Three workplace fatalities in four days

WorkSafe Victoria has issued an urgent plea for workplaces to make safety a priority in the lead-up to Christmas following the death of three workers in four days.

In one accident, a 50-year-old man died in hospital after he was struck by a reversing four-wheel loader at a Brooklyn concrete recycling yard.

The incident happened as the man was directing traffic at the yard’s tip area.

And a second man died in hospital after falling through a ceiling at the company’s Ringwood site.

The third fatality happened on a property near Alexandra when a farmer was found dead after his tractor overturned.

WorkSafe Health and Safety Operations General Manager, Lisa Sturzenegger, said the fatalities are a grim reminder of the importance of workplace safety.

“To have fatalities happen so close to the Christmas period, which is traditionally a time spent with loved ones, is a tragedy,” she said.

“The consequences of a workplace fatality are shattering and our thoughts are with the family, friends and colleagues of the deceased.”

Ms Sturzenegger said November and December was a dangerous period for workplaces across the state. In 2011, in just a six-week period prior to Christmas, nine workers lost their lives.

The recent incidents bring Victoria’s workplace toll for 2012 to 17.

Ms Sturzenegger said the latest tragedies were a timely reminder for workplaces to make safety a priority.

“Regardless of whether the job’s been done a thousand times before or not, we urge businesses to step back and assess what could go wrong, identify solutions and put them in place,” she said.