Safe Work Australia Week

Australian Safety and Compensation Council (ASCC) Chairman, Mr Bill Scales AO, has encouraged all organisations across Australia to start preparing for national Safe Work Australia Week and to utilise free resources that are now available.

Safe Work Australia Week is a national week to focus attention on workplace safety around Australia. It aims to encourage all working Australians to get involved in, and concentrate on, safety in their workplace to reduce death, injury and disease.

This year Safe Work Australia Week will be held from 19 - 25 October 2008.

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WISE - up to $26,000 - New employer incentive scheme for difficult RTW cases 

WISE is a 12 month financial incentive of up to $26,000 that is payable to employers who offer ongoing employment of 15 hours or more to workers with a WorkSafe Victoria entitlement who cannot return to work (RTW) with their pre-injury employer.

Employers who are not eligible for WISE are labour hire companies, employment agencies or group training organisations that place workers into a workplace of another employer.

Workers cannot access WISE for themselves.  This includes self-employment or if you are a director or board member of a company that makes you an offer of employment.

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Fatigue Prevention in the Workplace 

Fatigue prevention in the workplace - is a 24 page publication for employers and employees. It was developed in collaboration with WorkCover NSW and is published in both Victoria and NSW. It includes information on:

• how to identify potential work-related fatigue hazards
• how to determine work-related fatigue risks
• how to control work-related fatigue hazards and risks, and
• how to monitor and review work-related fatigue control measures

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WorkSafe announces 2008-09 Safety Program 

WorkSafe has announced a comprehensive program of intervention activities to take place over the next 12 months.

The industries, suburbs and regional areas to receive added attention in the next year demonstrate WorkSafe’s transparent approach to compliance and allows everyone to take the necessary steps to prevent injuries.

Targeted industries include:

• Emergency services and prisons
• Welfare services

The identified industries have been determined as being in need of improvement based on workers compensation claims and reported incidents.  WorkSafe’s inspection strategy for the next year will use advice and assistance, as well as Improvement and Prohibition Notices, as primary enforcement tools.

For more information and a list of targeted regions, click here >> 

Health & Safety Representative Training

If you're an HSR, or a deputy HSR, your employer must allow you time off work , with pay, to

• attend an initial 5-day training course in OHS after being elected
• undertake a one-day refresher training course at least once in each year that you hold office after completing the initial training course

You may select which course to attend in consultation with your employer.  The chosen course must be approved by WorkSafe, be relevant to your role or the work of the DWG and you must give the employer at least 14 days' notice prior to attending the course.

If your employer won't allow you to attend the chosen course, or you cannot agree on which course to attend, you may ask WorkSafe to determine an appropriate course.  This determination will be handled by WorkSafe's Workplace Support and Education Division, with initial contact to be made through WorkSafe's Advisory Service (phone 9641 1444).

Provided you gave 14 days' notice, the course is approved by WorkSafe, and the course is relevant, it is highly likely that WorkSafe will support the course chosen by you.

List of WorkSafe approved training providers >>

Information for Health and Safety Representatives >>

Safety steps start with a little thought

Getting bumped and jostled while negotiating steps with lots of other kids in a school corridor is a bit of a hassle when you’re six.

Christian Pouw of Leongatha’s St Laurence’s Primary School found himself in that position and came up with a good idea confirming again that making your workplace safer is not rocket science.

They thought the idea was so good, Chris’ idea was entered in this year’s WorkSafe Awards, which will be announced in October.

It’s the youngest ever entry. In 2003, 16-year old Jarrod Richards of Foster, also in South Gippsland, entered the awards with his invention, a device to retrieve balls from school roofs.

WorkSafe’s Executive Director, John Merritt, said it proved that if a six-year-old could improve safety, anyone could.

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WorkSafe funds the development of OHS teaching resources

Jill McCabe, Manager Workplace Support and Education Division announced that WorkSafe will be providing a grant from its Prevention Fund to enable the Victorian Association of Applied Learning to develop innovative OHS teaching and learning resources over three years.

‘SAFE T1’ will deliver flexible, ‘ready to go’ resources for teachers and students, including interactive web-based resources. An applied learning model will be used to make learning engaging and relevant to students. The project will foster sustainable outcomes and result in measurable improvements in OHS knowledge, skills and behaviours for both teachers and students.

‘SAFE T1’ will be linked to the Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning (Years 11 and 12) the Victorian Essential Learning Standards (Years 9 and 10 students). Over five years, it is expected that the project will reach as many as 650,000 students across Victoria.

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Organisational Behaviour Symposium - 13 and 14 December

Following last year’s success, Victoria Police and Deakin University are again hosting a two-day Organisational Behaviour Symposium.

This year’s symposium will cover prominent organisational behaviour-related topics, including employee engagement, organisational culture and climate, wellbeing and team functionality.
The symposium will also focus on transforming strategies into action and results. Presentations will include case studies from work areas and organisations that have achieved real and measurable results from their efforts in relation to employee engagement and wellbeing.

Guest speakers from the private and public sector will discuss the latest research, provide insights into these critical issues and share their experiences and learnings.

Who should attend
Those most likely to benefit from the symposium include people in roles of influence such as:

• workplace managers
• change managers 
• organisational development managers 
• health and safety practitioners 
• human resource professionals supervisors and team leaders.

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Paramedic faces jail for $35,955 WorkSafe fraud 

A former paramedic from Sunbury was convicted and faces the possibility of five months in jail, after pleading guilty to fraudulently obtaining nearly $36,000 in workers compensation payments and for providing false information.

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Injury Hotspots

New injury hotspots are now available to help people in an even wider range of industries identify common injuries and hazards that they may encounter in their work. 

New interactive injury hotspots are live on the WorkSafe website and cover the following industries and activities: Office Workers and Councils.

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The National Occupational Research Agenda Partnering Award (USA)

The "National Occupational Research Agenda Partnering Award" honours groups who have demonstrated exemplary teamwork, innovative thinking, and strong science in their collaborative partnerships on occupational health and safety research.

A 2008 Award recipient was the Safe Patient Handling and Movement Training Program for Schools of Nursing.

The purpose of this program was to develop a training program for educators at schools of nursing relating to techniques and approaches for patient handling.   The study found that nurse educator and student knowledge improved significantly at intervention schools, as did intention to use mechanical lifting devices in the near future. The researchers concluded that the curriculum module is ready for wide dissemination across nursing schools to reduce the risk of MSDs among nurses.

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