Safety and Risk Management Report: Canberra Construction Case Study

This report provides a comprehensive overview of workplace safety and risk management, emphasizing its critical importance for both workers and organizations. The report uses a case study of an accident at Canberra Construction Company to illustrate the consequences of inadequate safety measures. It examines the hazards present, including unsafe storage practices and unaddressed power line dangers, which resulted in a fatality. The analysis includes a discussion of the company's failures to adhere to safety guidelines and the legal repercussions. The report also outlines preventative measures, such as regular audits, proper staff training, and adherence to workplace safety standards, to avoid future incidents. Furthermore, the report explores methods for identifying and mitigating workplace hazards, and concludes with a reflection on the importance of proactive safety management and the implementation of safety regulations.

Running Head: Safety and Risk Management 0
Safety and Risk Management
October 3
2019

Safety and Risk Management 1
Executive Summary
This report summarizes the importance of workplace safety and risk management. The
importance of workplace safety for the workers and employees in an organization is explained.
The report is included in the case study of an accident that happened in Canberra Construction
Company. In the accident the company was found as guilty as there was no safety guidelines
were managed by them for the safety of their workers. The report resolution which was
concluded over the accident is also mentioned. This report includes the safety measures which
could be used by the company in order to avoid the accident. The methods which are used for
identifying the issues at the workplace are also included.

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Table of Contents
Executive Summary.........................................................................................................................1
Workplace Safety and Risk management........................................................................................3
Ways to avoid safety breaches.........................................................................................................4
Actual Incident.................................................................................................................................4
Resolution of the issue from SAFEWORK’s..................................................................................5
Things can be done in different ways..............................................................................................5
Methods to identify the issue at the workplace...............................................................................5
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................6
References........................................................................................................................................7

Safety and Risk Management 3
Workplace Safety and Risk management
Description of Workplace: A sub-contractor of the company was instructed to deliver
the material of gravel to the construction site of the company. The site of the company was
located near a road resurfacing project, the entire compound was under the property of the
company; this compound was used for the storage of various construction materials and piping.
However, it was examined that the compound was basically designed for dumping grounds for
materials (Van Nguyen, & Gruba, 2019). The sub-contractor who was assigned for delivering the
material with the driver of load truck when reached to the compound where the low-slung power
lines were present when the truck touches the line it generates an electric arc which was very
strong due to which the gas inside the tire leaked the truck went out of control. In this complete
incident, the driver and the subcontractor jumped from the truck as a result due to electric arc and
collapsing with the ground both of them died (de Valence, 2019).
Hazard at the Workplace: There is not any specific definition of hazard it can be
anything that can cause harm to the workers and the people who are available at the workplace.
In the given case of Canberra Construction Company, distinct hazards were examined along with
the different risks which might create danger for the workers and the people who are available at
the site. In the entire investigation, it was found that in the compound the company does not
follow safety guideline and because of this reason, the driver and sub-contractor had to lose their
life. The site which was shown as storage compound of the company was used as dumping site
apart from that there were power lines were placed without any danger signs (Sutrisna, Cooper-
Cooke, Goulding, & Ezcan, 2019). The site was also not managed in any way appropriately as
well as there were no access restrictions were available it defines lack of responsibility of
company management for the safety of their workers and workplace.
The general manager of the assigned his son as a safety officer who has no qualification
for the job role was revealed when the investigation was conducted with the company
management. It is also a scenario of a safety hazard when any individual assigned for the job for
which he/she does not have any qualification, as a result, the worker of the company lead to
death because of the electrocution (Bristow, & Ng, 2018). Another safety hazard identified
during the investigation that the proper documentation was not maintained by the company
which holds clarification regarding workplace safety. It was the accident that was caused due to

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lack of care from the management of the company; the company should ensure for providing the
protection of health and safety of its workers (Whiteoak, & Appleby, 2019).
In reports of the investigation it was also mentioned that the entrance of the site was not
locked, the live power lines were splattered in the entire site. It was a lack of care that the power
lines were not switched off even when there is the provision that during working hours the power
lines should be switched off. If any employee who does not have the knowledge about the active
power lines as Michael Booth and visitors were unaware of those lines become the victim of any
hazardous accident and died on the site (Wang, et. al. 2019). There were no required facilities
and equipment was available for loading and manages heavy objects at the construction site of
the company. The construction material in the site was also stored within any covered area, the
material was spilled in the site is open as it would become the reason for the immediate death of
the visitor and driver when they collapsed at land.
Ways to avoid safety breaches
According to the study, Michael Booth visits the site on a regular basis and there was no
session was attended by him organized for the safety talk. For avoiding any hazard or safety
breach an audit should be prepared in an effective manner through which any area of opportunity
found can be rectified and under the policies of WHS, they can implement at the site (Allison,
Hon, & Xia, 2019). The company should pay attention to its all site because the negligence may
lead to loss of life which was happened at Canberra Construction Company. The accident could
be avoided if the site was properly maintained under the guidelines of workplace safety. There
are many different ways are present through which the risk factors can be removed from the site
however the company did not prefer to use them and their negligence lead to the cause of
accident (Tuck, Costa, Forsyth, & Saunders, 2019). If the power lines are present at the site
there should be a proper arrangement of staff that looks after the unwanted entrance or such
accidents can be avoided. It was found that the power lines were hung at low height which is
totally not acceptable, there are some parameters decided which defines that there should be at
least 10 feet distance needs to maintain for 0-50kv power lines, more the power will increase
more the distance has to increase. A proper training shall be conducted for the employees or the
workers working at the construction associated with the workplace safety. For the parking of
vehicles proper management shall be available in the construction site because there are many

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chances of accident occurrence. It is the responsibility of the organization that all of its units
must remain clean hence a staff should be available on the site that looks after the cleaning of the
site. For workplace safety a qualified person has to be assigned who have knowledge about
workplace safety as well as the guidelines designed for the safety and health of workers. The
company should provide appropriate gears and cloth to workers while working at the
construction site in order to reduce the risk factors. Regular and periodic meetings with the staff
should be conducted for the analysis that workers are aware of the guidelines of workplace safety
or not. Every equipment and tools which are used in the has to be maintained by the company, in
case if the tools or equipment are according to the standard then the chances of the accident
increases and it may cause hazards
Actual Incident
Canberra contractors are the construction company, which is licensed under the ACT
government for the works related to road resurfacing. In 2012 the company hires a truck for
delivering the gravel material on their site which was near the work of reading the resurfacing
project, a subcontractor was contacted for completing this task (Potter, et.al. 2019). The truck
driver reached the location of the company where he was instructed to deliver the material.
Michael Booth i.e. the truck driver when entering the site and during unloading the material the
tip of the truck came in the contact with the power lines which were hanged at low height on the
site. With this contact, the electric arc generates due to this tire gets deflated as well as the marks
of burn formed on the ground. The driver gets collapsed with the electrocution with the ground
and died at the same moment (Potter, et.al. 2019).
Resolution of the issue from SAFEWORK’s
An act Work Health and Safety Act 2011 was proposed under the model of the WHS Act;
this act was designed and developed by the Safe Work Australia. The main aim of this act was to
provide safety to all workers who come under the jurisdiction of Australia (Prall, & Ross, 2019).
According to the guidelines of the SAFEWORK’s Canberra construction company violates them
as well as they try to cover up the incident. An investigation team conducts a survey of the site
and on the basis of their report company had to shut down that site where no facilities and
services available for the health and safety of worker. Hence the judgment was imposed for shut
down site and pay fine to the victim's family.

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Things can be done in different ways
The accident which was happened in the site of Canberra Construction could be avoided
if the regular inspection was conducted at the site. The company had to face some incident in
which reflects that the company is not responsible for the safety and health of its workers (Hart,
2019). By considering such issues Australia introduced the law for safety for providing
protection and harmony of the health of all workers in an organization. However, after this
incident, the company did not react to the death of Mr. Booth. When the incident was
investigated under the new law the company was found guilty and charged with the high penalty.
The process of liquidation left the organization and they do not have to pay any fine as well for
their irresponsibility (García-Pozo, Mondéjar-Jiménez, & Sánchez-Ollero, 2019).
Methods to identify the issue at the workplace
In the case, if I had to get the opportunity to work in the management authority then I
would ensure that the company is following rules and guidelines which are proposed under WHS
and OHS act. I will make sure that there would be no safety breaches or no compromise is
conducted with the safety and health of workers in the company (Downes, Novicki, & Howard,
2019). The above both Act which is mentioned imposed for providing protection health and
safety of workers in any organization. It is my responsibility to look over the safety and health of
every worker who is providing his/her best service for the development and growth of the
company.
Conclusion
The project concludes about the incident which happens in Australia at the site of
Canberra Construction Company. In the incident, the driver and a visitor of the company had to
lose their life due to irresponsible management of the company. In the assignment description of
the workplace where the incident was caused as well as the description of hazards observed at
the site are briefly explained. More ever in the assignment, the ways which can be chosen by the
company through which the incident happened could be avoided is also discussed. The
assignment also included the complete incident that happened on the site of the Canberra
Contractors. After this case an ACT was proposed in which the safety measures should be
followed by the company for the health and safety of their workers. The company was found
guilty in the accident by the new law proposed hence the recommendations are also included

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with the laws. By considering as part of the management team a self-perception is also discussed
in the assignment.

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References
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true costs. Safety Science, 120, 886-896.
Bristow, G., & Ng, E. (2018). 'Chain of responsibility'reforms: A vehicle for change in road
transport safety. Proctor, The, 38(2), 24.
de Valence, G. (2019). Reframing construction within the built environment sector. Engineering,
Construction and Architectural Management, 26(5), 740-745.
Dougall, S. (2019). Workplace health and safety (WHS) implications for farmers hosting
unconventional gas (UG) exploration & production. Policy and Practice in Health and
Safety, 17(2), 156-172.
Downes, A., Novicki, E., & Howard, J. (2019). Using the contribution analysis approach to
evaluate science impact: A case study of the National Institute for Occupational Safety
and Health. American Journal of Evaluation, 40(2), 177-189.
García-Pozo, A., Mondéjar-Jiménez, J., & Sánchez-Ollero, J. L. (2019). Internet’s User
Perception of Corporate Social Responsibility in Hotel Services. Sustainability, 11(10),
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Hart, S. M. (2019). Comparing labour and management risk perceptions of offshore helicopter
safety: Gaps, shifts and worker participation. Economic and Industrial Democracy, 40(2),
326-356.
Potter, R. E., O’Keeffe, V., Leka, S., & Dollard, M. (2019). Australian work health and safety
policy for the regulation of psychosocial risks: perspectives from key informants. Policy
and Practice in Health and Safety, 1-21.
Potter, R., O'Keeffe, V., Leka, S., Webber, M., & Dollard, M. (2019). Analytical review of the
Australian policy context for work-related psychological health and psychosocial
risks. Safety science, 111, 37-48.
Prall, J., & Ross, M. (2019). The management of work-related musculoskeletal injuries in an
occupational health setting: the role of the physical therapist. Journal of exercise
rehabilitation, 15(2), 193.

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Sutrisna, M., Cooper-Cooke, B., Goulding, J., & Ezcan, V. (2019). Investigating the cost of
offsite construction housing in Western Australia. International Journal of Housing
Markets and Analysis, 12(1), 5-24.
Tuck, J., Costa, M., Forsyth, A., & Saunders, J. (2019). Risk management: Industrial
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Wang, Y., Chong, H. Y., Liao, P. C., & Ren, H. (2019). Interactive mechanism of working
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