Elevated Work Platform Training Is Not An Option
Victorian Company Fined $85k Over Death
A hire company has been sentenced in the Melbourne County Court last week over an incident in August of 2017, which resulted in the death of a worker after he was thrown from a mobile elevated work platform. It is vital that all employers provide adequate Elevated Work Platform Training for employees.
The business was found guilty of failing to provide or maintain a safe working environment. In addition to failing to ensure persons other than employees were not exposed to risk.
The incident occurred when a worker was loading an elevated work platform onto a truck. A passing vehicle made contact with the EWP bucket, ejecting the worker from the bucket. He sustained serious head injuries and later died in hospital.
During the sentencing hearing, the court was told that the loading and unloading of EWP along the road front created a risk for employees and truck drivers, through the heightened risk of collision with passing motorists. United Access did not have a written system of work for the loading and unloading of the EWPs to occur on-premises. A safe work method statement should been provided for onsite and offsite for better worker protections.
They were also found to not have a written system of work detailing the additional precautions that workers should take if they were operating on the road, nor did they offer that system of work to visiting truck drivers.
Employers Need To Provide a Safe Working Environment
WorkSafe said the incident was a tragic reminder of the importance of safe work systems. Those systems should then be effectively communicated to both employees and contactors.
“It is critical that employers outline to workers the work that needs to be done, the potential risks involved and identify how the risks must be controlled,” she said.
“Not doing so means workers are exposed to extreme danger and employers can face enormous consequences.”
The Victorian Government has recently implemented industrial manslaughter legislation as part of their WHS laws. These laws “apply to employers, self-employed persons or officers who, by their negligent conduct, cause the death of anyone who is owed an existing duty under the OHS Act, including employees and members of the public.”
Elevated Work Platform Training For Employers, Workers & Contractors
Employers and contactors loading and unloading mobile EWPs should ensure:
- Safe systems of work are in place throughout the delivery and collection process.
- Operators are appropriately trained and competent.
- The designated loading and unloading area has been assessed and prepared for the activity.
- Traffic management plans are developed for the loading and unloading of plant equipment.
- Necessary signage, barriers or other equipment are provided and used for traffic management and exclusion zones.
- Exclusion zones are established, where possible, around the transport vehicle during the loading and unloading process to prevent persons or vehicles entering the area.
- EWP’s need regularly inspections and maintenance.
Call COVE Training on (03) 8773 9000 to learn more about Elevated Work Platform Training and on-demand course delivery options. (RTO) No. 21386