06:10 pm, Wednesday 15 May, 2013

The heavy freight industry is considered one of the most dangerous in NSW. Over 5500 injuries and 29 fatalities were recorded from 2008 to 2010.

Trucking is regarded as one of the most high risk industries in the state, with more than 5500 injuries recorded over three years, from 2008 to 2010, along with 29 fatalities.

WorkCover NSW launched a transport action plan yesterday in Orange with the aim being to reduce the number of injuries and illnesses in the transport industry.

The plan is the result of collaboration and consultation with business, industry and workers over the last couple of years.

John Watson, WorkCover’s work health and safety general manager, said that there are four main issues that are the focus of the plan:

- Onsite traffic management systems

- Loading and getting out of trucks

- Return to work and injury management

- Driver wellness

He said that inadequate traffic management is a big factor when it comes to injuries and fatalities as a result of being struck by a vehicle in a loading zone.

Mr Watson said that the new plan is designed to fix safety issues in the transport industry and incorporate areas such as driver wellness to help prevent long term issues occurring.

In the three years that the consultation took place for this plan workplace injuries in the NSW transport industry cost $157 million.

Report by Zoe Dunbar - Do you have an OHS News Story - Let us know

05:32 pm, Friday 10 May, 2013

Photo: SafetyCulture Library

WorkCover NSW has recently issued a safety alert for all salon workers on the potential exposure to formaldehyde whilst using Keratin treatments.

According to WorkCover, workers may be exposed to formaldehyde during the entire hair straightening process especially when blow drying or flat ironing a customer’s hair.

An inspected workplace was discovered using a product containing formaldehyde labelled in Arabic which stated that it is a fabric softener. WorkCover warned that some of the products available may contain formaldehyde but not indicate on the label an accurate level of their formaldehyde releasing potential during the hair treatment process.

PCBUs are required under work health and safety laws to ensure that a substance they use will not cause any health and safety risks. They are also required to obtain information in relation to substances used and eliminate identified risks or where this is not possible, to control the risks as far as reasonably practicable.

More information about this safety alert and managing the risks of hazardous chemicals in the workplace can be accessed through the WorkCover NSW website.

Report by Haydee - Do you have an OHS News Story - Let us know

01:18 am, Wednesday 8 May, 2013

Photo: SafetyCulture Library

WorkCover NSW distributed wood industry safety kits to more than 2,100 NSW businesses on Friday as part of a program which aims to improve safety in one of the state’s highest risk industries.

This project is part of WorkCover’s Wood Products Manufacturing Industry Action Plan (read SafetyCulture’s related story).  The action plan aims to reduce workplace injuries and diseases and improve injury management across the wood products manufacturing industry after 1,965 workers compensation claims were received in the three years to 2010 at a cost of $19.5 million to the NSW workers compensation scheme.

General Manager of WorkCover’s Work Health and Safety Division, John Watson said the Safety Kit will help businesses in their safety and injury management.

“Businesses within this industry are time and resource poor, and require assistance to improve safety cultures,” said Mr Watson.

“The most common injuries and illnesses include muscular injuries when carrying or putting down timber and wounds from industrial guns or saws.

“The Industry Action Plan identifies key issues businesses need to address to improve safety and injury management, these include manual tasks at the workshop; manual tasks at client sites; guarding on machines and powered hand tools; occupational disease from exposure to wood dust and noise; and delayed return to work of injured workers.

“Industry has told us that to enable businesses to address these issues they need simple and easy-to-use information and resources.

“The Wood Products Manufacturing Industry Safety Kit does just that, featuring a CD on Safety in the Wood Products Industry which outlines how to manage the five major issues, flyers on our Safety Coach Program and Wood Products Rebate as well as a WorkCover poster and postcard.

Mr Watson said that safety inspectors will be visiting wood products manufacturing businesses in NSW over the weeks to come to explain how the Kit can help them in safety management.

“WorkCover recognises the role business and industry play in developing effective work health and safety solutions,” said Mr Watson.

More information can be accessed at the WorkCover NSW website.

Report by Haydee - Do you have an OHS News Story - Let us know

12:22 pm, Friday 3 May, 2013

WorkCover NSW has released a new safety alert on the risks associated with towing trailers to advise officers and workers of persons conducting businesses or undertakings (PCBUs) of the potential risks when towing trailers with plant that is not designed specifically for the task.

According to WorkCover, PCBUs that use plant should ensure that health and safety risks to workers and others is eliminated or minimised. PCBUs should consult with workers when identifying hazards and making decisions about how to eliminate or reduce risks and when developing safe work methods.

“WHS Regulation 206 requires persons with management or control of plant to take all reasonable steps to ensure that plant is used for the purpose for which it has been designed, unless the person has determined that the proposed use does not increase the risk to health and safety. Assessment of this risk must be done by a competent person,” said WorkCover in its safety alert.

More information about this safety alert can be accessed through the WorkCover website.

Report by Haydee - Do you have an OHS News Story - Let us know

06:18 pm, Thursday 2 May, 2013

Photo: SafetyCulture Library

WorkCover NSW is reminding businesses to prioritise managing hazardous noise in the workplace.

WorkCover’s Work Health and Safety Division General Manager, John Watson said businesses are required to manage the risk of hearing loss from workplace noise under NSW work health and safety laws.

“Hazardous noise can destroy the ability to hear clearly and make working safely more difficult,” said Mr Watson.

“From 2008/09 to 2010/11 there were 10753 claims for hearing loss throughout NSW at an estimated cost of more than $171 million to the NSW WorkCover Scheme.

“Hearing damage generally occurs gradually over a number of years and is often irreversible.

“Hearing can also be damaged immediately from exposure to impulse noise such as explosive powered nail guns, firearms and stamping presses.

“By managing the risks associated with noise, businesses can protect workers from hearing loss, improve conditions for communication and create a less stressful and more productive work environment.

“WorkCover inspectors can provide advice and assistance to businesses on the basics of managing noise and preventing hearing loss in the workplace as well as who is responsible and how to identify and manage noise hazards.”

Mr Watson said WorkCover recognises that safety improvements can be financially challenging.

“WorkCover recognises that finding money for safety improvements can be challenging,” he said.

“To support small businesses and sole traders, WorkCover offers rebates of up to $500 to help purchase and install safety improvements through its Small Business Rebate Program.”

Further information can be obtained on the WorkCover NSW website.

Report by Haydee - Do you have an OHS News Story - Let us know

04:18 pm, Thursday 2 May, 2013

The government announced last Wednesday that employers in NSW would pay 7.5% less for premiums for WorkCover NSW.

Barry O’Farrell, the NSW Premier, said that it creates an ideal environment that will attract businesses and also jobs to NSW which he said is good news for people that are looking for work, young people in particular.

The opposition said that injured workers would be ‘dumped’ as a result of the premium decrease as businesses are lured to the state with reduced workers compensation costs.

Unions said that the government has shown its intentions less than 12 months after reducing the rights of workers that are injured.

The government capped both the benefits and medical expenses under the WorkCover scheme and cut claims for any injuries incurred either to or from work saying that the reason was a $4 billion blowout had to be reined in.

According to Mark Lennon, the unions NSW secretary, it is felt that the cuts were about being able to reduce premiums and that there had been little thought regarding the impact on working families.

Mr O’Farrell said that it had been necessary to reform the scheme otherwise 12,000 jobs would have been lost. Instead NSW is in a better position to attract business than some of the other states.

Report by Zoe Dunbar - Do you have an OHS News Story - Let us know

11:08 pm, Tuesday 30 April, 2013

Two prisoners were flown to hospital last week after a prison van lost control in southern New South Wales. It was suspected that the prisoners needed treatment for leg fractures and spinal injuries.

The accident happened at about 2pm on a dirt road actually inside the correctional centre where the inmates were working.

An additional three prisoners were transported to Wagga Wagga Hospital by road with possible spinal injuries while a prison officer was treated for minor injuries.

Local police and WorkCover NSW are investigating the incident.

Report by Zoe Dunbar - Do you have an OHS News Story - Let us know

02:00 pm, Friday 26 April, 2013

A few days before the International Day of Mourning on April 28, WorkCover NSW is reminding all businesses and workers to remember people who have lost their lives from workplace incidents.

Chief Executive Officer Julie Newman said the event is a time to pay tribute to workers who have died as a result of a workplace incident or illness.

“The International Day of Mourning is a time to pause, reflect and remember the individuals who have been killed at work or have died because of an occupational-related disease,” said Ms Newman.

“Workplace injuries carry significant social and financial costs – they have a broader impact on loved ones and family members.

“There were 117 work-related fatalities in New South Wales in 2010-11, a reduction of 44 percent since the NSW WorkCover Compensation Scheme commenced in 1987.

“Every fatality is one too many and it is important to remember that robust work health and safety measures can save lives.”

A ceremony to pay tribute to workers who have died from workplace incidents and diseases will be held on Sunday, April 28 at 12pm at Reflection Park, Little Pier Street in Darling Harbour.

Families can honour their loved ones by placing personalised memory card onto the Memory Lines sculpture.

“While the event is a time to pause and remember, it is also a time to reflect on safety as it applies to individual workplaces and to think about measures to reduce hazards and risks,” said Ms Newman.

“We need to make it a number one priority to ensure family members make it home safely at the end of the working day and the importance of workplace safety should never be underestimated.”

More information about the event is available on the WorkCover NSW website.

Report by Haydee - Do you have an OHS News Story - Let us know

12:50 pm, Friday 19 April, 2013

Photo: SafetyCulture Library

WorkCover NSW has released a new safety alert on working with or around mobile plant to remind officers and workers of persons conducting a business or undertaking (PCBUs) of the risks associated with mobile plant in the workplace.

WorkCover said mobile plant, such as forklifts, elevating work platforms, delivery vehicles, order pickers, earth moving equipment, prime movers and cranes, have the potential to seriously injure or even kill people if they run into them.

Ten fatalities and more than 2000 injuries have been recorded in incidents involving mobile plant on construction sites.

PCBUs are required under work health and safety legislations to ensure that health and safety risks for workers and the public are reduced or eliminated so far as is reasonable practicable. PCBUs should consult with workers when they identify hazards and make decisions about how they can eliminate or minimise the risks.

Workers should also receive adequate information, training, instruction or supervision to protect people from plant-related risks.

More information about working safely with or around mobile plant is found on the WorkCover NSW website.

Report by Haydee - Do you have an OHS News Story - Let us know

01:26 pm, Tuesday 16 April, 2013

A union is worried the government will axe seven safety inspectors in Wollongong. CFMEU secretary Brian Parker called on the government to come clean with its plan to axe safety inspectors.

Illawarra Mercury reported that Mr Parker believed this move would be “the opening salvo in a bid to slash inspector numbers at the safety authority”.

“Given the important role WorkCover inspectors are meant to play in maintaining safety on construction sites, we are demanding to know what is going on,” said Mr Parker.

“Just last month, a 37-year-old man was killed at a Wollongong glass manufacturer when a sheet of glass fell on top of him.

“It is appalling that we can have fatalities on job sites and at the same time, WorkCover is cutting inspector numbers.”

Mr Parker said that losing safety inspectors meant “no people on the beat”.

“In the industry, there are a lot of inferior products coming in from overseas, a lot of work is high risk… stuff like steel structures and scaffolding coming in, so there will be no policing of that.

“It really means no people left on the beat anymore.”

The NSW government defended the move saying it will not put workers and the public at risk.

A WorkCover NSW spokesperson told Illawara Mercury that the changes will make the department “more agile, flexible and responsive  to community needs to ensure resources are allocated to areas of greatest demand.”

The spokesman also said that the changes aim to achieve improved work safety cultures.

“Following these changes, there will be no reduction in the number of WorkCover inspectors [which] will remain at 315, the highest number of inspector positions in Australia,” said the spokesperson.

“This change will enable WorkCover to meet the challenge of maintaining falling NSW injury and fatality rates, and focus on industries with the highest risk to get injured workers back to work as soon as possible,” he said.

Report by Haydee - Do you have an OHS News Story - Let us know