Mechanic bleeds to death

Source: Safe to Work

By: Andrew Duffy

A 53-year-old mechanic has bled to death after cutting his elbow working on the brakes of a digger at an industrial equipment auctioneer in Perth.

The body of the mechanic was found 29 November after having lain undiscovered for more than two days.

According to WAtoday the man severed a fast-flowing artery and only managed to drag himself inside the factory before losing consciousness.

The man had been working on his own and was discovered only after a colleague noticed his car was still at work but he had not answered any calls.

WorkSafe WA Commissioner Lex McCulloch said inspectors were still investigating the issue.

He said the safety of employees working alone was something companies needed to watch carefully.

"It's very unfortunate, the issue of people working alone is an issue that employers particularly need to take notice of and you need to have systems in place to make sure that they're safe so we'll interview the right people and find out what happened," he said.

McCulloch said the incident was of particular concern because it was the fourth death in WA in eight days.

He said the spike in deaths was "fairly unusual" and there were normally around 20 workplace deaths a year in WA.