A worker was part of a three-man team, using an air leg drill. The worker was securing the BTE foot piece when he noticed the shoulder of the bench they were working on start to crumble. He shouted to the operator of the drill to stop and removed his foot from the foot piece. As he did this the drill leg bounced up and hit him on the side of his right leg, near his knee. The worker sustained a laceration to his leg and contusion to his knee. The ground where they were working was soft and the area was very noisy, both of which contributed to the incident.
Many incidents and serious accidents occur in situations where workers, and others, fail to identify hazardous conditions and work environments.
You need to ensure that:
• Where possible, use engineering controls to remove the person from the line of fire. In this case, the use of a drill ladder would have been an appropriate engineering control.
• Identify hazards associated with the work environment before setting up for any task. Ensure these hazards are adequately communicated to all in the work crew.
• Effective risk assessment/s are competed, and checked, prior to commencing any task.
• Supervise, and conduct physical checks, to ensure workers are completing the task/s in accordance with safe work procedures and/or risk assessments completed.
Let’s work together to keep ourselves and our workers safe.
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