Maintain Your Guard Around Mobile Equipment
WHAT’S AT STAKE
Every year, more than 100 workers across North America die and thousands more are injured in highway work zones—areas where road construction, maintenance or utility work is being undertaken.
Read MoreCompany Directors Fined in Teen’s Death
Two owners of a property management company in Australia have been fined $110,000 and their company must pay a further $25,000 in connection with the electrocution death of a teenager in Stanwell, Queensland, Australia.
The 16-year-old victim, Rueben Barnes, was electrocuted in 2009 while installing fiberglass insulation in the ceiling of a home. Barnes, an apprentice carpenter, was using a steel pole to move insulation into place when his head touched an electrified piece of metal in the ceiling.
Read MoreBP Says Blame for Disaster Must be Shared
A BP report into the Deepwater Horizon Oil explosion which killed 11 workers and spilled 206 million gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico has assigned much of the blame to two contractors—Halliburton and Transocean.
A 200-page BP report into the April 20, 2010 explosion blames faulty cement work, a misread pressure test and an improperly maintained blowout preventer.
“The team did not identify any single action or inaction that caused this accident,” states the report. “Rather, a complex and interlinked series of mechanical failures, human judgments, engineering design, operational implementation and team interfaces came together to allow the initiation and escalation of the accident. Multiple companies, work teams and circumstances were involved over time.”
Transocean, owner of the oil rig, said in a statement that BP had made a number of cost-cutting decisions in the design and construction of the rig which increased the risks for an incident occurring.
Read MoreBC Flaggers Urge Drivers to Smarten Up
Construction zone flaggers are urging British Columbia drivers to show more caution after a flag person was struck by a vehicle that been driven through safety cones.
The female worker was not seriously injured in the incident in the metropolitan Vancouver area, which police say may have involved a combination of alcohol and speeding.
“People are just in such a hurry and it’s like they all have tunnel vision,” says Diane Herback, a spokeswomen for the British Columbia flaggers. “They are not looking around them when they are driving. They are texting, putting on makeup and doing whatever in their cars.
She says drivers need to slow down and pay more attention in work zones and police presence needs to be stepped up to catch drivers who speed through work zones. If that doesn’t happen, Herback says flaggers may have to resort to shutting down a road or a bridge for a rally to catch drivers’ attention.
According to WorkSafeBC, two flaggers died and 15 others suffered injuries on the job in 2009.
Info to go: Read more about highway work zone hazards by clicking on the Info to Go safety links at www.SafeSupervisor.com
Read MoreConstruction Firm Fined for Fatality
A construction company has been fined $83,570 after a worker died at a construction site in New Westminster, BC.
The victim had been setting up temporary framework (falsework) for a concrete pour when the falsework collapsed and several sheets of plywood stacked on top of it fell onto the worker.
According to WorkSafeBC, the company, Productive Construction Ltd., failed to ensure that the falsework was braced and used according to the manufacturer’s instructions. The firm also failed to ensure that the falsework was capable of withstanding the weight of the plywood and failed to provide its workers with adequate information, instruction, training and supervision to ensure their safety for installing falsework.
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