Starting as early as this week, inspectors are poised to make site visits to noted workplaces within the industry. Their mission? To laser-focus on safety points concerning activities like loading and unloading, vehicle upkeeping, and tension control of loads. Tragically, eight work-related deaths amongst truck drivers and garbage collectors, involved in waste and recycling transport tasks, have been reported since 2019. A majority of these incidents arose from vehicles being displaced or partaking in accidents.
Two heartrending incidents lead to workers getting stuck between their trucks and brick walls at different occasions – one in St Albans during July 2021 and another in Melbourne’s central business district in June 2023. In 2022, a verdict resulted in waste disposal firm Country Cart Pty Ltd being held accountable and penalised, with fines totalling $300,000. This followed the dreadful incident in Leongatha South, 2019, when a garbage truck driver lost his life after getting sandwiched between his truck and a gate due to a malfunctioning parking brake.
In the preceding five years, serious injuries affecting more than 400 truck drivers and garbage collectors in the waste and recycling sector have warranted workers compensation. The chief culprits? Stress on the body, falls, impact by moving objects, and vehicle-related events.
The transportation of refuse carries its own unique risks that employer must strive ardently to manage. Sam Jenkin, WorkSafe Executive Director of Health and Safety iterated, “Workers in the waste transport sector frequently find themselves working irregular hours, braving hazardous conditions, dealing with unpredictable, potentially destabilising loads,” he added, “Moreover, improper routine checkups could result in falling apart of vehicles, skips, bins, and load handling gear, posing a risk to both workers, and civilians.”
Regrettably, we persistently witness grave, and sometimes tragic, mishaps in this industry that were utterly avoidable. This is why inspectors are particularly zealous about these issues under their purview.
In light of growing concerns, WorkSafe is putting a spotlight on waste management transport to enhance safety within the heavy vehicle transport sector. The plan includes strategic site visits, asserting compliance requirements, enforcing laws, and making concerted efforts with industrial partners.
Victorian employers bear the responsibility to ensure utmost protection for labourers and other parties involved, extending to members of public as well, from any hazards or risks that come with operating mobile workplaces like garbage trucks.
Key measures include staying up-to-date with federal regulations and comprehending the chain of accountability which implicates parties beyond drivers for heavy vehicles’ road safety.
To aid employers and waste-producing enterprises, the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator recently unveiled a Waste and Recycling Industry Code of Practice. This guide underscores industry responsibilities, prevalent hazards, and ways to eliminate or diminish associated risks using work safety systems such as Bluesafe SWMS and Bluesafe WHS Management System. And by leveraging these tools, business owners can optimise their workplace environment.
Reach out to us at media @ worksafe.vic.gov.au or call 0438 786 968 to stay informed. Subscribe to our media releases and empower yourself with the latest updates.
Original article link: https://www.worksafe.vic.gov.au/news/2024-10/inspections-put-spotlight-waste-transport-harm