Injury Management

Two Queensland construction companies fined over collapses and falls; Winners of the inaugural Personal Injury Management Awards announced; and Tasmanian energy company takes out State's top safety award.

Two Queensland construction companies fined over collapses and falls

A Gold Coast company has been fined $50,000 after a third-year apprentice fell and injured his ankle.

In 2005 the apprentice of Metropolitan Building Services Pty Ltd was installing a wooden roof truss on the garage of a house when the truss fell over.

Workplace Health and Safety Queensland investigators found the method of work used in installing the truss exposed the apprentice to a risk of falling that was not properly controlled.

The employer pleaded guilty in the Magistrates Court to breaching s28(1) of the Workplace Health and Safety Act 1995.

WHSQ said the incident would not have occurred if the employer had ensured the apprentice erected the truss according to the manufacturer's guide or consistent with AS4400.

In a separate incident, two employees of Triform Constructions Pty Ltd were injured after about 200 square metres of formwork deck collapsed.

The workers were assisting in lowering the deck, which was 20mm too high. The deck collapsed after the workers removed edge supports on the deck, under instructions from their supervisor.

The Magistrates Court heard that investigations revealed that while the employer had formal procedures for erecting formwork decking, the procedures were not followed by the supervisor on the day of the incident.

The Court also heard that three other workers underneath the deck when the edge was being removed were also exposed to a risk to their health and safety.

After the incident the employer implemented new work procedures to ensure such an incident did not happen again.

The employer pleaded guilty to breaching s24(1) of the WHS Act 1995. Industrial Magistrate James McDougall fined it $35,000 and ordered it to pay $2,816.40 in investigation, professional and court costs.

Winners of the inaugural Personal Injury Management Awards announced

The winners of Australasia's first personal injury management awards were announced this week. The awards recognise the achievements being made in the field of personal injury support.

The four award winners were:

• Excellence in personal injury management - David McKean, technical manager of Cambridge Integrated Services;
• Innovation in personal injury management - Michael Brooks, legal manager of CTP, Allianz Australia;
• Outstanding contribution by an individual - Mary Hawkins, director of Provider Injury and Management Services at WorkCover NSW; and
• Student excellence award - John Stefanovski, team manager of claims, CGU Workers Compensation.

The winners were selected by a judging panel, which included representatives from the Australian and NZ Institute for Finance, the ACTU, Deakin Prime and the NSW Business Chamber.

The awards were organised by the Personal Injury Education Foundation, which was established by Australian and New Zealand accident compensation regulators, insurers and claims management organisations.

Tasmanian energy company takes out State's top safety award

Tasmanian Minister for Planning and Workplace Relations Allison Ritchie announced the winners of the 2008 Tasmanian WorkCover Safety Awards earlier this week.

Tasmanian energy company, Hydro Tasmania, was the winner of the best workplace health and wellbeing program and the overall winner this year for its Healthy Hydro program, which involves education sessions, one-on-one health assessments and coaching, personal sustainability projects and corporate sponsorships and challenges.

The other winners of this year's awards were:

• Best workplace health and safety management system - Cement Australia, Railton Operations;
• Best solution to an identified workplace health and safety issue - Tasmanian Alkaloids Pty Ltd;
• Best workplace health and safety practice(s) in a small business - King & Harding Excavation & Seal; and

Public sector leadership award for injury prevention and management - Burnie City Council.