1.How the Safety Breach could have been Avoided?
2.What Actually Happened?
3.How SafeWork Resolved the Issue?
4.What Could have been done Differently?
4.How I Would Address this Issue?
The construction industry is one of the fastest growing industries in the whole world. It is very crucial to the economic development of most countries. Gibb et al. point out that most of the companies that deal with construction are located in the urban areas where most of the construction takes place (Gibb et. al., 2010). Such construction includes real estates, bridges, and roads. Apart from construction, the companies are involved in making alterations to existing buildings, roads or even replacing them. The industry involves heavy engineering and poses agreat risk to workers involved in the construction work.Canberra Industriesis a construction company that has a work site at Turner (Bryne, 2015). It had hired a driver to transport and unload gravel at the site when the driver was electrocuted by the low-slung power line and died. The company was prosecuted for failing to provide a safe environment. This essay, therefore, describes the company’s workplace, the hazards presented by the company to its workers and how the company breached the safety rules.
Canberra Industries does not provide a safe working environment due to unqualified staff. There arevarious working strategies have been developed in various countries which are referred to as directives.Gibb et al. assert that thesedirectives explain the responsibilities of the employers, for example, risk assessment, theestablishment of prevention and protection services among others (Gibb et. al., 2010). On the other hand, these directives stipulate the duties of the workers, for instance, execution of the instructions and proper use of machinery and equipment.It is the duty of the safety officer to ensure that these directives among other safety measures are strictly adhered to (Fang & Wu, 2013). However, a safety officer must be qualified and should displayprofessionalism in his job. Kenoss Industry displayed poor business culture since they hired the general manager’s son who was not qualified for the job (Kazlauskait?, 2016). Therefore, the death of Michael Booth can be blamed on the company’s mistake, hiring unqualified personnel. A qualified electrician could have pointed out the risk of electrocution on the jobsite.
Kenoss’ work site is not a conducive environment. The power lines were hanging low to the point that they came into contact with the tip of the lorry. A research conducted by Zhao et al.shows that hundreds of construction workers are injured or murdered by overhead power lines (Zhao et. al., 2009). The researchers argue that the construction businesses account for 39 percent of every job-related electrocution fatalities. In addition to that, theconstructionindustry is ranked second highest cause of fatalities among all the occupations. Zhao et al. point out that, the ‘Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)’ demands that every individual working with or around electricity should be trained. Additionally, OSHA has requirements which clarify that all construction workers are supposed to be trained. The purpose of the training is to ensure that the employees are aware of the dangers and carry out their duties properly on the worksite (Ousa et. al, 2014). Therefore, KenossCompany should have trained its employees and also should have put warning tags to the visitors who visited the company
A hazard is an agent which can cause damage or harm to humans. In this case, the hazard was electricity.Prattargues that when an individual is working in an area with electric circuits or power tools, one can be exposed to hazards such as electrical shock (Pratt, 2014).). He points out that construction workers are usually exposed to more hazards due to the fact that their worksites are cluttered with electric wires. On the work site of the Canberra Industries,Kenoss contractors had hanging power lines which killed the truck driver by electrocution. To make the matter worse, there were no warning flags on the low-slung wires, no warning signs, no ongoing training and there was inadequate visitor lists on the site. Hence, the hanging wires were hazarded to the employees and the visitors.
1. One of the ways the safety breach could have been avoided was by controlling the work. If the construction work could not have been avoided under the live hanging powerlines warning notice and a barrier was supposed to have been provided (Reason, 2016). In addition to that, the company should have sought for safe clearance under the overhead lines which was supposed to be verified by the owner of the line. Also, any equipment which had a height exceeding the safe clearance was not to be taken below the sagging live power lines (Kiessling et al, 2014). Furthermore, the company should have ensured the work was under supervision to guarantee that the safety precaution was adhered to.
The company could have avoided the safety breach by eliminating the danger via diversion or isolation. The company could have requested for diversion of the overhead powerlines clear of the work area or ensure that the powerlines are dead as the work progressed (Bhattacharya, 2014). If the powerlines were diverted the truck would not have come into contact with the wires. On the other hand, if the wires were dead the driver would be alive.
2. Michael Booth who was a truck driver died after the tip of his truck hit hanging power lines in a compound that was used by Canberra contracting firm and was electrocuted. Mr. Booth was making a second delivery to the job site in Turner when the misfortune happened (Bryne, 2015). The company’s attempt to prevent aninvestigation into the death from being conducted did not bear fruits. Byrne claims that, ACT industrial court was provided with evidence that one of the company’s officer had attempted to alter Mr. Booth’s attendance record. Kenossand the project manager, Munir Al Hasani,were arraigned in court for failure to offer a safe workplace and causing a risk of serious injury and death. However, the court cleared Hasani’s name after the magistrate discovered that he was not a company’s officer according to the law. Byrne argues that the industrial court also heard that DimitriBrandis who was in charge of management systems including safety did not have formal qualifications. Lack of warning tag on the work site and little documentation for particular risk assessment, for instance, powerlines made the magistrate conclude that the company was guilty. It was fined $1.1 million for safety breaches.
3. Safework clearly states that an employer or an individual running an organization or a business is responsible for the safety and the health of the workers, volunteers, and contractors while at work. In addition to that, under chapter 4, part 4.7, division 7, the new safe work legislation is crystal clear on electric hazards presented by overhead and underground power lines (NSW, 2017). It states that a firm who is carrying out abusinesstransaction at the workplace has to ensure that no person, plant or anything comes into close contact with an overhead electric line. Also, if it is not practical to ensure safe distance to a plant, an individual or a thing, then risk assessment should be conducted. After that, control measures which are consistent the risk assessment should be implemented (Lam, 2014). In this case, the safe work regulationsshow clearly that the risk was obvious and could have been avoided. Therefore, the firm was found guilty under safe work laws and fined to resolve the issue according to the law.
4. The court should also have held the power company responsible for the risk of death and serious injury and also not correcting low-slung power lines conveying 11,000 volts.According to Albert& Hallowell, electrical companies are supposed to consider strategies for preventing accidents and deaths by ensuring that overhead power lines are within a safe height (2013). In this perspective, the court should have considered the fact that the owner of the power lines posed a greater hazard to every individual that was working on that site (Amicucci&Settino, 2017).It was sad to see the power company not being charged with theinstallation of power lines to such a low height yet the latter is aware the power lines can become loose as a result of expansion.
5. If I was working in such a workplace, I would have appealed the case and ask the industrial court not to impose restrictions and fines on the company. In spite of the firm safety breaches, the power company would have shared the blame. The power company should have erected warning posters on such a site to warn individuals and drivers to mind the height of their equipment or vehicles (Shelton, 2014). Also, I would have appealed the case due to the fact that the power company did not consider some of the safety measures and failed to evaluate such a great risk during installation. However, I would have accepted the mistake and ensure that such a hazard is eliminated in future.
To prevent such an incident in the future I would ensure recruitment of a high-quality staff that is skilled in risk assessment and safety management practices. It was unfortunate that the safety officer was hired for the job simply because it was his father’s company.The staff would ensure that all the risks and potential hazards within the work site are identified, evaluated, eliminated or minimized (Suter, 2016). Additionally, I would ensure that all workers have gone through induction on safety issues. Lastly, I would ensure that there is direct supervision of the implementation of the safe work laws within the company.
Conclusion
To sum it all, Kenoss firm does not provide a safe environment for the workers. The fact that the company failed to train the workers on safety issues proves this point beyond reasonable doubt. Also, the firm did not put awarning sign on the job site to alert the visitors or its workers the danger posed by the low-hanging wires which carried 11,000 volts of electric current. The death of driver reveals the company’s weaknesses. Electricity, in this case, was the hazard and could have been avoided by erecting a warning sign. The safe work resolved this issue legally whereby the company faced a heavy fine of 1.1 million dollars. However, in my point of view, the judgment was too harsh for the company considering that the owner of the power lines also posed a great hazard due to theinstallation of power lines to unsafe heights. If I was working in the company, I would have appealed the case and have the power company share the blame also. Nevertheless, I would ensure I have hired a quality staff in a professional way to deal with risk management and safety issues
References
Albert, A., & Hallowell, M. R. (2013).Safety risk management for electrical transmission and distribution line construction. Safety science, 51(1), 118-126.
Amicucci, G. L., &Settino, M. T. (2017, June).Accidents with injuries or death during non-electrical work activities near overhead power lines. In Environment and Electrical Engineering and 2017 IEEE Industrial and Commercial Power Systems Europe (EEEIC/I&CPS Europe), International Conference on (pp. 1-6).
Bhattacharya, S. (2014). Power system protection problems caused by grid connected PV systems.
Bryne, E. (2015). ACT company Kenoss found guilty of breaching work safety laws after truck driver’s electrocution. ABC.Retrieved from https://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-06-23/kenoss-company-found-guilty-over-truck-drivers-electrocution/6568268
Fang, D., & Wu, H. (2013).Development of a Safety Culture Interaction (SCI) model for construction projects. Safety science, 57, 138-149.
Kazlauskait?, R., Pupienien?, I., &Bu?i?nien?, I. (2016). 8. employability of older workers in a changing labor market: the case of a post-soviet country. Handbook of Contemporary Research on Emerging Markets, 174.
Kiessling, F., Nefzger, P., Nolasco, J. F., &Kaintzyk, U. (2014). Overhead power lines: planning, design, construction. Springer.
Lam, J. (2014). Enterprise risk management: from incentives to controls. John Wiley & Sons.
NSW.(2017). NSW Legislation.NSW government. Retrieved from https://www.legislation.nsw.gov.au/#/view/regulation/2017/404/chap3/part3.2/div5/sec44
Pratt, A. (2014). Prevention of electrical accidents with safe personal protective bonding and earthing. Dissertation: Bachelor of Engineering (Power). University of Southern Queensland.
Reason, J. (2016). Managing the risks of organizational accidents.Routledge.
Shelton, C. (2014). Electrical installations. Nelson Thornes.
Sousa, V., Almeida, N. M., & Dias, L. A. (2014). Risk-based management of occupational safety and health in the construction industry–Part 1: Background knowledge. Safety science, 66, 75-86.
Suter II, G. W. (2016). Ecological risk assessment.CRC press.
Zhao, D., Lucas, J., &Thabet, W. (2009, December).Using virtual environments to support electrical safety awareness in construction. In Simulation Conference (WSC), Proceedings of the 2009 Winter (pp. 2679-2690). IEEE.
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