Construction industry safety alert

Recently, an incident occurred on a Construction site when a spotter was seriously injured while a crew used a Toucan 10-e boom lift to install plastic protection over storage shelves. The spotter was also the supervisor and was facing away from the boom lift at the time of the incident.

Critically, the cause of the incident was identified as:

1. The spotter being in the operation zone of the boom lift, in its blind spot.
2. There was inadequate communication between the operator and spotter during the incident.
3. The operator moved the machine without ensuring that other members of the work crew was in a safe area.

The injury occurred despite the spotter holding an EWP unit of competency and a High-Risk Licence class WP.

The incident is a reminder about the importance of basic procedures and control measures when working on a construction site, the purpose of which is to prevent injuries of any kind to workers.

This Safety Alert is issued to prevent similar incidents from occurring.

If you have any questions or need further guidance, please don’t hesitate to contact our Workplace Relations team:

📞 (02) 6175 5900
📧 workplace@mba.org.au