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In 2009-10, 26 Victorians died at work

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Twenty-six Victorian workers died in the 09/10 financial year due to lapses in workplace safety, WorkSafe Victoria announced on Tuesday.

  

All but one of these workers was male: a female vineyard worker in Woori Yallock died after being struck by a falling branch during heavy storms in June.
Nine of the fatalities occurred in Melbourne and 17 in regional Victoria. Regional fatalities included the double fatality of a father and son at Rainbow, who were electrocuted when the windmill they were transporting struck an overhead power line.
“The workplace fatality toll serves as a continual reminder to employers and workers that health and safety can be a life or death matter,” WorkSafe’s strategic programs director Trevor Martin said.
“We know the overwhelming majority of deaths and workplace injuries can be predicted and therefore prevented – however, complacency and simple mistakes are still killing people needlessly.”
One third of the workplace fatalities for the 2009/10 year occurred on farms, compared to seven farming fatalities in the previous financial year. Of these nine fatalities, five involved tractors.
“Farmers are greatly over-represented in workplace fatalities; this is something we’re aware of and have discussed with the farming community. It’s why WorkSafe has just launched a campaign of inspector visits to farms across Victoria over the next 12 months. Inspectors will be targeting the most common causes of serious injury and death, with a particular focus on tractor safety,” Martin said.
The fatality toll for 2009/10 also included three falls from heights ranging from a little over 2m to 20m. Five workers were electrocuted after contact with exposed wires on machinery, and striking underground and overhead power lines. A further four people died after being struck by sheets of glass, a bag of salt, computer equipment that fell from a forklift, and a tree branch.
Other fatalities included a lathe operator dying after being struck in the head by a metal rod he was shaping, and a man delivering beer kegs being overcome by a gas leak in a hotel cellar.
 


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