The Yukon's workers' compensation board has released its latest raft of preliminary reports on serious workplace injuries, with recommendations on how similar incidents can be avoided.

The first occurred last July when a worker was using an augering machine to clean the soil out of a pipe on a work site near the Whitehorse sewage lagoon. The machine was running in high gear, according to the report, and at a high revolutions-per-minute.

"A safety guard had been removed and the equipment was not being operated to manufacturer's specification,” the report notes.

The auger was undersized for the job, according to the report, which allowed material to jam between the auger bit and the wall of the pipe.

When the machine jammed, the torque power tipped it to the left, pinning the worker against the tracks of a nearby excavator.

The worker had been controlling the speed and direction of the auger with a joy stick controller. When he was pinned between the two machines, he released the controls and cut off power to the auger.

The machine stalled and fell back to its operating position, releasing the man. He suffered serious internal injuries, according to the workers' compensation report.

The incident was caused first by the under-sized auger bit which jammed in the pipe, and further exacerbated by the fact the machine was being operated "at a speed that allowed the torque to transfer back to the augering machine rather than stalling it out.”

In the second incident, a Teslin resident taking a Sunday stroll unwittingly stepped into an open excavation hole.

"The contractor on the site had started work without erecting a fence around the work site as required under the Occupational Health and Safety Regulations. This allowed unrestricted access to the work site and subsequent entry by a member of the public,” the report reads.

The hole had been covered with a tarp to keep out rain and snow, the report notes, but no fence or other barrier had been placed around the pit.

The pedestrian fell through the tarp and suffered serious internal injuries, according to the report.

In the most recent incident, which occurred in January of this year, the employee of a fuel-delivery company fell from a two-metre-high walkway onto the frozen ground.

The metal walkway was 50 centimetres wide, the report notes, and "was not fitted with guardrails to prevent a fall or grab rails to enable the worker to hold on while delivering fuel.

"Preliminary findings indicate that the direct cause of this incident was the result of a worker manipulating a heavy, unbalanced load while on a walkway that did not provide any fall protective mechanisms. The worker lost his balance while attempting to insert the fuel nozzle into the tank opening, resulting in a fall.”

The report stresses "special precautions must be taken on all fuel tanks where a worker is required to access the fuel opening at any height above the ground.”

In this case, the injured workers suffered a fractured pelvis, the reports states.

The Yukon Workers' Health and Safety Compensation Board cannot release the names or current conditions of the people involved in these incidents, an official told the Star this morning.

So far this year, there have been 288 workplace injuries reported to the board.

In 2008, the total claim expenses paid by the Crown corporation was $17.5 million. Expenses for 2009 will be released in early May, according to a spokesperson.