General

•Ensure work method statements prepared, signed off and available

•Ensure workers have general safety induction cards

•Display appropriate site signage

•Use appropriate safety gear

Work at heights

•Keep controls in place if risk of fall = 2 m for commercial and 3 m for domestic e.g. edge protection, catch platform

•Provide and use adequate work platforms e.g. 5 planks

•Ensure no gaps in perimeter protection

•Make sure penetrations covered/secured

Tools/equipment

•Ensure tools and equipment maintenance are in good condition

•Use tools and equipment for intended purposes only

•Make sure guards are in place when using tools and equipment

Falling objects

•Do not throw tools and materials down from heights

•Make sure brick guards/mesh are in place in scaffold

•Use exclusion zone and/or catch platform

•Ensure controls implemented for loads being lifted over adjoining areas e.g. adjoining area closed/gantry erected

Electrical

•Keep electrical equipment away from water

•Make sure earth leakage switch installed on mains supply

•Secure and protect extension leads from damage and used from individual power points with leads not exceeding 30 metres Keep testing and tagging current e.g 3 monthly

 Access/housekeeping

•Keep working area clear/tidy

•Manage trip hazards e.g. material neatly stacked

•Dispose excess mortar appropriately e.g. designated areas

Manual tasks

•Use mechanical equipment (e.g. forklifts, trolleys, cranes) to reduce the force needed to lift, carry, move, hold or restrain material and tools.

•Adjust equipment to minimise bending, twisting and over-reaching (e.g. adjust height of work platforms to avoid over-reaching).

•Change work practices or equipment to avoid repetitive actions or prolonged tasks (e.g. use a crane or elevator to lift bricks to work level to avoid throwing bricks).

Noise

•Wear Hearing protection when cutting timber and metal

•Ensure controls implemented to minimise exposure e.g. hearing protection.

Hazardous substances

•Make Materials Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) available for substances classified as hazardous (e.g. cement, lime, hydrochloric acid)

•Store hazardous substances safely and securely when not in use

•Train workers in safe handling of hazardous substances (e.g. wear gloves when handling hydrochloric acid)

•Label hazardous substances (includes safety and risk phrases)

•Do not store hazardous substances in food and/or drink containers (e.g. hydrochloric acid not stored in drink bottles)

Personal Protective Equipment

•Ensure workers wearing steel capped boots, hard hat with shade brim, high vis shirts and sunglasses if necessary

Amenities

•Provide sheltered meal area

•Ensure workers have access to toilets (1 toilet for each 15 workers or part thereof)

•Provide hand and face washing facilities (separate from toilets)

•Ensure workers have access to potable, clean and cool drinking water

•Make sure first aid equipment provided is hygienic and appropriate for the size and complexity of the project

Emergency preparedness and response

•Keep fire extinguishers available and testing current

•Make sure emergency evacuation plan available

•Brief workers on emergency evacuation plan

· Ensure that you have first aid facilities available

Sun protection

•Recognise ultraviolet radiation 3-7 protection required; 8-11 extra protection required

•Ensure protection by seeking shade, wearing sun protection clothing, broad brim hat, sunglasses and using sunscreen

•Wear clothing with a 30+ ultraviolet protection factor

•Wear safety helmets extra brims and neck covers fitted

•Wear sun glasses and 30 + sun protection

Occupational stress

•Monitor work demands and control over work

•Provide support systems for talking about tough situations at work

•Provide clear work structures, particularly through times of change

•Recognise and reward workers

Occupational violence

•Use design or engineering measures to change the physical characteristics of the workplace, to reduce the risk, where possible.

•Change the systems of work or work practices to help reduce risks. For example, train workers in aggressive behaviour management, including the recognition and diffusion of potentially volatile situations; ensure sufficient number of appropriately trained staff, where possible; provide for emergency communication; implement a system of communication and support for home visits.

Here’s a Manager’s Safety Mantra that is all about the big picture. This little mantra can be a good focus for both you and your people when the nitty-gritty threatens to breakdown communication or create a ‘them versus us’ mentality.

1. All work injuries and illnesses can be prevented.
2. The majority of injuries and illnesses are a result of below standard procedures, education or behaviour.
3. As a company / business we are one entity.  Health and safety of that entity is paramount. Therefore every part of that entity has a responsibility for the whole (ie. every worker – whether it be administration, the accounts department or a subcontractor - has a responsibility for the safety of themselves and every other staff member).
4. Just as all other business activities are measured (eg. profit and loss, stock taking, etc.) OHS (WHS) should be recorded and measured for effectiveness and improvement.
5. All complaints, concerns, or ‘near-misses’ are opportunities to improve work procedures.

Just having a written safety policy will not keep people from being hurt. You need to make sure you are taking an active effort to keep your employees harm free. Here are some ways:

1. First Aid Training – No office wants any sort of accident where someone gets hurt, but if it were to happen, are your staff trained to help a hurt colleague? Basic First Aid training should be offered to all of your employees so they will know what to do in the event of an emergency.  By knowing what to do, and what not to do, an employee’s injuries may be kept from becoming worse.
2. Lessen Stress – While some think that stress is a ‘mental problem’, it also has many physical ramifications. Stress can lead to illnesses, keeping an employee from being able to attend work. At work stress can cause an employee to be less focused and more prone to making mistakes in which they, or someone else, can be hurt. Offer stress management seminars or even known stress reduction courses, such as yoga, or a quiet break room where they can take short time-outs as necessary.
3. Know Your Risks – While you may think you know all there is to know about the risks facing your workplace, there are a lot of things you may not notice that are threats. Once in a while, it pays to call in a professional. There are plenty of risk assessment groups that will come into your business and look for any potential threats that you had not noticed.
4. Learn Safety Laws – There is nothing to get your mind noticing problems like really knowing what the laws are.  Keep on top of the safety laws relating to your industry. The more you know, the more you may notice what needs to be fixed or improved in your workplace.
5. Routine is the Enemy – It’s too easy to get used to the routine of the workday. As you go through the mechanics of the job, you may not be noticing problems. Mix up your work schedule to help avoid this. In addition to keeping from complacency, you could also be keeping yourself from suffering with repeat work strain injuries.

Chances are that those least likely to be involved in incidents or accidents but are, are in fact victims of their own complacency, a lack of vigilance due to familiarity of task. One reason why people are assumed less susceptible to accidents or incidents is because they are deemed experienced. They have been doing what they do for a long time and know their job like the proverbial back of their hands. Herein lies the trap. As confidence grows, so too does the very real risk of becoming unaware of latent task related hazards. A loss of situational awareness occurs.

Living and working safely is a time-acquired existence. It is not something that automatically befalls us. We need to proactively maintain workable safety conditions in and around our personal space, and that is both at home and at work, to guarantee an acceptably safe environment. Now, before that’s misinterpreted as cocooning ourselves in cotton wool or donning suits of armour in the interests of safety, I did say “workable safety conditions.” So how do we achieve “workable safety?” We improve our basic levels of vigilance, which guards against complacency and thus, a loss of situational awareness.

So, how does complacency develop, how does it creep into your existence? It has to do with ongoing exposure to experiences that remain free of undesirable outcomes. A generic example to put it all into context:
 
Travelling along in your car, you decide to change lanes. Your recent attendance of a defensive driving seminar has you applying all of your newly acquired driving skills. You indicate with the mandatory 5 flashes of your indicator, check your blind spot by looking over your shoulder and gently accelerate into the vacant right lane. All very cool. A few months later, travelling on the same stretch of road at the same time of day, making for the same destination, you decide to change lanes. Five mandatory flashes of your indicator, you apply your now somewhat forgotten driving skills and gently accelerate into that “vacant” right lane.
 
The blaring hooter of an irate baseball bat wielding bogun has you realising that you’re about to become part of your state Road Rage Statistics. Veering back into your lane you look sheepishly ahead as Conan the Barbarian cruises past giving you the thousand foot stare for your transgressions, eagerly seeking opportunity to belt you with his bat! Sound familiar? I’m sure it does!! You’ve just become a victim of complacency by not checking your blind spot.

The key to avoiding complacency lies in proactively doing the following:

• Develop and practice your own safety habits until you are spontaneously safe.
• Share your complacency-related incidents no matter how big a “Goose” you feel.
• Find out what others are doing to stay vigilant.

Improve your situational awareness by thinking about what it is you’re about to do and whether your “doing” will achieve the desired outcome.

Remember, to err is human. Error consequence is directly proportional to your situational awareness.