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OHS Issues at Work
Aug. 29th, 2004 07:32 amLocal readers may have been asking themselves of late "Why has the mail service become a little erratic?"
The answer is of course that Post has been a little short staffed of late.
You may recall me mentioning that posties are more likely to have a serious injury at work than policemen. The last few weeks have a prime example of just how dangerous it can be...
It all began when a chap called Big Stupid Dennis slipped over in the changing rooms. It was quite a nasty incident and we all professed our sorrow at his demise. Our manager, who is very concerned with OHS immediately had the area resurfaced with anti slip tiles to prevent any further trouble.
The tilers came in. They made a lot of noise and mess. The smell of tile glue worked it's way into the air conditioning and drove everybody a little crazy, possibly even making some people a little careless. At least that's what my manager said in her report to the OHS review board.
One guy was completely overwhelmed by fumes. He went mad, apparently, and sealed himself in his locker. It seems he even glued up the little air vents. He must have really splashed the glue around because he managed to get some on the security camera so we'll never really know what happened. According to the coroners report, he must have thrashed around in the locker a fair bit, because he had an enormous bruise on the back of his head. Nobody heard anything over the radios blaring in the sorting room.
Opinionated Old Jake is gone too. He forgot to open his can of cola before drinking it and choked. I always said he had a big mouth but I was genuinely surprised to see just how far the can went in. The real tragedy is that now there is no-one to tell us "What's wrong with the country today" or "What's wrong young people these days" or even "Nothing's as good as it used to be. In my day..."
Did I mention that I was the first one to report the accident? I may not have been the first to actually find the body but union rules dictate that we don't have to perform any duties outside our job description without 24 hours notice. Reporting corpses is not part of my job either but it seemed like the right thing to do. In fact, I'm almost certain I wasn't first to see him slumped across the tea room table. Somebody had started the crossword in his copy of the Herald-Sun and there were several coffee cups resting on the body (we've been a bit short of coasters in the tea room of late).
My manager immediately made arrangements to have the area re-tiled. It's good to work for someone who cares. She has ordered some more coasters too.
Loud Loud Trailer Trash Mary was injured when a sorting frame toppled over onto her. When I say injured I sort of mean killed, but only sort of. I was the first to rush up to help her after the frame fell. She used to work on the other side of the long row of sorting frames from me. Normally I would have had to go all the way to the end of the the row and then back to get to her, but with one frame missing I was able to pop through the gap. It was quite handy. In fact, it was sort of fun, like finding a short cut through the Ikea maze. I hopped back and forth through the gap while I waited for everyone else to rush over. Union rules say you don't have to report a body, but they don't say you can't have a good look anyway.
It turned out she wasn't quite dead. All that unsightly flab may have cushioned her a bit. As the crowd gathered and jostled for good viewing positions she raised one arm and pointed in my direction. She started to speak, no doubt to thank me for trying to help. Or she might have been pointing to the new gap in the row and saying "oh look, that's quite handy"
Whatever.
As she opened her mouth to speak my manager raced forward to give her CPR but slipped and accidentally stepped on her throat. It could have happened to anyone, because that part of the room hasn't had anti slip tiles laid yet. Since the manager was already on the spot, there was no need for anybody to report it. Everybody drifted back to work. A lot of people went through the new gap and I heard a number of them say "ooh, that's handy"
Soon it was just the manager and I left at the scene. She said "I guess we better tidy up. What should we do with the body?"
"We could just fling it in the skip with Spitting Hector" I suggested.
"I hadn't noticed him missing. Is he dead too?"
"I imagine he is by now, yeah"
The answer is of course that Post has been a little short staffed of late.
You may recall me mentioning that posties are more likely to have a serious injury at work than policemen. The last few weeks have a prime example of just how dangerous it can be...
It all began when a chap called Big Stupid Dennis slipped over in the changing rooms. It was quite a nasty incident and we all professed our sorrow at his demise. Our manager, who is very concerned with OHS immediately had the area resurfaced with anti slip tiles to prevent any further trouble.
The tilers came in. They made a lot of noise and mess. The smell of tile glue worked it's way into the air conditioning and drove everybody a little crazy, possibly even making some people a little careless. At least that's what my manager said in her report to the OHS review board.
One guy was completely overwhelmed by fumes. He went mad, apparently, and sealed himself in his locker. It seems he even glued up the little air vents. He must have really splashed the glue around because he managed to get some on the security camera so we'll never really know what happened. According to the coroners report, he must have thrashed around in the locker a fair bit, because he had an enormous bruise on the back of his head. Nobody heard anything over the radios blaring in the sorting room.
Opinionated Old Jake is gone too. He forgot to open his can of cola before drinking it and choked. I always said he had a big mouth but I was genuinely surprised to see just how far the can went in. The real tragedy is that now there is no-one to tell us "What's wrong with the country today" or "What's wrong young people these days" or even "Nothing's as good as it used to be. In my day..."
Did I mention that I was the first one to report the accident? I may not have been the first to actually find the body but union rules dictate that we don't have to perform any duties outside our job description without 24 hours notice. Reporting corpses is not part of my job either but it seemed like the right thing to do. In fact, I'm almost certain I wasn't first to see him slumped across the tea room table. Somebody had started the crossword in his copy of the Herald-Sun and there were several coffee cups resting on the body (we've been a bit short of coasters in the tea room of late).
My manager immediately made arrangements to have the area re-tiled. It's good to work for someone who cares. She has ordered some more coasters too.
Loud Loud Trailer Trash Mary was injured when a sorting frame toppled over onto her. When I say injured I sort of mean killed, but only sort of. I was the first to rush up to help her after the frame fell. She used to work on the other side of the long row of sorting frames from me. Normally I would have had to go all the way to the end of the the row and then back to get to her, but with one frame missing I was able to pop through the gap. It was quite handy. In fact, it was sort of fun, like finding a short cut through the Ikea maze. I hopped back and forth through the gap while I waited for everyone else to rush over. Union rules say you don't have to report a body, but they don't say you can't have a good look anyway.
It turned out she wasn't quite dead. All that unsightly flab may have cushioned her a bit. As the crowd gathered and jostled for good viewing positions she raised one arm and pointed in my direction. She started to speak, no doubt to thank me for trying to help. Or she might have been pointing to the new gap in the row and saying "oh look, that's quite handy"
Whatever.
As she opened her mouth to speak my manager raced forward to give her CPR but slipped and accidentally stepped on her throat. It could have happened to anyone, because that part of the room hasn't had anti slip tiles laid yet. Since the manager was already on the spot, there was no need for anybody to report it. Everybody drifted back to work. A lot of people went through the new gap and I heard a number of them say "ooh, that's handy"
Soon it was just the manager and I left at the scene. She said "I guess we better tidy up. What should we do with the body?"
"We could just fling it in the skip with Spitting Hector" I suggested.
"I hadn't noticed him missing. Is he dead too?"
"I imagine he is by now, yeah"
