Workplace accidents prompt caution on risks
Employers are being asked to be more aware of risks after four serious workplace accidents in Auckland in four days.
A man died at Fletcher Easysteel in Onehunga on Wednesday, and another man was critically injured on Thursday when a trench collapsed at a construction site in New Windsor.
On Friday, another man was critically injured in an incident at VIP Plastic Packaging Ltd in East Tamaki.
On Saturday, a worker received critical injuries at a construction site in Auckland’s CBD. He was in a ‘‘critical but stable’’ condition yesterday, an Auckland City Hospital spokeswoman said.
A WorkSafe spokesman said that wasn’t an unusual number – 50 to 60 people died in workplace incidents each year, and thousands were injured.
However, the four incidents all happened in workplaces where the risks to people were ‘‘really obvious’’.
‘‘The bottom line is people need to identify the risks in their workplace. The incidents that have happened in the past week are all in industries where the risks to people should be really obvious, so businesses need to be more aware of the risks that are posed to their employees.’’
Fletcher Building said it was reviewing its safety practices in the company’s steel division after two people died in two months.
A Fletcher Building spokesperson confirmed both deaths involved cranes, but said they were ‘‘very different in nature and unrelated’’.
‘‘We take the safety of our people very seriously,’’ the spokesperson said.
‘‘We are conducting a review and have already taken actions within our internal safety programmes across Fletcher Building.’’