16/06/2008

News Item

Workplace safety must be heeded

JUNE 27 will mark a year since the lapse in judgement that almost cost six children their hard-working dad.

Gatton turf farm owner Paul Clothier made the mistake of leaving his tractor's motor running while he made adjustments to the forklift attachment.

The forklift malfunctioned and picked Mr Clothier off the ground, crushing his face against the back of the tractor.

His horrific injuries - which included two broken collar bones, broken eye socket and upper jaw - would almost certainly have been fatal if not for the intervention of wife Luana and employee Justin, who called triple-0 immediately.

Mr Clothier was airlifted to Toowoomba Hospital and within an hour of the accident, was in the intensive care unit.

"I had just enough time to think 'this is it, I'm going to die,' before I lost consciousness," Mr Clothier said.

It wasn't long before Mr Clothier regained consciousness, however.

Pumped full of morphine, he remembers the words of his surgeon as he lay in his hospital bed.

"Your face looks like a terracotta pot that has been dropped on the ground, but the good news is that all the pieces are still in the right order."

Less than a week later Mr Clothier returned home.

Six weeks later he returned to work.

He still suffers from occasional blurry vision and a paralysed right cheek.

The supporter of the State Government's new Homecomings workplace health and safety campaign urged others to learn from his mistake and take proper precautions in the workplace.

"I realised through all this that there are a lot worse things than dying," he said.

"The thing that really scares me is that I would have left my wife and kids with the mortgage and my parents would have outlived me.

"I have shed many tears over these thoughts. For a moment's stupidity, you can cause your family a lifetime of heartache."

source: http://www.qt.com.au/storydisplay.cfm?storyid=3775658