Safe Work Month will be a little different this year
Go to https://www.safeworkaustralia.gov.au/national-safe-work-month/whats-on to see what events are happening in your region and online
The NSW mine safety regulator has issued its annual report for 2018/2019
You can read more here https://www.amsj.com.au/nsw-mine-safety-regulators-report/
Music SA has a great resource to help manage the risks for the music industry
This guide has links to
Have a look at http://www.musicsa.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/COVID-venue-best-practice-guide_WEB.pdf
National Farm Safety Week is July 20 – 25.
As explained by Safework SA, this week is about highlighting the importance of business and industry working together to increase the wellbeing of Australian farmers through innovation and improved attention to health and safety outcomes.
Have a look here https://www.safework.sa.gov.au/news-and-alerts/news/news/news-alerts/farm-safety-week,-20-25-july-2020
Safety Geek has a background working in farm safety so #asksafetygeek if you need help.
October is National Safe Work Month and this year’s theme, Work Health and Safety through COVID-19, is about the impacts of COVID-19 on Australian businesses, employers and workers.
Check out the website to find out more https://www.safeworkaustralia.gov.au/national-safe-work-month
Return to Work SA have free online skill building workshops available
for Employers
Topics include
The 2020 / 21 training calendar is here
RTWSA training and events can be found here https://www.rtwsa.com/about-us/returntoworksa/events
safetygeek is qualified in Return to Work injury management if you need any advice on the RTW Act and work injury response
There has been a huge increase in demand for P2 respirators for use against airborne pollutants with recent events in Australia such as bushfires and the COVID 19 Pandemic. Many more non-compliant respirators are becoming available.
The Australian Institute of Health & Safety has released this media statement https://www.aihs.org.au/news-and-publications/news/media-release-urgent-call-national-register-respirators-protect
A coalition of workplace health and safety related organisations across Australia and New Zealand, and the ACTU called today for the urgent establishment of a register for approved respirators (aka face masks). The group describes the presence of non-compliant, fake and faulty disposable masks as an immediate threat to the health and safety of workers.
The guide to purchasing P2 and equivalent masks is available here
Plant is a major cause of workplace death and injury in Australian workplaces. As detailed in Managing the risks of plant in the workplace – Code of Practice there are significant risks associated with using plant and severe injuries can result from the unsafe use of plant, including
Other risks include hearing loss due to noisy plant and musculoskeletal disorders caused by manually handling or operating plant that is poorly designed
This recent safety alert from Worksafe NT highlights how important plant risk assessments are
If you are unsure about any aspects of plant risk assessments #asksafetygeek
Working on roofs can be high risk
Many activities carried out on roofs are considered ‘construction work’
This includes work carried out in connection with altering,
converting, renovating, repairing, maintaining, demolishing or dismantling a roof of a structure
Examples of these activities include
Minor work on roofs that is not considered ‘construction work’, for example cleaning roof gutters or replacing individual roof tiles, can also have the same hazards, especially the risk of falls
There have been several serious incidents recently involving working on roofs
https://www.worksafe.qld.gov.au/injury-prevention-safety/alerts/incident-alerts/2020/roof-falls
https://www.worksafe.vic.gov.au/news/2020-05/man-dies-fall-incident
For more on safe work on roofs see the information sheet here from safeworkaustralia.gov.au/
Head to https://www.safeworkaustralia.gov.au/covid-19-information-workplaces for specific COVID 19 information for each industry.
The following guidance is also available to help workplaces with the current COVID risks and their WHS obligations
#asksafetygeek if you want to know more