FATALITIES and MAJOR INCIDENTS
Tragically, two fatalities occurred in our business during 2005/06.
On 4 July 2005, an oilerman was fatally injured in the Rolling and Finishing Department of New Zealand Steel. This accident and the resulting corrective actions and safety improvements were reported in the 2004/05 Community, Safety and Environment Report.
On 9 December 2005, a construction contractor was fatally injured in a fall during construction of our new coating plant in Suzhou China.
The contractor was working on the erection of the metal coating line structure when he fell approximately three metres, striking his chin on part of the steel structure, which resulted in a fatal neck injury.
Representatives from BlueScope Steel conducted a full investigation of the accident. An investigation team was immediately formed on site at Suzhou to determine the cause of the accident so that the lessons could be shared with the rest of the Company.
Following the fatality in China, all BlueScope Steel employees and contractors around the world participated in a communication session to discuss the incident and the lessons from the accident investigation.
Employees discussed the root cause of the accident and focussed on the contributing factors to determine if they were relevant to their business or situation.
Employees were asked to determine what contingent actions should be put in place to prevent those factors from contributing to a serious injury or fatality in their area of work.
Work teams discussed various scenarios to identify what could go wrong and what they would do if faced with a similar situation.
