Worksafe Victoria made these statements after a teenage girl and a factory worker were killed, and a tradie is suffering serious injuries after a concerning run of serious workplace incidents.

Firstly, on Sunday a 17-year-old stable hand did not survive falling from a horse at a country property in central Victoria.

Then, a day later, a 29-year-old man was fatally electrocuted while working in the near vicinity of a live electrical switchboard at a business in Melbourne's south-eastern suburbs.

Worksafe also commented on “Another man aged in his early 20s was hospitalised with serious head injuries on Tuesday morning after he fell about six metres from scaffolding at a Fitzroy North construction site”.

He was subsequently rescued and then taken to the Royal Melbourne Hospital in a stable condition.

"Young workers often lack experience and can be reluctant to ask questions," WorkSafe's Adam Watson said. "Employers need to ensure they receive the correct training and supervision and feel comfortable about speaking up if they are uncertain about any task they are given."

During much of last year the Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry has been very active in partnership with EML, one of the Victorian workers compensation insurers, increasing the workplace focus and attention regarding improving the physical and psychological safety of Young Workers.

The link listed here below provides employers with an excellent selection of webinar presentations, checklists and other great resources designed to assist with and improve the safety of this vulnerable group. https://www.victorianchamber.com.au/supporting-young-workers-program

From a broader Health Safety and Wellbeing improvement perspective, The Victorian Chambers Health Safety and Wellbeing (HSW) Team has just revised and renewed it’s HSW Masterclass for Managers and Supervisors. This is an ideal way for concerned employers to develop and improve their staff’s capacity to identify and prevent these catastrophic types of events from ever occurring.  

Manager and Supervisor OHS training is also a key improvement recommendation arising from the Andrews Governments review into WorkSafe Victoria. This recommendation is listed under “Expanding Education and Training” in theIndependent Review of Occupational Health and Safety Compliance and Enforcement in Victoria Report November 2016.

For more information and registration for this training and other HSW support please contact us on 03 8662 5333 orhsw@victorianchamber.com.auto discuss your needs.