5/9/2009 Mt Compass:

An employee fell through the opening of a work platform approximately three metres high. He lost consciousness after the accident and was airlifted to hospital where he passed away.

18/9/2009 Mannum:

A retired builder was covering skylights with plasterboard at the local hotel when he fell approximately three metres from a plank on top of two ladders. He was taken to hospital where he passed away.

31/10/2009 Monarto:

An employee was hooking up concrete blocks before being lifted onto a trailer using an excavator. During the loading process he was caught between blocks loaded on the trailer and the swing of the counter weight of the excavator.

16/11/2009 – Kalangadoo:

A self employed farmer was filling a self propelled spray unit with liquid fertiliser when one of the booms made contact with overhead power lines and he was electrocuted.

31/1/2010 – Burton:

A self employed man was repairing the hydraulic system of a tip truck when the chains securing the tipper tray above the chassis came loose, resulting in the man being crushed between the tray and the chassis.

Additional Information

ALLEN O’NEIL - Adelaide Desalination Plant

Please note that the death of a worker at the Adelaide Desalination Plant on the 15th February 2010 has not been included in these statistics.  SafeWork SA determined that Allen O’Neil’s death was not work related.

VOID has undertaken it’s own examination of the SafeWork SA investigation documents into this matter.  It is our belief that the department has made many errors in its assessment on this matter.  

Furthermore, we found the investigation into the incident that ultimately claimed the life of Allen O’Neil was not undertaken in an expedient manner, therefore allowing the deceased worker’s employers to make vital evidence unavailable.  

OTHER MISSING STATISTICAL INFORMATION

It has also become evident that some time in recent years, SafeWork SA have changed scope in what constitutes a workplace fatality.

Thus we are no longer seeing reference to any vehicular deaths that were in previous years associated and listed as workplace fatalities.

Not all jurisdictions across Australia record their data the same way.  

There are some jurisdictions that do include those workers who are killed while operating mobile plant - or a vehicle.  This would include but not be limited to truck drivers, bus drivers, sales representatives, delivery vans etc etc.

We feel it is an important distinction and one that should not be ignored.  

As the regulator in each state strives to demonstrate its commitment to reducing workplace fatalities, there is a big difference between working toward prevention versus that of simply shifting the numbers around to make it appear that the fatality rate is reducing.