A construction company has been convicted and fined $650,000 after a labourer fell to his death during the building of a Melbourne high rise.

Concorp Group Pty Ltd (in liquidation) was found guilty by a jury in the County Court of two offences under the Occupational Health and Safety Act of failing to maintain a safe working environment and failing to provide instruction.

In sentencing, the judge imposed a $325,000 fine for each of the charges.

Concorp had been engaged to install concrete formwork as part of the construction of a multi-level apartment complex on Elizabeth Street in Carlton.

In February 2016 the 54-year-old was working alone on a wooden platform inside an open shaft on the fourth floor of the building when it overturned.

The court was told he fell about 12 metres to the ground and died on-site a short time later.

A WorkSafe investigation found the cantilevered platform had been constructed two days earlier by other labourers but was boarded up on orders of a supervisor amid concerns over a lack of fall protection.

The court heard no other employees were warned about the platform before the plywood blocking its entrance was later removed, and the worker entered the shaft to undertake drilling.

An independent engineer later found the likelihood of a fall occurring was almost inevitable.

“This death could have easily been avoided if other workers had been warned about the unsafe platform, or if the company had made readily available and cheap modifications to reduce the risk of a fall,” said WorkSafe Victoria executive director of health and safety Julie Nielsen.

“Falls from height are one of the biggest killers of Victorian workers and WorkSafe will not hesitate to prosecute employers who do not control the associated risks.”

To prevent falls when working with formwork employers should:

Ensure a competent person produces a formwork design capable of supporting the expected dynamic and static loads.

Have systems in place to formally sign off a formwork deck as structurally sound, complete and safe for other trade workers to use as a work platform.

Provide employees undertaking construction work with site-specific training, including the onsite risks associated with formwork decks.

Ensure High-Risk Construction Work is not performed unless a Safe Work Method Statement is prepared and followed.

Use a fall arrest system, such as a catch platform or safety nets.

Taken from the AIHS website.

Too often in an industry where safety is paramount, has the process for managing Safe Work Method Statements (SWMS) been considered a checkbox ticking exercise, rather than the core reason of addressing High Risk Construction Work (HRCW) to keep people safe.

Over time, traditional SWMS documents have become long, downloadable dumping grounds to try and capture information that doesn’t have anything to do with HRCW. The result has been an inconsistent approach that fails to achieve the true aim of highlighting the risks and controls that workers need to be aware of before beginning work on site. This sometimes ineffective process and its generic tool results can contribute to injuries on-site that otherwise could be avoided.

Recognising this challenge, SimpliSWMS was developed as a new application providing a simple, collaborative, real-time method of creating, implementing and monitoring HRCW between workers, subcontractors and the principal contractor in line with WHS SWMS regulation.

The beauty of the app is that digitises an often paper-based process using the latest technology and makes it accessible from mobiles, tablets or desktop. The portability means that SWMS can be created, reviewed and discussed where they need to be, on site, and simplifies the SWMS process for both the Principal Contractor (PC) and Subcontractor (PCBU) whilst still being project, site and trade specific.

Simply SWMS’ mission is to transform the industry’s approach towards SWMS from a misused, verbose procedural compliance document, to a simple, collaborative, digital method of creating, implementing and monitoring high risk construction work.

Simply SWMS promotes consultation in real-time between principal contractors, subcontractors and workers to help contribute to the reduction in traumatic injuries and fatalities on construction sites whilst being aligned with WHS Regulations nationally.

Key features include:

• Flexible Platform – Create, review, implement and monitor SWMS on all projects easily via mobile app
• Customisable - Easy to use interface allows users to build their own SWMS specific to a trade, activity, project or policy
• Developed by industry - Developed with leading industry bodies, tier 1 building companies, subcontractors and workers to create a WHS Regulation compliant and standardised approach
• Keeping workers safe - Designed to help educate workers around the HRCW items specific to each project they work on though simple quizzes
• Real-time review - Collaborate, review and monitor SWMS in real-time between the worker, sub-contractor and principal contractor onsite
• Free to use - Free version for small organisations because safety is more important than profit. A tiered subscription model also exists to cater to the larger principal contractors and subcontractors in the market

Lastly, in recognition that one of the key challenges with workers on site is the diversity of cultural and linguistic backgrounds, Simply SWMS will be translated into multiple languages and uses images and videos as an innovative means of ensuring workers understand the content of the SWMS correctly.

The app has been piloted and is now being used across a growing number of construction sites. It has also been created and endorsed with leading industry bodies including the Master Builders Association, Formwork Industry Association and the Crane Industry Council of Australia.

Award Winning.

SimpliSWMS recently won the NSW 2019 Master Builders Association Excellence in Construction Awards for Safety Innovation as a standout initiative and the feedback on the app from users has been very positive:

"Simply SWMS now takes me just 30 minutes to create a completed SWMS that my principal contractor is happy with. In the past this would have taken 3 weeks!”, Michael Louis, REDS Global

“I’m the guy actually doing the job… I often read a SWMS that is just wrong, the suggestions are just not going to work… so we end up just doing it the way it needs to be done instead of following the documented SWMS”, says Dwayne, Demolition expert.

“Best thing to happen safety in the last 20 years”

“About time we had a say in our SWMS”

For more information visit the website link below.

SIMPLI SWMS

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Most Australian companies are generally slow to adopt the latest technology, however, this tendency can leave potential organisational and other benefits on the table, according to an expert in technology and innovation.

There is a large desire to see new technologies validated by other companies first and reduce risk, said James Tibbett, former virtual reality development manager in the school of mining engineering at UNSW and now CEO of VR solutions company SeePilot.

“In the US there is a greater hunger for new technology as it is seen as a way to gain an advantage over competition and market pressures,” he said.

“The ‘innovate or get left behind’ mentality is a more apparent over there,” said Tibbett, who observed that the willingness to utilise the latest technology to improve OHS outcomes largely depends on the industry and the size of an organisation.

There are a variety of appetites for new technology, and Tibbett said this also depends on the individuals within the organisation who are willing to own the initiative.

“The greatest challenge is the status quo within their organisation – particularly in larger businesses where there are many existing systems in place and many people that need to be taken on the change journey.”

For such individuals it can seem like the easiest/safest option is to do nothing, rather than embrace new technology and innovate, said Tibbett, who will be co-presenting an Australian Institute of Health & Safety (AIHS)/Human Factors and Ergonomics Society of Australia (HFESA) webinar on accessible and immersive technology to achieve optimum work performance on Thursday 14 November 2019.

Tibbett explained that a big part of being an OHS professional and building a good safety culture is just showing people that you care.

“If the workforce is observing you experimenting with new technology to help them, and seeking their feedback, they notice the effort and it helps improve the culture within the organisation,” he said.

Technological competency is becoming less of an issue as people are becoming more familiar with smartphones, web applications and assistant technologies in their personal lives.

“We use some great apps at home, like using Google Street View when choosing an Airbnb for a holiday to see what the location looks like,” said Tibbett.

“However, I think it is strange when they go to work and it’s like going back in time to using old technology, confusing pictures and long reports.”

There are a number of new and emerging solutions for companies in the WHS space, according to Tibbett, who said that the first step is to move away from paper reporting/forms in the business and realise the value that can be derived from the data in real-time when brought together on a cloud platform.

“I have seen companies like Donesafe make huge improvements for organisations by upgrading their whole safety management system to such app platforms with could centralisation, particularly for large and dispersed teams,” said Tibbett, who added that another area of interest is predictive intervention which big data analysis is starting to provide.

“I remember hearing about Boeing’s big data analytics team processing the data across all of their planes (through time) and finding a correlation between a particular kettle and another food preparation device failing in close succession, and then the air conditioning unit having a high probability of failing shortly after,” said Tibbett.

This had significant safety implications and the potential to ground an aircraft, and Tibbett explained that when those two kitchen devices fail now, the air conditioning circuit is serviced straight away.

“I think this is a great example of proactive intervention and I think it is moving more and more into the safety space to look at which employees, on which sites, at what time of the year, have a higher probability of which types of incidents when certain site conditions happen – and then changing their tasks proactively in real-time to lower the likelihood of these incidents,” he said.

As the head of a VR solutions firm, Tibbett said he is also excited by the immersive learning potential that is available with 360-degree footage, iPads and VR headsets.

“I love how an organisation can capture their actual workplace conditions with this technology and place trainees in the conditions that they are going to be working in – and how they can interact with the information inserted around them, learning visually and collaboratively,” he said.

“It is so much better than long procedures and death by PowerPoint, and it really helps to bring people up the knowledge curve quicker and get everyone on the same page.”

There are a number of steps OHS professionals can take to improve their own professional skill set and adopt/utilise new technology for the benefit of their business, and Tibbett said these include:

Maintaining a hunger to challenge the status quo and making a difference to improve the safety and performance of workers.

Understanding the needs of your organisation and areas for improvement by closely observing workers in the field or asking them “what don’t you like about performing this particular task?”

Knowing where to learn about new technologies that are out there, such as blogs, conferences and the right networks.

Getting to know technology companies and collaborating on problem-solving, such as getting better at the screening and piloting process for new technology.

Building a framework for experimentation, which includes clarifying measures of success for a project and how to manage technology implementation to get the data you need to take it to the next step.

“A great way to keep an ‘ear to the ground’ and learn about new technologies is to attend AIHS networking events and ask people ‘have you come across any cool new tech for your business lately?’” said Tibbett.

“It is a great conversation starter and helps you to stay in the loop with what others are doing.”

Many start-up accelerator programs (such as Startmate) will run a “demo day” where start-up companies pitch their product in a few minutes, and Tibbett said this is a great way of hearing about many cutting-edge solutions in an evening.

“This also helps you to draw parallels from problems they are solving for another industry into yours,” he said.

“In summary, keep an eye on the evolving needs of the business, keep looking for new solutions, and keep running small experiments as you are always guaranteed to learn.”

Originally published by Australian Institute of Health & Safety.

A building company in Western Australia has been fined $47,500 and ordered to pay $1519 in costs over an incident in which a 3.88-tonne tilt-up panel fell from a building under construction onto a neighbouring car park.

The company, Hanssen, was found guilty of failing to ensure that work was directly supervised by a person who had completed an approved course for managers and supervisors on a site where tilt-up work was being done, and was fined in the Perth Magistrates Court.

The company was also prosecuted for failing to comply with an improvement notice requiring it to have at least one member of staff certified as competent by completing an approved Supervise Tilt-up Work course.

In May 2018, Hanssen was the main contractor for the Vue Tower project in Adelaide Terrace in East Perth, a 34-storey residential apartment complex consisting of tilt-up concrete wall panels cast into suspended slab floors.

On the day of the incident, a labour hire worker was working as an unlicensed surveyor, inspecting and co-ordinating construction activities at the site. He was working with another labour hire employee, an apprentice boiler maker.

At the time, the eastern wall of the first floor of the building consisted of tilt-up concrete panels being supported in a temporarily braced position by two props bolted to the internal face of each panel and to the concrete floor.

One of the panels was out of line, and the surveyor decided to use the site’s tower crane to take the weight of the three metre by four metre panel so they could put it back into line with the rest of the wall.

The two men unbolted the timber connecting the panel to the one below, then as the surveyor was leaving the area, he instructed the apprentice to locate the socket needed to unbolt the temporary props.

The apprentice unbolted the temporary props and the panel fell from the building into a car park in the adjacent property, crushing two cars but causing no injuries.

In July 2018, a WorkSafe inspector issued an improvement notice to Hanssen requiring it to have a member of staff complete an approved Supervise Tilt-up Work course. Despite being granted an extension, the notice was not complied with until early September.

WorkSafe WA Commissioner Darren Kavanagh said the case was yet another reminder of the need for strict requirements around the tilt-up construction industry.

“It’s crucial that anybody working in the tilt-up industry undergoes the appropriate training,” Kavanagh said.

“Tilt-up construction is identified as high-risk work for a good reason, and in this case, it was extremely fortunate that no-one was in the vicinity of the falling concrete panel that day.

“WorkSafe has specific regulations for tilt-up construction, and building companies need to ensure they are complying with the requirements of the legislation.

“Since 2008, there has been a National Code of Practice for Precast, Tilt-up and Concrete Elements in Building Construction that needs to be followed in every workplace where tilt-up construction is taking place.

“Hanssen had previously been convicted of two breaches of the same regulation in 2009 and fined $20,000 per breach for failing to ensure that the appropriate training had been completed.

“The company was also issued an improvement notice in May 2011, once again requiring it to train workers in tilt-up supervision.

“Clearly, the company has not got the message over the ten years since its first conviction under this section of the legislation.

“Tilt-up construction can be a hazardous activity, and it’s vital that both workers and members of the public are protected from any potential incidents involving falling concrete panels.”

Originally published by Australian Institute of Health & Safety.

Workplace Health & Safety Queensland recently issued a health and safety alert to inform workers, employers, builders and designers about the risk of failure of lifting clutches associated with tilt-up and pre-cast concrete erection.

The alert was issued following an incident last month, in which a lifting clutch link on a 5-tonne lifting clutch failed when a 100-tonne crawler crane was lifting a 16-tonne concrete wall panel.

The panel was rigged with four face lifting inserts (lifters) at the time with equalising sheaves each fitted between two inserts.

When the lifting clutch link broke, it caused two of the lifting points to become ineffective and the panel dropped onto the casting stack below.

Although no workers were injured, the incident caused extensive damage to the panel and had the potential to cause serious injuries.

It appears the primary cause of the lifting clutch link failure was that it had a substantial, undetected crack through its cross-section.

Rust on the failure surface indicates that the crack may have been present for some time.

The crack was close to a weld and started on the inside of the lifting clutch link, so it may have been difficult to notice the crack by visual inspection.

The lifting clutch link was inspected and proof tested by a third-party lifting gear organisation six months prior to the incident.

The alert recommended a number of required actions, and said this incident highlights the serious consequences of lifting gear element failure.

Although it occurred on a tilt-up site, the same type of lifting clutches are commonly used for pre-cast element erection.

The lifting clutches had been supplied by a company that specialises in gear associated with the erection of concrete elements and has a quality assurance program.

The lifting gear was not owned by the company employing the crane and rigging crew.

A rigorous inspection and testing program is needed on lifting clutches, possibly beyond the current minimum industry benchmarks.

Australian Standard AS3850.1:2015 Prefabricated concrete elements: Part 1 General requirements specifies non-destructive testing (NDT) of lifting clutches at manufacture, but does not specify any NDT during the 12-monthly inspection.

Therefore, to help prevent unexpected failures, the alert said to consider carrying out NDT to inspect for cracks at the 12-monthly inspection.

The inspection should include dimensional checking to determine that tolerances remain within the manufacturer’s specifications.

Originally published by Australian Institute of Health & Safety.

Welcome to the Tax Alert for November 2019 from our business advisory and financial partners, HLB Mann Judd.

This alert addresses:

• Getting the benefit of your business tax losses
• Downsizer super contributions: getting it right
• Health insurance and your tax: uncovered
• Small business CGT concessions: when do I qualify?
• Unpaid Super: important amnesty update for employers
• Selling Shares: how does tax apply?
• ATO to scrutinise every return for tax time 2019
• Beware of insurance changes in superannuation

DOWNLOAD YOUR COPY HERE

To Be a Safety Champion is to be a leader for work health and safety within an organisation or industry. We all have a responsibility and duty for building a safe and healthy workplace so we can get home safe to our families.

Anyone can be a safety champion and promote best practice work health and safety initiatives at work.

You may find the information from SafeWork Australia below useful to champion the importance of promoting work health and safety at your workplace.

Work health and safety responsibilities

We all have a duty and responsibility to build a safe and healthy workplace.

The Commonwealth, states and territories in Australia are responsible for regulating and enforcing the WHS laws in their jurisdictions. These regulations and rules can vary between states and territories—so it is important to check with your local regulator for information specific to your state.

Duties at work

Every person in a workplace has a duty in relation to the safety there, including:

• The Person Conducting a Business or undertaking (PCBU)—is a company or an individual who is responsible for running a business or workplace. PCBU’s must ensure the health and safety of its workers and that other people are not put at risk from its work, so far as is reasonably practicable.
• Officers—are generally people who make, or participate in making, significant decisions that affect the whole, or a substantial part, of a business, or people who have the capacity to significantly affect a business’ financial standing. They have a duty to be proactive and exercise due diligence to ensure that the PCBU complies with their duties.
• Workers— are anyone who carries out work for a business or undertaking. They have a duty to take reasonable care for their own health and safety and ensure their actions do not negatively affect the health and safety of others. They must comply with reasonable instructions, policies and procedures relating to health and safety as much as they are reasonably able.
• Other persons at the workplace—have a duty to take reasonable care for their own health and safety and ensure their actions do not negatively affect the health and safety of others. They must comply with reasonable safety instructions as much as they are reasonably able.

Work health and safety laws

Safe Work Australia is responsible for the development and evaluation of the model WHS laws.

The model WHS laws have been implemented in all jurisdictions except Western Australia (WA) and Victoria, although these jurisdictions have similar regulatory frameworks.

The laws vary to some extent between jurisdictions, so it is important to make sure you always consider the WHS laws that apply in your state or territory.

The latest data

Safe Work Australia compiles key national data sets on work-related fatalities and workers’ compensation claims.

Our statistics and research help to provide evidence to inform WHS and workers’ compensation policy and practice. This evidence also helps us develop policy to reduce the numbers of work-related death, injury or illness.

Work-related traumatic injury fatalities have been trending down over the past decade, with the rate of workers fatally injured at work halving from the peak of 3.0 fatalities per 100,000 workers in 2007, to 1.5 fatalities per 100,000 workers in 2017.

Injuries have also been decreasing, with the incidence rate of serious compensation claims for work-related injuries and illnesses having declined from 16.3 serious claims per 1,000 employees in 2000-2001 to 9.5 serious claims per 1,000 employees in 2015-16.

While the downward trend in work-related deaths, injuries and illness is positive, there is still more work to be done to reduce these numbers even further.

To Be a Safety Champion is to be a leader for work health and safety within an organisation or industry. Anyone can be a safety champion and promote best practice work health and safety initiatives at work. We all have a duty and responsibility to build a safe and healthy workplace.

How to be a Safety Champion - FACT SHEETSafety Champion CHECKLIST

The latest business adviser tips and advice from our business advisory and financial partner, HLB Mann Judd iis out now.

In this issue:

• Making the most of a business slowdown - In a period where business is slow, it can be easy to become discouraged and unmotivated. 
• The elements of a sale - The purpose of the sales process is to effectively convey the benefits you offer to a prospective client. 
• Teaching your staff to be social media savvy - The social media presence of your business and staff can be a critical factor in shaping your brand image and reputation, for better or for worse.
• Short-term vs long-term financing - Between ongoing expenses and bills, managing a healthy cash flow can be challenging, but understanding the differences between short and long-term financing can help refine an effective cash flow strategy.
• Three types of marketing channels - Having marketing goals is an ideal strategy for promoting your business, but knowing the best way to achieve these goals is what makes a successful plan.

Read more HERE:

Over the past five years, global insurer Allianz has analysed approximately 13,000 engineering and construction insurance claims and found seven key risks which are having the biggest impact on the sector.

Allianz’s Engineering and Construction Claims and Insurance Trends’ Report1 outlines the following key risks based on the high volume and recurrence of insurance claims in these areas:

• High value projects are resulting in bigger loss impacts – Construction sites today are getting larger and more costly, such that sums insured also have to be much larger, which in turn means that claims can be in the millions of dollars.
• Fire/explosions – Fire is the leading cause of financial loss for engineering and construction claims
• Defective product and quality control – Defective products are the leading cause of engineering and construction claims in terms of frequency
• Greater supply chain complexity – Today’s large scale construction and engineering projects can involve multiple suppliers and contractors with machinery, parts and equipment from around the globe. With multiple points of failure, many parties involved and tight deadlines, this can result in significant loss.
• Business interruption/start up delays – The Allianz Risk Barometer report 2019 identified business interruption to be the top risk facing businesses globally2. Project delays are a major contributor of loss to engineering and construction businesses.
• Political risk and sanctions – It can take between five and ten years to complete some large construction projects. When you consider that this might involve contractors and suppliers from around the world, that can leave construction and engineering businesses exposed to potential sanctions and trade disputes.
• Growth in renewable energy projects – With the demand for green energy on the increase, solar and wind projects have grown, location for them have become more remote and wind turbines even bigger. The turbine blades can be as long as a football ground and can be difficult to access with offshore winds particularly challenging.

How Coverforce can help?

Understanding the significant insurance risks and exposures that might affect building projects is what we do.

We have been a specialist provider of insurance and risk advice to the construction industry for the last 20 years and currently work with some of the largest and most reputable builders, civil contractors and property developers across Australia.

That’s why FIA members can depend on us to provide quality, competitively priced insurance cover that won’t let you down should you need to make a claim.

For personalised insurance advice, contact Julie Gidaro on (02) 9376 7895.

The information provided in this article is of a general nature only and has been prepared without taking into account your individual objectives, financial situation or needs. If you require advice that is tailored to your specific business or individual circumstances, please contact Coverforce directly.

References

1. Engineering and Construction Claim and Insurance Trends, Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty, August 2019.

2. The Allianz Risk Barometer 2019