There have been too many deaths on job sites around the country, and there will be more into the future if we don’t encourage all workers to speak up without fear of retribution if they encounter something they aren’t sure about – particularly when lives may be at risk.
Master Electricians Australia CEO Malcolm Richards highlights the story of Jason Garrels, who died in Clermont in 2012.
An extraordinary number of young apprentice electricians, trades assistants and labourers have lost their lives to electrocution over the years. The cases of some victims have been analysed widely in the public arena, such as insulation installers Matthew Fuller, Reuben Barnes and Mitchell Sweeney in 2009/2010, or young trade assistant Jayden Zapelli in 2013.
The tragic death of 20-year-old builder’s labourer Jason Garrels at Clermont in 2012 is another case that’s made it back in the spotlight this month, after the young man’s grieving family and friends released an education video to warn other workers about some of the dangers lurking on work sites.
Jason was electrocuted during construction of an 81-lot duplex subdivision in February 2012, while holding a temporary switchboard while another worker backfilled trenches. He had worked for the company for nine days and hadn’t even collected his first pay the day he died.
It would be found later that power to the temporary switchboard hadn’t been isolated and the conduit hadn’t been installed properly, and it had slipped off, exposing the wires.
Jason’s mum Lee, dad Michael, his siblings, workmate and friends decided to share their experiences to raise awareness about the need for effective communication between sub-contractors on construction sites, and for the appropriate supervision and supportive mentoring of younger workers, so they may gain the skills to recognise danger, and the courage and confidence to speak up before something goes wrong.
Lee and Michael described how their son had been “too trusting”, and how they’d warned him not to risk his own safety after learning that an electrical inspector had found immediate dangers on site just days prior to Jason’s first day. The electrical inspector had issued work and protection notices at the time, but told the inquiry into Jason’s death that he didn’t have the authority to shut off the power.
They detailed a number of the issues that compounded the situation in Clermont that day, how work had continued through heavy wet weather, how workers had been trudging through ankle-deep mud and rain, how there were open trenches and significant levels of water on site.
Jason’s workmate also spoke about the difficulties for workers in speaking up about the dangers on site. He detailed the profound effect that day’s events have had on his own life going forward, including his battle with alcohol and the breakdown of his marriage.
While Jason lay on the ground, there had been a mad scramble to find someone who’d had training to perform basic CPR while waiting for ambulance officers to arrive. Just one worker was able to help, but once ambos arrived, they couldn’t get within 100 metres of him due to the muddy conditions. Officers had to walk through the hazardous site to get to him, but couldn’t use their equipment until after carrying him on a stretcher back to the ambulance.
During the five-day inquest in Mackay in March 2014, the contracting electrician (who Coroner David O’Connell recommended be referred to police) gave evidence that he stripped the main switchboard of every electrical component except the ergon meter after Jason’s death to make the site safe.
Coroner O’Connell found there had been no safety switch on the site’s main switchboard at the time of the electrocution, and ruled that the only reasonable conclusion was that the contracting had stripped the switchboard the day after Jason’s death, with the specific purpose of concealing, interfering, or deliberately removing the evidence of what electrical componentry had been on the circuit. He also suggested that the contractor was well aware there had been no safety switch on that circuit.
The Garrels’ video resource is a powerful reminder that there are times when those who should know better, do the wrong thing on site. Fatalities are generally not the result of one mistake, but stem from a number of contributing factors that are preventable.
Every worker on every job site must be supported with a safety net and with proper supervision that enables more experienced workers to identify the risks, and teach less experienced workers about proper hazard identification and risk management. And they must always be given an avenue to speak up.
The video can be accessed online via the Master Electricians Australia website.