Wednesday 10th February 2021

Man suffers serious burns after fire at Adams Distillery. 

A man is in a critical condition after suffering partial and full-thickness burns to his hands, face and legs while mixing product using flammable liquids at the Adams Distillery at Perth, near Launceston.

Just after 10:20 am Tuesday, multiple fire crews were called in to fight the blaze, Tasmania Fire Service district officer of operations Mark Caintar said the injured man has not been identified and was airlifted to hospital in a serious condition.

Mr Caintar said the man was conducting his normal day-to-day work operations and would not speculate further on the fire's cause due to it now being a matter for the WorkSafe Tasmania to investigate

Mr Caintar praised one of the distillery owners, a former paramedic for helping his colleague.

The building has not sustained any structural damage, However Mr Caintar assessed the damages from the fire at between $1.5 and $2 million.

The original story can be found on the ABC website.

Supervisor fined $70,000 after the death of a co-worker. 

A mine owner has been convicted and fined $70,000 after an opal mining incident on 4 November 2016, when a co-worker was fatally injured. The incident occurred in the Mulga Rush Opal Fields, southwest of Lightning Ridge.

The worker was killed when a bucket used to remove earth and soil from mine fell, causing fatal injuries. It is believed that the deceased man had inadvertently deactivated power to the hoist, which allowed the bucket to fall.

On 1 October 2020, Judge Scotting found the mine owner had failed to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that the fixtures, fittings and plant were without risks to the health and safety of any person.

This serves as a timely manner to WHS duty holders to ensure they have the appropriate controls in place to protect workers.

Resources Regulator's chief investigator Andrew McColm said, the Court's decision sends a strong message that the community expects mine operators, persons that supply plant to comply with their work health and safety obligations.

This serves as a timely manner to WHS duty holders to ensure they have the appropriate systems in place to protect workers.

Full article can be found on the NSWmedia website.