23.02.2016

Fatal scissor lift incident in Adelaide

A construction worker has died in Adelaide, Australia after he was crushed between a scissor lift’s handrail and a doorway frame.

Steve Wyatt, 63, was working on the site of the new Royal Adelaide Hospital when the incident occurred. It is understood that the scissor lift was being operated by a colleague at the time.

In a previous incident at the same site in 2014, Jorge Castillo-Riffo died at after suffering serious head, neck and back injuries when he was crushed between a scissor lift and a concrete slab.

Wyatt was a member of the CFMEU union which has announced that scissor lifts are not to be used on the site until further notice.
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Workers were relieved of their duties and told not to use scissor lifts until further notice

CFMEU secretary, Aaron Cartledge, said: "Our members are being pushed very hard at the moment to achieve a deadline and whenever you are pushed hard like that you increase the amount of activities, the amount of workers, the amount of things going on on-site. Hours get longer, fatigue sets in, so any of those factors could have caused this."

Hansen Yuncken Leighton Contractors, the joint venture for the project has released a statement expressing it’s condolences to Wyatt’s family but has refused to answer any questions.