Media release from Worksafe

Media release from Worksafe regarding the scaffolder that lost both his arms from an electric shock while working near power lines. There was a Close Approach Consent and permit in place for the works that the scaffolders installing the structure had been inducted on however, the team dismantling the structure was a different crew who were unaware of this and had not received the induction, information and training on this.

While this incident/example is trade specific, this highlights the importance of making sure that any and all relevant information required to carry out the task safely must be relayed to all of your workers BEFORE the start of any task. This could be done through,

• Site Inductions.
• Daily Prestarts.
• Daily Take 5 meetings.
• Regular reviews of job documentation such as Hazard/risk registers, Site-Specific Safety Plans and Task Analysis and having teams resign them.
• Regular site audits and communicating back to your teams.
• Safety alerts communicated to all workers.
• Hazard boards.
• General signage.

If you would like some assistance in reviewing these processes or simply fine tuning your current procedures, please do not hesitate to get in touch.