The chief safety officer at a company involved in a
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
It was put to William Lee by the barrister for the victim's family his training methods had been unscientific and at times incompetent.
The inquest in Wollongong Coroner's Court is inquiring into the death of Woonona father Setaleki Kolomaka, who died on May 22, 2008 when hit in the chest by a stream of water after he lost control of a high-pressure industrial hose.
The Allied Industrial Services employee was working with a team of men cleaning the sludge in a settlement tank at the BlueScope plant when the accident occurred.
At the time Mr Kolomaka was holding the hose while a second person, Vojan Poposki, was operating the foot pedal, something the court heard was against safety guidelines but often overlooked.
Mr Lee, who trained Mr Kolomaka in high pressure water jets, told the court he was called in by the team's supervisor to discuss a confined-space permit after the team struck difficulties removing the sludge.
That was not obtained but Mr Lee suggested the team change the lance and nozzle on the hose.
Mr Lee said the change of nozzle gave better ease of flow and the longer lance gave better trajectory of the water.
"If you run a lance with a lower trajectory it can lift the product more easily," Mr Lee said.
He said when he suggested the change he assumed the hose held by Mr Kolomaka was being run at a low pressure, which proved incorrect.
Mr Lee said he did not set up the job but made that determination from the way Mr Kolomaka was standing - vertical and not leaning forward.
Mr Lee, under cross-examination by Stephen Longhurst, barrister for the family, said the training at the time did not involve nozzle selection or how to determine reaction force from water coming out of the hose.
Mr Longhurst suggested that reaction force, which is calculated in kilograms hitting the body, was an important issue in using "this lethal item".
However, Mr Lee said reaction force could be determined from the chart he had on his office wall, though he agreed operators were not expected to know about reaction force.
Mr Longhurst: "Would you agree your methods [of training] were not very scientific?"
Mr Lee: "At the time, yes."
Mr Longhurst also put it to Mr Lee it was incompetent to determine water pressure by looking at a person and how he was holding the water jet.
"I wouldn't say incompetent based on my knowledge at the time," Mr Lee replied.
Mr Lee, under questioning by his lawyer John Agius, said there had been many safety improvements in water jet use in the industry since the tragedy at Port Kembla.
"You still train people and incorporate that experience and what you've learned?" Mr Agius asked.
"Yes, and I now start every training session by raising the fact we lost a worker and colleague and I tell them my aim is to never have that happen again," Mr Lee said.
None