Safety Alert – Fatality in Maleny

There are a number of alerts available on the WHS Division.   On the 4th February, Workplace Health and Safety Queensland was investigating a fatal incident that happened in Maleny. The worker later died in hospital of a chest injury he sustained when a disc shattered while he was using a nine inch grinder.

On the 8th of February the following was posted on the workplace facebook page that suffered the loss.

Dear Facebook Family – A lot of you may have heard that we suffered a fatality here at work last Thursday. As a mark of respect to someone very dear to us, we suspended posts on our Facebook page. We have met with Ted’s family and both Ted’s family and our staff would like our first post to be a tribute to Ted.  Ted was a gentle, no fuss guy with a big heart, cheeky grin and wicked sense of humour. “Here’s to you mate….we will missya heaps!”

Did you know

• Angle grinders are one of the most dangerous tools in any workplace.
• Most angle grinder injuries are from metal particles lodging in the operator’s eye.
• However the most serious injuries are from kick-back, where the disc is thrust back violently towards the operator.
• Discs can shatter or explode, sending pieces flying in all directions.
• Because angle grinders are designed for grinding and not for cutting, the use of cutting discs with angle grinders exposes operators to even greater risks

AN ANGLE GRINDER SHOULD NOT BE USED AS A CUTTING TOOL.