HEALTH AND SAFETY

9.1. No member of the CRP2 team suffered any serious illness or injury while in Antarctica. At Cape Roberts there were only minor injuries reported; eg. two strained backs, various muscle strains, a wrist injury and a welding burn. There were a couple of cases of cold/throat infections and a passing 24 hour-type flu, but fortunately that is where it ended.

9.2. Paramedic/Camp Manager Position. Colleen Clarke assumed the role of Paramedic/Camp Manager and immediately made her mark in both positions. First-aiders were identified and trained for emergencies at the Drill Site. First aid equipment page 8 was reorganised and new kits made up for each skidoo. Personnel feeling unwell or with a minor injury could approach Colleen with confidence. Colleen took an active role in the weekly staff safety meetings. She was also responsible for health and safety in the Camp, frequently making suggestions for improvements. And finally she tested the Camp's water supply daily for its pH level and weekly for bacteria count. The water was 'dosed' with sodium bicarbonate to maintain an optimal pH of between 7.8 and 8.2, as recommended by Ant NZ's water expert, Tim Donaldson of Ace Water Treatment Ltd. All bacteria counts were negative during the season. In mid-October a water sample was sent to Tim Donaldson in Christchurch for more specialised analysis of impurities such as copper and lead. Levels of these substances were either non-existent or well within acceptable levels.

9.3. A member of the Cape Roberts team who suffers from a potentially communicable disease was self administering injectable medication. Both CRPM and Paramedic were aware of this and suitable disposal arrangements for the used syringes were made. However, through an oversight the Scott Base medical office was not aware and became alarmed when used syringes were found in a rubbish bin at Scott Base. The individual concerned acknowledged a lack of forethought on his part but in his defence said there was no obvious 'sharps container' and he didn't know who to see about such a facility. This incident highlighted the need for better communication and access to medical files by all who should be 'in the loop' in such a case.

9.4. Safety Meetings. Weekly safety meetings were held throughout the drill operation phase. The pattern that worked best was the Drill Manager conducted a Drill Site meeting of all day shift personnel on a Friday. Notes from this meeting were given to the CRPM who then conducted a second meeting at CR Camp on the Saturday involving all night shift and support staff (not otherwise at the Drill Site meeting). Notes from both meetings were then posted on the noticeboard in the Warm Vestibule for everybody to read. Feedback from these meetings was positive, and the information useful. The key to the acceptance of the meeting format was the 'no blame' theme - people were there to learn, discuss and propose alternatives, and not to lay blame.

9.5. Incident Reports. CRPM filed three incident reports to Manager Scott Base during the drill season. All were classified 'near misses'.

a.	The first occurred when a pillion passenger on a skidoo fell off when the skidoo went over an obstacle. Speed nor carelessness were not at issue, except that the passenger wasn't holding on well enough. The real danger was a sled was being towed behind the skidoo and the passenger was lucky not to be struck or run over by it. Thereafter no passengers were to travel on skidoos towing a sled.
b.	The chef was very lucky to escape serious fat burns when there was an 'explosion' of boiling fat from the CR Camp's deep fat fryer. This was caused by a build up of water in the fat from repeated cooking of water-logged parboiled potatoes. The chef should have recognised the danger.page 9
c.	A party was caught out on the Wilson Piedmont in a white-out when returning to CR Camp from a climb of Mt England. They were travelling with two skidoos and trailers and had all necessary survival gear. The leader of the group of five was an experienced climber and had three seasons Antarctic experience. He elected to push on, got off the route and didn't stop until the party had become thoroughly disorientated. Camp was made but not before they discovered they had ventured into a crevassed area. The weather lifted about three hours later and they safely returned to Camp. This incident raised a number of important issues regarding field safety and leadership.