Workplace fatality toll a ‘life-or-death’ reminder

Twenty-six Victorian workers died in the 2009/10 financial year due to lapses in workplace safety, WorkSafe Victoria announced recently.

All but one of these workers was male - a female vineyard worker died after being struck by a falling branch during heavy storms in June.

Nine of the fatalities occurred in Melbourne and 17 in regional Victoria. Regional fatalities included the double fatality of a father and son who were electrocuted when the windmill they were transporting struck an overhead power line.

The workplace fatality toll for 09/10 was one lower than the previous financial year, where 27 workplace fatalities were recorded.

“The workplace fatality toll serves as a continual reminder to employers and workers that health and safety can be a life-or-death matter,” WorkSafe’s Strategic Programs Director Trevor Martin said. “We know the overwhelming majority of deaths and workplace injuries can be predicted and therefore prevented - however, complacency and simple mistakes are still killing people needlessly.”

One third of the workplace fatalities for the 09/10 year occurred on farms, compared to seven farming fatalities in the previous financial year. Of these nine fatalities, five involved tractors.

“Farmers are greatly over-represented in workplace fatalities,” continued Martin. “This is something we’re aware of and have discussed with the farming community. It’s why WorkSafe has just launched a campaign of inspector visits to farms across Victoria over the next 12 months. Inspectors will be targeting the most common causes of serious injury and death, with a particular focus on tractor safety.”

The fatality toll for 09/10 also included three falls from heights ranging from 2 to 20 m. Five workers were electrocuted after contact with exposed wires on machinery and striking underground and overhead power lines. A further four people died after being struck by sheets of glass, a bag of salt, computer equipment that fell from a forklift and a tree branch.

Other fatalities included a lathe operator dying after being struck in the head by a metal rod he was shaping and a man delivering beer kegs being overcome by a gas leak in a hotel cellar.