11/04/2014 to 23/04/2014
Since the last edition of Safety Soapbox, there have been 35 incidents, serious enough to be reported to
WorkSafe Victoria, from the construction, utility, quarrying and mining industries.
Below is a summary of these incidents.
Date
Location
Injury description
Incident summary
11 April
BENTLEIGH
Laceration
Employee was installing safety rails when an upright
weighing six to seven kgs fell from about one meter
and hit his head.
11 April
SPRINGVALE
Laceration
Sub-contractor was hit on the head by a piece of ply
that fell three meters through an expansion joint.
11 April
FOOTSCRAY
Laceration
Sub-contractor lacerated his right hand while installing
a sheet of glass into a newly built bus shelter, glass
shattered.
11 April
MELBOURNE
Electric shock
Employee received an electric shock to his arm when
he moved a live electrical conduit.
11 April
TORQUAY
Laceration
Apprentice sliced his thumb while he was shaving
down timber with an electric plane.
14 April
DANDENONG
Laceration
Employee was using a power saw to cut some timber
when it kicked back and struck him in the leg.
14 April
FRANKSTON
Laceration
Employee dropped a knife from the first floor of a site
and as he tried to catch it the blade cut his hand.
14 April
FRANKSTON
Broken legs, pelvis
and back injuries
Traffic attendant was struck by a front end loader when
she stepped back into the path of the plant when
attempting to avoid another moving vehicle.
14 April
MELBOURNE
Near miss
Man and materials hoist stopped on level 12 after a
power failure. A trailing electric cable was damaged
and electrical wiring exposed.
14 April
ARARAT
Laceration
Employee was removing a pipe when he fell
backwards and cut his right hand when it struck an aircondition duct.
15 April
TRARALGON
Near miss
An outrigger of a mobile crane sunk into the ground
causing some damage to a truck and a fence.
15 April
MELBOURNE
Broken ankle
Carpenter was walking down a general access
stairway when he stepped on the edge of one of the
stairs rolling his ankle.
15 April
GEELONG
Fracture
Sub-contractor was up a ladder screwing off a roof
sheet on a pergola under construction when he fell and
fractured his ankle.
16 April
KEW
Head and arm
injuries
Plasterer fell about three metres through an opening.
16 April
MELTON
Near miss
Excavator operator using an excavator to dig holes in a
nature strip hit a pipe resulting in a gas leak.
16 April
GEELONG
Fracture
Employee laying blue stone hit his thumb with a
hammer.
17 April
KEW
Fracture
Employee fell off a balcony void approximately two and
half metres to the ground.
17 April
FRANKSTON
Laceration
Employee was cutting a piece of timber when the
timber came away from the backstop and dragged his
thumb into the blade.
17 April
MELBOURNE
Near miss
A scaffold piece about four feet long fell approximately
four meters from scaffold stillage.
17 April
MELBOURNE
Laceration
Employee was working on an A-frame ladder using a
pipe wrench to remove a sprinkler pipe when the
wrench slipped and his arm struck a metal frame.
17 April
WERRIBEE
Laceration
Carpenter was bending down to pick up a safety cap
for a star picket when his leg contacted the picket.
17 April
GREENVALE
Laceration
Employee lacerated his finger while nailing two blocks
of wood together with a nail gun.
17 April
SUNSHINE
Near miss
An employee was standing on the blind side of the
excavator and the bucket of the excavator brushed
against the worker.
17 April
WODONGA
Laceration
Floor layer cutting vinyl with a knife lacerated his arm.
17 April
GEELONG
Near miss
A five-tonne excavator sitting on top of spoil, tipped
when one side of the spoil pile gave way.
17 April
GEELONG
Laceration
Employee was standing on semi-trailer tray unloading
steel and as it was being lifted by a crane, the steel
swung back hitting his leg.
17 April
BALLARAT
Laceration
Employee was on a ladder working on a bracket for a
truss when he slipped off the ladder and cut his hand.
22 April
CAULFIELD
Near miss
Backhoe working on a nature strip struck and ruptured
a gas line.
22 April
NOBLE PARK
Electric shock
An employee was preparing to connect up some
feeders in the yard area of a substation when he has
received an electrical shock.
22 April
MELBOURNE
Near miss
During lowering of concrete pump line, the sling
attached to pump line slipped and fell.
22 April
W’NAMBOOL
Laceration
Sub-contractor working from a small ladder stepped
backwards, lost his balance and fell lacerating his arm.
23 April
DONCASTER
Laceration
Sub-contractor tripped over a string line and his leg
landed on a star picket.
23 April
GREENVALE
Laceration
Employee installing temporary fencing was using a star
picket driver to drive a star picket into the ground. On
the downward thrust of the star picket of the driver; he
missed the star picket slicing his fingers.
Mining
Date
Industry
Injury
description
Incident summary
22 April
MINE
Near miss
Oil feed line to the turbocharger on an underground truck
failed, which caused a small fire in the engine.
22 April
MINE
Near miss
A parked telehandler was underground when it rolled back
about two metres causing minor damage to a jumbo that it
rolled back into.