09:25 am, Thursday 21 October, 2010

Politicians and their staff reckon they can handle changing a lightbulb.

However, existing occupational health and safety rules require a qualified electrician to do the job.

The situatation was brought up during a Senate hearing when Liberal Eric Abetz told his colleagues about his experience.

He said he was prevented from replacing a lightbulb in his office because it could require climbing a ladder, which was a safety risk.

“It is just impractical, it’s stupid,” he said.

“Most Australians would say if a person is not capable of changing a light globe, chances are they are not capable of running an electorate office,”

“It’s bureaucracy gone mad, it’s a waste of money and the minister should intervene to stop it,” he said.

Nationals senator Fiona Nash agreed with Senator Abetz, saying she was capable of doing the job.

“I would certainly be able to get up a ladder as a farm girl and change a light globe,” she said.

However, Labor senator Doug Cameron was more cautious about the matter.

“I have never even thought about changing a lightbulb in my office,” he said.

“If someone ended up being electrocuted with a faulty wire, then you wouldn’t be asking these questions.”

Liberal senator Simon Birmingham said he may have changed lightbulbs in his office, in violation of the requirements.

“I didn’t realise were an enormous breach of any type of laws,” he said, noting that some common sense should prevail in such a situation.

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03:23 pm, Saturday 18 September, 2010

Victorian businesses had spent $956 million in 2009 over workplace injuries that cost little or nothing to prevent, WorkSafe Victoria says.

WorkSafe strategic programs director Trevor Martin revealed musculoskeletal injuries accounted for more than half of all workplace injuries in the State.

He said injuries to the nerves, bones, tissue and muscles were usually overlooked since no blood was involved.

“Lifting a box, climbing a step-ladder or navigating a slippery surface at work might not set off alarm bells for most of us – but tasks like these cause over 17,000 Victorian workers painful muscle and bone injuries every year,” said Mr Martin.

“They’re the most preventable, because in many cases, simply cleaning up a spill on the floor or providing some lifting equipment eliminates the risk.”

To change the perception about musculoskeletal injuries, WorkSafe is embarking on a major advertising campaign to show these injuries are not exclusive to people whose jobs involve heavy lifting.

“In reality, workers in child care, retail, hospitality and other sectors not normally associated with heavy lifting suffer debilitating injuries every day,” Mr Martin noted.

“Our message to Victorian employers is that regardless of their industry or business, employers need to be talking to their workforce, identifying risks, and fixing them.”

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06:22 pm, Wednesday 8 September, 2010

Workers suffering from muscle and bones injuries are becoming a concern for workplaces in Maribyrnong.

In the last financial year, workplaces in the city shelled out $27,303,551 due to muscoskeletal injuries sustained by workers.

The figure covers medical costs, wages and other expenses where the person had 10 or more days off or who incurred costs of more than $580.

Maribyrnong had the twelfth highest number of claims in Victoria.

Muscoskeletal injuries seem to be taken for granted despite the high number of incidents, according to WorkSafe’s Strategic Director Trevor Martin.

“Injuries to the muscles, tissue, nerves and bones account for more than half of all workplace injuries in Victoria, but they are often overshadowed because there’s no blood on the floor,” he said.

“Lifting a box, climbing a step ladder or navigating a slippery surface at work might not set off alarm bells for most of us – but tasks like these cause over 17,000 Victorian workers painful muscle and bone injuries every year.

“They’re the most preventable, because in many cases, simply cleaning up a spill on the floor or providing some lifting equipment eliminates the risk.”

WorkSafe has aggressively launched an information program, including advertising campaigns, to show that suffering from musculoskeletal injuries is not confined to workers whose jobs involve heavy lifting.

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05:08 pm, Friday 30 July, 2010

Construction safety is in the limelight at a coaches’ breakfast on Wednesday.

The Western Bulldog’s coaches’ review breakfast was in line with the launch of WorkSafe’s  new campaign promoting the use of the right tools for the job among tradies.

“The purpose of the coaches’ breakfast is to talk about tactics of the game – we’re using it to discuss tactics for getting construction work done safely,” WorkSafe’s Construction Director Chris Webb said.

“Tools used on construction sites across Victoria every day are involved in a third of all construction worker injuries.

“Ladders, scaffolds, nailguns, saws and grinders feature all too often in injury claim reports – and as a result we’re seeing tradies off work, for about a month on average, with nasty yet preventable injuries like serious cuts, broken bones, and sprains and strains.

“Tradies need to think about the tools and equipment they need to do a job safely – and make sure they’ve got them on hand before they start the job.

“WorkSafe wants builders and tradies to stop, step back and think. For example, a carpenter erecting a wall frame at a housing site needs to plan ahead to use a saw bench so they’re not working on the ground cutting all the timbers. Nail and ramset guns need to be in good working order and guards in place on circular saws.”

The safety agency’s campaign is primarily aimed at parties in the residential construction industry such as builders, subcontractors, supervisors and apprentices.

Site inspections will be conducted as part of the campaign to ensure that workers’ tools and equipment are suitable for the work at hand.

“Victoria’s construction industry paid out an estimated $91 million in the year to June for claims following tool and equipment injuries,” Mr Webb said.

“The cost of an injury including time off the tools, replacing the worker, and re-training comes to over $80,000 – without including treatment costs. It makes good business sense to prevent unnecessary injuries by using the most appropriate tools for the job, and using them in the right way,” he said.

WorkSafe is in the fourth phase of its Back to Basics campaign, which targets the most common causes of injuries among domestic construction workers.

The campaign had previously tackled basic site housekeeping, planning for a job, and site supervision.

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