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Health, Safety & Environmental Bulletin No 118

S Martin – 11 December 2008

A lesson to us all: barricading your work area

At Xmo Strata we continually relay incidents that have occurred on third party sites all
over the world. By sharing this information, we aim to highlight the potential dangers
that you may face in your everyday work, either through lack of concentration,
complacency or not adhering to site rules and regulations.

REMEMBER: Site rules, Safety Method Statements/JSAs and site audits are there
to protect you.

Xmo Strata was recently informed of an incident occurring on a customer’s site in
China. This episode ended in tragedy for a young woman and her family. It has been
requested that this information be shared with all employees in the hope that further
lives will not be placed in jeopardy under similar circumstances.

TRAGEDY

A retail store’s contract employee was fatally struck by a delivery vehicle as it reversed
towards the rest stop area behind. This was a full service site, and the contractor was
squatting behind the vehicle cleaning up oil stains after fuelling. Traffic cones had been
placed at the entrance to the fuelling position to keep the area clear as she cleaned the
driveway. The contractor was working between the rear of the truck and these
safety cones (see images below).

An investigation following the fatality found that the vehicle’s reverse alert was not
working at the time of the accident.

NB: The contractor had completed all site safety induction training.