Man who suffered horrific injuries in explosion says workplaces must take safety more seriously
WHEN Cranbourne East resident Steve Smith started working at a foundry he didn’t even know what a furnace was.
He was put in charge of a high-powered induction furnace weighing close to 600kg.
In 2014 there was an accident at Mr Smith’s work. The furnace exploded and he was horribly burned on the back of his head, arms and back.
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He said while he received extensive training, none of it covered the situation that led to the explosion.
When he asked his boss what to do in the event of an explosion he was told “pray that it doesn’t happen”.
“They should consider the right type of training involved, this is something workplaces need to sort out,” Mr Smith said.
“There wasn’t really any procedure in place for the sort of scenario we were in that night.”
After returning from a break, Mr Smith noticed a colleague was having trouble pushing some of the solids into the furnace to the point that the solids had ‘bridged’.
A bridge occurs when the bottom half is melted and solid remains on top. The space between the melt and the solids begins filling with fumes to cause a highly pressurised environment.
When Mr Smith saw the potential bridge he took over, hoping it was in the early stages so that he could intervene. Typically, when a bridge is five minutes along the worker can pierce the bridge through the upper layer to enable the fumes to escape in a fizz.
Unfortunately the bridge had been building for a while so when he tried to pierce it, it caused an explosion.
Mr Smith said the accident had left him with physical health problems and post-traumatic stress disorder.
He said he wanted to get back into work, but his doctors had not yet declared him fit enough.
He said he had since done horticulture training and hoped to do something in that field.
In the meantime, he is still fighting for WorkCover’s insurer to pay for his treatment.
Mr Smith’s lawyer, Jenny Tran from Maurice Blackburn, said the firm was looking after Steve’s WorkCover claim.
“We will continue to assist Steven in helping him fight for his WorkCover entitlements to ensure that he gets the right treatment that he needs,” Ms Tran said.
Worksafe spokeswoman Caitlin Rode said Worksafe could not comment on Mr Smith’s case due to privacy.
“There is an appeals process available to injured workers who wish to have a decision reviewed,” Ms Rode said.
October 24-30 is National Safe Work Australia Week, which aims to focus attention on workplace safety.
Every year more than 260 Australians die as a result of work-related injuries and more than 135,000 are seriously injured.
The Cranbourne Leader reported in March that one fifth of the state’s workplace deaths last year happened in the southeast.
Casey and Greater Dandenong were among the top 10 worst areas for workplace injuries, with Dandenong second behind Melbourne CBD with 1469 injuries and Casey 10th with 703 injuries.