In late June 2009, WorkSafe Victoria tried a new approach to raising the awareness of the criminal status of OHS breaches through producing a formatted media alert and placing an ad in the daily newspapers. It is unclear how else the “flyer” will be distributed other than through the WorkSafe website. Indications are that a hard … Continue reading “OHS crime alert”
WorkSafe contacted me today concerning some issues raised in a previous post concerning their first aid information. Some small tweaks have been made to that post but one point required elaboration. There is some dispute over whether low risk micro businesses require a trained first aider. Below is my position. FIRST AID NEEDS ASSESSMENT … Continue reading “Trained first aiders in “low risk” microbusinesses”
Some time ago WorkSafe Victoria issued Compliance Codes on a number of workplace safety issues. One was concerning First Aid. The Compliance Codes were intended to replace Codes of Practice which had been around for decades. The previous major change to workplace first aid was in 1995 when the First Aid Code of Practice was … Continue reading “Flawed first aid information”
Regular readers will know that SafetyAWorkBlog believes that there is little justification for road/rail crossings, particularly in metropolitan areas, and that grade separation should be the aim of any crossing upgrades. Too often governments dismiss grade separation without serious consideration because it is usually the most expensive control option. Regardless of expense, elimination of hazards … Continue reading “Level crossings and safety management”
Recently in 2009, the Health Services Australia company launched a new swine flu website. The HSA site is run by a private health services company and came to the attention of SafetyAtWorkBlog through a news item by the OHS Commissioner of the Australian Capital Territory. The ACT OHS Commissioner may not be endorsing … Continue reading “Not another Australian swine flu website!?”
The Northern Territory OHS authority issued a guidance this week about unrestrained travel in work vehicles, a practice many of us stopped some time ago. Obviously not everyone has. The NT guidance is a curious document as it strongly advocates that employers assess the hazards of unrestrained travel and decide the appropriate control measures. This … Continue reading “Lack of restraint – Australian approach, Singapore deaths”
Working alone is an established workplace hazard in many industries. The control measure most applied is “don’t work alone” that is, undertake as many work tasks in isolated location with someone supervising or in close contact. Modern technology has often been applied as a possible control measure – “deadman switch”, GPS tracking, mobile phone use. … Continue reading “Working alone – a poorly understood work hazard”