Businesses are being urged to lift their game after a recent spate of workplace accidents across Wyndham.
Five Wyndham workplace incidents were reported to WorkSafe in just seven days between June 3 and 9, including:
• A worker shot a colleague in the back with a nail gun in Truganina, resulting in a puncture wound.
• In Hoppers Crossing, a worker was struck in the thigh by a circular saw after the saw kicked back while in use, resulting in a laceration.
• A worker cut his finger while using a drop saw in Werribee.
• A worker shot himself in the hand while using a nail gun in Truganina.
• In a near-miss incident, a telehandler slipped on to its side when being backed down a ramp in Werribee.
A total 453 injury claims were made by Wyndham workers in the six months to June 30 this year compared with 973 for the 2015 calender year.
Musculoskeletal injuries, muscle and tendon injuries, wounds, lacerations and amputations were the most common injuries.
WorkSafe regional operations manager Brooke Grey said Wyndham’s strong manufacturing, warehouse and logistics industries – which have a heavy concentration of employees working with machinery and heavy vehicles – played a factor.
“It’s important that employers ensure risks in the workplace are appropriately controlled,” Ms Grey said. “That means ensuring there are appropriate traffic management plans …providing suitable training to workers … and identifying and controlling risk of slips, trips and falls.
“It’s critically important that employers speak with workers about what risks or hazards may be present in their workplaces.”
