Accidents at work do not happen...do they?

Below are illustrations of case histories concerning accidents which occurred in a variety of workplaces. Consider how they may have been prevented and what you could do in your workplace to ensure something similar does not happen to yourself, your employees, colleagues or to other people using your premises, such as consultants, contractors and members of the public.

  • A kitchen porter was asked to carry a side of beef from the kitchen to the basement freezer. He managed the stairs and the freezer ramp, but in struggling to hold the carcass he slipped. The beef fell on him causing him permanent damage to his arms and back. He now has a crippled left arm and breathing difficulties. The man will not be able to work again as a kitchen porter or in any other job.
  • A security officer in a hotel was making his rounds. On passing through a passageway he slipped on some spilled liquid on the floor sustaining injury to his right foot and was off work for several days.
  • An administration assistant in a data collection company was electrocuted after trying to clear a blockage in a photocopying machine. She had not received any training concerning fault finding in the machine.
  • A window cleaner broke his pelvis after falling from a second storey window. He was not using the safety harness provided. There was no appointed person in authority who was responsible for ensuring that the harness was to be worn.
  • A cleaner using common cleaning materials was not told of the risk of skin problems or instructed to wear gloves and was hospitalised with severe dermatitis. She has not been able to work since. She successfully sued her employer for a substantial sum.
  • A caretaker was using a ladder which he had placed with its top against a rubber drop strip on the underside of an entrance room. The ladder was at an incline greater than 1 in 4 and was not footed or secured at the top. The rubber strip gave way and he fell onto a concrete floor. The caretaker had received no training in the safe use of ladders.
  • A bakery worker had two fingers crushed when he was trying to unblock the diehead of a pie and tart machine. Although the machine had a safety guard, none of the workers had been told its purpose or trained in how to set it up.
  • A young office administrator was crushed beneath a fork lift truck while walking through a carpet warehouse.
  • An experienced electrician was crushed to death when a large control panel fell on him during a lifting operation.
  • An office worker stood on a swivel chair near an open window and fell to his death three floors down.
  • A customer died after falling through an open trap door in the floor of a retail shop. 
  • The Deputy Manager was cleaning pipes in a cellar when pipe cleaner splashed into his eyes.
  • A trainer was taking out equipment to lay up a seminar room. During the operation an overhead projector fell from a shelf onto his head and arms. He was concussed and taken to hospital.
  • A hotel porter injured a back muscle after incorrect handling of luggage. He was not able to work for six months.