You know what could have avoided the deaths of a couple of the young men, turning off the smacking power before going into a roof cavity, a roof cavity that you were putting nails into areas you cant see!!

Safety switches save lives, and stop fires.  Why is it so hard for people to think a little?

John Smith wrote on Dec 24^th, 2013 at 1:59pm:


It was my understanding he made the whole area live by putting a stable through the foil to hold it in place and struck an electrical wire.

Focus of Home Insulation Royal Commission must be to increase safety for workers: Unions
23 December, 2013 | Media Release The ACTU is urging the Royal Commission into the Home Insulation Program to focus on what can be done to increase safety for workers.

ACTU Assistant Secretary Michael Borowick said the Royal Commission presented an opportunity to toughen workplace safety laws to help reduce the number of unnecessary injuries and fatalities in the workplace.

“The sole focus of this Royal Commission must be to improve safety for Australian workers,” Mr Borowick said.

“The community has no appetite for a costly political witch hunt at the expense of constructive outcomes on safety for workers.

“The ACTU calls on the Royal Commission to recommend the introduction of Industrial Manslaughter legislation, tougher penalties for employers that breach existing legislation and increased resources for regulators.

“Industrial Manslaughter laws have the potential to change community attitudes around criminally reckless negligence at work and ultimately reduce workplace deaths.

“There must also be tougher penalties for employers that breach legislation and put the safety of their workforce at risk.

“This must also be accompanied by an increase in resources for regulators to undertake their role in ensuring stringent safety standards are met.

“Every Australian should be able to go to work in the knowledge that they’ll return home safely that night.

“This Royal Commission presents an opportunity for meaningful reform in a critical area and this opportunity must not be wasted.”

The righto's should be disappointed that the idiots they support have initiated a needless and useless expensive political witch hunt.

It seems that the Libs can not get past their opposition mentality and move into government mode. Probably part of the reason they have been clearly the worst new government in Australian history.

TIM PALMER: An inquest into the deaths of three people killed during the Rudd government's controversial pink batts scheme has been told that to guarantee safety an installation company would have had to give up on making a profit.

The three who died - the youngest of them 16, the oldest 25 - were using metal staples to lay electrically conductive insulation in 2009 and 2010 when the practice had already been banned in New Zealand.

One of the companies involved told the inquest it wasn't made compulsory to turn off power to residences, because it would have been too costly.

And a State Government electrical safety manager acknowledged his department knew the risks of metal staples but didn't issue a warning until after the first death.

Annie Guest reports from the Brisbane coroner's court.

ANNIE GUEST: The so-called pink batts scheme was one of the Rudd government's economic stimulus measures during the global financial crisis. But it went badly wrong when four people died installing the roof insulation.

One New South Wales death was caused by heat exhaustion, and three Queenslanders were electrocuted in 2009 and 2010. The workers were aged 16, 22 and 25 when they died laying electrically conductive foil insulation in roofs.

A coronial inquest in Brisbane is examining why it wasn't mandatory to turn off the power. Why metal staples were allowed to be used when they had already been banned in New Zealand, training and supervision standards and Federal and State Government responses.

Today, three family members associated with one of the installation company, QHI gave evidence about the death of employee Matthew Fuller. The inquest heard they'd seen an opportunity to obtain work through the Government scheme.

Ben McKay was a trained electrician and 19 years old when he was the director of QHI. He took on the role because his father was banned from holding such a position because of unrelated proceedings under bankruptcy law.

Ben McKay said it was his role to ensure on-the-job safety for the unqualified insulation installers. One of the greatest dangers was the risk of putting a metal staple through a live cable.

Under questioning from counsel for Matthew Fuller's family, Ben McKay acknowledged it was possible to make installation 100 per cent safe by disconnecting power from the mains source. However, he agreed the reason this wasn't routinely done was because the work involved would have made it impossible to make a profit.

Ben McKay acknowledged he had been aware of up to four instances where staples had been put through cables before Mr Fuller's death. Those incidents hadn't resulted in deaths.

Matthew Fuller had less than two weeks' training. The inquest has heard training was either provided by QHI or a representative from the company QHI contracted to, called Vision and Network.

Vision was a telemarketing company that branched out to take part in the so-called pink batts scheme, and did so by subcontracting QHI to do the work. Yesterday, a Vision representative said the installation trainers' course was impossible to fail because the trainer provided participants with the answers.

Also today, the inquest heard from the Queensland Government's then regional manager of electrical safety compliance, Michael Gibson. He acknowledged he'd held concerns three months before Mr Fuller's death and had spoken to his manager.

He was grilled by counsel for Mr Fuller's family, Richard Berry SC, about why it took a death for a warning to be issued to the industry. Mr Gibson said steps were being taken to respond to problems. He couldn't say what if any communication had taken place with Commonwealth officials. He also said some old homes don't have safety switches, and it's not mandatory to fit them retrospectively in Queensland.

Family and friends watched on intently sometimes sighing as they looked across two bar tables of lawyers to the witness chair.

The inquest continues.

TIM PALMER: Annie Guest reporting.

http://www.abc.net.au/pm/content/2013/s3754863.htm

cods wrote on Dec 26^th, 2013 at 6:07am:


What do they deserve?

cods wrote on Dec 26^th, 2013 at 6:07am:


rubbish ... whats cruel to the families is continually dragging this back into the limelight ... let them move on. There have been more than enough enquiries, all with pretty much the same conclusion. 

Tony just wants something that he thinks will be bad for labor on the front page so that he's not on it. Typical distraction tactics, and idiots like you fall for it.