July Updates
Axento Safety: Providing you with expert risk management solutions to enhance your business success.
Axento Safety’s focus is to help create safe, healthy, innovative AND PRODUCTIVE workplaces. Axento Safety can partner with you to take the pain out of health and safety management, reduce the paperwork, making your life easier, enabling increased compliance, enabling productivity improvement and doing it cost effectively. This enables you to grow your business and sleep better at night.
Work Health and Safety Reporting Award
The Work Health and Safety Reporting Award recognises excellence in reporting on the management of and performance in work health and safety. Safe Work Australia Chief Executive Officer, Michelle Baxter is encouraging all businesses to include WHS reporting in their annual report.
“By including high quality work health and safety information in your annual report, you can establish your organisation as a leader in work health and safety, one in which work health and safety is not an ‘add on’, but integrated into business decisions and processes,” Ms Baxter said.
It is not too late to include work health and safety as part of your 2014-15 annual report. For inspiration just have a look at the Civil Aviation Safety Authority’s winning 2013-2014 annual report or the annual report of one of the other finalists.
The Australasian Reporting Awards (ARA) provide an opportunity for organisations to benchmark their reports against the ARA criteria. They are open to all organisations that produce an annual report. The criteria for entering can be found on the ARA Awards website. For more information on work health and safety in Australia visit the Safe Work Australia website .
How to take on more risk
When this NFP audit committee’s role was expanded, it needed to add the element of risk. Read more
Jons Comment: All boards need to review how they manage risk, what their risk appetite is, how they monitor their risk controls and whether management have the necessary skills and direction to implement the boards expectations. This brief document might help to trigger your review which should also include reviewing the adequacy of your risk management tools. I recently came across a risk management system that appeared to be designed to confuse everyone – the outcome was predictable – confused, expensive and ineffective risk management.
Taking care with electrical hazards – two items
SafeWork SA has issued a media release, reminding people to be careful with electricity. The release comes following an increase in the number of people receiving electric shocks in SA workplaces. Read more
Jons Comment: This media release is aimed at all workers, good to discuss it at a Toolbox or similar prestart meeting
WorkCover NSW have released a New video – working on or near electricity safety alert, targeting workers who work on or near electrical installations or equipment. Read more Jons comment: This 2.5 minute video includes some basic safety measures aimed at keeping you alive when working with electricity –This video is good general knowledge for all workers and in particular, those people who work on electrical plant, equipment, infrastructure etc
WA: prospecting popularity prompts safety message
Prospectors in Western Australia were recently reminded that safety should be their number one priority, following an increase in the number of miner’s rights being issued for prospecting and people becoming lost in remote areas where the use of a Personal Locator Beacon (the old “EPIRB) would ensure that the person could be promptly located.
Jons Comment: In addition to geological prospectors, Personal Locator Beacons are important safety equipment for anyone who needs or chooses to travel into or through remote locations, whether they travel on foot, in a car, on a yacht or in a light plane etc.
QLD: Warning issued over tyre fitting safety
WorkCover Queensland recently issued a warning about the safety of workers who are at risk of being injured while fitting tyres. Read more
Jons Comment: everyone who changes tyres involving Split Rims needs to be aware of the inherent dangers involved and how to reduce the risks.
VIC: Teamwork the medicine that helps injured workers back
A major public awareness campaign about the importance of helping injured workers get back to work was recently launched in Victoria. Read more
Jons Comment: There is some understandable scepticism about this by many workers however returning to work as soon as it is safe to do so is part of the process to both physical as well as psychological recovery. Every effort should be made to work in partnership with the injured worker and their treating medical people to assist early return to work outcomes. When this occurs, everyone wins.
Jail term for threatening Inspector
The owner of a roofing business has been convicted and sentenced to a nine month jail term (suspended) for threatening and intimidating a WorkCover NSW Inspector. Read more .
Jons Comment: The expectation that full cooperation is given to inspectors applies to all Australian jurisdictions. If you are concerned that an inspector may find uncontrolled hazards and create some sort of drama for you, then fix the hazards rather than try to fix the inspector.
Perth audits building cladding
The City of Perth will audit up to 70 high-risk buildings in the Perth CBD, to identify if external aluminium composite cladding has been used in buildings and if it has been used to determine whether it complies with the building standards. Read more
Jons comment –The residential high-rise fire in Melbourne is a classic example demonstrating the importance of good procurement and receipt verification processes. Are your procurement and receipt verification processes appropriate to your business risk profile? If you are not sure, please call me to discuss options.
VIC: company fined $250,000 over livestock driver’s death
A company was recently convicted and fined $250,000 in Victoria’s County Court over the death of a driver who died when a modified loading ramp he was standing on collapsed. Read more…
Jons comment: Like the procurement article above, this is about good control when changes are made or “Change Management”. Whether we are buying something or modifying something, we need to know that the end product meets the specifications required not only to do the job but to meet all applicable legislative obligations and/or Australian Standards requirements as well. All organisations should have good Procurement and Change Management processes … and follow them.
Leadership communication failings in high hazard industries
The biggest inhibiter to effective safety performance in high hazard industries such as nuclear power, airlines and healthcare is the failure of upward communication, according to an international expert in the area. Read more…
Jons Comment: Many leaders find it difficult to have a good conversation with employees, let alone try to coach them. In addition, some employees are wary about being questioned by senior management. There are a number of strategies that mangers can use to get past these difficulties. By asking open questions and listening carefully to the answers, managers can find out what is really happening, discuss issues that matter with employees and be seen to be adding value in both directions. If ideas are needed, give me a call.