What Cost Siemens $60,000 for No Return?

No Platform, No Safety

In July 2015, a contractor working on a turbine blade at Seimens’ Tillsonburg, Ontario facility contracted serious injuries, due to a lack of effective height access equipment.

And on June 21 this year, Seimens Wind Power Ltd received the bill – a whopping $60,000 fine. Based on a report from the Ministry of Labour, Seimens were found to have violated the Occupational Health and Safety Act, which states that companies need to provide a work platform when performing this type of task – Seimens had not done so.

The incident occurred after a turbine blade was lifted onto a weighing scale. After measurement was recorded, the worker climbed to the rim of the hollow turbine to unhook a clamp, which the loader had used to lift the blade. The man lost his balance and feel six feet to the floor. To make matters worse, the loader operator left the vehicle to assist, not realizing it was still in gear; the loader rolled forward onto the fallen worker, who despite sustaining life-threatening injuries, was lucky to get out alive.

The reason for the worker clambering the rim of the turbine blade was ‘because a ladder wouldn’t fit between the loader and the weigh scale.’

With this type of project gaining momentum on sites around the world, portable height access company SafeSmart Access Canada would have offered their custom design and manufacture capability for a solution that would have removed this fall danger immediately, had they been commissioned. Or perhaps a product from the existing range such as the cantilever platform would have been a better and more cost-effective solution.

Source: www.canadianmanufacturing.com