Contractor

A CONTRACTOR who died while slashing grass near Warragul late last year became the state’s 30th work-related death for the year, according to WorkSafe.
The 63-year-old Warragul man was run over by the tractor and attached slasher, which has been impounded and is undergoing mechanical checks.
Neither the tractor nor slasher was running at the time.
WorkSafe’s executive director John Merritt said the incident was the 12th traumatic work-related fatality since the start of October, the second this month and the ninth involved in farm work this year.
“The fact that we’ve had so many deaths, four in the past two weeks, is a sign that more must be done in every workplace to eliminate safety risks,” he said.
Mr Merritt said although Victoria is Australia’s safest state with a record-low number of work-related injuries, the current bottleneck of activity can lead to people taking shortcuts and being put at risk.