There have been renewed calls for greater awareness of workplace health and safety after a string of workplace incidents on Wednesday.
In NSW, emergency services were called to St Mary’s in Sydney’s south-west just before six am after a 30-year-old man became stuck in machinery on a worksite.
The man suffered significant crush injuries and blood loss and despite the best efforts of four ambulance crews and a specialist medical team, he died on the way to hospital.
A spokesperson explained that “Safework is attending a worksite at St Mary’s this morning after a worker became trapped in a machine. The worker sustained crush injuries.”
A report is being prepared for the coroner and SafeWork NSW is investigating.
Not long after, six emergency crews were dispatched to a property in Point Piper, in Sydney’s Eastern suburbs, after a worker fell an estimated eight metres from scaffolding.
The worker is currently in a critical condition in hospital with head and leg injuries.
The third incident occurred in Pyrmont, where a worker was struck by steel pipes. He was treated at the RPA after being transported to hospital, where he remains in a serious condition.
Interstate, a construction worker was killed at a worksite in Mount Pleasant, outside of Ballarat in Victoria when a brick wall collapsed on top of him.
Police are yet to formally identify the worker and WorkSafe is investigating the events leading up to the accident.
NSW Ambulance Acting Deputy Director Jordan Emery said that paramedics were seeing a rise in workplace accidents and that those “incidents at worksites are not only confronting but can be extremely complex and it shows just how quickly any situation can change.
“Paramedics have attended far too many workplace incidents lately – it’s becoming more and more frequent.
“These situations are harrowing for emergency services, fellow workers and of course the families – emergency services work together under these tense conditions to do everything they can for the patient.
“Often we are dealing with both minor incidents, but we are also dealing with major incidents where people have been seriously injured, or more tragically where a life has been lost.”