• The Hazard Register - what is it really for?
    Just jumping in here because 3 years later Oh. My. GOSH! there are some very very convoluted, complicated and totally benign registers out there... I've literally just seen one that had no less than 354 risks listed and each one of those had 21 columns to fill in and the rating for each consequence and likelihood went from 5-0--5 (yes that's 5 to minus 5!).

    That worksheet then fed into four tabs of report-type stuff and everything linked together very smartly to give a report on the last tab that summarised whether a site was managed well enough or not.

    Problem is;
    a) the report is based on subjective information entered by someone who sits behind a desk
    b) the doc is then gone through line by line by a whole bunch of people who sit behind laptops (but are passionate about health and safety stuff)
    b) None of it linked with anything available to the guys on site so was effectively wasted time as a tool for managing real risk.

    The best risk register I ever saw was one that gave the basics, used pictures and icons and is so easily understood by everyone that it is used at every new worker induction and has a poster format so it can be put on the smoko-room wall.

    Anyhow - my 10c
  • HOP vs all incidents are preventable.
    Agreed. On all. (I'm no longer working for FCC obviously lol) :lol:
  • HOP vs all incidents are preventable.

    lol - Fletcher Construction Company (FCC) / Fletcher Building (FB)
    :smile:
  • HOP vs all incidents are preventable.
    Just jumping in with a correction.
    The FCC mantra isn't that "We believe all accidents are preventable"
    It's "We believe all injuries are preventable"

    As mentioned above, two entirely different mantras which lead to entirely different focus points.
    Ironically it's a natural human interpretation to interchange the words incident, accident and injury so a LOT of time is spent explaining what we actually mean by the 'belief'.
  • You are the new CE of WorkSafe. What would you do first?
    Inspectors are placed in a no win scenerio when given the expectation to 'best support businesses'. They enter a site and talk to folk, poke things, ask questions, watch and then ........ ?Matthew Bennett

    Learn about the actual risk in front of them in context and not the perception of risk. The Engage, Educate then Enforce mantra worked really well in the sectors that were given enough resources to see a difference.

    Of course there will always those business who will take advantage of the engage and educate approach which is where I agree that more teeth are needed in the 'enforcement' side. :)
  • You are the new CE of WorkSafe. What would you do first?
    Get more officers back on the ground to learn about 'work as done' and figure out how to best support businesses to get their people home safely (and healthily).
  • H&S Manager vs Advisor
    Hi Sandra

    My experience has been that both roles have similar JDs but it's more a case of the reporting line and responsibility which varies depending on the organisational culture and goals.

    An 'Advisor' is generally in an EHS silo that is a support role separate from operations. They kinda have all care, but little responsibility for EHS related stuff - more in line with a consultant.

    A HS manager is usually a part of the immediate org structure and owns alllll the EHS related stuff....

    Like I said - very generalised but it comes down to the wants/needs/aspirations of the individual company/organisation.
  • Use of Mini-SDSs
    Yup - mini SDS' all the way as a quick reference.
    Full SDS' on hand for when things go pear-shaped.
  • Temperature Checks for Covid-19 at work
    If you have to do it, it's all about how you handle it with your staff. But I'd ask what is the driver for the decision?

    I know that under level 3 and 4 the business has to ensure worker health is checked and recorded by some means - which is usually solved by a self declaration, but taking temperatures helps to seal the evidence .... however is temperature checking purposeful for your situation or are you doing it because you feel it's best for your staff, for compliance or another reason?

    In a previous role we did daily temp checks on everyone before they entered the site. At the time there were 1,500+ people working there.

    It was a massive undertaking and there was that fear factor at first (someone started the rumour that the gun also tested for drugs! So funny anyway...)

    But in the end we only did it because we had to (Protocols from MPI and our Global leaders) , it was a pain in the butt to set up, was hellishly expensive (we had to set temporary tents up at each site entrance and have the security staff taking the temps and paperwork) and as mentioned previously, we knew it was a bit of a sham for prevention, but saw it as a way of potentially catching a case and could prepare to shut the area they worked in down if needed.

    Our security team was amazing and turned the experience into a fun one, with music and really great attitudes and as said it was also was good way to check in with everyone.

    In the 3 months that we did the checks only a handful out of the 1,500 per day were ever turned away and even then those people knew they shouldn't have been at work so it wasn't a big deal.
  • Impairment vs Risk vs What Should an Employer 'Reasonably' Know...?


    Hi Steve - thanks and an actual lol at the egg round :)

    The short answer is yes and yes. Yes he knows its monitored and yes the consent is a part of the deal when Bob accepted the vehicle.

    The discussion between different facets of the business is divided between:
    a) we go down the 'please explain path' for out of hours activities that are technically none of our business and get in trouble from a privacy and employment angle or
    b) we pretend we've minded our own business, something serious occurs then we have to either lie about whether we knew fatigue could have been a factor or
    c) we have to say we knew it could be a factor but then admit we did nothing to address it because it was outside the scope of work.

    (remnder - the 'are you okay?' questions are being asked. This is not a 'do the right thing' question)

    Hence the question: what are the PCBU reasonably expected to know?
  • Impairment vs Risk vs What Should an Employer 'Reasonably' Know...?


    Hi Rachael, what you know for sure is that the vehicle is out at 3amStuart Oakey

    Thanks Stuart, but E-Roads is pretty detailed so we know when, where and what speed, how many Ks, how many times the brakes were used sharply etc etc.

    So we know the vehicle gets to Bobs house at 6pm ish after work, then leaves Bobs house at 9pm ish and after visiting several locations - some are more than 90 minutes apart - it only gets back to Bobs house at 3am.

    We also know (through more than one source), that Bob is the driver.

    So if he's sleeping 3 hours from the time he gets home from work and another 3 when he gets home from his err, lets call it 'night shift' that's still only 6 very broken hours.
  • Road and roadside worker health and safety good practice guidelines
    Wow - can't believe I missed that one. Thanks Steve, will get it throught to our traffic team for input :)
  • Tell us something about yourself that might surprise readers
    I'm a Jedi and a Trekkie, have four teenage kids and love doing yoga to My Chemical Romance.

    Oh and
    I later realised I had been living in my head and dragging my body around, with very little connection to my feet.Sheri Greenwell
    I spent two years on a walking stick because of that little mind game - funnily enough it was also a ballet teacher who got me walking again :)
  • Display boards with "Number of days since last LTI"

    Yessir - Velociraptor = definite STKY
    (Stuff That'll Kill You :) )
  • Display boards with "Number of days since last LTI"
    Seen 'em.
    Hate 'em.
    Refuse to play the game when anyone mentions 'em.

    Haven't heard one comment from the floor or coal face that supports them as a pro-active, culture-building tool. In fact the only people who seem to think they are a good idea are usually middle-age, upper management types who thought a sign they saw at a factory one time looked great... yes, generalising :)

    Useful pic here:
  • 'Required to be Authorised' definition


    Oh THAT is awesome - exactly what I needed. Thank you :)
  • 'Required to be Authorised' definition

    Yeah I did the same. We had a superficial injury so as soon as the yes was applied to 'was anyone injured' it wanted more information.
  • 'Required to be Authorised' definition

    Not contrary at all - as a bit more context, the notify/don't notify discussion was happening well outside the "wow, let's not let that happen again" discussion and other post-incident factors.

    My question is more of a curiosity well after the fact :)
  • Covid vaccination - can it be required on H&S grounds?
    Surely this vaccination point is no different from any other vaccination?

    Assuming the vaccine is not mandated by govt, I imagine the worst that can happen is that companies go the way schools have for MMR. Vaccination certs are required for all students, if unvaccinated and there is an outbreak at the school the student has to stay home.

    Or have I missed something?
  • Fatigue Management Policy
    A previous employer developed a fatigue management policy which limited staff to 12 hour shifts and no more than 6 consecutive days on.

    The 3 Unions operating in the company had a collective fit.

    The policy remained as a tick box but it was never implemented.