Saturday, November 28, 2015

And yet, according to WorkSafe statistics, more Victorian workers die in the eight weeks leading up to Christmas than at any other time of the year.

We know many businesses are rushing to finish projects so deadline pressures may be a factor.

And we know that many fatalities involve experienced workers doing routine jobs, particularly on farms.

It only takes seconds for things to go very wrong, so take a safety-first approach to each job before starting. The simple fact is that every workplace fatality is preventable.

We can stamp out workplace fatalities if employers have the safe systems in place to protect their workers, and if people stop to plan each day with safety in mind. 

If everyone works together to identify and eliminate or reduce risks, then workplace fatalities can be prevented.

The upcoming Christmas holidays should be a time of joy. It should not be a time families are mourning the loss of a loved one who has died at work.

So please, everyone, take time every day to make workplace safety your absolute priority.

WHAT is the proper name for fear of Eucalypts? Gummaphobia? 

The assumptions in the first two paragraphs of David Corbett’s letter to the editor,(The Border Mail, November 25 “Eucalypts are of no help” is ludicrously wrong. 

Fly from Sydney to Melbourne, David, and count the density of Eucalypts. It is far from being a desert tree.

Eucalypts do not poison their competition. The biodiversity in a Eucalypt forest  from native legumes to orchids is vast and of exceeding, if subtle, beauty.

Yes, eucalypts are highly flammable, which is why it is recommended that they be cleared away from proximity to bush dwellings.

An Australian landscape devoid of Eucalypts as you envisage, would be the home of only sparrows, starlings and blackbirds, i.e. the stuff of nightmares.

I LIVE near Tumbarumba, and was eager to see the Warbirds down under.

I have Parkinson's so I decided to fly from Albury with Smartair. I arrived at 7.15am to the airport for a 7.30am start with the others who were going.

The pilot arrived, called out names and three of us were not included on the list, even though we had tickets. 

The pilot rang someone and then informed the remaining three that he would be coming back at 9am to pick us up and take us to Temora.

The Director Ivo Mol,  arrived after the plane had left and informed us that he would sort it out. He showed no interest at all that they had overbooked.

It was not until approximately 9am he informed us that we would not be going as he did not have a plane. I cannot imagine that the company as large as Smartair could not have sorted this out.

I spent nearly two hours at the airport waiting, got no apology and was then unable to have the time to travel to Temora for the start of the show. Just not good enough.

This week’s Letter of the week winner is Darryl Gabriel of Jindera. Please collect your double pass from Regent Cinemas Albury at the front desk of The Border Mail office in Wodonga, 1 McKoy St.