Workman killed

By Callan Date
A MAN was crushed to death in Narre Warren North on Tuesday when an excavator rolled off a trailer and pinned him to the ground.
The 30-year-old Langwarrin man died before ambulance crews arrived at the Caithwill Court property shortly after 8am.
The man was driving the excavator when it slipped off the trailer and toppled on top of him.
Narre Warren North CFA and Dandenong CFA Rescue Unit helped stabilise the excavator while ambulance officers, WorkSafe officials and police investigated the scene. Narre Warren North CFA communications officer Mike Garoni said they were at the scene for more than five hours helping coordinate the emergency response.
“An excavator like this weighs about 20 tonnes and once it started to go there would have been no stopping it,” Mr Garoni said.
He said the main task performed by the crew was to stabilise the excavator and make it safe for WorkSafe officers to investigate.
The man’s death, the first industrial death of 2007, starts the year off on a grim note for WorkSafe officials who investigated 29 deaths in Victorian work places last year. WorkSafe spokesman Michael Birt said there had been several similar incidents in Casey and surrounding areas over the past few years.
“They have not all resulted in a death like this one has but there has still been quite a few out that way,” Mr Birt said.
He said all workers in the earth-moving business needed to take extreme care when unloading any sort of excavating equipment.
“You don’t get any second chances when something goes wrong with this type of equipment,” he said.
WorkSafe official Ian Forsyth said all work place deaths have a large impact on many different areas of the community.
“This is a disaster for the man’s family, workmates and friends. And it will be an even greater real tragedy if we, as a community, don’t learn from it,” Mr Forsyth said.
He said both businesses and the community must give the same priority to workplace safety as they do to road safety.
“It’s a new year and it’s time to invest because prevention will always be the cheaper alternative compared to the price we all pay for workplace deaths and injuries,” he said.