Welcome to the January 2011 OH&S Newsletter 

This month we look at effectiveness of regulators; workplace narcissism, manual handlers bones, offshore safety, work experience & opening gates; engulfment fatalities, food server health, texting & driving; melioidosis, farm mix, nerve damage; travel risks, aging plant & drink driving sales people……...Enjoy!

US Health & safety improving through OSHA regulations, programs & strategies?

Apparently not, according to recent research by a group at the Lowell Centre for Sustainable Production in the US. They claim that despite 40 years of regulatory & voluntary programmes by the workplace safety regulator, worker protections have not kept up with technological or scientific advances.

The researchers conducted a 12 month analysis of successes & failures of forty years of regulation & identified strategies to improve workplaces by making them safe, healthy & productive. According to the report every day, 14 US workers die, & each year, more than 4 million are seriously injured or are sickened by exposure to toxic agents. Six case histories, covering issues from immigrant workers killed by flammable floor finishes to health care & hotel workers disabled by back injuries informed the research. They concluded that ineffective workplace health & safety protections were not simply the result of limited enforcement but the result of multiple overlapping factors, including conflicts between agencies, lack of worker participation in decision making processes, the politicisation of science and the conflicts between economic and political interests.

The report concludes that the most effective reforms will come through preventive redesign of workplaces, work processes, & products & not simply tighter regulation of the current way of doing business. It identifies 'seven high priority strategies' that include comprehensive workplace injury & illness prevention programmes that tap worker & employer knowledge & measures to systematically identify & control workplace hazards. In addition they focus on prevention through design initiatives to design-out hazards & make jobs, products & materials inherently safer. Other recommendations relate to broader government changes but in the above areas how does you workplace fare?

Kriebel, D et. Lessons learned: Solutions for workplace safety and health, Lowell Center for Sustainable Production, January 2011

Coroner questions deterrent effect of fines?

The death of an apprentice could have been averted had a host employer spent as little as $15,000 on retrofitting an unsafe machine, the South Australian (SA) Coroner has found. He also criticised SafeWork SA's slow response to the incident, & described it as a "matter of public concern" that the cost of acquiring new safe equipment often far outweighed the likely penalty in an OHS prosecution.

In 2004 the 18-year-old apprentice was operating a horizontal borer when his clothing became entangled in the machine's rotating spindle, causing him to be spun around so violently that his feet were amputated when they struck non-moving parts. He also suffered multiple bilateral fractures of the ribs, as well as significant bruising to the lungs, liver, spleen & heart, dying from respiratory failure. The worker was employed by the Engineering Employers Association Group Training Scheme (EEAGTS), now known as the Australian Industry Group Training Scheme, & had been placed at Diemould Tooling Services Pty Ltd (DTS) for nearly a year when the incident occurred. Both companies were charged with & pleaded guilty to breaches of the State OHS Act, & in 2006 EEAGTS was fined $60,000 & DTS was fined $72,000 in 2009.

The Coroner found the machine, which was manufactured in the USSR in the 1960s was poorly maintained, had no  guarding or other devices to prevent contact with moving parts, & that operators were required to stand within about 30 cm of the machine to spray its rotating cutting device with coolant. (Modern borers have an automatic lubrication system.) The only safety device on the machine was an emergency stop button, but this was inaccessible to anyone caught by the spindle, & there were no emergency brakes. Guarding & emergency brakes could have been fitted for about $15,000.

Shortly after the incident DTS replaced the old borer with a modern machine, equipped with interlock devices, at a cost of $230,000. The coroner suggested that it might be considered a matter of public concern that in an operation such as DTS's, the cost of acquiring safe plant & equipment far outweighs the likely penalty in a criminal prosecution.

He was also critical of regulator’s response to the incident in not commencing a compliance project to identify the number of these borers at other SA workplaces until May 2010 (6 yrs after the incident). He suggested that the system of leaving industrial safety compliance to employers & then simply prosecuting them once an employee is fatally injured is inadequate & insufficient.

Do your workplace arrangements inadvertently promote narcissism & other mental health issues?

Research has found that cutthroat working environments & inflexibility are having a severe impact on mental health. Dr Travis Kemp, a psychologist found from a survey of 132 Australian executives & managers that 40% show symptoms of distress such as depression, & personality disorders like narcissism. Their preliminary research data suggests that this 40% figure is double for executives. This is whilst the expected norm is that 20% of the general population will have a mental health issue.

According to the researcher, dealing with the global financial crisis, cutthroat working environments & increasing pressure to perform explain the alarming rate of distress among the country's workplace managers. They suggest that "coaching interventions" can help leaders build resilience & overcome ego driven behaviour. In such difficult environments, people can gain new insights but typically don't develop new behaviours because there is no motivation for change.

Generally leaders are outwardly perceived as successful because they are delivering good numbers. Individual coaching can change "hardwired behaviour" that adversely affects leaders & those around them. The challenge is to create a flexible & tolerant environment where people can blossom. How flexible is your workplace? What is the mental health status of your workforce?

What do the bones of your workforce tell you about their manual handling?

Finnish research has found that a history of manual handling loads of more than 20 kgs increases the risk of hip osteoarthritis. Researchers sampled 3,110 Finnish men and 3,446 Finnish women aged 30–97. The men and women were assessed for hip osteoarthritis & interviewed about their manual handling history. Subjects who had manually handled loads >20 kg had 1.8 times the increased risk of hip osteoarthritis (HOA) compared to non-exposed controls, when age, body mass index, traumatic fractures & smoking were accounted for.

The research said the risk of hip osteoarthritis increased after 12 years of manual handling. Men with 13-24 years of exposure had 2.2 times the increased risk of HOA, while women with the same amount of exposure had 3.8 times the increased risk. How much does your workforce manually handle- do your know what their HOA risk is? Is there anything you could do to reduce the risk for those who have been manually handling 20 kg loads for over 12 years?

Kaila-Kangas, L et al; Associations of hip osteoarthritis with history of recurrent exposure to manual handling of loads over 20 kg and work participation:, Occ. Env Med doi:10.1136/oem.2010.061390

Insufficient health & safety checks offshore

According to the UK’s Health & Safety Executive (HSE) UK based oil multinational BP is failing to perform enough safety checks on operations in the North Sea, putting the safety of rig workers at risk.  The company has until 31 May to remedy the safety breaches identified in an HSE improvement notice. The notice states that the company is not carrying out suitable & sufficient assessments of the risks to the safety of their employees and other persons working on their offshore installations.

It cites 'recent examples' where BP has operated unsafely, including one incidence where only one, rather than the required 3 lifeboats was available. In another, a lubricant leak led to fire detection & suppression equipment being disabled. The absence of an operational risk assessment when performing a hazardous job on a third rig led a line to fail 'catastrophically' on 24 Sept 2010 'discharging approximately 27 tonnes of fluid at 123C.' BP was one of eight offshore operators to receive an improvement notice after a HSE investigation into rig maintenance. It's Magnus offshore installation had rusting walkways, stairways, gratings & handrails, putting staff at risk. Are you conducting suitable and sufficient assessments of you high risk operations?

Challenges of placing students into workplaces!

It is has always been an important part of education that students either at school or university levels have an opportunity to experience the work environments they may ultimately end up in. The challenge is to ensure that they are kept safe during that time. In the UK East Surrey College could face an investigation from the HSE after it was discovered that students were being sent to work placements without the necessary safety checks being undertaken. The college failed to provide copies of risk assessments requested. It was discovered that 36 students, including 10 below the age of 18, had been placed in workplaces without proper safety checks being carried out by the college. Some students had been in their placements for almost a year without the checks being completed.

Handbrake on when opening gates

A recent NSW mine safety report indicated that a 4 wheel drive service vehicle rolled forward from a parked position & pinned the driver between the vehicle’s bull bar & a stock gate. The field technician did not suffer serious injuries but the outcome of this incident could have been fatal. They recommend that employers should consider installing alarms that sound a warning if the park brake is not applied before an operator leaves the vehicle. Alternatively, they should consider the feasibility of installing an interlock system on vehicles to ensure the park brake is applied before an operator leaves the vehicle! Do your employees apply handbrakes when they get out of their vehicles?

Grain engulfment fatalities with under 18’s labour involved

The U.S. Department of Labor has recently fined two Illinios companies following the deaths of 3 workers, including 2 teenagers. The workers were killed when they suffocated after being engulfed by grain. The tragic deaths could have been prevented had the grain bin owners & operators followed the occupational safety standards & child labour laws

At least 25 U.S. workers were killed in grain entrapments last year, & the numbers of engulfments are increasing, according to researchers at Purdue University. There were more grain engulfments in 2010 than in any year since they started collecting data on entrapments in 1978. All employers, especially those in high hazard industries, must prevent workers from being hurt or killed as a result of recognized hazards.

The fines to both companies total $1,352,125. Haasbach was issued 24 citations from the department's OSHA with a penalty of $555,000 following an investigation into the deaths of the 2 young workers (14 and 19 years old), at the company's grain elevator in Mount Carroll. A 20 year old was also seriously injured in the July 2010 incident when all 3 became entrapped in corn more than 30 feet (9 m) deep. At the time of the incident, the workers were "walking down the corn" to make it flow while machinery used for evacuating the grain was running. Haasbach violated the Fair Labor Standards Act's Child Labor standards for employing anyone less than 18 years of age to perform hazardous jobs prohibited by the act. As a result, the division issued Haasbach $68,125 in civil money penalties.

Hillsdale Elevator Co. was issued 22 citations by OSHA following the death of a 49 year old, who was engulfed by corn in a storage bin. OSHA discovered additional violations during a later inspection of another company facility. Consequently, OSHA issued the company $729,000 in fines.

Since 2009, OSHA has fined grain operators in Illinois, Colorado, South Dakota and Wisconsin following similar preventable fatalities & injuries. OSHA has sent notification letters to grain elevator operators warning them not to allow workers to enter grain storage facilities without proper equipment, precautions & training. OSHA's has since conducted 61 inspections & issued 163 violations. The violations cover hazards associated with grain engulfment, machine guarding, lockout/tagout of dangerous equipment to prevent accidental energisation start-up, electricity, falls, employee training & combustible dust hazards. How well do you control your high risk hazards- who is exposed to them, for how long and how often?

Food industry workers’ health affecting their customers

A study of restaurant food handling in the US has uncovered something customers might find hard to stomach; about 12% of the restaurant employees interviewed said they had worked while sick with vomiting & diarrhoea. Restaurants with the heaviest workloads, serving more than 300 meals on their busiest days, were the most likely to have sick employees on duty, according to the study, published in the Journal of Food Protection.

With an estimated 20% of foodborne illness outbreaks involving pathogens transmitted by food handlers, US federal authorities have tried to prevent contamination by encouraging hand washing and keeping ill employees away from work. However, of the 491 food workers interviewed for the study, 58 said they worked while suffering vomiting and diarrhoea during two or more shifts in the previous year. Participants were selected by managers and some interviews were conducted in their presence, suggesting the findings may under-estimate the extent of the problem.

Workers in the survey who had paid sick leave were only about half as likely to say they had worked while vomiting and experiencing diarrhoea. Other factors linked to sick working included a lack of on-call workers and sickness reporting policies. The study’s authors concluded that policies that encourage workers to tell managers when they are ill 'may be cost-effective interventions for restaurants, given restaurants' substantial financial losses associated with foodborne illness outbreaks.

Sumner, S et al. Factors associated with food workers working while experiencing vomiting or diarrhoea, Journal of Food Protection, 74(2): 215-220, February 2011.

Mobile phone risks & the tricky balance with being contactable while driving

For many personnel the thought of not having access to a mobile whilst driving is considered disastrous for business. Thanks goodness though that some companies have taken an appropriate stand against this practice where the risk is high. A NSW worker who sent text messages and made phone calls while driving a fuel tanker at 100km/h was rightly sacked for endangering himself and the public, Fair Work Australia ruled last month. The Cootes Transport Group Pty Ltd employee was dismissed after witnesses observed him talking on his mobile phone while driving through a regional town. In unfair dismissal proceedings he denied he had been using the phone at the time, but admitted to sending texts and making calls on nine other occasions while driving that day. The worker had also previously been reprimanded by his employer for using a phone while driving.

Floods and cyclones can lead to Meliodidosis

With the wet/cyclone season occurring in some parts of the world but especially in tropical parts of northern Australia regulators suggest it is a good time for employers & workers to think about melioidosis & how to protect against infection. It is an uncommon but serious tropical disease caused by the bacterium Burkholderia pseudomallei. Several work-caused melioidosis fatalities have occurred in Australia in recent years. The bacteria that cause melioidosis usually live below the soil surface but are found in mud and surface water after heavy rainfall. Infection occurs when a person with cuts or sores on their skin has contact with contaminated soil, mud or surface water. Infection can also occur from inhalation of contaminated dust and aerosols and from ingestion of contaminated water.

Melioidosis can present in a number of different ways including skin ulcers and abscesses, abscesses of internal organs, pneumonia and/or septicaemia (blood infection). People with certain medical conditions such as diabetes, kidney disease, liver disease, cancer and heavy alcohol consumption are at greatly increased risk of serious and life threatening melioidosis infection.

The following work practices can protect workers who have contact with soil and surface water in melioidosis endemic areas:

• cover cuts, abrasions & sores with a water resistant dressing
• water resistant dressing
• wear water-resistant or sturdy enclosed footwear when working or walking in wet or muddy areas
• wear protective gloves if handling soil, mud or surface water particularly during the wet season
• wash thoroughly after contact with soil & muddy water
• clean wounds & abrasions that have been accidentally contaminated with soil & muddy water
• avoid contact with soil, mud & surface water where possible, particularly during the wet season & especially for people with health conditions that put them at increased risk of melioidosis infection Are any of your employees at risk & have you implemented appropriate controls to minimise this risk?

Farms, vehicles and kids don’t mix!

The number of accidental deaths in the agriculture sector is declining, but preventable incidents involving vehicles (tractors and quad bikes) continue to occur and children are also at risk.  A recent study compiled by the Australian Centre for  Agricultural Health and Safety found the number of work & non-work-related accidental deaths on Australian farms fell from 104 in 2003 to 62 in 2006. In total, there were 326 non-intentional injury deaths in the sector over this 4 year period.

Of these, 57 (21%) involved tractors (with run-overs or rollovers being the most common cause), and 23 involved quad bikes. Of the latter, some 65% related to rollover incidents in which the rider was crushed by the machine and asphyxiated. Others agents commonly associated with farm deaths (for persons aged 15 and older) included utes (23), trees (14), two-wheeled motorcycles (14), horses (10), firearms (7), helicopters (7), trucks (7), cattle (6) & power lines (6). Five of the deaths involved fire, and one person was killed by a snake.

The researchers suggest that all of these agents are already well known and highly effective solutions that can be used to further reduce the burden of nonintentional injury. Future interventions should target these priority areas to allow for further significant reductions in farm-related deaths. According to the report, which sourced data from the National Coroners Information System, 55 (16.9%) of the 326 people killed on farms from 2003 to 2006 were under 15 years of age. Of these, 31 (56%) were younger than 5, more than 1 in 3 was a farm visitor, and most (25 - including both residents & visitors) died in dams, tanks, creeks & other bodies of water. For children, drowning in dams and a range of other water bodies is far and away the leading cause of non‐intentional injury death on farms. The issue of quad bike use, either as a rider or passenger, also needs to be addressed in light of the recommended prohibitions against both practices for children under 16 years. How well are these agents managed at your work place- do your employees ever have to go into agricultural environments?

Nerve damage for construction workers from exposure to contaminated site

More than 30 construction workers were hospitalised after exposure to the chemical in Aircraft Maintenance Hangar No.6. When the workers broke through a cap covering a black, oily substance they were immediately afflicted by nausea, headaches, and a host of other symptoms.

A delayed US state health department report on the 2006 incident at an Alaska military base has concluded that an unknown volatile chemical was the probable cause of the serious nerve damage suffered. At least four workers at the Fort Wainwright base were permanently disabled & are still seeking compensation for medical bills. Do you have any contamination secrets in your workplace that could affect your workforce or contractors- would you know?

How well do you manage the risk to your employees contracting diseases on overseas work trips?

The Victorian Supreme Court has upheld a medical panel's finding that an employee's debilitating heart problems were caused by a disease he contracted while travelling to Germany for work. In 1993, the Wurth Australia Pty Ltd marketing and customer service manager attended a conference in Germany on his employer's behalf. He later suffered a series of debilitating medical problems including a stroke that necessitated a heart transplant and a severe skin condition and was eventually diagnosed with late-stage Lyme disease. A bite from a tick that inhabits Germany's Black Forest which the worker visited several times on his trip is a known cause of Lyme disease, and when the results of a skin biopsy reinforced the link, he sought compensation from his employer.

The employer rejected the claim, contending there was insufficient evidence to attribute the worker's heart problems to the disease. But a County Court medical panel found the worker's cardiac dysfunction, stroke, epilepsy and skin lesions all resulted from Lyme disease. The employer sought a review of the panel's findings.

Before Supreme Court Justice Macaulay, the employer contended the panel failed to give it the opportunity to respond to certain findings, and failed to give adequate reasons for its opinion. The employer said the panel noted "that a small number of cases of histologically proven Lyme related cardiomyopathy" had been reported, even though its research had only uncovered one such case. However, Justice Macaulay said this was not a jurisdictional error because the information was neither "demonstratably wrong" nor irrelevant.

The panel carefully considered the possible alternative causes of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and identified no other risk factor, including hypertension, viral myocarditis, ischaemic heart disease, metabolic disorder or congenital factor, or any personal or family history of heart disease and rejected the employer's grounds for review. How well prepared are you personnel when they travel overseas for work- do you know what the risk are, assess them and plan to manage them prior to the trip taking place?

Wurth Australia Pty Ltd v Gallichio & Ors VSC 630

Aging onshore chemical plant a safety risk

According to a recent report by the UK’s The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) onshore chemical plant in the UK is ageing. The HSE has to consider the Operators’ safety justification for continued use of ageing plant taking account of a variety of issues such as usage, design life, known research, known operational and failure history, maintenance and inspection history, etc. The issues also need to be considered against a background of increasing competition from overseas, and the pressure on resources and investment which this has had over recent years, with reductions in manning levels, early retirement of experienced staff, and pressure on operating budgets. Between 1996 and 2008 it is estimated that there have been 173 loss of containment incidents reported under the UK’s Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations (RIDDOR) that can be attributable to ageing plant. This represents 5.5% of all loss of containment events. 

Across Europe, between 1980 & 2006, it is estimated that there have been 96 incidents reported in the Major Accident Reporting System (MARS) database relating to major accident potential loss of containment which are estimated to be due to ageing plant. This represents 28% of all reported ‘major accident’ loss of containment events in the MARS database & equates to an overall loss of 11 lives, 183 injuries & over €170 million (A$ 230 million) of economic loss. How much aging plant is at your workplace- how do you manage the risk?

Message to sales people who may be tempted to drink & drive

A worker who was permanently injured in a car accident while drink driving after a work Christmas party has failed to convince the NSW Court of Appeal that she was hurt in the course of her employment. The RedRock Company Pty Ltd sales representative, who had a blood alcohol level (BAL) of 0.124, crashed in late 2001, & her employer paid her benefits until July 2005, when it denied liability. When an arbitrator found in the worker's favour, it appealed.

In the NSW WCC, Deputy President O'Grady accepted the worker attended the party in the course of her employment, but noted that in driving the car while intoxicated she had defied a direct order from her employer. Further, while the drive home would normally have taken 30 mins, an hour elapsed between her departure & the accident. She failed to establish she was in the course of employment during the 1 hr period between leaving the party & the occurrence of injury. Even if the worker's journey was considered part of her employment, the fact she engaged in serious & wilful misconduct at the time of her injury disqualified her from making a Workers compensation claim. The worker appealed.

In the Court of Appeal the worker argued that her injury was sustained in the course of her employment, or, in the alternative, that her misconduct occurred while she was acting "for the purposes of and in connection with the employer's trade or business. Her arguments were rejected. Given the worker's failure to justify her blood-alcohol level or prove it did not contribute to the accident in any way, her appeal could not succeed. Scharrer v The Redrock Co Pty Ltd NSWCA 365

Written by Julie Armour

Click here to read December 2010 OH&S Newsletter