Tips and Articles

Harmonisation impact on Volunteer organisations

Sun, 29 Jan 2012 03:01:00 GMT

Meals on Wheels is worried it will be forced to reduce its services if new OHS laws push its costs up too high.
Organisations which rely heavily on volunteers are warning they will have to have cut back on services because of changes to health and safety laws around the nation.

Under the law changes, volunteers are considered as workers and organisations say it will cost them more money.

Latest figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics show a staggering 6.4 million people do unpaid work.

Some volunteers deliver meals to the sick and the elderly. Others supervise scout camps or work as marshals at community events like Sydney's Gay Mardi Gras.

But according to health and safety expert Ken Phillips, this is about to change.

"Everyone is now exposed in a way that they have not been exposed in the past and the expectations on them now are to have the full resources around occupational health and safety (OHS) that you would expect of a government department, BHP, Coles Myer et cetera, et cetera," he said.

The new laws redefine volunteers as workers for health and safety purposes, which means they now have a duty to do what is reasonably practicable to prevent injury.

Breaches to those laws can attract large fines with volunteers facing penalties of up to $300,000.

Ken Phillips says the changes are a source of great anxiety. He obtained a memo from Scouts Australia warning its volunteers that if they do not follow their organisation's new procedures, they may be fined.

"What's always happened with OHS in terms of volunteers, it's the full application of common sense and that's really what drives the current situation," he said.

"What we're now talking of is bureaucratic requirements in terms of red tape, form filling and so forth that just are endless.

"So the Scout Association have, in their memo, have said that all scout games are going to have to be reviewed.

"They're going to have to have safety procedures around those games, they're going to have to have documented them and have all the procedures in place.

"I've seen some stuff sent through to me today where people are saying, you know, the volunteer committee that manages [the] local scout hall, they're not going to let people use the scout hall for parties anymore because the volunteers could be held liable if there's an incident at the party."

Mr Phillips says the new harmonised laws are creating an environment of complete confusion, not providing better protection mechanisms.

"Under OHS law, normal OHS law, people are held responsible for what they reasonably and practicably control," he said.

"These laws, these new laws for some strange reason have said, well you'll be held responsible for what is reasonable and practicable. They've dropped the word "control".

"The big debate occurring in the legal profession is whether or not now people can be held liable for things over which they didn't have control."

But according to the head of Meals on Wheels in NSW, Leslie MacDonald, it is the charity organisations, not the volunteers, that will be exposed.

"The real concern that I have is that there have been no discussions with government at all at this stage, or no suggestion from government that they're going to cover the substantial additional cost that that's going to require," he said.

Source: ABC News

Harmonisation monies withheld from Western Australia

Sun, 29 Jan 2012 02:58:00 GMT

The Western Australian Government has lashed out at the Federal Government over its threat to withhold millions of dollars from states that fail to implement national occupational health and safety laws.

A spokesman for the Prime Minister Julia Gillard says she is actively considering withholding reward payments from states that resist the changes.

The Federal Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations Bill Shorten says such action would be fair, as incompatible laws are costing Australian businesses tens of millions of dollars a week.

"How on earth can a national business in Australia be expected to be as successful as it can be, if it has to every time it crosses a state border speak a new language in occupational health and safety regulation," he said.

"We call upon the West Australian and Victorian governments in particular to join the national economy."

But the WA Minister for Commerce and Small Business Simon O'Brien says the Federal Government's timetable for change has been unreasonable.

"Look I'm quite amazed by this latest threat from Canberra because they're the ones that have consistently failed to meet their own deadlines on the way towards harmonisation," he said.

"I object to them using their own incompetence as an excuse to threaten us over money.

Mr O'Brien says the state has not been able to act because its still waiting on the Federal Government to provide its complete package of reforms.

"The Federal Government still hasn't provided the full package of laws to us," he said.

Source: ABC News

Harmonisation Debacle Continues

Sat, 07 Jan 2012 03:11:00 GMT

It is safe to say the introduction of the Workplace Health and Safety Legislation (Harmonisation) is a complete and utter shambles.

Many business owners are blissfully unaware there has even been a change. Federal and State Governments seems to be ignoring the whole debacle hoping it will all go away and no one will notice.

Meanwhile companies and business owners are being left to try and sort out the mess.

In terms of the actual state of play here is where we stand.

Jurisdiction: Commonwealth

Date of Implementation: 1 January 2012

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Jurisdiction: Australian Capital Territory

Date of Implementation: 1 January 2012

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New South Wales

Date of Implementation: 1 January 2012. Laws relating to officers’ due diligence duties are already in effect

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Northern Territory

Date of Implementation: 1 January 2012

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Queensland

Date of Implementation: 1 January 2012

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South Australia

Parliament voted to adjourn debate on the Work Health and Safety (WHS) Bill until 14 February 2012

___________________________________________________________

Tasmania

Tasmania’s Legislative Council amended the Bill by changing the commencement date to 1 January 2013. The Bill will be resubmitted to the House of Assembly for agreement.

___________________________________________________________

Victoria

Not yet introduced, the Victorian Government announced it would delay harmonisation

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Western Australia

Not yet introduced, the Western Australian Government has announced that it is unable to meet the 1 January 2012 implementation timeframe

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The development of the model WHS Act, the model WHS Regulations, 11 model Codes of Practice and the National Compliance and Enforcement Policy is complete. Work is continuing to develop further model Codes of Practice and guidance material to support the model laws.

So in summary, The Commonwealth, ACT, NSW, QLD and NT are now using the harmonised WHS Legislation, however TAS, VIC, SA and WA are not. So much for a national system!

In addition the Codes of Practice are also not finalised.

It is important to remember that 'transitional' arrangements are also in place - and you should refer to the Safe Work Australia website for specific details in each jurisdiction.

After talking to many businesses and organisations it is clear the harmonisation has been poorly planned and communicated, with many business owners unaware of the ramifications. Also we note there has been no effective advertising or media announcement from the Federal Government, so many people are in the dark.

Make no mistake there are some major changes in the harmonised laws, so we recommend keeping up to date with progress of the implementation and in particular the introduction of the new Codes of Practice.

Sorry we don't have more positive news on this front, but we will keep our members posted.

Regards

EasyOHS Support Team

Six Workplace Deaths in Eleven Days in Victoria

Sun, 04 Dec 2011 18:41:00 GMT

The national union for construction workers has raised concerns about workplace safety following the deaths of six workers in 11 days in Victoria.

In the latest accident, a 52-year-old Endeavour Hills man drowned while carrying out routine sampling work at a sewage treatment plant in Melbourne's south-east.

Another worker was run over by a street sweeper at Bayswater North.

Ian Forsythe, the executive director of health and safety at WorkSafe says it is the largest number of deaths in such a short time in a decade.

"The message we are wanting to get out to people is we are coming up to a very hectic time of year and people sit back, not cut corners and remind employers that the onus is on them to make sure that workplaces are safe," he said.

"November is traditionally a pretty dangerous time at workplaces, but certainly nothing in the realms of what we've seen in the last two weeks."

The CFMEU's national secretary, Dave Noonan, says employees are under pressure to cut corners.

He says one worker is killed in the construction industry in Australia every week.

"It's not actually good enough just to have a tick and flick paperwork exercise in relation to safety," he told ABC local radio.

"What you need is a situation where workers feel empowered to refuse unsafe work and that is under serious pressure, including in the construction industry at the moment."

Shaun Cox, the managing director of Melbourne Water, which manages the sewage treatment plant says police and WorkSafe are investigating the drowning.

He says staff are quite shocked by the incident.

"We're working with his family and friends to help them through it but we're also focused on his colleagues. He was working here for some five years," he told ABC local radio.

Emergency officials had to pump 1.5 million litres of sewage out of the pond to find the dead man's body.

First posted December 02, 2011 10:12:23 by ABC News

Workplace death fine 'justified'

Sun, 04 Dec 2011 18:43:00 GMT

WorkCover New South Wales says one of the largest ever fines issues to a Newcastle company for a workplace death is warranted given the seriousness of the accident.

Ullrich has been found guilty of two offences and fined $600,000.

Troy Murrell died after being crushed by a tonne of material at Ullrich Aluminium's Mayfield factory in September 2007.

It is not Ullrich's first safety breach, with the company convicted over the death of a worker at its Smithfield plant in Western Sydney in 1996.

WorkCover's John Watson says the fine for the Mayfield accident is appropriate.

"I guess it's in recognition of the fact that the risks associated with this tragic matter were foreseeable," he said.

"The legacy from this tragic death needs to be that employers in New South Wales must take every action they possibly can to provide a safe place of work for their employees."

WorkCover is using the incident to remind Hunter region workers not to let their guard down in terms of safety, as businesses wind down ahead of Christmas.

Mr Watson says the festive season is a time when safety standards often slip.

"There's a couple of things that happen at Christmas, first of all with people finishing their school career we have young workers entering the workplace and also of course people do get focussed on the upcoming holidays.

"So really what we need to do is as employees and as managers is to ensure that we keep focussed on making sure that we do follow the procedures."

First posted December 01, 2011 07:27:18 by ABC News

Opposition claims NT Worksafe in state of decay

Sun, 04 Dec 2011 18:44:00 GMT

The Northern Territory Opposition says NT Worksafe will not be equipped to police workplace safety legislation to meet a national agreement.

The Opposition says the national legislation has not been agreed to by South Australia, WA, Victoria or Tasmania but the Territory is rushing to meet a deadline of January next year.

The Shadow Attorney-General John Elferink has concerns about union rights of entry and civil prosecutions that could be pursued under the laws that do not protect the right to silence.

But he says on a practical level the organisation charged with enforcing the law is not up to the job.

"I am concerned that it is beyond the capacity of Northern Territory Worksafe to effectively police this legislation. Northern Territory Worksafe as an organisation is in a state of decay," Mr Elferink said.

"In the Northern Territory you will effectively create a system of ex-officio inspectors generated through the union movement doing Worksafe's job for them."

But the Treasurer says the Opposition is raising the same anti-union criticisms of workplace safety laws that were proven wrong in the 1980s.

Delia Lawrie says business groups called for the national legislation and all states and Territories have either passed their own bills or are about to do so.

"Go and talk to the families affected by workplace injury and death and try to explain to them Member for Port Darwin why you think having standard and fair workplace safety regulation across the nation is wrong, because you're anti-union," Ms Lawrie said.

The Opposition's Business Spokesman Dave Tollner says NT Worksafe does not have any empathy with business owners.

"Worksafe is a union contaminated organisation here in the Northern Territory," Mr Tollner said.

"They're not very focussed at all on workplace safety. They're more focussed on how they can provide a good landing pad for washed-out union officials and I think that's very sad."

The government says the Country Liberals are stubbornly opposing the bill because they have an ideological aversion to unions.

First posted December 01, 2011 07:27:18 by ABC News

Man killed after excavator reversed over him

Sun, 04 Dec 2011 18:45:00 GMT

Worksafe is investigating the death of a 72 year-old man in Innaloo this afternoon.

The man was run over by an excavator that was reversing out of parkland near the Morris Road shopping centre.

The man is understood to have been working at a nearby community recreation centre but was not involved in the work being carried out by the excavator.

Inspectors from the safety watchdog have interviewed witnesses and will prepare a report for the coroner.

First posted November 25, 2011 18:25:10 by ABC News

Designer drug infiltrating workplaces

Tue, 01 Nov 2011 05:49:00 GMT

Synthetic cannabinoids is becoming an easy workplace drug of choice for Australian high flyers and workers alike, increasing the risk of death and serious injury in the workplace.

Up to one third of Australians working in safety sensitive industries are getting away with taking the herbal and chemical product also known as kronic, legal weed, K2, Spice and Kaos.

According to one of Australia’s leading supplier of drug and alcohol screening programs, Medvet Laboratories, ambiguous drug testing policies are increasing the risk of death and serious injury in the workplace.

Medvet Laboratories national operations and technical manager Steve Korkoneas said mining, manufacturing, transport and construction organisations must ensure their drug testing policies proactively addressed synthetic cannabinoids.

“Synthetic cannabinoids is usually smoked and imitates the psychoactive and physical effects of real cannabis,” Mr Korkoneas said.

“Users may experience short-term memory loss, changes in sensory perception, a decrease in alertness and reaction time, loss of balance and coordination, feelings of euphoria, hallucinations and psychosis.

“The addictive drug is potentially 100 stronger than real cannabis, impairing workers’ ability to operate machinery, make sensible judgements and turn up fit for work.

“While synthetic cannabis has been banned in 16 countries and is illegal in Australia, regulation and control is limited, and legislation only outlaws specific compounds.

“People are subsequently creating new, modified compounds in order to dodge the system and legally sell the product on the street and in retail outlets such as delis.

“In fact, the Western Australian State Government’s drug testing laboratory has found that up to thirty per cent of miners had used synthetic cannabinoids and there was an average of ten percent usage across all sites.

“As synthetic cannabinoids does not contain tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the chemical present in real cannabis, it cannot be detected by commonly used, on-site urine and oral fluid tests.

“While laboratory drug testing can detect synthetic cannabinoids, a suspected user can only be tested if the specific substance, required detection levels and method of testing are stipulated in the organisation’s drug testing policy.”

Mr Korkoneas said organisations must vigilantly monitor the introduction of drugs and create drug testing policies that could quickly adapt to new products as they became available.

“Organisations may need to review and expand their individual policies to take synthetic cannabinoids and other new drugs into account,” Mr Korkoneas said.

“It is estimated that 20-25% of all workplace injuries are a result of drug and alcohol use.

“Workplace drug testing should therefore be considered an essential element in all safety-sensitive industries.”

Mr Korkoneas offered the following tips on how to implement an effective drug and alcohol testing policy:

-Establish a committee to oversee policy development.
-Outline the organisation’s aims and objectives.
-State who can be tested, prohibited substances, required detection levels and testing methodologies.
-Stipulate what constitutes an infringement.
-Describe how to identify an hindered person.
-Implement a trial period.
-Distribute the policy to all employees, regardless of position.
-Conduct mandatory information and training seminars.
-Regularly evaluate and modify the policy.

Construction worker killed at Brisbane University

Tue, 01 Nov 2011 03:41:00 GMT

A construction worker has died in an accident at a University of Queensland building project in Brisbane.

Emergency crews were called to the university in St Lucia in Brisbane's inner west at 9:50am (AEST).

Police say machinery that supports the pouring of concrete collapsed at a construction site, causing the death of one of the workers.

Police have cordoned off the area and are expected to hand over the investigation to Workplace Health and Safety.

The man's work colleagues are gathered outside the building and a representative from the CFMEU has arrived at the site.

Classes at the university are continuing as normal.

School swim classes upgraded from 'medium' to 'high risk' in Queensland State Schools

Tue, 01 Nov 2011 05:47:00 GMT

SWIMMING activities have been upgraded from medium to high risk in state schools this year.

The new guidelines have also been changed to clearly state "in the water supervision" of one adult to every 10 students is recommended for pupils with little or no swimming supervision.

For children under five years old, it is a ratio of one to five.

Education Queensland acting executive director Hayley Stevenson said the supervision ratios themselves had not changed and while there was no record of a drowning ever occurring during a school swimming lesson, the upgrade was in response to Workplace Health and Safety recommendations.

She said it acknowledged the heightened community awareness of the importance of water safety.

"Queensland State Schools have been safely managing school swimming lessons for generations," Ms Stevenson said.

While the Department has no record of a drowning occurring during school swimming lessons, it regularly reviews its practices to ensure the safety and wellbeing of students and staff is paramount."

The clarification around "in the water supervision" has sparked a number of schools this term to ensure three adults are in the water with Prep classes, rather than some being out of the water, although others say this has been their practice "for many years".

While Prep students are aged five or six in the second half of the year, swimming in the first half of the year would see the ratio guidelines move to one adult for every five students for those aged under five.

Queensland Association of State School Principals president Hilary Backus said she believed the new guidelines were a good balance between ensuring safety and schools still being able to deliver swimming lessons.

In a principal update in September she warned an initial recommendation that a Bronze Medallion holder be present at every swimming lesson "would have made it impossible to conduct swimming lessons" at some schools.

Yesterday she said schools "got quite a fright" by the condition given a PE teacher without the medallion may have been teaching swimming for decades.

That recommendation has now been relaxed.

Ms Stevenson said the guidelines were guidelines only and allowed schools the flexibility to make sensible decisions about supervision.

At Virginia State School, where Prep students were lapping up their swimming lesson this week, principal Tim Farrell said they were very fortunate to have a supportive and motivated school community and had required two volunteers to be in the water with Prep and Year 1 students "for many years".

Safe Work Week - Start Preparing For New Safety Laws

Tue, 01 Nov 2011 04:45:00 GMT

Queensland workplaces are putting their staff at risk with ABS figures showing nearly 150,000 workers injuring themselves in the state's workplaces each year, yet only 0.02% of Queenslanders are first aid qualified.

Safe Work Week, happening this week, is a time to encourage all working Australians to get involved in and concentrate on safety in their workplace to reduce death, injury and disease.

The Chamber of Commerce and Industry Queensland has used the annual event to remind business owners and managers that they will be personally liable for the health and safety of their workers at the beginning of next year under the most significant shake-up to workplace health and safety laws in decades.

They now have two months to prepare their workplaces and ensure they are compliant with new safety laws, which come into effect on January 1.

Significantly higher penalties will also apply not only after a workplace incident but if a random audit by Workplace Health and Safety Queensland (WHSQ) finds a business has failed to put in place adequate safety plans.

Companies can be fined up to $3 million, while officers can be fined up to $600,000 and five-year jail term

CCIQ has been prompted by the impending new laws to stage training courses specifically for directors, CEOs and managers. (More information at www.cciq.com.au)

CCIQSafety senior workplace health and safety consultant Jamen Wilcox said the legislation removed the role of the Workplace Health and Safety Officer and instead placed full active responsibility in managers' hands.

"Just as managers and owners manage the finances or operations, they'll now be obliged to actively manage the health and safety risks of their business, too," he said.

"The key to surviving the new legislation is to start now with a workplace audit and action plan, supported by training to ensure your managers understand what safety standards they are obliged to uphold."

Businesses will also hold greater responsibility for monitoring workplace conditions and worker health, and discriminatory, coercive or misleading conduct in relation to safety matters will attract civil and criminal penalties.

Mr Wilcox said even small business owners needed to take notice, with bullying, harassment and manual handling injuries regarded as serious safety breaches.

"While the new laws focused on giving greater certainty and uniformity across Australia, they also bring with it the cost and time needed to implement procedures, policies and plans. By starting now, two months before the laws come into effect, business owners can be better prepared."

Laws to put curbs on farm quad bikes

Tue, 01 Nov 2011 05:43:00 GMT

NEW national laws are under consideration to make it compulsory for all farm users of quad bikes to wear helmets. And children under 16 may be banned from operating adult-sized four-wheel motorcycles on farms.

The legislative moves are set to follow the launch of a national strategy aimed at reducing the number of serious farm accidents involving quad bikes and all-terrain vehicles.

They are now the leading cause of death and injury on Australian farms, causing 18 deaths already this year. Since 2000, there have been 140 fatalities on farms linked to quad bikes, many of them children engaged in mustering and other farm work.

More than half the deaths were caused by crushing and asphyxiation after rollovers.

The new national strategy, developed this year by Workplace Safety authorities from all Australian states and New Zealand, together with farmers and motorcycle manufacturers, recommends the mandatory wearing of helmets on quad bikes.

A certified national rider training program for farmers and farmhands using quad bikes -- another recommendation of the taskforce -- will be launched tomorrow at Dubbo in central western NSW as part of National Safety Week.

John Watson, chairman of the workplace safety regulatory group, believes the high number of farm deaths linked to quad bikes makes regulation urgent.

"We've got to do more -- there are too many accidents and deaths on farms now," said Mr Watson, head of occupational health and safety with WorkCover NSW.

"A move forward with legislation is the way to go. In the meantime, this strategy shows we think helmets and limits on children under 16 riding adult bikes should be mandatory."

$350,000 Fine over steel frame fatality

Tue, 01 Nov 2011 05:39:00 GMT

THE building company responsible for a structure that collapsed and killed a 47-year-old man in Dandenong has been fined for failing to ensure the workplace was safe.

On April 2, 2008, Langwarrin man John Parton was killed when a 200 metre by 100 metre steel frame fell on him at a South Park industrial estate building site.

The principal builder, Australand Industrial Constructions, was fined $350,000 over the incident in the Melbourne County Court last Friday week.

While Australand had subcontracted the construction to Steelfield, which then subcontracted out to A&S Structural Welding without Australand's knowledge, "Australand did not even ask that Steelfield ensure someone was checking and ensuring stability".

Judge Liz Gaynor, in her judgment reasoning, stated the site involved many workers and the potential for harm was high. She the steel structure was insufficiently braced to resist high winds experienced that day.

Australand had introduced a number of steps since then to prevent such an incident reoccuring, and did all it could to support its staff and Mr Parton's family when he died.

"I do note that the site was shut for two weeks immediately after the incident and Australand provided counselling to all employees and some sub-contractors, and that Australand also arranged for a top-up on the minimum insurance that the deceased's employee company had taken out to ensure a maximum payout for the deceased's family," Judge Gaynor wrote in her reasons for sentence.

If Australand had not pleaded guilty, Judge Gaynor would have fined Australand $500,000.

Acting director of WorkSafe's construction and utilities team Allan Beacom said ensuring partially erected structures were stable was a simple step, but one that was often ignored.

"There are a surprisingly high number of structural failures where this simple step has not been done, and in every case, people are at risk," he said. "The incident must act as a reminder to all that fundamental safety responsibilities must be adhered to."

Charges arising from the incident against other defendants are still to be heard.

Virgin Pilot Blasted Off Stairs by Plane Thrust

Tue, 01 Nov 2011 03:43:00 GMT

A Virgin spokeswoman said the pilot was on the aluminium stairs outside his aircraft as a Qantas 747 was taxiing for take off.

The first officer was conducting a pre-flight check before a flight to Bali when the stairs toppled from the force of the plane's engine thrust, Virgin said.

"The incident occurred last Friday and it's being investigated," the spokeswoman said.

Brisbane Airports Corporation said it was working with Qantas and Virgin to get to the bottom of the accident, which occurred as the Virgin plane was standing at a gate at the international terminal.

"It's the first incident of this nature that I am aware," a BAC spokeswoman said.

The Australian and International Pilots Association said it was an occupational health and safety issue for the BAC and the airlines to investigate.

Qantas said it had complied with all regulations and had reported the incident to the Air Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB).

"We were operating normally under guidance from air traffic control," a Qantas spokesman said.

"We didn't use excessive thrust and we reported it to ATSB, and it's up to Virgin and Brisbane Airport to look into.

"We say we weren't doing anything out of the ordinary and Virgin says it was not doing anything out of the ordinary, so the question is should an aircraft be parked at that bay while an aircraft is going past?"

The ATSB said it would not be investigating the incident as there was little to be gained.

"It was reported to us but we are not investigating it," an ATSB spokesman said.

Fonterra convicted and fined after workplace death

Tue, 01 Nov 2011 05:44:00 GMT

Unsafe storage has resulted in an industry-wide warning from WorkSafe after dairy products manufacturer Fonterra Australia Pty Ltd was convicted and fined $300,000 in the Melbourne County Court.

WorkSafe’s General Manager for Operations, Lisa Sturzenegger, said all businesses had to ensure they could safely store bulk products or other stock.

Fonterra Australia pleaded guilty to one charge* after a forklift driver died at its Stanhope cheese factory in September 2009. WorkSafe’s investigation found the man died when a one-tonne bag of salt fell on him.

Judge Frank Gucciardo said the system for stacking bags at Stanhope was unsafe.

He said it was not until after the man’s death that a safe racking system was put in place and a written procedure developed. Had it not been for its guilty plea, Fonterra would have been fined $400,000.

WorkSafe’s investigation found the practice of stacking bulk salt bags at Stanhope was unsafe as the tops of lower bags may not be sufficiently level to safely accommodate those on top.

The danger was such that if the surface of a bag was not level, even a small disturbing force could cause the stack to topple.

Marking the start of WorkSafe Week, Sturzenegger said common safety failings involving routine tasks cause the overwhelming majority of workplace injuries and deaths.

“In this case the bags of salt were delivered and stacked every week. The lesson for others is to understand the potential safety issues, consult with the workforce and fix problems.

“It’s extraordinary how quickly things can change in the workplace so it’s important that regular reviews are carried out and ensure people stay up to date.

“When disaster strikes, there’s no going back. Fixing issues after the event is not the solution.

“Incidents like this one hit families, businesses and communities hard. They have long-term-effects.

“Getting safety right means no one has to go through what this family and this company have had to,” Sturzenegger said.