I had to renew some industrial trade tickets recently and did the OH&S course the other night, 15 people taking the 4hr course, 1 had a basic grasp of English and another 2 attended so they 1 could interpret for the other and answer the questions on both testing sheets.
One of these guys was asked if the angle grinder he used had a guard in it?..... his reply (in broken English) " Yes it still has the tape on the plug"... Following up with more discussion the tape was to hold the wires in because they needed to be twisted together and so they wouldn't poke out, and no it didn't have a blade guard.
And when they were refused the ticket they played the "your a racist" and "how am I supposed to work?"
No wonder there is so many workplace incidents....
Was in the cleaning industry, most cleaners were Indians and could not read they identified the cleaning chemical by colour! The guy employing them (my boss) was a total bastard (the worst thing was that he migrated here as well and was always crying about Aussies not being fair to him???) he was taking advantage of the fact they had very little education and were too scared to complain. I ended leaving and had to take a restraining order against him, no joke..... Was so loopy it was scary!
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A mate built his own place back in the very early 80s.
He had a circular saw with no guard on it. One day he drops it while it's running and it chases him around the room until it runs over the cord.
Sorry to hijack thread but I am glad they didnt get passed out
Sadly the state of training (in NSW) is pathetic.
As part of my job I manage a contract (powerline vegetation management) where staff must attend a 5 day course (well thats what the company pays for anyway).
The course is solely offered by TAFE - no one else
As a company we induct and internally train (off site - as they are not allowed onsite until passing said TAFE course) and then send them off.
I have had guys ring me on the afternoon of day 3 saying they have been deemed competent - whenever I ask them a range of simple questions to question their knowledge - I always get the poor or unclear answers (I know its easy to pass a test and then forget knowledge, but safe working distances from powerlines considering the consequences should be easy to remember).
When I have rung the trainer and or the TAFE to question why / how they can passed out that early the standard answer is that its competency based and they are competent - which pi$$es me off as the company has paid for 5 days not three - and - when the staff return to the workforce they are clearly not competent (not that I expect them to gain years of experience in a few days - thats why they get mentoring).
Sadly I think those guys not getting passed out is the exception Gizmo
