| |
Occupational Health & Safety Team Talk
Safer Oz Tips and articles for Safety in Your Workplace. Please use
these articles in your workplace to promote Safe work practices. All
articles are copyright of Safer Oz, when using our articles, please
make sure you include a reference to www.saferoz.com.au
 Article
Library - Click Titles to View The Articles
Are you qualified or licensed to operate that?
Choosing The Right First Aid Kit for Your Workplace.
Understanding Employer & Employee OHS Responsibility
OHS - Why Designated Work Groups ?
Managing Visitors and Contractors in the Workplace
Risk Management Is The Boss's Job Isn't It ?
Are you
qualified or licensed to operate that?
"But I saw Bob do it like
this..."
Bob just happens to be a licensed tradesman, he spent years as an
apprentice and needed to pass trade exams before being allowed to do
what he does, just by watching him working doesn’t make you
qualified to do his job.
Whether it’s electrical, mechanical, plumbing or for that matter any
type of trade work the person performing the job must be qualified
for that job, they know how to work safely so as not to put
themselves or any person working around them at risk of injury and
to ensure when the job is finished the premises are safe,
tradespeople understand the consequences if the job is not completed
correctly.
You may think you do but in reality you don’t.
Even given you have the best of intentions your performing work for
which you are not qualified is doing nobody any favours. By
tampering with something which you are not qualified to touch, you
are not only putting yourself at risk of injury but also those
others working with and around you.
Where there is an unserviceability and repairs or modifications are
required to be made it may take time for a qualified tradesperson to
attend, yes that may mean shutting down a piece of equipment or
isolating an area resulting in an obvious negative impact on
production. It is far better to wait and let a qualified person fix
the problem safely than for you to do something in a way you think
is correct because that’s the way you remember you saw Bob do it,
get it wrong and wind up hurting yourself or others
Lost production time waiting for a fault to be remedied by a
qualified person is far more preferable than lost production time as
a result of a worker being injured.
top of page
Choosing The Right First Aid Kit for Your Workplace.
Consider the causes of work related injury and illness and assess
the likelihood (risk) of work injuries and work related illness
occurring. Factors employers and responsible persons should consider
when selecting first aid kits, equipment and assigning trained
personnel include;
• Size and Layout of the Workplace • Number and distribution of
employees such as shift work, overtime and flexible hours • Nature
of hazards in the workplace and severity of risk • Location of the
workplace in respect to Doctors Surgeries & Hospitals • Known
occurrences of accidents or illnesses; and • Consultation with
employees
top of page
Understanding Employer & Employee OHS Responsibility
The Buck Stops Where?
The buck stops with YOU!!
The buck stops with you as an Employer / Manager.
You have a responsibility to maintain a workplace that is safe and
free from risk, it is your responsibility to ensure all tasks are
assessed for risk of injury and that safe systems of work are in
place. As an Employer / Manager it is for you to ensure those
systems are communicated to all employees effectively and that
adequate supervision is maintained.
The buck stops with you as a Supervisor / Lead Hand
It is for you to ensure the employees under your supervision comply
with safety rules and that they work in a way that will not place
themselves or their fellow workers at risk of injury. Don’t turn a
blind eye to short cuts, they don’t save time and often result in
injury.
The buck stops with you as an employee
You need to work in a way that will not place yourself or your
fellow workers at risk of injury. Don’t break rules to save time, if
you injure yourself the time you tried to save won’t help you one
bit. If you are the cause of an injury to a fellow worker no one is
going to thank you for the time you tried to save.
Remember, workplace safety is everybody’s responsibility.
The buck stops with YOU.
top of page
OHS - Why Designated
Work Groups ?
What are “Designated Work Groups”?
Designated Work Groups or “DWG’s” are groups of employees working in
a business who perform similar tasks and are exposed to similar
risks of injury
In most workplaces various groups of employees work in different
areas from each other, perhaps even at different sites, performing
different tasks and as a result face different risks of injury to
those employees in other areas of the business.
For example employees working in a paint shop are exposed to
different risks than those who are working in a machine shop such as
fitters and turners or in an administrative role such as finance or
payroll.
Why do we need these “Designated Work Groups”?
Employees are entitled to work in an area that is, as far as is
practicable, safe and free from risk. Because groups of employees in
a business work in separate areas and face exposure to different
risks of injury, each of those groups are entitled to have those
risks they face, in the course of their work, addressed. Each
Designated Work Group is represented by at least one (1) Health and
Safety Representative (HSR), elected by the employees within that
group.
How do we set up “Designated Work Groups”?
By negotiation between the employees and the employer to agree how
the employees are to be grouped that will best and most conveniently
represent and safeguard the interests of those employed by the
business.
top of page
Managing Visitors and Contractors in the Workplace
We are not alone!!!
From time to time various people enter your workspace for a whole
variety of reasons, they may be delivering equipment or outside
contractors here to repair a machine or fix a broken light, they may
also be just visiting, here for a look around. Whatever their reason
for being in your workspace, while they are here they are entitled
to the same protections from risk of injury as you are.
You are familiar with your workspace and what happens within it,
what the risks are of injury and what safety measures are in place
to prevent such an injury occurring.
It is probable the delivery man, contractor or visitor has been
given a site induction before being allowed to enter your workspace,
ensuring this happens is your employer’s responsibility, but it must
be remembered these people are not familiar with your workspace,
with what you do, and so may inadvertently place themselves at risk
of injury.
Just as you are entitled to expect to go home at the end of the
working day without having injured yourself while at work, so too
are those delivery people, contractors and visitors entitled to
expect to leave your workspace unharmed.
If you notice any of these visitors inadvertently placing themselves
at risk, perhaps by standing in a high traffic spot or handling
equipment they shouldn’t be, or that they are not wearing the
appropriate personal protective equipment such as a high visibility
vest or safety glasses speak to them straight away.
Don’t wait until an injury occurs knowing you could have done
something to prevent it.
Where safety is concerned be aware and act
top of page
Risk Management
Is The Boss's Job Isn't It ?
Hazard Identification, (Risk Assessment & Control) (HIRAC)
Well, that's only partially correct....
Risk management is both an employer and an employee’s
responsibility. It is your employers responsibility to maintain, as
far as is practicable, a safe working environment that is free of
risks to health. To ensure all identified workplace risks are
assessed and to, where practicable, remove those identified risks,
or where not practicable to have in place safe work processes and
practices protecting employees from those identified risks.
Employees also have a risk management responsibility in that they
will, while at work
- Take reasonable care for your own health and safety
- Take reasonable care for the health and safety of others who may
be affected by your actions
- Cooperate with your employer by following the safe work processes
and practices the business has in place
- Intentionally or recklessly misuse or interfere with safeguards to
employee health and safety that have been provided in the workplace.
Put simply, as an employee you have a responsibility to work safely,
in a manner that will not place you or anyone else in your workplace
at risk of injury, that you will work in accordance with the
companies safe work procedures. That you will use all plant and
equipment in accordance with the instructions for the safe use of
that equipment and you will not modify, remove or bypass safety
equipment within the workplace
Risk management is also your responsibility - it is you who are at
risk of injury
Please visit www.saferoz.com.au for all your OHS Training & Support
top of page
|
 |
