Profile
Resolve in the face of adversity DRIVER FATIGUE IS ONE OF THE MOST DANGEROUS RISKS TO WORKER SAFETY ON OUR ROADS. LIEBHERR-AUSTRALIA’S BRANDON ROBINSONSMITH TELLS SAFE TO WORK ABOUT HOW HE TURNED A LIFE-CHANGING EXPERIENCE INTO AN INSPIRING LESSON FOR THE MINING INDUSTRY.
T
he Japanese proverb Nana korobi, ya oki (fall down seven times, stand up eight) suggests that we should never give up and to continue to push forward in life. While this could be attributed to many challenges we face every day, Brandon Robinson-Smith has embodied what it means to be persistent when faced with adversity. In October 2018, he fell asleep at the wheel of his Ford Ranger ute, causing it to lose control and roll off the road just four kilometres from his house. Robinson-Smith, who was 22 at the time, survived the crash but lost his right arm and suffered a broken pelvis. “I first started with Liebherr-Australia in February 2018 and worked as a permanent site-based technician at a local coal mine in the Hunter Valley,” Robinson-Smith tells Safe to Work. “What motivated me to work in the mining industry was that I had a bit of a soft spot for working on the diggers. “It was something that really interested me and being a site technician allowed me to get a bit more experience out of it.” Robinson-Smith started working with Liebherr-Australia shortly after completing his apprenticeship and, like many young technicians, he was keen to get on the tools when the opportunity was available. “It was rewarding to learn how to diagnose the machines and point everyone in the right direction through a lot of problem solving,”
Lyndia Wombold (left) and Brandon Robinson-Smith.
Robinson-Smith says. “It was my first night shift of the swing (a block of five nights); I woke up in the afternoon, drove in to start shift at 7pm, worked through to around 7:30am the next morning – all pretty normal stuff. “After I got home though, I picked up my partner and dropped her off at work, had some breakfast, grabbed some fuel for the car, and started my journey home. I was only four kilometres from my front gate when I fell asleep and lost control. “I was actually thinking about pulling over to have a rest, as there was a safe spot just after a bridge where I wouldn’t be a hazard to other road users.
SAFETOWORK.COM.AU 16 JUL-AUG 2021
Unfortunately the sleep came earlier than I would have liked.” Driver fatigue is one of the three major causes of death on New South Wales roads. The NSW Centre for Road Safety states that fatigue-related crashes are almost three times more likely to be fatal than crashes not related to fatigue, with on average 67 people dying and 645 seriously injured each year due to fatigue. Being awake for too long has a similar impact on driving to a blood alcohol content of 0.05 per cent. Following the accident, RobinsonSmith mustered the willpower to dial 000.
