Recognition for safety initiative

After the tragic death of a grader driver more than 10 years ago, the Shire of Woodanilling has come up with an innovative solution to prevent further accidents.

The Shire was nominated as a finalist at the Work Safety Awards recently because of a mechanism they created that acts as an additional locking device to secure the saddles and blades on a grader, reducing the risk of injury for employees.

Shire president Russel Thomson said the mechanism was simple but at the end of the day they wanted their staff to come home safely.

"Drivers often work alone, and the main purpose was to create this pin as a back-up in case the first pin fails," he said.

"We as a Shire have always put a focus on safety, and there has been a general change in safety culture in the workplace."

Although unsuccessful in winning the top award, Mr Thomson said the event was extremely beneficial, giving them the chance to learn more about safety practices and discuss issues with the like-minded individuals, groups and companies that attended.

As a grader driver by trade, Shire of Woodanilling works supervisor Wayne Cooper saw the danger with the previous pins, and helped devise and design the mechanism.

"The pins that are already there should be safe, but there is human error," he said.

"All I wanted to do was to make one more little thing so that my grader driver was going to be able to go out there and be safe."