Play centre fined $60,000 after child fractures spine in fall

Foreword

Today, Solve Safety is analysing and reviewing this latest reported WorkSafe Victoria's (workplace safety regulator) News and Safety Alerts. Solve Safety is not identifying the nature of the specific problem of any person or organisation in this commentary but only speculating on what could be happening generally in a situation like this, as described by the regulator’s media press release.

Introduction

Solve Safety is a Triple ISO Certified Professional Services organisation (Safety, Quality and Environmental) that offers specialised support for your workplace safety compliance by providing occupational health and safety advice for workplace’s operational task and activities management (workplace safety compliance made easy) to create the safest and most efficient environments possible, protecting both lives and livelihoods. 

Topic Elements

As a learning from the topic elements, Solve Safety has both analysed the background and the timeline of both how and why an incident like this could take place and what judgements or decision reasoning was reached by the workplace safety regulator's published conclusions.

Are You Managing the Hazards When Operating Your Climbing Safety Devices?  

Background

According to WorkSafe Victoria’s recent news and safety alerts, the regulator continues to see an alarming number of issues causing significant consequences at indoor play centres, particularly relating to the maintenance, training and supervision around climbing safety devices. This concern was raised when an indoor play centre was convicted and fined after an eight-year-old girl suffered significant trauma and injury with two compression fractures to her spine when her safety equipment failed whilst descending a climbing feature, causing her to fall seven meters from a rope ladder. WorkSafe’s investigation and independent assessment of the self-belay device and self-belay key (climbing connector that allows users to climb only when they are properly attached) found that the locking anchors, pin and spring assemblies (within the self-belay device) were heavily worn due to excessive wear, not allowing it to be fully engaged, causing a disconnection to the belay systems cable during descent.

Are You Controlling Your Activities’ Risks Ensuring Public Protection from Serious Harm?

According to this WorkSafe Victoria’s news, workplace employers (duty Holders) should ensure they have currently risk assessed and reviewed their organisations operational activities and tasks (harm minimisation) controls for their climbing safety devices.

Such as, having undertaken and implemented climbing safety equipment:

• Safe systems and process to control the hazards and risks
• Inspection and testing
• Maintenance
• Parts replacement within the designated time frames and/or participation in the manufacturer’s annual maintenance and re-certification program
• Training
• Supervision
• Daily inspection checklists (inclusive of functional testing) with user restrictions until completed approvals given

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Workplaces can be dangerous due to many hazards that have the potential to kill, injure or cause ill health or disease, so discover safer workplaces and stress-free assessments by seeking subject matter expert safety advice, prior to any of these serious safety incidents which will impact both a range of internal and external factors. Additionally, it can affect several stakeholders, making it an imperative Duty Holder’s strategy to mitigate the potential likelihood of an occupational health and safety (OHS/WHS) prosecution situation for non-compliant organisational operational activities and tasks.

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Multiple Regulator OHS/WHS Prosecution Routes

There are several different legislated Safety Acts and Regulations that OHS/WHS prosecutions by WorkSafe can institute or conduct legal proceedings against duty holders (person or organisation). This occurs when there are cases of an employee, contractor, customer or visitor who has been either injured or killed whilst in the workplace. 

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No matter the size of your workplace from small, medium or major or services you may offer, such as transportation, logistics, postal, warehousing, agricultural, forestry, fishing, construction building trade, manufacturing, mining and quarries, public administration and safety emergency, administration and support, arts, culture and design, retail and wholesale trades, every other workplace and rental, hiring and real-estate, electricity, gas, water and waste water recycling, office works and professional services, health care and hospital, health and community support, education and training, hospitality, automotive, sports and recreation, aged care or disability services, a risk assessment of the workplace that identifies all the hazards is of paramount importance.

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