Two men have been taken to the Royal Melbourne Hospital, one with spinal injuries, after falling 3.8 metres at a Preston carpet manufacturing business yesterday.
The two men were dismantling a piece of equipment when a component shifted causing them to fall on to a concrete floor.
The more seriously injured man has a fractured collar bone and spinal injuries. The incident follows two falls fatalities at the weekend.
A plasterer aged in his 60s died at the Alfred Hospital on Saturday after a fall at a Northcote house on Friday.
On Sunday, a man who was also in his 60s died at Quambatook in the state’s north after falling from a ladder.
According to WorkSafe Victoria, ensuring safe work practices was a matter of life and death.
According to WorkSafe’s acting Executive Director, Eric Windholz, “With two fatalities in the past four days and another serious incident, now is the time to make sure anyone working at height has appropriate protection.”
“Without it, the chance of death or permanent injury is high. There have been fatalities from falling off stepladders in shops, but the risks increase greatly as the height does.”
“Before it happens you can never tell whether you’ll get up and walk away, end up in a wheelchair or die.”
“What you can do is ensure appropriate steps are taken to reduce the risk of a fall as far as possible.“