Thursday 11th March 2021

Safety News Update: Thursday 11th March 2021

Today's safety news roundup, dated 11th March 2021, brings two significant workplace safety enforcement stories from Australian regulators. Below, we cover a double conviction following a crane tipping incident and a fatal crushing alert from a CNC turret punch press.

Double Conviction After Crane Tipping Incident

Following a crane tipping incident in 2017, a crane and rigging business along with an employee were charged by SafeWork SA. White Crane and Rigging Service and the worker both pleaded guilty in the South Australian Employment Tribunal (SAET) for breaches of duties under the Act.

The incident occurred in December 2017. While removing pine trees at residential premises, cables of a 130-tonne crane became entangled. The crane operator lowered the boom and overrode the safety switch, resulting in the crane tipping over and damaging two vehicles parked nearby.

After an investigation, SafeWork SA identified that the incident was avoidable had adequate planning and a risk assessment been completed. This finding highlights why thorough pre-task risk assessments remain critical for high-risk lifting operations, a topic we explore further in our guidance on workplace safety enforcement outcomes.

Convictions were issued to both business and employee. SAET declined to order pecuniary fines to either party. View the full article on the SafeWork SA website.

Alert Issued After Fatal Crushing From CNC Turret Punch Press

WorkSafe Victoria has issued an alert regarding the risk of sustaining severe or fatal injuries when entering a plant's operating space.

Recently, an operator of a CNC turret punch press was crushed after entering the plant's operational space between the carriage and a ball transfer table abutting the edge of the press's primary table.

WorkSafe VIC recommends controlling risks by:

• Installing physical perimeter fencing with interlocked access gates
• Fitting interlocked guards to prevent access to moving parts
• Reviewing other engineering controls suited to plant operational hazards

Under Occupational Health and Safety regulations, employers must, so far as reasonably practicable, provide and maintain a working environment that remains safe and without risks to health of employees and independent contractors. For businesses reviewing machinery guarding obligations, our resources on plant safety compliance requirements offer further detail.

For more details, view the safety alert on the WorkSafe VIC website.

Stay Informed With Weekly Safety News

This 11th March 2021 update forms part of our ongoing coverage of workplace safety incidents, regulator actions and compliance guidance across Australia. Discerning safety professionals in construction, manufacturing and healthcare rely on timely news to benchmark their own risk controls against real-world enforcement outcomes.

Check back for our next instalment, published Thursday 25th March 2021, where we continue tracking safety news relevant to 2021 workplace obligations. Each edition of our 2021 news series is designed to keep readers current on incidents shaping best practice standards, ensuring no critical update from March 2021 or beyond goes unnoticed by teams managing compliance calendars this March 2021.