guidance – Page 37 – SafetyAtWorkBlog

Safe Work Method Statements and independent positions

Over the last few months most Australian OHS regulators, and many labour law firms,have been conducting workshops and public seminars on Australia’s plans to harmonise its OHS legislation. In those workshops, the consultative process and timeframes have been described by some as a “nightmare”, which is not exactly inspiring participants who are seeking clarity from the confusion.

Significantly, others are encouraging the audience to advocate specific positions in potential submissions.

Recently, concerns were raised over the revisions to Safe Work Method Statements (SWMS) provisions. It was suggested that SWMS have the potential to bloat beyond several pages due to the need to include “associated risks”. Most safety management systems and OHS professionals would already have include secondary, ancillary or associated risks as part of the job safety analyses and SWMS. Continue reading “Safe Work Method Statements and independent positions”

New quad bike research and practical safety guidance

A major Australian rural newspaper, The Weekly Times, has devoted its front page to an article on rollover protective devices on quad bikes. It has taken as the base new information released by the Australian Centre for Agricultural Health and Safety (ACAHS) through a media release. The new policy paper and the supporting Practical Management Guide acknowledge new research from independent engineers that has finally questioned the established knowledge base on the safety of quad bikes.

ACAHS has come to a position where it states:

“Farmers and other owners of quad bikes should be encouraged to fit suitably tested protective devices to reduce death and serious injury from rollovers.” Continue reading “New quad bike research and practical safety guidance”

Raising awareness about stress instead of controlling it

In March 2011, in response to one of the several Stress Awareness Days, HRLeader magazine ran an edited version of a Personnel Today article called “5 steps to tackle employee stress”. The Personnel Today had “6 steps”, so are Australian readers being ripped off?

Personnel Today included a step called “Refer the Health and Safety Executive’s management standards”. HRLeader’s editor must have made the call that HSE information is geographically specific and therefore not relevant to Australia but the change is more indicative of the fact that Australia does not have anything to match the HSE management standards to help control stress. According to the HSE website:

“….the six Management Standards cover the primary sources of stress at work. These are:

Demands[1] – this includes issues such as workload, work patterns and the work environment. Continue reading “Raising awareness about stress instead of controlling it”

Grief guidance got right

A reader has pointed out an excellent guidance on managing situations after the sudden loss of a work colleague or family member, following on from a recent SafetyAtWorkBlog article.

In 2004 Skylight and New Zealand’s Accident Compensation Commission published “Death Without Warning – After an Accidental Death”. This book (only available for purchase) is an excellent guidance that provides advice on managing grief-stricken staff at the same time as providing some dignity.

Significantly the guidance is contemporary with current support practices. There is none of this rubbish about “closure”, or “getting over it”. It also acknowledges that men and women grieve differently and that each individual grieves in their own personal way, a way that those who provide support must accommodate and understand.

The guidance has a 2^nd edition which can be purchased online and, on receipt of our copy, will be reviewed here.

The guidance has a particular poignancy following the recent fatal earthquakes in Christchurch, New Zealand where many were killed as their workplaces collapsed.

Research Paper

For those readers who are, perhaps, researching in this area of occupation well-being or workplace mental health, one research article that is worth digging up is a 2010 paper by several Australian researchers called “Loss and grief in the workplace – What can we learn from the literature?” Continue reading “Grief guidance got right”

Graphic hazard video from WorkSafe BC

Graphic ads or videos from OHS regulators are not new but each has their own approach and WorkSafe BC has released one, in particular, that is of interest to the construction industry.

On first viewing, the conduct of the supervisor is annoying. He provides inadequate information to the worker. He approves of the wrong tool for the job. Others may see nothing but a silly young worker. Continue reading “Graphic hazard video from WorkSafe BC”

NZ releases new guidelines on quad bike safety

Any new OHS guidelines from regulators important to read and consider when implementing safety interventions. New Zealand’s Department of Labour (DoL) has released new guidelines for the use of quad bikes in workplaces, predominantly, farms.

Quad bike manufacturers are strong advocates of “active riding” techniques as an important safety practice. The new guidelines support this position.

Regular readers will be aware that there are engineering controls for rollovers of quad bikes where “active riding” is an administrative control of rollovers. The engineering control is primarily a rollover protective structure (ROPS). The difference between the two control measures is significant as the engineering controls are considered to be a higher order, or more effective, control in the hierarchy of controls advocated by OHS regulators and professionals around the world.

The NZ DoL guidelines make reference to ROPS but only as a text box because the evidence on ROPS remains contentious. Continue reading “NZ releases new guidelines on quad bike safety”

Death in the workplace guide could have been much more helpful

Workplace Health & Safety Queensland (WHSQ)has released an update of its guidance on how to handle the impacts of a death at work. “A death in the workplace– a guide for families and friends” provides very useful information for a period when a family’s life will change forever and when thinking clearly will be difficult.

Like many guidances from OHS regulators, this one is very legalistic or procedural. It explains the roles of police, coroners, OHS inspectors and others but it lacks a humanity that many would find reassuring in such a difficult time.

One of the issues that creates great anxiety is any delay in getting the body of their loved one back. The Queensland guide discusses organising this through a funeral director but grieving people want a little more information. The guide would have been improved by simply stating that there may be a delay in returning their loved ones and that a delay of a week is often the norm.

Often families choose not to know the details of the procedures because they are focussing on their loss. Anyone who has had to organise a funeral after a sudden non-work related death knows how traumatic the process already is and how disruptive it can be to a family, without the involvement of government agencies, police and others.

If the readership of this guidance was families and friends it has the wrong tone. It provides important information without understanding the context in which such a guide may be read. WorkCover New South Wales’ guide for families recognises this context with “a word of introduction”. Continue reading “Death in the workplace guide could have been much more helpful”

Category: guidance

Safe Work Method Statements and independent positions

Like this:

New quad bike research and practical safety guidance

Like this:

Raising awareness about stress instead of controlling it

Like this:

Grief guidance got right

Like this:

Graphic hazard video from WorkSafe BC

Like this:

NZ releases new guidelines on quad bike safety

Like this:

Death in the workplace guide could have been much more helpful

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this: