Monday 19th April 2021

Power Lines Hit by Crane. 

A truck driver received an electric shock when the boom of the crane he was operating struck overhead power lines. The driver was delivering timber to a building site at Drombana, on the Mornington Peninsula, when the incident happened at 8.20 am on Monday 12 April. Co-workers at the site of the accident rushed to help the driver after hearing a loud bang and applied CPR until ambulance crews arrived.

The driver aged in his 60’s was taken to the Alfred Hospital, his condition was not known at the time of press. Police are investigating the incident and it is believed that WorkCover will investigate also.

View the original article on the Mornington Peninsula News website.

In one year in NSW, over 70 Food Delivery Riders had serious injuries. 

SafeWork NSW has warned companies such as UberEats, that their workers, often on student visors, are at significant risk of injury due to insufficient training. In documents tabled to NSW Parliament, 74 'serious notifiable injuries' were recorded in 2020 alone.

The regulator also outlined concerns with the overuse of overseas students by food delivery service HungryPanda. 'It was observed that HungryPanda food delivery riders using motorcycles are on an international student visa, are riding using overseas licenses and they are not provided with adequate instruction, information and training to understand the risks associated with the work and to operate safely'.

Facing serious risk on the state's roads, the document said a rider killed on September 24 2020, was wearing an 'unapproved helmet' and had not had adequate training regarding the risks relating to operating a motorcycle for commercial purposes. The SafeWork notice said that the rider was hit by a vehicle he had failed to give way to.

The chair of the inquiry said that Uber had a 'ghastly safety record', and expected UberEats general manager and head of driver operations to explain this when they are expected to appear before an NSW Parliamentary inquiry into the impact of technology on workers on Monday.

Read the full story on the Sydney Morning Herald website.