A Dropped Mancage – Crane Accident

Description The Mancage attached to a 50 tonne crane free fell about 10 metres until the crane driver applied the winch brake to arrest the fall. Two employees were in the mancage at the time and suffered significant injuries. They…

Lessons Learnt and Applied – A 25 year career journey

Lessons Learnt I gave a “Lessons Learnt & Applied ” presentation to two organisations covering the past 25 years of my OHS and engineering career spanning mining, construction, consulting and becoming an inventor. The presentation…

Occupational Health and Safety Audits – Are they value for money?

OHS Audits I have referenced an article written by Peter Rogers titled "Is it time to stop internal auditing" Quote "To me, most internal and external audits are very poorly done.  A quality control wonk or supervisor asks closed…

Industry Mentor-WA High School Students – JUST START IT Program

Industry Mentor - Giving back as a Professional Engineer I am proud to be an industry mentor to support Western Australian High School students and teachers for the JUST START IT educational program at North Lake Senior Campus and Canning…

Gold Recovery – Hands On Experience and Understanding Wins Every Time

Gold Recovery I dedicate this true story to a close friend and professional associate – who coined the term “Three men and a wheel barrow”. I was working as the OHS / Business Improvement Manager at large low grade gold-mining operation…

Look before you leap – Tourists Jumping off a Cliff

Jumping off a cliff I took this digital photograph which shows two tourists jumping of the edge of a cliff  and into the water below. At the time I was the safety advisor at the West Angelas project working for the main structural/mechanical…

A Major Crane Accident

A Crane Accident The photo shows evidence of a major crane accident which occurred on a construction site in the Pilbara Western Australia - can you spot it and explain what happened? Look at the crane on the right hand side of the picture. The…

Confined Space – Gas Testing – Believe your gas meter

We (the construction contractor) had to do a cut-in to the client’s tank and enter the tank under a confined space entry permit drafted by the client. The vessel had been cleaned out by the client - but still had some residual and deemed…

Confined Space – A hydrogen gas explosion

Our construction team was conducting Confined Space  “Hot Work" - Oxy cutting, welding and grinding” inside a vessel when there was a very sharp and loud bang “Explosion” type of noise. The vessel was constructed of an external…

Fatality – Fall from Height – Lots of Talk and No Action

A Fatal Fall This story describes a “Fall from Height” incident at a Queensland construction site A 30 metre diameter by 13 metre high tank was being fabricated and installed on site. The slightly dome shaped tank roof consisted…

The Power of Water – Commissioning a Piping and Pumping System

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Commissioning – Allowing for an unlikely scenario The task was to commission a 600 mm diameter and 500 metre long rising main process water line and associated supply tank, pump and control valves. The main purpose of the commissioning…

A haul truck training accident – A good operator is not always a good trainer

  Training - good , bad or dangerous A trainee operator was undergoing live training to drive a haul truck on an active open cut mine in the Pilbara -Western Australia. The trainees’ previous experience was driving coaster busses. He…