Victoria is facing a horror end of 2009 with the deaths of two young workers in 24 hours. A 24-year-old man died at Rutherglen after being hit by the attachment on a hose belonging to a concrete pump while a 21-year-old who suffered a fatal electric shock at Stawell.
WorkSafe investigators understand the concrete pump involved in today’s incident was being cleaned after a pour at a farm in Rutherglen-Springhurst Road. The 21-year-old man from western Victoria died late yesterday in the Royal Melbourne Hospital after suffering an electric shock while working in a trench at the Stawell racecourse last Friday.
The director of WorkSafe’s Construction and Utilities Division, Chris Webb, said the two deaths and the electrocution of a man standing next to a tip-truck which hit power lines in South Gippsland on Saturday was a wake-up call to every Victorian employer and worker.
“Victoria is in the most dangerous time of the year. In many industries there is a bottleneck of activity leading up to Christmas and any shortfall in safety can have devastating consequences not just for the individual, but everyone around them.
“While the number of work-related injuries in Victoria is at a record low level, anyone involved in high-risk industries like construction, farming and road transport must go the extra mile to ensure their workplaces are as safe as possible.
”Taking the time to plan work, understand the hazards and work in a safe way might take longer, but the risk will be greatly reduced. Employers need to be setting the example, ensure people know what they are to do and exercise control of their sites. While there is no single factor connecting any of these incidents, every one of them had readily identifiable causes. There is no room for complacency or shortcuts," said Webb.
Victoria has had a bleak fatality toll since 1 October 2009 with 11 deaths. There have been four in construction, three in farming and two each in the transport & services industries. Eight of the 11 deaths since 1 October 2009 have happened in regional areas.
The latest deaths come as WorkSafe prepares to launch a major pre-Christmas advertising campaign which calls on the community to remember, and value, the reason they go to work.
