Falls from heights has been identified as a key safety risk in Australian workplaces by Safework Australia.
Data shows that in 2019, 21 Australian workers died from falls at work.
Falls from height accounted for 122 fatalities, or 13 per cent of worker fatalities in Australia during the past five years.
According to Safework Australia, workers most at risk were those in the construction industry, with most fatalities caused by falls from buildings or other structures.
Mining related incidents appear still to be occurring during 2020 with a mineworker falling at the Saracen Gold Mine in WA.
Incidents have been known to occur around:
- Mobile work platforms enable personnel to access difficult-to-reach areas, especially those at heights. In addition to falling from these stages, employees may be caught in between rock faces and the platforms themselves.
- Fixed work structures are ladders, scaffolds, pinned platforms and other assets that are either permanent or semi-constant. Some of the hazards are related to assembling and dismantling such structures and the stability of the rock mass on which they are constructed.
- Working near openings (including but not limited to stopes) presents the chance of employees falling down shafts or pits and sustaining serious injuries.
READ RELATED
Falls from Height in Mining Archives or our extensive Falls Archive here
Resources for Work at Height Safety
Safework Australia has published three infographics that can be downloaded and shared or placed around your workplace:
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