No Rest For Victorian Building Blitz
Australia, 16 April 2001 -- The Victorian WorkCover Authority's blitz of the construction industry has been extended outside of regular business hours, to check the safety of the large amount of building work carried out on weekends.
Director of WorkCover's Construction Program, Allan Beacom, said that many Victorian builders are active on weekends, particularly on smaller domestic sites. "Unfortunately, it is on these types of sites that we continue to find problems," he said.
Beacom said that the WorkCover blitz, which started in mid-1999, was having an impact, with the number of fatalities on construction sites down from 12 in 1999 to six last year.
"Obviously we would like to see this trend continue and we are dedicated to committing the resources to ensure it does," he said.
"At present there are three construction teams operating around the state, with 33 field staff with experience in OHS management at construction sites. In addition to this, there is a back-up team of field officers, with construction skills, available to assist if the need arises."
But Beacom said there was potential for people to take risks as they rushed to get jobs finished before the onset of colder weather.
"Prior to Christmas, we closed a number of sites considered unsafe. Prohibition notices were issued for a range of problems, including inadequate fall protection, unsafe scaffolding and electrical dangers," he said.
Falls from height continues to be the single largest cause of fatalities in the industry, according to WorkCover.
Beacom reminded principle contractors and subcontractors that the responsibility to provide scaffolding or other means of fall protection was a joint responsibility.
"In the event of an incident, the investigation would seek to establish if either or both parties had been negligent."
He also urged builders to provide a reasonable degree of supervision on their sites.
"It is simply not good enough to rely on written contractual obligations with subcontractors for work to be carried out safely. And builders must have a sufficient presence on site to assure themselves that work is proceeding safely."
Source: Safety News, Australia. 
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