New Zealand- High School Scaffolding Accident - student left with brai

[david.elsbury]

https://I.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/116916440/waikato-school-board-fined-100k-after-teacher-student-seriously-injured-in-scaffold-fall

 

A Tokoroa teacher and student will receive a six figure payout after being knocked unconscious and left brain damaged from a falling scaffold.

 

It comes after a June 2018 incident where a Forest View High School teacher and student fell 3.9 metre from a mobile scaffold being used to set up lights in the school's auditorium. A safety plan for its use was not in place and it tipped over as it was being moved.

 

Rather sobering. especially considering what I got up to in high school almost 20 years ago (I feel old!) with a similar tower and no formal training; and certainly no method statements or risk assessments on file to reference, or pre-work-toolbox talks / discussion of safe work practices before work commenced.

[bigclive]

And to think that by sending the teacher on a one-day PASMA course the school could have simply washed its hands of all responsibility and placed the blame firmly on the teacher.

 

Because that's how it seems to work these days apparently.

[kerry davies]

Slightly unfair, Clive. Unless the teacher cannot read he has no excuse.

Worksafe NZ say;

Where work is performed using mobile scaffolds, employers should ensure that workers understand that the scaffold should:

› be erected by a competent person and used in accordance to the manufacturer’s specifications

› remain level and plumb at all times

› be kept at least one metre from open floor edges and openings unless the edge is protected to prevent the scaffold tipping

› never be accessed until all the castors are locked to prevent movement

› never be moved while anyone is on it

› be clear from overhead powerlines.

At least if the teacher had been given a course then he would have been told these basics but this case doesn't even mention his competence. The onus was placed on the school board for not having ensured safe systems of work and/or compliance with MI's. There is no mention of a fine only "reparation" and it seems that the teacher is getting some of that.

 

On the topic of "tickets" being used as meal tickets for unscrupulous bodies and get-out clauses for dodgy employers, I agree with you but only where workers habitually use the equipment during their routine work. A scaffolder won't need a PASMA renewal, a house painter might. A lighting technician almost certainly would not but a teacher almost certainly would.

[sunray]

Slightly unfair, Clive.

I don't know about NZ but I think Clive has it just about right over here. In my experience with schools they tend to get one person to train for rigging lights and add that to their insurance.

 

Hands immaculately scrubbed.

 

[paulears]

Absolutely - all that matters is having 'trained' the staff member about things nobody else there understands. The key feature is having evidence of competence, and 'stificate' collecting is the way they do it.

 

I remember a venue hiring in a cherry picker, and me and my lighting friend were in it, nearly at maximum extension, at 10pm at night, the only people in the building, having read the A4 sheet that came with it as our only competence when it started to beep, indicating I knew, from my single reading of the instructions that this meant one of the outriggers had become unweighted. We looked at each other standing very still. Both wondering if we should move, or which lever to push or pull to rectify the situation. we had no clue whatsoever. The implications of getting it wrong sank in very quickly. We got down safely. However, the outcome could have been very different. Next week I went on a course, learned very, very little as it was simply terrible, and the certificates were already printed when we arrived. Afterwards, I was deemed safe. Since then I have never been in one again. Something I don't wish to change.

[bigclive]

On the topic of "tickets" being used as meal tickets for unscrupulous bodies and get-out clauses for dodgy employers, I agree with you but only where workers habitually use the equipment during their routine work. A scaffolder won't need a PASMA renewal, a house painter might. A lighting technician almost certainly would not but a teacher almost certainly would.

 

Scaffolders DO need to renew their many certifications repeatedly as do all other trades. And they go on the "courses" (slideshows) knowing that it's nothing more than an expensive racket. In almost all instances a single viewing of the slideshow would be enough. In this incidence it could have prevented that scaffold tipping incident.

 

Interesting to note that there's no mention of outriggers on that regulations excerpt. In the UK they do that box ticking thing by demanding they are used in all situations, even in tight locations where they can't physically be used.

[sunray]

Interesting to note that there's no mention of outriggers on that regulations excerpt. In the UK they do that box ticking thing by demanding they are used in all situations, even in tight locations where they can't physically be used.

Agreed,

 

 

I have been yellow carded for using a 6x4ft 3m high tower without outriggers to reach the 4m high slab in a room less than 8x6ft. The hire company didn't even suggest outriggers for such a small hire.

 

I've also been yellow and red carded for not using the trap door in a platform less than 600mm off the floor.

 

Edited October 28, 2019 by sunray

[empyfree]

I've also been yellow and red carded for not using the trap door in a platform less than 600mm off the floor.

 

Have you? Or were you yellow carded for that... and then red carded for your response to the yellow....

[sunray]

I've also been yellow and red carded for not using the trap door in a platform less than 600mm off the floor.

 

Have you? Or were you yellow carded for that... and then red carded for your response to the yellow....

Yes the later.

Initially I thought the H&S guy was having a laugh when he told me I had to use the trapdoor and got back on the platform then received the yellow, I asked him to demonstrate the process (which he refused) as I was not prepared to put myself at risk by concorting myself through the trapdoor, I asked for a second opinion and when he stated his decision is final I phoned HSE for their thoughts. HSE seemed very interested when I mentioned which site I was on and they suggested that my RA should be good enough in that specific situation and actually asked me to step down, if I was confident it was the safest method, while on the phone. I did and was promptly red carded.

 

HSE asked me to remain where on the phone and were I was, they were there within a few minutes and got the site closed pending some issues. The site H&S guy was quickly moved off site and things improved without him.

 

I called HSE to another site where we were wiring (soldering) floor boxes and removed our boots to prevent toes being damaged by the toe caps, HSE agreed with us and site gave us dispensation to wear trainers while kneeling to do the job.

 

I know H&S is difficult to administer but it doesn't have to be made worse by dictatorial Hitleresque idiots without common sense. They are not all like that, in fact I'd say that in more recent times most are pretty good at assessing situations quite well.

[david.elsbury]

I guess some people just like to be difficult...?

[Marineboy63]

In my experience of working in NZ, there is quite a lot of "she'll be right , mate" going on.

 

At the venue I worked at, an amateur theatre company were putting on a production of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and they wanted to make Augustus Gloop fly up a tube.

 

They had a hand built metal frame for the boy to stand in, attached to a rope which went over two pullys to the side of stage. On the other end of the rope they attached a large lump of concrete which they placed on a platform three metres high. When the wanted the boy to fly, they pushed the weight off the platform. When they wanted the boy to come back down, they grabbed a handle on either side of the block and carried it up two step ladders and put it back on the platform.

 

When I asked where they got the concrete block from, they said "It's the one we use to fly people."

 

When I asked what the parents of the child thought, they said "It's okay, his mum is the Director.

 

True story...........