Workers laughed at safety audit

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-11-06/roy-hill-personnel-in-safety-breaches/5872848

Workers at Gina Rinehart's Roy Hill project in Western Australia laughed at safety inspectors during an audit that found "clear breaches of safe work practise requirements" at parts of the site, documents show.

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I wonder what the "clear breaches" were...

I am of the belief that stupid safety rules create safety hazards... Being a mine site in AU, and knowing mine sites in AU went full retard on "safety" the "safety breaches" was probably getting something done in a cost effective manner..

I believe safety is important, but the safety must come from the individual.

I am of the belief that stupid safety rules create safety hazards

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I agree completely, right along with some of the safety devises that have been added to certain things. Some of these devices actually dumb down the person running the equipment. example; take some of the crap in vehicles today, what happens when the automatic pilot goes out, while Dingding is texting? Some folks do not know the dangers associated with certain equipment because they don't get the concept of the equipment.

It's about time a safety audit was laughed at. There should be more of it.

One safety thing that bugs me is the guarding on some engines. The belts are so covered with guards it is impossible to see the condition of the belt. Like on the engine in our 769D and 773G Cat trucks. If some dummy is stumbling around standing in front of the front tires while the engine is running he may have more to worry about than getting caught in a fan belt! If the machine moves or someone turns the steering wheel it's all over.

That being said proper guarding on things like conveyors are very important.

Another one is the wheel chocks they insist on us using when ever a machine is stopped, even on level ground. On all but the 773G they have us using those molded rubber chocks that are at the most 8 inches tall. Do they really think they will even have any effect if a 988H decides to move? And yes they want us to use them on the 350 Excavator and the D9H!

The silliest thing that I ever seen was a D9R with a blade full of dirt, ripper buried in the ground, on flat ground. It had chock blocks front and rear on each track.

jjimbo said:

The silliest thing that I ever seen was a D9R with a blade full of dirt, ripper buried in the ground, on flat ground. It had chock blocks front and rear on each track.

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That wasn't on a military installation was it? That sounds like something a safety officer or sergeant major came up with.

Safety has become just another lever to use for power and money. No one is against working safer but plenty are ready to stand around and decide what is safe and what isn't. Tack a title on a wonk and he will tell you how many lives he has saved because us in the blue collar sides of life are too stupid to keep from getting hurt.

John C. said:

Safety has become just another lever to use for power and money. No one is against working safer but plenty are ready to stand around and decide what is safe and what isn't. Tack a title on a wonk and he will tell you how many lives he has saved because us in the blue collar sides of life are too stupid to keep from getting hurt.

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This is worth repeating... many many times

pajibson said:

That wasn't on a military installation was it? That sounds like something a safety officer or sergeant major came up with.

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That sounds about right. A friend of mine, combat engineer told me their new safety officer had them using 12, yes 12 chains and binders to tie down a dozer to a lowboy. That was in the early 80's.

Rick

The company I just retired from is doing a lot of work in the oil and power industry. On these sites they have a certified safety official for every 25 people or fraction there of. At a safety seminary I recently had to attend, there was considerable discussion about these sites. The accident rate (serious and minor incidents) on these sites are 4 times higher than our average construction site. Fortunately (knock on wood) not our crews. As we got into discussing it, many speculate that the accident rate is so high because they are so "horsesh;;t" to work for that good craftsmen that can get a job anywhere will not go on them sites. I believe there could be something to it. The guys are so paranoid about getting wrote up on a BS safety item that they miss the big stuff. Thoughts?

This dozer that I am referring to was on a mine site.