Unguarded Plant Kills Two Employees In Two Separate Incidents

Incident

A Victorian man was crushed to death in the rollers of a drying machine in a commercial laundry the while in another separate incident an employee became entangled in the driveshaft of a piece of plant.

Issue

Both pieces of plant were unguarded and the investigating officers commented that the guarding for both pieces of plant were “readily available, easy to fit and inexpensive”. With these two deaths occurring several days apart in Victoria, the managing director of the regulatory body said that guarding of plant “must never be considered an ‘optional extra’ ”.

Solution

The States Occupational Health and Safety Regulations stipulates that if guarding is to be used to control health and safety risks associated with machines, as employers we need to ensure the following:

• Hazards are identified (A hazard is something that has the potential to cause injury or illness)
• Assess the risks (likelihood for injury or illness) associated with the identified hazards; and
• Any risk is eliminated, or where that is not practicable, reduced so far as is practicable.

There are a number of ways to help reduce the likelihood of injuries caused from plant:

• Purchasing: Having a purchasing policy can provide permanent engineering solutions to hazards through elimination or isolation by purchasing machinery that conforms to specific risk controls. Although a poorly written policy won’t be beneficial.
• Machine Guarding: Guards need to be provided whenever there is the potential for people to come into contact with hazardous situations.
• Maintenance: Adequate maintenance keeps plant running productively, as well as safely. Well planned maintenance programs are important in reducing OHS risks.
• Danger Tags and lockout systems: Use these to prohibit the operation of plant while it is being installed or worked on for maintenance.

 

National Standards For Plant

There are two national standards that deal with health and safety related to plant:

• National Standard for Plant

• National Occupational Health and Safety Certification for Users and Operators of Industrial Equipment

The essential requirements of the two national standards have been adopted by all states and territories. Refer to the links below for the relevant regulatory bodies for further information on machine guarding.

In Australia:

NSW:	www.workcover.nsw.gov.au
VIC:	www.worksafe.vic.gov.au
SA:	www.safework.sa.gov.au/
QLD:	www.dir.qld.gov.au/workplace/index.htm
WA:	www.worksafe.wa.gov.au
NT:	www.worksafe.nt.gov.au/
ACT:	www.workcover.act.gov.au/
In New Zealand:	www.whss.govt.nz