Machine guarding is one of the most effective and longstanding control measures for occupational hazards. Sometimes safety people even get excited about them. Equally safety people, regulators and magistrates, get angry when the guards are left off. One company in South Australia on 1 February 2010 received two penalties for similar hand injuries that occurred … Continue reading “No guard = hand injuries + $50k penalty”
Only a day or two after writing about fines applied in Victoria over ignoring improvement notices from OHS inspectors, a similar case has been reported by SafeWork South Australia. According to SafeWorkSA: “Gillman-based Adelaide Ship Construction International Pty Ltd was fined $13,500 after pleading guilty to failing to comply with three Prohibition Notices issued by SafeWork SA. The … Continue reading “Operating cranes without a certificate costs $13,500”
Australia’s Productivity Commission released its draft report into Performance Benchmarking of Australian Business Regulation: Occupational Health and Safety on 27 January 2010. The 432-page report will take some time to read and digest but below are the general key points of the report “This study compares inter-jurisdictional differences in occupational health and safety (OHS) legislation in … Continue reading “Business assessment of OHS”
As safety professionals start to return to work in Australia after their Summer break, speculation for 2010 increases. Many are wondering who will replace John Merritt as the executive Director of WorkSafe Victoria? The appointment process is likely to take a couple of months but there are several possible candidates. One could be Julia Davison of WorkCover … Continue reading “CEO changes in Australian OHS”
Illegal migrant workers are not a big problem in Australia. Those who are caught are usually working outside of the allowances of their tourist or student visas. Being an island nation and the bottom of the world, Australia does not have border protection issues to the extent of the United States or Europe. That’s an … Continue reading “Coordinated raid on illegal workers in Australia”
First aid is one of the most neglected areas of workplace health and safety but, when required , vital. The neglect comes from it rarely being integrated into the safety management system and on relying of the advice from first aid training and equipment suppliers. “Why shouldn’t it be relied on? They’re the experts.” In … Continue reading ““Best Practice…First Aid”? – not sure”
SafeWork South Australia has illustrated a situation that is common in Australian workplaces – no matter how hard one tries to ensure safety, things can still go wrong. In a court case on 20 November 2009, four farm operators were fined over a foreseeable incident that cost a 20-year-old the sight in one eye as well a … Continue reading “Serious injuries can occur regardless of good OHS intentions”