Teen (16) killed in workplace incident at Welshpool sandblasting business was ‘always smiling’

A 16-year-old boy who was fatally crushed at a WA Welshpool sandblasting business — the fifth person to die at work in a month — has been remembered as “always smiling and laughing” as his loved ones struggle to come to terms with the tragedy. The teen suffered critical injuries while working at TLC Surface Treatment on Railway Parade in Welshpool about 8am on Thursday. It is understood he was preparing a steel beam for sandblasting when he was crushed. He was rushed to Royal Perth Hospital but died a short time later. It is understood the boy was working with the company as a trainee or apprentice. WorkSafe and the Department of Mines, Industry, Regulation and Safety are now investigating the incident, while police will prepare a report for the Coroner. The boy’s death is the sixth workplace-related death in less than a month. Australian Manufacturing Workers Union WA assistant secretary Glenn McLaren extended his condolences to the boy’s family, friends, colleagues and first responders. Mr McLaren said he was among the youngest to die in a workplace incident in his 25 years as a union official. “It’s absolutely horrific,” he said. “Any loss of life is horrific, but coming to work this morning and finding out that a 16-year-old has lost his life in a workplace tragedy is heart-wrenching. “Our thoughts go out to the family, friends and loved ones.” Mr McLaren said the rate of recent workplace deaths was unacceptable. “This has impacted so many people, their colleagues, their families, their loved ones and the businesses themselves, little to mention the first responders and the WorkSafe inspectors who have to investigate these tragedies,’ he said. A 58-year-old man died while working at Cockburn Cement on May 20. On June 2, Michael Jurman died while working on Woodside Energy’s offshore North Rankin gas complex. A 62-year-old crane operator died at a construction site in Applecross on June 2. That followed the death of Kieren McDowall at Mineral Resources’ Onslow Iron project on Monday. “The amount of grief and harm this is causing is just unacceptable,” Mr McLaren said. “If it is deemed through any workplace negligence by the employer or it was unavoidable, I hope they are prosecuted to the full extent of the law.” Mr McLaren added: “No one thinks they will kiss their loved one goodbye in the morning and not see them come from work. It’s even more jarring when it’s a 16-year-old kid who is starting his working life and his life in general.” “It’s just an absolute tragedy. The teen’s friends were shocked and struggling to deal with the news on Thursday afternoon. One friend told The West Hamiora was “always smiling and laughing have nothing bad to say about him”. “Always was a people person may he rest in paradise,” he said. Industrial Relations Minister Bill Johnston described the boy’s death as “tragic”. “My heart goes out to the family, loved ones and colleagues of the worker involved,” he said. “All workers should be able to go home safe and well to their families at the end of their shifts or swings.” Mr Johnston called on all employers to “renew their focus on health and safety and do everything reasonably practicable to minimise harm and avoid fatalities”. “Recent reforms to the Work Health and Safety Act introduced the harshest penalties for the crime of industrial manslaughter in the nation,” he said. “This includes a maximum penalty of between five and 20 years imprisonment for an individual and a maximum $10m fine for a body corporate. “It is for the WorkSafe Commissioner to determine if charges should be brought, not the Minister, but I encourage the Commissioner to fully consider the evidence in each case and take action if required.” Opposition Leader Shane Love offered his condolences to the family of the teenager but said it was too early to say whether his death was the result of a regulatory failure. “First of all, I just want to express sympathy for the family of that young worker,” he said. “Everybody has a right to expect their family member to come home when they leave to go to work that day. “What we see as a government that talks a lot about safety and a lot about what it does, but whether or not the circumstances of this particular death will point to some failure of regulation or some other failure, I don’t know. “I don’t know anything about the circumstances, so I don’t want to comment on that particular (incident)”. Nationally, there have been 57 workplace-related deaths so far this year.