Hands lost and crushed during maintenance

20 February 2009

TWO WORKERS are in hospitalised, after one of them lost a hand, and the
other’s was badly crushed during routine maintenance work.
The two Victorian men had been carrying out maintenance work on a press
at Willow Ware Australia, Tullamarine, in the early hours of 19 February 2009,
when the machine activated.

WorkSafe Victoria’s Executive Director, John Merritt, said he is
concerned at the amount of work left to do in order to create
safer workplaces. He says the same things which have been killing
workers since the industrial revolution are still killing people, except
the incidents get worse because the machines are stronger and faster.

Employers and workers, under Australian law, have workplace safety obligations.
According to the workplace safety authority, relying on good luck, or fixing
safety problems after someone gets hurt is not good enough.