• Have you cut back the documentation forest?
    No Matt. But I've found if I use a large font, double spacing and wide margins I can make good use of one side of an A4 piece pf paper.
  • Have you cut back the documentation forest?
    Its a real drama when I get asked for our Health and Safety policy. I have to fossick around and make one up.
  • Staff and H&S Rep Recognition

    I expect mine to 100% be listening to their work groups and raising the issues/ideas those people don't feel so inclined to raise otherwise
  • Staff and H&S Rep Recognition
    Reps doing their job and thinking they are helping keep people safe should I would have thought be incentive enough.

    Our advocates (we don't allow Reps) don't get anything. The exception is if I have given them a commitment and I don't meet that commitment by the due date they get cake at our next meeting.
  • Audit Priming?
    I have never done pre-audit work in places I have actually worked in. Don't advocate for it, don't support it. Think it is a fraudulent con.

    If its a financial or Worksafe audit take us as you find us.

    The purpose of the audit should be to highlight shortcomings so you can improve.

    I already know I will pass because I do all the right stuff and managing that stuff just keeps happening.

    (That said I am very good at window dressing - and have helped countless companies "pass" their audits. Its not hard when you have dim tick box auditors.)
  • Protecting Staff from Online Abuse
    One thing I have tried (unsuccessfully) to get IT to change email protocols. They seem to insist is a good idea.

    Except it is giving out personal details and makes it easier for abuse, scammers and doxing
  • Location or Role based Safety Committees?
    I'm interested in how risk is seen as different depending on location. If you have the same hazard on each site, and you manage it in the same way the risk should be the same. And hopefully irrespective of having a committee or not.
  • Confidentiality and Security of Accident Report details for employees
    I don't give employees access to the accident reports. I don't see what value this information adds to their lives or helps make us more productive.
  • Are you aware of any sites that still require a current My Vaccine Pass?
    I can't think what sites would now require them. Courts have thrown them out (in some circumstances) and given risk profile of covid now, and the number of vaccinated people who have fallen ill (and thus infectious) I can't see how a site could justify discrimination on the basis of health status.
  • Are you aware of any sites that still require a current My Vaccine Pass?
    You still have them? Should never had been a thing.
  • How much physical activity is too much while wearing a full face respirator

    Robyn
    With a change to weld fume WES we put our our team of welders and a few other workers in positive air respirators. Much to my surprise the overwhelming feed back was "we love them!'. Not one single word of complaint. I had to be picked off the floor - there's always someone that complains about change.

    Some of our people will work 12 hours a day and 5 on saturdays in this gear. You'll see them walking to smoko in it. Its physical work - on their feet all day. And not a single complaint.
  • Ban on tendering - worth considering here?
    Govt tenders - well theres a crock of the proverbial. They would prefer to go off shore or support people based on race rather than support local.
  • LTIFR in New Zealand
    Shame. I thought we had moved on from such bogus navel gazing data.
  • Is Covid still a health & safety thing?
    Just looking at some numbers. I'm running at about 1.5% of workforce away due to covid. Less if I take into account the Work-from-homers.
  • How long to hold onto an SDS?
    I'm not a hoarder but I tend to chuck nothing away (you should see some of my old OSH resources!)

    Id just stick them in alphabetical order and run them through a scanner then into the bin. Drive space is dirt cheap nowadays.
  • Is Covid still a health & safety thing?
    It is still taking up far too much of my time. It is patently obvious this thing is in the community, its going to be in the community for a long time and for most it is nothing more than a mild flu. Time to move on. Stop with the daily reporting of iffy case and death numbers. If you feel unwell stay at home. If you are fine come to work and do a decent days work. Time to put an end to "I am again a household contact So I'l have another week off work and collect my govt subsidy"
  • Why Are We Still Killing Our Workers?
    Your model is incorrect. The economic value of a human life, of say $6m is over the entire life time of that human.

    Lets say a SH has an impact over one year or 1/45 of a working life. That brings a value of $134,000. And if there are 2,200 serious harm incidents then a total value of $294m

    If you suggest we spend half on injury prevention (or say $150m) where would we be?

    If we added up the sum total of investments employers make in safety management I suspect we would well exceed that figure. ACC contributed $27m alone. And they say they get a $1.3 return for every dollar spent
  • Why Are We Still Killing Our Workers?

    I havent said "we are spending enough to cover off safety in the workplace". Nor did I say collateral damage is acceptable.

    I have said we ought to become better informed about a particular death before forming views on preventing such deaths.

    And I have suggested that the law of diminishing returns may be in play. Beautifully illustrated in the hand crafted graph I posted above.