Discuss about the Case Study on the Death of Michael Booth for Canberra Construction.
According to Christian and Miriam (2016), the death of a North Korean who was working at a shipyard in Gdansk region was caused by lack of necessary equipment and unsafe practices. The employee was burnt around ninety-five (95) percent and he died instantly. The question raised focuses on the responsible authorities undertaking the required steps to find out what happened under such incidence. Besides, it is evident that the employers taken accountable, and are always the victims being compensated. The main aim of this case study essay on the death of a forty-eight-year-old man one Michael Booth is to help you understand how some of these cases are always handled. It is to show you what really transpired that lead to his death at a construction firm in Canberra. How the responsible authorities handled the matter, how they should have handled it and what should have been done to avoid such an incident.
Risk management is defined as the process of identification, prioritization, as well as assessment of risks. It also involves the coordination of economic application with the aim of minimizing, monitoring, and controlling the possibility and impact of risk occurrence. In a systematic study, Michael (2017) denotes that public awareness of possible risks and hazards in the working place helps in enhancing the essentiality of safety management and assessment in the current increasingly dangerous and litigious society. In other words, there is a need of evaluating risks and safety related issues experienced in the workplace by adopting strategies that are structured and calculated. Many people have died in the construction sites over the years, most parties being either employee of the construction firm or the suppliers. In most occasions, it has come out that most of this death is caused by the laxity of the employer to provide safety equipment required for the task, employer not providing a safe working environment according to the established standards or lack of adequate training by the employer. This paper evaluates safety issues in reference to Canberra Construction Company.
According to Lisa (2012), Mr. Michael Booth a forty-eight-year-old was working for a company that was supplying Canberra Construction firm known as Kenoss with construction equipment. On the twenty-third day of March 2012 as he drove into the construction site, his truck came into contact with an overhead electricity line that was hanging too low and he got electrocuted in the incident. He could not see it because the area was covered with trees and since it was a windy day, obviously the construction site was full of dust (Gordon, 2015). He was found lying by his truck where he was rushed to the hospital and unfortunately died five days later. According to Gordon (2015), his brother confirmed that he actually died due to the effect of the electrocution and after his death, they donated his lungs and kidney to the hospital to help those who needed such kind of transplant. They did this because Michael had requested it to be done whenever he would have died.
According to Michael (2017), after the death of Michael Booth, there was an attempt by Kenoss to alter his attendance record for that day to avoid any investigation that would have been conducted but they did not manage to successfully do so. At the same time, the company was going into liquidation and was dealing with a lot in terms of clearing with creditors and other liquidation processes.
Social networking sites have revolutionized that Mark McCabe an ACT SAFEWORK commissioner investigated the matter by visiting the site where the incident occurred, interviewed the employers and employees of Kenoss even though it was going on liquidation and found out that the company did not adhere to very many safety rules. While giving her ruling on the case, ACT SAFEWORK Chief Magistrate Mrs. Walker mentioned that the exact issue which caused the death was not carefully handled by the firm and that the risk was obvious. She went ahead and clarified that in their investigation they learned that the employees of the firm were informed not to use long equipment in the compound because of the low-hanging electricity wires but the visitors were not informed about the issue. When Mark McCabe went to do investigation he was not checked in, he was not informed about the safety rules within the site and was made aware of the hanging electricity wires, “they only showed me what they wanted me to see”, said Mark (Yass Tribune, 2012).
According to the evidence that was tabled in the ACT supreme court, the chief magistrate Walker found the prosecution team was able to prove beyond any reasonable doubt that the Construction firm Kenoss was guilty of breaching the work safety laws as charged (Charles, Stephen & Michael, 2015). Mrs. Walker fined the company USD 1.1 million a sum which is said to be the largest of all time in the history of such cases. This was to act as a warning to companies who break the work safety laws (Clyde, 2017). The Manager was also arraigned in court but it was ruled that he had no case to answer as an individual. Walker found out that the prosecutor could not prove that he had responsibility for operations and that his role was to simply manage.
In the ruling, it is noticed that the SAFEWORK Chief executive officer Mrs. Walker does not give any recommendation on the sections of the law that she had noticed have hindered some of the decision to be made by the court. According to Burchil (2015), the manager was not found with any case to answer simply because the law does not place him in a position to be in charge of operation in the site. These comprise of safety, we have seen this giving him a way out, but he ought to be responsible since he was the one holding the highest rank in the site.
The General Manager informed the court that he was not qualified for the position, but since he was related to the General Manager of the organization, it was given to him out of favor (Clyde, 2017). The Chief Executive Officer Mrs. Walker should have held the General Manager accountable through the Human Resource office for employing someone who is not qualified for such a sensitive position thereby leading to the death of a forty-eight-year-old man who obviously had mouths to feed and also a long life to live.
Another issue, which could have been handled differently, is compensation. According to Lisa (2012), the court was doing sideway negotiations with the company to pay USD 300,000 to the family. I feel that Mrs. Walker being the Chief Executive Officer of ACT SAFEWORK should have included this in her ruling so that it becomes a mandatory issue for the firm and not to be treated as a mere “gentleman agreement” which was done in a coffee shop. To be more precise, three-quarters of the fine should have gone to the family. It could not have raised Michael from death but at least it could have reduced the tears of the family. Who does not the power of money? If this was not in the law then Mrs. Walker should have at least recommended it.
According to Lisa (2012), the site was located exactly beside the road since the firm was constructing that road by that time. There was no sign warning where the electrical wires were hanging, no flag attached to the lines to show people their danger and the wires were hanging exactly where Michael was to offload. According to Gordon, (2015), the area was covered by trees and it was a windy day, the area was full of dust and seeing clearly was a problem.
The Death of Michael Booth was caused out of the negligence of the company in following the safety rules of a workplace. One of the steps the Company should have taken is to communicate the safety policy to both employees and visitors so that they become aware of any danger they may get into when executing some of their duties within the company. According to McPhaul (2012), all organizations are required to have the safety rules, if employees are more than five, then the rules should on writing pined on a notice board or incorporated in the employees’ handbook.
Another issue the Company should have considered is to do a risk assessment. Risk assessment is the process of determining any possible outcome that can happen to employees or visitor within the company during the daily operations (Kapp& Han (2017). The employer should keep the findings of the assessment in a written form and clearly state the measures that have been put in place to minimize such accidents. If this would have been done, Michael could have been aware of the risk he might get himself in when off-loading his truck near the hanging electricity wires.
To reduce this kind of safety breach the company should have dealt with any hazards promptly. According to Nikraz and Chen (2016), most accidents and death in organizations are mainly caused by preventable dangers and reducing such risk always requires straightforward action. The hanging electricity lines were a straightforward risk that required quick repair to avoid accident and death as witnessed in the case of the victim Michael Booth.
If I was the Manager of Kenoss Construction Company, I would have acted in a very different manner. According to Gordon, (2015), Michael was rushed to the hospital that was not close to the Company. The first thing I would have done is to make sure Michael got the first aid right at the site before being taken to the hospital, this would have reduced the electrocution effects. After the death of Michael, I would have advised the General Manager to compensate Michael’s family rather than trying to delete his visiting records in the book. The electricity company would have been a part of the case since they are liable to check that all the power lines are maintained. Besides, the power lines should not be imposable to any threat to human life.
Conclusion
In all countries across the world, there are laws on matters of safety in a workplace. Employers are expected to live up to these laws and failure to which may lead to criminal prosecution in a magistrate court as was witnessed in this case of Michael Booth. Judges of the magistrate court should impose very stiff rules on matters regarding human safety at the workplace to avoid sad deaths like the one for Michael. I am impressed by the way in which the Chief Magistrate of ACT SAFEWORK Mrs. Walker handled the case and gave her ruling. Governments should hand over at least three-quarter of the fine to the bereaved family to help them with their financial needs especially when if the victim was the breadwinner.
References
Alfers, L., Xulu, P., & Dobson, R. (2016). Promoting workplace health and safety in urban public space: reflections from Durban, South Africa. Environment & Urbanization, 28(2),391-404.
Charles, P. Stephen, T & Michael, S. (2015). Work, health & Safety. Holding Redclich, 123(8), 1-5.
Stergiou-Kita, M., Mansfield, E., Colantonio, A., Moody, J., & Mantis, S. (2016). What’s gender got to do with it? Examining masculinities, health and safety and return to work in male dominated skilled trades. Work, 54(3), 721-733.
Clyde, D. (2017). Construction company receives record NSW fine for electric shock. Lexology, 225(56), 1-4
Embracing Safety in the Workplace. (2016). Professional Safety, 61(8), 12.
Christian, V. & Miriam, W. (2016). How North Koreans Are Working Themselves to Death in Europe. Cash for Kim, 5(1), 3-6.
Kapp, E. A., & Han, A. A. (2017). Integrating Health With Safety: Now Is the Time. Professional Safety, 62(5), 44-49.
Gordon, T. (2015)ABC News. Retrieved from
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-08-19/construction-company-fined-1-million-over-workplace-death/6708032
Lisa, C. (2012). A Work Place Tragedy. The Canberra Time, 1(1), 1-6.
McPhaul, K. (2012). Safety climate and workplace violence prevention in state-run residential addiction treatment centers. Work, 42(1), 47-56.
Nikraz, H., & Chen, Y. (2016). A study of influences of the workers’ compensation and injury management regulations on aviation safety at a workplace. International Journal Of Injury Control & Safety Promotion, 23(1), 99-104.
Michael, S. (2017). Electrical safety. Health & safety Handbook, 123(5) 3-8
Yass Tribune. (2012). Retrieved from https://www.yasstribune.com.au/story/215535/workplace-death-raises-questions/
Elizabeth, B. (2015) ABC News. Retrieved from https://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-06-23/kenoss-company-found-guilty-over-truck-drivers-electrocution/6568268
Burchill, C. (2015). Development of the Personal Workplace Safety Instrument for Emergency Nurses. Work, 51(1), 61-66
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