Familiarity breeds death and injury

Wednesday 6 October 1999

The Occupational Safety and Health Service (OSH) is warning people not to become complacent when they are working around machinery in the workplace.

The call has come after a worrying trend has emerged in the number and type of deaths at work so far this year. Of the 12 workplace deaths in the year started July 1, eight have involved machinery.

This compares to last year when there were a total of 44 fatalities for the year and 20 of them involved machinery.

"The fact that machinery accidents have gone from representing less than half of all deaths to over 66% is a considerable concern," said Bob Hill, General Manager of OSH.

The figures were released during OSH’s WorkSafe Week 1999, the third national week dedicated to health and safety in the workplace. This year the week is based around the theme of "Play Your Part" and is aimed at increasing understanding workplace of health and safety.

"The particularly worrying part of this is that the hazards machinery represent are nothing new. There is a tragically familiar pattern to these accidents. It is the same equipment being used the same way ending with the same sad results.

"The theme of WorkSafe Week this year is play your part. If people take that message onboard and take responsibility for safety it would be a big step in lowering the toll that machinery is inflicting on the workforce.

"Machinery has proven time and again that it is unforgiving of sloppy practices and operators."

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The deaths have occurred in different sectors and involved different types of equipment. The one common thread is that the accidents have involved some form of machinery.

"Equipment such as forklifts, forestry equipment, farm bikes and tractors kill and injure people year after year. Employers and employees cannot claim ignorance.

"Working with machinery day in and day out and having done so for years does not make people immune from accidents. Complacency on the part of employers and workers alike results in death and injury.

"Bad practices can be reinforced over time just as easily as good practices. We really want people to stop and think about how they are operating machinery before it ends in tragedy.

"It is too late to say "if only" after an accident. People should be thinking about "what if?" so the accident never happens," Mr Hill said.