RLA Polymers Pty Ltd (RLA) is a manufacturer of adhesive products used in the building industry and regularly handles dangerous goods at its Kilsyth workplace. Despite managing and controlling their workplace, RLA failed to identify the development of a workplace practice that resulted in an employee sustaining serious burns to both legs, buttocks and hands, requiring multiple surgeries for skin grafts and to close a hole in his stomach.
On the day of the incident RLA completed a job safety analysis (JSA) for the task of fabricating a 3.5m bracket on the workshop floor. The JSA documented that the following steps had been taken to prepare for the work:
- preparing all PPE
- setting two fire extinguishers within two metres of the designated welding area
- ensuring there was proper ventilation in the designated welding area
- placing signage to warn other employees of the hot works being conducted
- sweeping and clearing the designated welding area. This included removing any combustible elements that were identified.
RLA also held a toolbox safety meeting with the worker who would be performing the welding and another employee appointed as a spotter.
Whilst performing the welding the welder felt heat on his back. He turned around and saw that a 20L bucket of liquid had caught fire. He grabbed the bucket, but the base gave way, spilling its contents and the flames spread toward him, setting him alight. He fell to the ground and rolled around in an attempt to extinguish the fire, shouting for the spotter to get a bucket of water. Other workers arrived with a fire extinguisher and managed to put out the flames.
WorkSafe inspectors attended the scene, along with Fire Rescue Victoria and Victoria Police, and observed two melted buckets, both three quarters full of liquid. The two melted plastic buckets were placed into large orange spill containers and marked ‘MEK’ (a paint stripper) and ‘AFTEK’ (a traffic paving paint). Unbeknownst to RLA a practice had developed at the workplace of using MEK in the workshop to clean machine parts and remove residue.
WorkSafe’s investigation determined that RLA had relied on verbal instructions for hot work processes, including instruction to ensure that flammable chemicals were not in close proximity. MEK was used on site to strip paint, but it had also been decanted and stored in smaller containers and used as a cleaning product throughout the site, although the welder was unaware of what MEK is or what it is used for, and had not received adequate chemicals training.
Despite regular walk-throughs of the workplace being a reasonably practicable method of identifying hazards and maintaining the workplace in a safe state, RLA had not conducted any such walk-throughs.
RLA pleaded guilty to failing to provide a safe workplace and a safe system of work, and failing to provide the information, instruction, training and supervision required for employees to perform their work safely. The Court imposed a fine of $30,000, without conviction.
Read more: Prosecution Result Summaries and Enforceable Undertakings | WorkSafe Victoria