You may have read our previous article regarding a fatality in Brisbane Recent Fatality, workplace Health and Safety Queensland have released the following Safety Alert detailing actions required. Purpose The purpose of this safety alert is to highlight the risks associated with lifting formwork and the need to make sure the lifting method is [...]
Marissa Deeble from WorkSafe’s Prevention Strategy Division focuses on the safety of workers who perform cleaning tasks. Have you ever thought about the safety of the workers who clean your workshop or office and why are they referred to as the invisible army? Often we focus on the workers who perform ‘high risk’ tasks such [...]
New work health and safety laws commenced in the Commonwealth, New South Wales, Queensland, the Australian Capital Territory, and the Northern Territory on 1st January 2012. Victoria, Western Australia and Tasmania have deferred the implementation of these new laws for a further 12 months and South Australian parliament have voted to adjourn the debate on the WHS Bill until 14 [...]
From February 2012, Workplace Health and Safety Queensland will be targeting swing stage scaffold erection and use through a state-wide enforcement campaign. Inspectors will be looking for evidence that erectors and users meet the revised training requirements and that standards described in the amended Scaffolding Code of Practice 2009 are met or exceeded. The changes, [...]
The Northern Territory, in conjunction with the Commonwealth and other state and territory governments us committed to improving the work health and safety of all Australian workers and enhancing productivity by harmonising work health and safety legislation across Australia. Model legislation has been developed and all states and territories are committed to enacting the new [...]
There are a number of changes to Queensland’s Codes of Practice. 1. There are 11 new codes of practice adopted by Queensland through the national harmonisation process. 2. The Recreational Diving, Recreational Technical Diving and Snorkelling Code of Practice 2010 will be remade under the Safety in Recreational Water Activities Act 2011. 3. There are [...]
Introduction There is little doubt from reading the myriad of comments made on various sites that workplace bullying and harassment continues to fuel discussion. In fact, I have just finished reading a number of comments made by some obviously very traumatised workers from the public and private sector. There are some common threads relating to: [...]
OHSA provides a great insight into the importance of training; Employers must have an overall safety program including relative site specific safety information where applicable. The safety training program should cover topics such as: Accident Prevention and Safety Promotion Safety Compliance Accident and Emergency Response Personal Protective Equipment Safety Practices Equipment and Machinery Chemical and [...]
This is a fantastic article submitted by one of our readers, Grant McCosh on evacuating people with disabilities. Mobility Impairments Since elevators should not be used for evacuation during a fire alarm, people with mobility impairments will need assistance evacuating the building unless on the ground floor. As people with mobility impairments have varying [...]
Workplace Health and Safety Queensland is investigating a fatal incident that occurred on Monday 31 October 2011 at a construction site within the University of Queensland, St Lucia Campus, Brisbane. A worker was killed while a formwork shutter was being raised to about one metre above the ground by crane. Lengths of timber were being [...]
