Contractor dies after fall from wind monitoring equipment at Proserpine

What happened

A man in his 30s fell about 20 metres to the ground from a piece of equipment at the Proserpine Wind Farm, on Station Road at Lake Proserpine, about 30 minutes west of Proserpine, Queensland. The incident happened in the early afternoon. Early reports suggested he had fallen from a wind tower or turbine that had collapsed, but the source understands the project is still in its development phase with no turbines installed, and that the accident involved wind monitoring equipment.

The man was a contractor at the site. Police, the fire brigade and Queensland Ambulance attended, and a rescue helicopter was called. The man died. Police were notified just before 1pm. The incident is expected to be investigated by Workplace, Health and Safety.

Contributing factors

The source does not report the cause of the fall.

Lessons learned

1. Work at height on wind monitoring masts and other temporary structures needs the same fall protection and rescue planning as work on turbines.
2. Early reports of an incident can be wrong, so operators should confirm quickly what equipment was involved to guide emergency response and regulators.
3. Contractors on development sites should be covered by the same permit-to-work and height safety controls as on operating assets.

More lessons on detection and monitoring, emergency response and public communication, worker safety and safe systems of work, from every incident on the register.

Source

queenslandcountrylife.com.au