A description of the accident using the Accident model
Health and safety are crucial aspects in the life of a human being. There are usually many aspects that comprise an individual’s health and safety, for instance, accidents such as fire, machine-related among others.
Despite the fact that accidents seem to be unavoidable and they normally occur unpredictably, there is a need to set up strategic measures aimed at minimizing the effects that could occur as a result of accidents. Health and safety should be emphasized in every place including the workplace. It is an issue that is covered under the Occupational Health and Safety Act whose main aim is to safeguard employees in the workplace to avoid any chances of injuries and deaths.
Bluff (2004) asserts that every organization should make sure that all the employees as well as the clients are safe from any activity that could cause injuries or deaths. This is so because life is an extremely precious and irreplaceable gift that should be well safeguarded against any harm despite the cost that could be incurred.
Despite there being regulations on health and safety among the employees, there are considerable cases of injuries and deaths in workplaces. This paper will focus on the aspect of occupational health and safety in Victoria with much emphasis being given to the fatal workplace accident that occurred at the Foster’s Abbotsford brewery in Melbourne in April 2006.
The fatal workplace accident that occurred at the Foster’s Abbotsford brewery in Melbourne in April 2006 is remarkable in the history of the company and the country at large. The accident involved, Cuu Huynh, a Wantirna man aged 58 years. The man was an employee at the Fosters Abbotsford brewery in Melbourne.
It was in his day to day activities in the company that this man was crushed between a handrail and a pneumatically operated door of a machine which is responsible for taking bottles from the pallets for filling process. The accident was fatal and Cuu Huynh died six days after he was injured, while undergoing treatment in hospital leaving behind a wife and children (Perkins, 2008).
There are various factors that are thought to have caused this particular accident. However, they all revolve around negligence and lack of precautions on the side of the management and the staff. For instance, the Fosters Abbotsford brewery did not hold fast to the stipulated health and safety standards that stresses on ensuring that all machines are safe for use by any employee at any given time.
It is also clear that the employees in Fosters Abbotsford brewery are also not cautious enough to note some mistakes in the organization and sway for positive changes to be implemented for their safety and the organization at large. This is so because this was not the first accident to occur in the company as there were previously reported injuries and the defaults were noted.
This, therefore, follows that despite maintenance of health and safety being the responsibility of the employer, employees ought to be more alert and careful to avoid any chances of future accidents. The unguarded machine in the organization posed great risks to the employees, an aspect that could be rectified to avoid injuries and deaths.
As a result of the death of Cuu Huynh, the company was fined and forced to make some improvements in its health and safety practices. The accidents led to changes and improvements in the company where all machines were made safer and staff equipped with relevant safety skills and knowledge needed in operating the machines.
An analysis of the contributing factors using the Hazard management process
As earlier noted, there are a number of factors that could be associated with causing the fatal workplace accident that occurred at the Fosters Abbotsford brewery in Melbourne in April 2006. Each factor could have its effect to the overall experience or encounter of that day.
Most of these factors nonetheless revolve around laxity of all the parties involved and lack of emphasis on risk management practices. A good example is the fact that the faults had earlier been identified but not rectified and some employees in the company have inadequate skills and knowledge on using some machines and equipment and no training programs have been established.
To reduce or eliminate the hazards and risks that caused the fatal accident, here are my recommendations.
First, there should be identification of the risks which entails determining the present risks after which an assessment of the risks is carried out to determine their nature and possibility of occurring. This helps organizations to be in a better position in regard to risk management.
The next step entails controlling the risks and hazards. In this step, the options for mitigating the risks are evaluated in an attempt to decide on the best in terms the results obtained. The selected option is then put into practice. The last step entails examining the controls. Here, the controls that have been implemented are assessed in an attempt to ensure that they are working as planned and are effective in terms of contributing to the success of the risk management measures.
In carrying out the above measures, it should be remembered that the act of protecting the health and safety of employees in the workplace is crucial and should, therefore, not be underemphasized. Another aspect that is worth noting is that provision of health and safety is not an out of duty activity but rather as a responsibility to be fulfilled by every organization (James 2006).
I believe that the fatal accident in Foster Abbotsford Brewery Company could have been avoided. This is so because the faults had earlier been noted and the management ought to have done the recommended adjustments. Proper risk management practices could be observed to avoid the accident.
Generally, organizations should be at the fore front in fighting for the health and safety of their employees. This is because health and safety are incredible elements that should be enhanced at all times. Employees contribute greatly to the performance of a given organization.
An organization should, therefore, take all possible measures aimed at safeguarding the employees for the sake of achieving overall success (McKinnon not dated). There should be an integration of health and safety policies into the overall organizational policies to allow for success. Just as in personal life, organizations should always be ready to learn from their previous mistakes and make necessary adjustments to avoid a repeat of the same in future.
Employers should also engage in regular review of their risk management strategies to make any necessary adjustments. Workplace culture should also be reviewed to identify any negative changes in behaviour of the employees that could in one way or the other affect the health and safety guidelines thus increasing the chances of accidents in organizations.
The employees should be made to understand health and safety standards through comprehensive training on various risk management procedures and operations. This will help to avoid cases that occur due to ignorance or lack of knowledge in regard to carrying out some functions or operating some machines. In short, risk management in an issue that should be emphasized in any organization that wishes to excel in its undertakings (Hopwood and Thompson 2006).
An analysis of the subsequent conviction of Fosters Australia Limited in August 2008
The fatal accident that led to the death of a worker at the Abbotsford brewery, Fosters Australia Limited led to a conviction and fine worth $1.125 million. According to statistics, this is the leading fine under the Occupational Health and Safety Act of 2004. However, this includes some reductions by the court based on the fact that the company admitted to have failed to comply with the Victorian OHS Act of 2004 for the two charges it was presented with (AFN 2008).
In evaluating on the fairness of the verdict particularly with respect to the organization’s financial situation, I personally consider it to be just. I base this conclusion on the fact that there was some form of negligence by the organization which led to failure in taking necessary actions to prevent the accident from occurring.
The fact that this was not the first life threatening accident to occur in the company is enough justification that the organization ought to have anticipated the risk and taken precautions. Although the company had earlier been assessed for risks and faults were identified, no measures were taken to improve the situation. I also base my conclusion on the consequences of the accident. The death of Cuu Huynh was really painful and left many people to mourn his loss including his family, relatives and workmates.
In regard to the ethical and moral issues in the court’s decision, I feel that the life of an individual is not comparable to anything and so the charges could not stand for the loss caused by Cuu Huynh’s death. The company acted unethically by failing to rectify the problem even after the faults were identified leading to a death that could otherwise be avoided. All in all it is good that improvements were made after the incident to avoid such cases in future.
Conclusion
Form the above discussion, it is clear that concept of lack of the desired health and safety measures is an issue that is prevalent in many organizations thus leading to an increased rate of deaths and injuries among employees. There are various factors that are attributed to dangers that occur in organizations most of them being controllable through proper risk management practices.
For this reason, every organization should consider health and safety as a priority so as to reduce the high chances of injuries and deaths that occur in the workplace. This could be achieved through putting up strategic health and safety measures to either avoid or minimize accidents in the workplace. This will make people to be more comfortable because workplaces will be safer and thus places to delight in at all time without the fear of injuries and deaths.
Reference List
AFN 2008. Foster’s receives record fine for fatal safety Breaches. Australian Food News, August 6, 2008.
Bluff, E. 2004. OHS Regulation for a Changing World of Work. New York, Federation Press.
Hopwood, D and Thompson S. 2006. Workplace safety: a guide for small and midsized companies. New York, John Wiley and Sons.
James, P. 2006. Health and Safety at Work and Its Relevance to Employment Relations Research. London, Emerald Group Publishing.
Perkins, M. 2008. Foster’s Fined For Workplace Death Web.
McKinnon, T. n.d. The Value of Health & Wellbeing in the Workplace: A Brewery Experience. Web.