60,000 and ordered to pay costs of $7673. Worksafe WA Commissioner Lex McCulloch said that this case should remind companies how important it is to train employees on safe machine operation.

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Effective training will contribute towards making your employees competent in health and safety, can help your business avoid the distress that accidents and ill health cause and can help you avoid the financial costs of accidents and occupational ill health.
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Source: Safe to Work

Workplace safety breaches by manufacturing company led to workplace death

A textile manufacturer was ordered to pay over £115,000 for workplace safety breaches that led to the death of a worker.

The deceased, a 61-year-old forklift truck operator, was crushed and killed by a falling stack of rag bales. The workplace accident occurred at the firm’s warehouse, when the top two bales, which weighed more than 300kg, struck the worker on the head.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive found that the manufacturing company had stacked the rag bales unsafely and had failed to put effective measures in place to control the pedestrian activities around the warehouse.

Health and Safety Exectuive inspector Geoff Fletcher said:
"This tragic incident could have been avoided had [the company] taken its duty of care toward its employees sufficiently seriously. The sad consequence of the company's failures is an unnecessary loss of life and the devastating impact this has had on [the worker’s] partner, family and friends.”

Source: http://www.hse.gov.uk/press/2013/rnn-yh-3713.htm

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Workers injured in wall collapse at building site

Two men in their twenties were hospitalised last week, after a wall collapsed onto them at a building site.

The men were working to smooth off concrete on the wall when a rock supported by the wall collapsed. The Metropolitan Fire Brigade attended the accident and had to winch one of the men out of the rubble using a crane. One of the workers suffered an injured hip, while the other worker suffered an injured wrist.

WorkSafe Victoria issued a prohibition notice on the site, preventing any further work until an engineer assessed the site.

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Source: The Age

Studies show up to half of all heavy-truck drivers suffer from sleep apnoea

An inquest has heard that up to half of all heavy-truck drivers suffer from sleep apnoea, a condition blamed for causing a Victorian truckie to fall asleep at the wheel before a fatal head-on collision.

The 52-year-old truck driver was diagnosed with severe obstructive sleep apnoea after the collision. He pleaded guilty to negligent driving causing death and was given a suspended 10-month jail sentence.

Royal Prince Alfred Hospital sleep specialist Anup Desai said that the disorder was prevalent but under-reported, and even though GPs detected symptoms, they didn't necessarily refer truck drivers for further assessment and diagnosis by a sleep specialist.

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Source: The Australian

Electrical apprentice suffers electric shock at building site

An electrical apprentice suffered an electric shock at an apartment site in Canberra last week.

Early investigations suggested the fourth-year apprentice was working alone on a platform ladder and was shocked by a live circuit that she believed had been switched off.

"It's supposed to be turned off and when it is, it should be tagged so that no one else turns it back on" said Work Safety Commissioner Mark McCabe.

The government's inquiry into health and safety laws on ACT building sites found the ACT had the worst record for construction site safety in Australia with one in every 40 workers expected to sustain a serious injury on the job each year.

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Source: The Canberra Times

OSHA inspection leads to fine for company that exposed workers to ammonia

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration cited a company that produces pasta with 12 safety violations following a complaint inspection alleging workers were exposed to ammonia. Proposed fines total $54,000.

Eight serious violations were cited for deficiencies in the company's ammonia refrigeration process. These included a lack of written standard operating procedures for the ammonia refrigeration process, no emergency action plan and failing to perform inspections and tests on process equipment.

Three additional serious violations involve failing to develop, implement and train employees in hazard communication, provide an emergency eyewash station and provide material data safety sheets for hazardous chemicals present in the workplace.

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Source: http://www.osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owadisp.show_document?p_table=NEWS_RELEASES&p_id=23556

Worker suffers severe burns in workplace accident

A garage has been fined after a mechanic was badly burned while trying to cut the top off an empty oil drum.

The 26-year-old was using a propane torch to remove the lid when the remaining oil inside the drum set alight, causing an explosion. He suffered burns to his hands and arms, and was kept in hospital for five days.

The employees at the garage cut the tops off empty oil drums approximately once every three months so that they could be used to store scrap metal. However, the company failed to consider the risk of the propane torch creating and igniting a vapour from the small amount of oil remaining in the drums.

The company was fined £6,000 and ordered to pay £4,746 in prosecution costs.

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Source: http://www.hse.gov.uk/press/2013/rnn-nw-kankkultd.htm?eban=rss-

Forklift failures lead to fine for company that supplies stones

A company has been fined for failing to keep a forklift truck in good working order, which posed a danger to workers.

The company supplies stone in flexible large bags that hold around a tonne. HSE found that a forklift truck had not been maintained and that two sets of bearings holding the forks in line had collapsed.

As the forks were lowered, they could jam on the mast and then fall when dislodged, putting employees working nearby at risk of serious injury.

HSE found the forklift had been repaired on many occasions in the previous year but all the work had been reactive. The company's maintenance regime was to repair in response to breakdowns.

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Source: http://www.hse.gov.uk/press/2013/rnn-yh-00513.htm

WorkHealth program reveals excessive drinking and smoking is common in the hospitality industry

According to findings from WorkSafe Victoria’s WorkHealth program, smoking and excessive alcohol consumption are widespread in the hospitality industry.

7,300 industry employees in Victoria submitted to a 15-minute WorkHealth check between April 2009 and April 2012. The findings revealed 25% smoke and 42% drink excessively.

Wayne Kayler-Thomson, a WorkHealth ambassador, encourages industry employees to adopt healthier life choices, explaining that these current trends pose a real threat to health, safety and productivity in the industry.

Joanne Forde, human resources manager, Mercure Geelong said that employers have a responsibility to help employees achieve good health. “Supporting the health of staff can benefit not only productivity but also safety – we know that healthy workers are less prone to injury,” she explains.

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Source: http://www.safetyculture.com.au/news/index.php/01/tests-reveal-poor-health-of-hospitality-workers/

Study reveals 20% of Australians have fatigue and exhaustion from lack of sleep

Around 20% of Australians have fatigue and exhaustion due to lack of sleep, according to a national survey.

The Sleep Health Foundation's study of adult sleeping habits showed that one in five of respondents said poor sleep affected their mood and ability to perform daily activities.

The Foundation's chairman Professor David Hillman says sleepiness can significantly increase the risk of an accident on the road or in the workplace.

"A lot of the population work under the misapprehension that they can get by with less sleep than they actually need," he said.

"The average adult needs seven-and-a-half to eight hours sleep a night and if they don't get it, they feel it."

"Sleep's in this rather grim competition with the other things we want to do - social life, family life and work life - and for a lot of people it comes off a rather poor fourth in that competition."

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Source: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-12-31/tired-australians-risk-accidents-mood-disorders/4447922

Logistics company receives £300,000 fine over workplace death

A West Midlands logistics company has been fined £300,000 after one of its drivers was killed by a runaway lorry.

The 44-year-old was crushed against a stationary vehicle when his own vehicle moved off while he was coupling the tractor unit to the trailer. After striking him the lorry continued to roll down a slope, travelling another 27 metres before crashing into a wall.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive identified issues with the company’s drivers coupling up vehicles without following the company's rules. They were not applying the handbrake to the tractor unit or turning off the engine.

This dangerous practice was known to the company who failed to effectively monitor its employees and ensure they followed the correct, safe working procedure.

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Source: http://www.hse.gov.uk/press/2013/rnn-em-0313.htm

Worker's severed fingers lead to $45,000 fine

A building products manufacturer has been fined $45,000 following an incident in which a supervisor severed two of his fingers through a flywheel press.

The supervisor was demonstrating to a process worker on his first day of work how to use the press to make gutter clips. The supervisor raised the machine’s finger guards and reached in with bare hands to dislodge a piece of metal that had become wedged in the die.

The worker depressed the foot pedal while the supervisor’s hand was in the press, trapping the supervisor’s right hand and severing his index and middle fingers.

WorkSafe WA Commissioner Lex McCulloch said the case was an example of failing to provide workers with adequate protection from the moving parts of the machinery.

“It is also worth reminding workers that they too have responsibility for their own safety and the safety of those around them, and they should not be looking to take shortcuts by bypassing safety measures.”

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Source: Safety Culture

2 construction companies cited after 1 worker died, another injured

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration cited 2 construction companies with a total of 10 safety citations after a truck driver was killed and another worker was seriously injured.

The incident occurred when a crane collapsed at a bridge construction site. A truck driver died when he was struck by the boom of a crane that overturned while bridge girders were being erected with a multiple crane lift.

An employee who was operating the crane was seriously injured when he was thrown from the cab as the crane fell. Proposed penalties for the employing company total $105,000.

The other company was contracted to provide manpower for erecting the girders and faces penalties of $13,220.

"Employers have a responsibility to take all necessary steps to eliminate hazards from the workplace and to ensure that workers are given the proper training to conduct required tasks, such as operating cranes and performing multiple crane lifts," said Nick Walters, OSHA's regional administrator in Chicago.

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Source: OSHA

Power supply company ordered to pay £420,000 following worker's death

A large power supply company has been ordered to pay £420,000 in fines and costs after an employee died while working at one of its Essex sites.

The 59-year-old electrical engineer was killed at an electrical substation when a device he was working on for manually adjusting voltage ratios exploded. The explosion caused a fire at the substation. The man died at the scene despite the arrival of Essex Fire and Rescue within minutes of the alarm being raised.

The Health and Safety Executive found that the company had failed to properly assess work with tap changers and to devise procedures for the work. It had also failed to adequately train employees for carrying out this task.

The company was fined £275,000 with £145,000 in prosecution costs after pleading guilty.

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Source: http://www.hse.gov.uk/press/2013/rnn-e-00213.htm

Worker suffers minor burns in factory fire

A worker was injured in a flash fire that caused a chemical hazard at an ink factory in Melbourne’s north.

Central District Commander Martin Braid from Melbourne Fire Brigade said crews were called to the commercial property at 4pm when the fire broke out.

Mr Baird said that the fire was extinguished quickly and posed no threat to the community or the local environment. However some of the chemical products mixed together, creating a hazardous environment. A worker received minor burns in the incident.

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Source: Safety Culture.