Category: Safety Conscious

Having the awareness and knowledge of safety and being able to respond to the environment.

Formwork Compliance Audits – Construction Industry Qld

WHSQ is conducting compliance audits in the formwork sector of the construction industry.


WHY?

Because formwork incidents involving the collapse or failure of formwork systems and components can have serious consequences. Several formwork incidents this year have highlighted the need for improvements in the safe construction and use of formwork systems.


WHAT DO THEY LOOK FOR?

Stage one will be a desktop audit focussing on formwork documentation.

Stage two will be an audit of the formwork structure and verifying the documented formwork systems. This will include the inspection of erected formwork systems and safe work practices.
The audits will assess compliance with the Formwork Code of Practice 2016.


WHO IS BEING TARGETED?

This is a state-wide campaign targeting employers whose business involves formwork construction activities, formwork designers and engineers, formwork contractors and principal contractors.


HOW DO YOU PREPARE?

During the audits inspectors will focus on:

  • documentation
  • inspection practices
  • modular proprietary formwork systems
  • bracing
  • defective material
  • erection and dismantling procedures
  • other trade workers
  • access and egress
  • stacked materials
  • lifting
  • training of workers.

You should review your work practices to ensure your workplace complies with the Formwork Code of Practice 2016.

Find out more at https://www.worksafe.qld.gov.au/construction/articles/formwork-industry-compliance-audits

Get Smart – Workplace Security and Safety

My guest blog post written for Luke the Locksmith’s blog…

Do you remember the opening credits of Get Smart, where Maxwell Smart (Agent 83) goes through all the door and the telephone box to get to the office?

I once experienced a similar feeling going to see a Jeweller to have my wedding ring designed and made. At the time I thought it was rather strange that he was hidden away in the depths of a shopping arcade with no shop frontage. When I finally got the entrance, a large steel door, I was required to call through the video intercom system to enter.

When I entered, I was in an empty white consultation room with nothing but a black table and four chairs. But I could see behind a thick transparent wall a workshop full of tools and equipment. No doubt extremely expensive tools and equipment required for precision work he performed. The Jeweller entered the consultation room from the workshop through yet another heavy steel door.

I guess it is pretty obvious why a Jeweller would have such extreme security…diamonds, rubies and gold!

While this security seemed a little confronting, we must remember, is that not everyone in the world is a law-abiding citizen. Some will go to great lengths to break and enter your premises to steal valuable goods and equipment. And that some, are barbaric enough to enter a workplace, take people hostage and cause serious harm (physically and mentally) to workers in order to get something valuable.

Under our harmonised health and safety laws, employers have a duty to provide and maintain a safe workplace for employees. This doesn’t just apply in Jewellers with lots of diamonds. An office with computers, a service-station with cash and a Bottle shop with liquor are all prime targets for the unscrupulous.

The Managing the work environment and facilities Code of Practice (Qld) requires employers to ensure they provide and maintain a safe work environment this includes security measures such as:

  • Amenity Facilities should provide privacy and security for men and women.
  • The entry and exit to and from the workplace must be safe.
  • Doors and gates should be fitted with safety devices if necessary.
  • Accessible and secure storage provided at the workplace for personal items belonging to workers
  • Managing the personal security risks associated with isolated work, for example:
    • a cleaner working by themselves at night in a city office building
    • all-night convenience store and service station attendants
    • sales representatives, including real estate agents
    • health and community workers working in isolation with members of the public.
  • Accommodation facilities should also be lockable, with safe entry and exit.

These are all duties of the business owner (person conducting the business or undertaking). For many business owners who lease commercial properties, the duty still sits with you. You may need to negotiate the installation of security measures with your landlord, but it is your risk and therefore your responsibility.

When advising clients on workplace security solutions in my local Brisbane area, I refer them to my local trusted Locksmith, Luke Gillings – aka Luke the Locksmith.

When it comes to managing the safety and security of your workers and workplaces, we never want to hear you say… “I missed it by that much”.

For a quick nostalgic trip or for those who may be too young, here is a YouTube link to the Get Smart Intro: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kv3kcnI72Ec

COVID-19 in the Workplace

It doesn’t matter if you’re a worker or someone who is responsible for workers, you must identify and manage work health and safety risks including the exposure to COVID-19. Businesses should also plan to respond to cases of COVID-19 at work in line with advice provided by Queensland Health www.health.gov.au.

COVID-19 can spread from person to person in a similar way to the flu:

  • from close contact with an infected person
  • from touching objects or surfaces contaminated by the sneeze or cough of an infected person and then touching your eyes, nose or mouth.

COVID-19 can cause symptoms similar to the flu, including fever, cough, sore throat, tiredness or shortness of breath. It is important to remember, we are also entering flu season, so this means people who become ill with respiratory symptoms at work are likely to be suffering from a cold, the flu or other respiratory illness and may not have COVID-19.

Preventing the spread of infection at work

Simple hygiene practices, similar to those used to protect against the flu, can help prevent the spread of COVID-19 and other respiratory infections.

For workers – remember you have a duty of care to yourself and to others in the workplace. Here are 5 things you should do:

  1. Wash your hands frequently with soap and water or use an alcohol-based hand sanitiser.
  2. Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue or flexed elbow when coughing or sneezing, dispose of tissues immediately after use and wash your hands or apply hand sanitiser.
  3. Avoid close contact with anyone who has cold or flu-like symptoms.
  4. Stay home if you are unwell.
  5. Now is time to ensure you eat healthy, continue to exercise and avoid excessive alcohol consumption which may reduce your immune system.

For employers – your duty is to ensure health and safety to your workers and others in the workplace, so far as reasonably practicable. Here are 5 reasonably practical things all employers can do:

  1. Provide hand washing facilities and make sure these are kept clean, properly stocked and in good working order.
    • Provide alcohol-based hand sanitiser, tissues and cleaning supplies.
    • Promote good hygiene practices, e.g. display posters on hand washing and respiratory hygiene.
  2. Keep the workplace clean and hygienic.
    • Regularly cleaning high-touch surfaces such as door handles, desks, tables and objects (e.g. telephones, keyboards) need to be wiped with disinfectant regularly to help prevent contamination.
    • Spray offices spaces and rooms with anti-bacterial spray (e.g. Glen 20).
  3. Restrict or where possible, cancel travel plans. Visit the Smartraveller website before arranging business travel to destinations with cases of COVID-19.
  4. Encourage workers who are sick with respiratory illness to stay home until they are recovered.
    • If someone becomes ill with respiratory symptoms at work, if possible, send them home and advise them to seek medical advice. If they are very unwell, go to a medical centre.
    • In the short term try to isolate them by placing them in a room or an area away from others.
  5. Where possible provide flexible work arrangements and encourage workers to reduce their potential exposure by working from home.

If a worker is confirmed to have COVID-19, call 13HEALTH (13 43 25 84) for advice.

Inform co-workers about possible exposure to COVID-19 but maintain confidentiality. Advise workers to seek immediate medical advice if they develop symptoms or are concerned about their health.

For businesses where workers are at increased risk from contact with suspected or confirmed cases of COVID-19 (e.g. healthcare industry), additional infection prevention and control practices are required. Guidance for specific industries is available at www.health.gov.au.

Personal Protective Equipment

Surgical masks can help prevent the spread of disease from infected people to others but are not currently recommended for healthy members of the public to prevent COVID-19. Remember, PPE is an administrative control, like all hazards we should not rely on PPE to keep us safe. It is our last line of defence.

Working from home

Working from home is an excellent business continuity approach. It is important to remember, as an employer, if you endorse working from home, then the home becomes a workplace.

This is where it becomes complicated as you are not in control of your employees’ home. The best approach when discussing working from home with your staff is to identify the various health and safety hazards and risks that are in the home, similar to how you would in the regular workplace. This may include:

  • Workstations – the computer, desk, phone and office chair set-up
  • Lighting, noise, ventilation
  • Stairs and Floor surfaces for potential slips, trips and falls
  • Children or pets in the home
  • Taking adequate rest breaks
  • Electrical Safety – double adapters, power boards.
  • Emergency preparedness and response – fire alarms, first-aid.

I always encourage you to ask your employee to complete a work from home plan and include a photo of the workspace (including the chair).

Here is a Working from home Plan template!

Consultation & Communication

Start the conversation tomorrow. We are all watching the news and seeing various information through social media. Much of this can be confusing or conflicting and maybe causing concern and increased stress for your employees.

I encourage you to hold pre-start meetings, conversations or staff meetings as soon as possible to brief your employees, that if COVID-19 starts spreading in your workplace anyone with even a mild cough or low-grade fever needs to stay at home. I also suggest you brief your contractors and customers about how you plan to operate the business in the coming weeks.

Most importantly, these conversations need to cover:

  • How the business will continue to operate – sales, services who is delivering them and when?
  • What happens if you cannot work – what are the leave arrangements?
  • Who is working from home and how they can be contacted.
  • Plans for supplies – hygiene, as well as, your regular stock.
  • Who is cleaning the workplace?
  • Who do employees call if they have any concerns about their health or employment?
  • Reporting injuries or illness if working from home, or they become ill at work.
  • How you will continue to communicate with staff regarding any of the above points
  • When the next meeting is to discuss changes to the plan or update the circumstances.
  • Now is the time to get smart and start using the technology we have in our hands – face time, conference calls, zoom meetings and video conference calls. There is plenty of functionality on your phones to enable connection, collaboration and contact with employees, contractors and customers virtually to eliminate exposure.

If you need any advice or assistance with setting safe expectations for your business and your employees contact me here

Raising the WHS bar for boards

This is an article I wrote for the OHS Professional Magazine published on 25 November 2019.

As the newly elected chair of the Institute, I wanted to take the opportunity in my first article to welcome new members who are reading the magazine for their first time and to recognise and thank everyone who continues to support the Institute through their ongoing membership. I am very honoured to be given the opportunity by my peers to represent and lead you.

The theme for this edition of OHS Professional is Governance, which is slightly ironic for a new Chair writing their first piece. However, the significance of the increasingly complex and challenging governance and risk landscape is not lost on me. As an avid follower of enterprise governance, risk and compliance issues, I am mindful that Companies, Boards and Executives are feeling the impact of the Hayne and other Royal Commissions, Senate inquiries and inquests with increased regulatory action, investigation and personal exposure for directors.

While this is an area of interest of mine, I do encourage all OHS Professionals to ensure they are aware of the issues and challenges facing directors, executives and ‘officers’, so that you can effectively support or advise those you work with. In particular, with the strong focus being placed on non-financial risk after being recognised as a ‘critical governance issue’ by the APRA’s prudential inquiry into CBA and The Hayne Report.

In his final report, Commissioner Hayne observed that “the evidence before the Commission showed that too often, boards did not get the right information about emerging non-financial risks; did not do enough to seek further or better information where what they had was clearly deficient, and did not do enough with the information they had to oversee and challenge management’s approach to these risks”.

Even though the attention has been on the financial services sector, to many even the not for profit sector this has been a big wake up call. Directors are being urged to consider their risk management frameworks and satisfy themselves, on an ongoing basis, that their policies and processes are robust.

I am finding in my work, boards are starting to dedicate greater attention to assessing culture and governance, including more appropriate metrics (let’s hope we can finally move on from LTIFR). They are wanting to better articulate their risk appetite and increase their understanding of where the risk of harm is greatest. They are placing more focus on stakeholders with whom to engage and seeking independent, external support that may be required.

For OHS Professionals, I see this as an opportunity to engage in meaningful conversation with directors about the structures, frameworks and resourcing for health and safety within your (or client’s) organisations. The time to take a good look at what is in place, how it could be improved and to influence leaders with sound, evidence-based strategies to improve health and safety in the workplace and potentially the industry and broader community. I think it is important as individuals and collectively as a profession, we harness the opportunity to provide insightful information to our leaders and the officers of our organisations.

To that end, as the ‘gatekeepers’ for the Institute’s we have taken it time to reflect on our structures, risks and performance. Recognising we operate in a challenging environment and one that is changing constantly under the influence of governments and regulators and in the face of changing technologies. And when it comes to managing risks, in particular non-financial risks, we continue to ensure our Finance, Risk, Audit, Performance and Compliance Committee receives adequate non-financial risk information, including indicators of emerging risks, to support constructive debate and challenge.

More strategically and as an industry leader, we believe it is essential that we come to clear positions on emerging challenges so that we can prosecute these positions to those with influence without fear or intimidation. We recognise we must ‘walk the talk in an authentic manner” so far as risk management, not only internally but in the broader sphere of influence we have.

Most importantly, it is incumbent on the Board to establish and maintain on an ongoing basis, good methods of communication with members, corporate partners, industry groups and the broader community. To ensure we share our strategic direction, how our goals and objectives will be achieved and to provide mechanisms for feedback in terms of our progress and performance.