NT WorkSafe has issued a safety alert, reminding workers to not transport unsecured buckets
NT WorkSafe has issued a safety alert after a worker was seriously injured earlier this month from a falling excavator bucket at a Darwin construction site.
An operator was carrying three unsecured buckets within the main bucket of an excavator and did not see the worker, who was preparing to pressure-wash the machine before transport.
When the operator spotted the worker, they stopped quickly and one of the smaller buckets fell off and hit the worker.
NT WorkSafe notes that there wasn’t an exclusion zone around the excavator and communication between the operator and injured worker was unclear, the worker was stood in a blind spot in the excavator’s slew radius and the smaller buckets weren’t restrained.
It says that, in order to reduce the risk of falling objects and collisions on site, smaller attachments being transported in a larger bucket must be securely restrained to the bucket carrying them.
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Before mobile plant is moved, there also needs to be a system of communication put in place where: workers are stopped from approaching plant until the operator has established visual contact and has signalled that it is safe to approach; equipment is then stopped and put into safe mode with the operator hands off the controls; and if the operator loses sight of the worker they should stop operations until visual contact is re-established.
NT WorkSafe also says that workers should never approach mobile plant and assume that the operator can see them, and workers should never stand under or near a suspended load in case of equipment malfunction or operator error.
NT WorkSafe says there are similarities to a workplace incident in 2019 which resulted in the death of a 30-year-old worker and a record $1.14 million fine.
“Transporting smaller excavator buckets in the main bucket unsecured is dangerous,” Northern Territory work health and safety regulator Grant Hastie says.
“It is disappointing to hear some people in industry are calling this standard industry practice.”
“I suggest industry reconsiders this standard industry practice before another serious incident occurs.”