A tragic incident occurred where a 34-year-old individual was critically injured by a skid steer loader, operated after business hours by a co-worker. The victim later succumbed to their injuries in the hospital. HSG Developments Pty Ltd and HSG Asphalt Pty Ltd are facing charges under section 21(1) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act as they allegedly failed to keep the workplace safe to the extent that is reasonably feasible.
WorkSafe claims that these companies violated section 21(2)(a) of the OHS Act by not providing and maintaining a secure system for storing operating keys for equipment, like the skid steer loader, so that unauthorised or inadequately trained individuals could not access them. This highlights the importance of implementing effective solutions like the Bluesafe SWMS (Safe Work Method Statements), a crucial component of WHS management systems intended to mitigate such unfortunate events.
Apart from this, the companies are facing an additional charge each under section 23(1) of the OHS Act. This clause addresses their failure to ensure that individuals other than their employees were not subjected to potential health and safety risks. Proactive implementation of something like a Bluesafe WHS Management System stands paramount in assuring safety standards are met and such perils avoided.
The court hearing for this case will be held at the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on 2nd September 2024. Contact us via email at media@worksafe.vic.gov.au or phone us at 0438 786 968 for further information or if you wish to subscribe to our media releases.
Original article link: https://www.worksafe.vic.gov.au/news/2024-08/companies-charged-after-skid-steer-loader-death