WorkSafe New Zealand is again urging the forestry sector to reflect on what more it can do to improve safety, as the details of yet another worker death emerge from a court prosecution.

Jake Duncan was fatally struck when a log came loose and hurtled 325 metres down a hill at Tangoio, north of Napier, in June 2021. The 23-year-old was doing work known as breaking out, where felled logs are connected to a hauling machine for extraction.

The log had been put in place as a “plug” which acted as a bridge for other logs to slide over, until it gave way with tragic consequences. This uncommon method is known as plugging and bridging.

The pre-harvest risk assessment only listed two hazards for the entire site, and did not properly consider the risks of the plugged log dislodging. The company should also have had better controls in place to minimise the risk of workers like Jake Duncan being struck.

These health and safety failures led to WorkSafe charging Mr. Duncan’s employer, Logged on Logging 2020 Limited for breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015.

In a reserved decision, the Napier District Court has ordered Logged on Logging to pay reparations of $332,187.

Another company, Forest Management (NZ) Limited, was sentenced in late 2023 for its health and safety failures unrelated to the death.

WorkSafe New Zealand
November 2024 

A Healesville caravan park has been convicted and fined $475,000 after a camper was crushed by a falling tree branch.

Yarra Valley Park Lane Holiday Park Pty Ltd, that operated the BIG4 Yarra Valley Holiday Park, was sentenced in the Melbourne County Court after earlier being found guilty by a jury of a single charge of failing to ensure the workplace was safe and without risks to health.

The court also issued an adverse publicity order requiring the company to publicise the offence, its consequences, and the penalty imposed in an industry publication.

In March 2021, the camper was inside his tent on a designated site at the caravan park when a large tree branch fell onto his tent during the night, causing fatal head injuries.

WorkSafe investigators found park operators had not engaged an arborist for a general assessment of trees in the park since 2015 and did not have in place a documented system for inspecting trees or a policy on how frequently they should be inspected.

The court heard an inspection of 277 trees at the park conducted after the fatal incident identified 137 trees requiring risk mitigation works, including 85 requiring works within a year.

A jury found it was reasonably practicable for the caravan park to reduce the risk of falling branches by engaging an arborist to complete annual tree assessments of trees at the site and following the arborist’s recommendations.

WorkSafe Victoria
November 2024 

Data from ACC shows that there have been 200,000 claims paid for people injured while working from home since the start of 2019.

The number had trended down, from 35,896 new claims in 2019 to 35,336 in 2021, 30,711 in 2023, and 24,309 in the year to date.

In 2019, there were almost 50,000 active claims, which can include claims made in previous years for which payments were still being made.

Injuries caused by things such as lifting and carrying were most common, with 6,720 this year so far. That was followed by loss of balance and puncture injuries.

Most injuries were soft tissue injuries, followed by lacerations, punctures, and stings. Just over 770 people in the year to date have suffered a fracture or dislocation while working from home. Almost 300 suffered from burns.

The lower back and spine were the most common injury sites, followed by fingers and thumbs.

Work-from-home claims in the years from 2019 to 2024 totalled more than $800 million.

ACC injury prevention programme lead James Whitaker said injuries were more likely to happen in people’s own homes than anywhere else: “Slips, trips, and falls are the biggest contributor to injuries in New Zealand. About 770,000 New Zealanders get injured from a slip, trip, or fall in any given year, and home is the most common place for that to occur.

“We know that walking before a fall is the most common prior activity, which means these injuries are likely due to multi-tasking.”

Jim Roberts, a partner at Hesketh Henry, said employers had a general duty under the Health and Safety at Work Act to ensure as far as was reasonably practicable the health and safety of staff. That was not limited to work premises and should include working from home, he said.

The term “reasonably practicable” means the employer must make an assessment of the likelihood of the hazard or risk (that working remotely may pose) occurring, the degree of harm that might result from the hazard or risk, what the employer should have known about the hazard or risk, including how the risk could be eliminated or minimised including the availability of minimising the risk, and then and only after a thorough assessment, the costs associated with eliminating, or minimising, the risk.

A helpful rule of thumb is said to be, the greater the risk, the more is expected to be done about it. Employers should note that hazards or risks working from home may pose are not limited to those that may cause physical harm. Workers who work from home may face social isolation and psycho-social harm as a result. Employers should be aware of these when conducting a risk assessment.

However, it is commonly accepted that home is not the employer’s workplace, and they have a limited ability to control and manage risks. Employers will be heavily reliant on self-reporting from their workers. Workers have a corresponding duty to ensure their own health and safety while working, which goes hand in hand with the employer’s obligation.

RNZ
November 2024

A Kent-based plastics manufacturer has been fined £400,000 after an employee was seriously injured by a forklift truck.

The man was struck by the vehicle while walking to collect materials at FloPlast Limited’s site at Eurolink Business Park on 4 July 2023. The driver of the forklift truck failed to see the worker, who sustained multiple leg fractures and a dislocated ankle, requiring him to have a metal plate fitted in his left leg.

The HSE’s investigation found a number of measures lacking at the site in Sittingbourne:

• FloPlast Limited had no documented safe system of work and that nobody was following the measures the firm thought were in place.
• CCTV footage showed multiple drivers and pedestrians circulating in close proximity.
• A site inspection by HSE found employees were not observing one way systems or following systems of work.
• The HSE also established that there was no system in place to monitor compliance or to remind employees and drivers of the systems of work.
• It was found that nobody had assessed the vehicles being used by workers to ensure they provided good visibility.

FloPlast Limited, of Eurolink Business Park, Sittingbourne, Kent, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. The company was fined £400,000 and ordered to pay £5,567 in costs.

HSE inspector Peter Bruce said: “Poor vehicle and pedestrian segregation in the workplace is a common cause of fatal incidents and injuries. The employee in this instance suffered multiple fractures and has had to have a metal plate put into their leg which they will have for the rest of their life.

“Employers need to ensure that they have suitable measures in place to segregate out pedestrians and vehicles. This includes: the provision of safe systems of work, appropriate training procedures and systems for ensuring compliance with those measures.

“Where it is identified that employees are not following these measures, employers should consider the reasons behind this implementing further measures as appropriate to the risk.”

This HSE prosecution was brought by HSE enforcement lawyer Neenu Bains and supported by HSE paralegal officer Daniel Adams.

HSE
November 2024

A man has been fined nearly £4,000 for dumping a van-load of cardboard boxes on the A303 that did not belong to him.

Mohammed Hawkar, of Wicker Hill in Trowbridge, Wiltshire, left rubbish in a lay-by near Winterbourne Stoke.

The council said the rubbish was traced to a business in Yeovil which had loaned a van to Hawkar to move furniture.

The Somerset business owner said his van was full of his own waste when it was taken away, but when Hawkar returned it, it was empty.

Hawkar pleaded guilty to fly-tipping on a public highway and was fined £3,950.

The council said it managed to track down Hawkar shortly afterwards and prosecute him.

“We are committed to tackling fly-tipping in Wiltshire and as this case shows, our Environment Enforcement officers will pursue offenders as part of our zero-tolerance approach to environmental crime,” said councillor Nick Holder, cabinet member for highways, flooding and street scene.

“Our message is clear: We’re Targeting Fly-tippers in Wiltshire and we will fine or prosecute anyone caught illegally dumping rubbish in our beautiful county.”

BBC News
November 2024

Federal inspectors have found a Syracuse iron foundry, operating for more than 150 years, continued its pattern of violating federal regulations. The foundry has been cited for more than two dozen willful, repeat, serious, and other violations.

Inspectors with the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) cited Frazer and Jones LLC in October 2024 for exposing employees to the risks of fire and explosion, thermal and chemical burns, falls, and other hazards.

In 2023, OSHA cited Frazer and Jones, operator of one of the nation’s largest ductile and malleable iron foundries, for two serious violations. In 2021, the company reached a settlement agreement with the department and agreed to correct 60 violations and pay $276,189 in penalties identified in a 2019 inspection.

OSHA cited the foundry operator for four willful, 13 repeat, seven serious, and three other-than-serious violations and assessed penalties set by federal statute, totaling $990,186 in proposed fines.

Specifically, inspectors found Frazer and Jones exposing employees to the following hazards:

• Fire and explosion from uncapped natural gas vent lines during industrial furnace maintenance.
• Struck-by injuries while operating cranes, hoists, and lifting devices with identified deficiencies.
• Falls from walking and working surfaces not protected by guardrails.
• Asphyxiation from hazardous atmospheres for workers entering the kiln, a permit-required confined space, for maintenance.
• Caught-in dangers from failing to lock-out energy sources before machine maintenance.
• Thermal burns while lighting burners with a natural gas torch.
• Chemical burns while using hazardous chemicals without labels and emergency eyewash stations inaccessible to employees working with corrosive chemicals.
• Overexposure to respirable crystalline silica without engineering controls or respiratory protection.

Frazer and Jones LLC has contested its citations and penalties to the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.

U.S. Department of Labor

November 2024

Imperial Oil Limited has been convicted of one violation under the Environmental Protection Act (EPA), fined $900,000 plus a victim fine surcharge of $225,000 and given 90 days to pay, for discharging a contaminant, namely slop oil, into the environment which caused or was likely to cause an adverse effect.

Imperial Oil Limited (IOL) owns and operates a petroleum refinery and chemical manufacturing plant located on Christina Street South in Sarnia.

The refinery uses steam tracer lines along its pipelines to prevent the pipelines from freezing during the winter. Steam tracer lines are small tubes that carry steam and are located underneath the pipes’ insulation to keep them warm. Leaks in the steam tracer system are relatively common at the refinery.

In January 2021, IOL employees discovered a steam tracer leak along an elevated pipeline containing slop oil. Slop oil is a waste product that is typically composed of crude oil, water, and waste solids. It contains various contaminants which may include hydrogen sulphide.

IOL avoids conducting non-critical steam tracer repairs during the winter months due to the risk of pipelines freezing and splitting during the repair process. IOL schedules repairs when the weather is expected to be warm. Repairs are prioritized based on a number of factors including urgency, repair time, resources, and forecasted temperatures.

In 2021, IOL categorised steam leaks into three categories to determine the priority for repairs to be completed.

The steam tracer leak in January 2021 was designated as a second level priority where the risk level was considered acceptable to leave unrepaired if a freeze occurred (below zero temperatures). Repairs were planned for March 2021.

In April 2021, prior to scheduled repairs, steam escaping from the steam tracer line leak bored a hole in the nearby slop oil line resulting in a spill of approximately 1,150 litres of slop oil. Subsequent air monitoring did not detect hydrogen sulphide, volatile organic compounds, or gas vapour.

The discharge of slop oil caused adverse effects to persons at two nearby businesses and residents of Aamjiwnaang First Nation, including the loss of enjoyment and use of property and interference with the normal conduct of business.

Individuals reported experiencing eye, nose and throat irritation, as well as headaches and nausea. Strong odours were also reported which restricted movement and activity and caused health and safety concerns.

As a result of the leak, IOL revised the steam leak repair prioritization criteria to include the potential impact to the community as part of the highest priority criteria when assessing relative repair priority of steam leaks at the refinery.

Following the new steam leak repair prioritisation criteria, IOL would characterise the steam leak identified in January 2021 as the highest priority repair.

The ministry’s Environmental Investigations and Enforcement Branch investigated and laid a charge which resulted in the conviction.

Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks

November 2024

Incidents of workplace violence and harassment at retail businesses are on the rise. To provide guidance and keep people safe, Workplace Safety & Prevention Services has partnered with the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police, the Retail Council of Canada, and the Toronto Police Service to develop a “Retail Safety & Security Guide.”

This toolkit, suitable for businesses of all sizes, aims to help Ontario retail businesses prevent and reduce crime incidents and keep customers and staff safe. 

Based on consultations with retailers, security organisations and police services, and industry best practices, the guide: 

• Outlines methods to prevent and address the most common and severe forms of retail crime, including robbery, breaking and entering, fraud, and shoplifting. 
• Reviews techniques to address abusive customers, suspicious individuals, intoxicated individuals, as well as individuals experiencing a mental health crisis. 
• Provides measures to address or prevent violence in the workplace between customers or customers and staff. 
• Provides checklists and risk assessment tools to help businesses take the advice given. 

To view the guide in full, visit https://www.retailcouncil.org/retail-safety-and-security-guide-ontario/

Workplace Safety & Prevention Services

October 2024 

Two Singaporean companies who owned the ship that rammed into and brought down Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge have agreed to pay just under $102 million to settle a claim filed by the U.S. government. 

Grace Ocean and Synergy Marine will pay $101,980,000 toward the government’s costs to restore access to the Port of Baltimore and remove about 50,000 tonnes of steel, concrete, and asphalt from the channel and the vessel itself. 

The U.S. made its claim after the 300-metre-long container ship Dali, headed from the port to Sri Lanka, lost power twice and struck one of the bridge’s piers, causing it to collapse at around 1:30 a.m. on 26 March 2024. 

Six people carrying out maintenance on the bridge fell into the water and died. Two people were rescued from the river. 

The Department of Justice said that shortly after the incident, the companies sought exoneration or to limit their liability to around $43.7 million. 

The settlement does not include any damages for the bridge’s reconstruction. 

According to the Justice Department, the State of Maryland, which built and owned the bridge, has filed its own claim for damages. The bridge’s replacement is expected to cost $1.9 billion over the next four years. 

The city of Baltimore has also filed a lawsuit against Grace Ocean and Synergy. 

This is valid as of  November 2024.

Global Construction Review. 

The Swiss government has announced that revving up your engine unnecessarily, making your motorcycle roar just because it can, or emitting exhaust noise will cost you more in the future.

In a pilot project in Geneva 2023, the Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN) installed noise detection radars in certain parts of the city to measure the noise level of passing vehicles.

They recorded up to 200 vehicles per day, with some emitting noise levels of up to 117 decibels, far exceeding the limit of 82 decibels, which is the highest permissible.

Over 70% of those vehicles were motorcycles, with the rest almost evenly distributed between cars and trucks.

FOEN found these figures disturbing because “noise stresses and makes people ill,” adding that “in Switzerland, around one million people, or one in seven, are exposed to harmful or annoying noise, and road traffic is by far the main culprit.”

Acting on these findings, the Federal Council has decided to tighten certain existing regulations and increase the fines for generating “avoidable” noise pollution on Swiss roads.

The Federal Council has tightened up regulations for the relevant ordinance amendments.

To begin with, it banned noises generated by exhaust pipes of automobiles, motorcycles, and other vehicles.

Secondly, the Federal Council decided to increase the existing sanctions; for instance, the fine for running the engine unnecessarily will be increased from 60 to 80 francs.

Though the pilot project in Geneva was successful in identifying noisy vehicles, these devices will not be routinely installed in Swiss cities, or at least not yet.

That’s because “the creation of the legal bases necessary for the installation of noise radars is encountering certain obstacles,” the Federal Council said.

Among the reasons cited by the government is “the existence of different legal requirements for noise emission limits, depending on the age and category of the vehicle, and the absence of a display device in the vehicle to identify when a noise limit has been exceeded.”

This is why the Federal Council “has decided to examine the feasibility [for setting up radars] in more detail before creating a possible mandate for the development of concrete legal bases.”

This is valid as of the October 2024.

The Local

SaskPower was sentenced in a Weyburn courtroom and now faces a historic workplace fine of $840,000, the largest in Saskatchewan’s history.

This penalty comes after the utility company was found guilty of three workplace safety violations that resulted in the tragic deaths of two experienced employees in 2020.

The court proceedings were attended by family members of the deceased, Scott Bill and Cole Crooks, and representatives from the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 2067. According to CTV News, both men, who were journeypersons with 19 years of experience, fell to their deaths on 8 October 2020 when the bucket they were in tipped over while they were performing their duties in Weyburn.

The fine surpasses the previous record set in 2017 when a Manitoba-based company was fined $560,000 for a workplace fatality.

In a statement, SaskPower expressed its commitment to prioritising the safety of its employees, contractors, and the public.

The court mandated that the fine be paid immediately, and SaskPower stated that it is currently analysing the court’s decision and the resulting sentence.

This is valid as of the October 2024.
Canadian Occupational Safety

City authorities have said that Rome aims to solve its long-standing waste management issues within three years by spending around one billion euros on a new trash incinerator.

For years, the Italian capital has struggled to deal with 1,600,000 tonnes of rubbish every year, with overflowing landfills forcing the city council to send trash to be disposed of elsewhere in Italy.

Located in Santa Palomba, a dozen kilometres south of the Italian capital, the proposed incinerator will burn 600,000 tonnes of waste yearly and is projected to generate enough energy to power 200,000 homes.

When asked about the cost, Rome’s mayor, Roberto Gualtieri, said it would be “about one billion euros.”

He added: “The aim is to begin work early in 2025 so that the establishment will be ready in summer 2027.”

Besides electricity, the Santa Palomba plant will also help recover 10,000 tonnes of steel, 2,000 tonnes of aluminium, and 1,600 tonnes of copper per year, according to its designers.

In 2022, Italy had 36 such plants, concentrated mainly in the centre-north of the country.

This is valid as of the 21st October 2024.
Associated Foreign Press