By Gaby Grammeno Contributor
Workplace Incident: Chemical Burns and Response
When a man received chemical burns to his eyes, the company committed to risk control strategies including AI-assisted surveillance, through its enforceable undertaking.
The injury occurred when a clamp came off a pressurised hose, spraying a hazardous liquid that showered the man and got in his eyes as he went to turn it off.
The worker was employed by a New Zealand manufacturer of home and personal care products, including dishwashing powder. On the day of the incident he was engaged in producing a batch of powder in a 1.5 tonne blender. He’d finished blending the dry ingredients and started adding liquid via a pressure-pot spraying system, when one of the hose clamps failed while he was about 15 metres away.
Immediate Aftermath and Lack of First Aid
The production manager advised him to shower and wash out his eyes, but it was unclear whether this was done effectively or promptly. He was asked if he was OK to continue working, and he said he was.
He received no first aid at work, but a manager later suggested he be taken to hospital to have his eyes checked, and another employee dropped him off at the hospital. He was eventually treated later that night.
Regulator’s Findings and Required Improvements
The regulator’s position was that it was reasonably practicable for the company to have trained its workers in chemical safety, emergency procedures and first aid in case of chemical spills and release of pressurised substances, and in appropriate PPE. The business should have provided workers with PPE and monitored workers to ensure its use.
The company was issued with enforcement notices and undertook numerous post-contravention rectifications, including the appointment of a senior manager to a WHS role, the creation of a new WHS administrator position and an increase in the proportion of health and safety representatives to staff.
Company’s Post-Incident Actions and Costs
Risk control work was completed, audits undertaken and changes made to job descriptions, as well as an expansion and reorganisation of the site and training for all staff, including managers. New emergency procedures were put in place, a comprehensive PPE program introduced and reference to MSDS was made mandatory after any incident involving chemicals.
All up, the company spent over half a million dollars on these post-incident rectifications.
In addition, the company paid the injured person $20,000 in personal financial compensation in recognition of the hurt and distress he’d suffered as a result of the incident.
Enforceable Undertaking to Avoid Prosecution
To avoid prosecution, the company offered WorkSafe New Zealand, the regulator, an enforceable undertaking (EU). It documented reparations the company made to the injured worker, as well as acknowledging its contravention of NZ’s Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 and stating its regret and remorse about the incident.
The EU committed the company to carrying out a range of activities to ensure the ongoing effective management of WHS risks, including:
- reviewing its liquids manual handling equipment and procurement processes
- installing a new working platform for liquids manufacturing, a vacuum lifter and gantry for powder manufacturing, and an upgraded CCTV system to improve monitoring in high traffic and isolated areas
- launching a behavioural safety program, a workplace communication training program focussed on WHS engagement and literacy, and a workplace stretching/exercise program with education in safe manual handling, and
- funding an annual GP health check appointment for all staff.
AI-Assisted Surveillance for Workplace Safety
With the CCTV system, expanded coverage and improved camera design will eliminate blind spots, and the new AI technology will allow for real time hazard alerts, especially in relation to moving equipment. It will do this by running the CCTV footage through a ‘trained neural network’, looking for instances of non-compliance.
This will enable more effective monitoring to support safer outcomes, without the need to trawl through hours of footage. Management will engage with workers about its nature and purpose, seek staff’s feedback on any concerns they may have and address any issues raised.
To benefit the wider industry, the company committed to funding external WHS audits for four industry partners, a webinar for members of the Employers Manufacturers Association (EMA) and a case study based on learnings from the incident, including video production, website and social media distribution.
Industry and Community Commitments
To benefit the community, the enforceable undertaking included a commitment to funding work with Blind Low Vision NZ to support pathways for the employment of workers with vision-related injuries and creating opportunities for their clients with the company.
The business also committed to disseminating information about this undertaking to employees and other relevant parties including the relevant employer association.
The program committed the company to a minimum spend of NZ$323,828 (A$293.323), in addition to the more than 300 hours of staff time to implement the rectifications and prepare the EU. The company’s management asserted that this was part of a holistic cultural shift in prioritising and valuing health and safety in the workplace, the incident having given the company insight into the inadequacies of its previous WHS management systems and an opportunity for review and improvement.
WorkSafe New Zealand accepted the undertaking, considering it delivers benefits beyond compliance and supports WorkSafe’s objectives.
What it means for employers
The company’s planned program illustrates how AI technology may be used to improve safety outcomes through better supervision. Any such program would have to be introduced with a sensitivity to staff concerns, due consultation and transparency, and the use of data collected needs to be controlled according to the principles regulating privacy and surveillance.
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