October Updates

Axento Safety: Providing you with expert health and safety management solutions to enhance your business success.

Axento Safety’s focus

Axento Safety’s focus is to help create safe, healthy, innovative AND PRODUCTIVE workplaces. 

By working with Axento Safety, you can refocus on your productive activities, achieve them more safely and with greater peace of mind.

Harmonised legislation  

The Business Council of Australia says Western Australia and Victoria’s refusal to join the national occupational health and safety scheme will lead to higher costs. Business body wants safer states  and it has a suggestion on how to solve the problem.

The Western Australian State Government have announced that it intends to develop and implement a version of the model WHS laws specifically adapted for WA. Approval has also been granted to develop a new Resources Safety Bill to consolidate the existing safety legislation that covers the resources industry. The update in the attached link reviews these events and the implications for business. Read the legal update 

Jons Comments: WA are not harmonising at all but modifying their existing two streams of safety governance.  This will result in an ongoing and costly bureaucratic problem for every organisation working across Australia. WA are being just as parochial as Victoria’s approach to harmonisation.                                                                  

The future of WHS in NSW

Harmonised work health and safety (WHS) laws in NSW have elevated the importance of workplace safety, provided greater focus on prevention and provided consistency with other legislative obligations on officers, according to WorkCover’s acting general manager of work health and safety, Peter Dunphy.    Read more…

Changes to Victorian and Federal Building and Construction codes: Will your company comply? 

The new Victorian Code of Practice for the Building and Construction Industry 2014  (Victorian Code) came into effect on 8 October 2014, and applies to all entities tendering for, and delivering, Victorian Government building and construction work.

“Employers covered by the Victorian Code must ensure that any agreement, arrangement, practice or procedure that it enters into after 8 October 2014 is compliant with the code – this includes enterprise agreements, common law contracts and policies entered into after 8 October 2014”.

In addition, the The Building and Construction Industry (Fair and Lawful Building Sites) Code 2014 (Federal Code) will apply retrospectively from 24 April 2014 to employers in the building and construction industry who are involved in Commonwealth funded building work, assuming that this Federal legislation is passed.  More info Here…

Health and Safety Prosecutions (Vic): 

Interesting to see the frequency of the organisational failures leading to damaging employees and the organisations reputation.  Health and safety prosecutions – Victoria

Jons Comment:  All these incidents were avoidable, every person and organisation listed has suffered on many counts.  Are you focused on flexible and productive safety or gambling with your employees

Director tenure plus generic and risk management skills

The appropriate term for individual directors needs to be considered more closely when creating and maintaining a high performance board.  Read more… 

Jons Comment: Do you have good Risk Management skills and processes on or accessible to your board? Call Jon for expert advice to your board.

UV is an OHS risk! Updated contact details 

The Cancer Council’s figures still show a strong risk of skin cancer in Australia with 11,405 new cases of melanoma diagnosed in 2010, while becoming the sixth most common cause of cancer death in Australian men and 10th for women.

SunSmart offers face-to-face workplace education sessions to help organisations protect their workers from the harmful effects of ultraviolet (UV) radiation.  For more information visit Sunsmart.com.au, or contact Millicent Burke on (03) 9514 6420 or sunsmartworkplace@cancervic.org.au.                    

Jons Comment:  As we approach the hotter months, now is the time to remind everyone about safely working with UV risks and hot conditions.

Mentally healthy workplaces = good ROI

Michelle Baxter, Acting Chief Executive Officer of Safe Work Australia encourages all Australians to focus on making a positive difference to mental health by creating a mentally healthy workplace.

Price Waterhouse Coopers found that for every dollar spent on implementing appropriate actions to create a mentally healthy workplace, there is on average a positive return of $2.30 to the organisation.

Factsheet Preventing psychological injury under work health and safety laws fact sheet provides a general overview of the employer’s role under workers’ compensation legislation

Some benefits from recognising good safety performance

We all benefit when we recognise good safety performance:

• It reinforces that safety and productivity are inextricably linked;
• It lets our employees know that their commitment to safety is valued;
• Our workers as individuals and work groups are encouraged by our recognition and appreciation;
• Our appreciation sends an important message to other employees and associated organisations.
• It improves productivity, as workers are motivated to maintain or improve their safe way of working and keeping themselves and their work colleagues safe.

WIRC Act Comparison Tables

VWA has prepared two comparison tables which list the clauses in the Accident Compensation Act 1985 and Accident Compensation  (WorkCover Insurance) Act 1993, and the equivalent  clauses in the Workplace Injury  Rehabilitation and Compensation  Act 2013.

The tables can be found here:

• Accident Compensation Act 1985 comparison table (PDF 2279kb)
• Accident Compensation (WorkCover  Insurance) Act 1993 comparison table (PDF 392kb)

 Jons Comment: It would be worthwhile checking that your current procedures are in alignment with the new expectations.  Your Return to Work Coordinator may be able to conduct the check.

Are you new to Axento Safety?

If you are looking for an expert health and safety adviser who is well recognised, qualified, experienced, pro-active and commercially astute – contact Jon Temby, 0439 441 264

Please don’t keep us a secret: we really appreciate your referrals.