October 2019 is Safe Work Month, nationally, which aims to have us all focus much more on safety at work. However this needs to be our focus every month of the year – October just reminds us! While most of our clients work in office locations, we do have many manufacturing and processing clients as well. Safe Work is particularly looking at two aspects this year – Working at heights and exposure to Silica Dust.
We only have to talk among our friends or recall the story of Molly Meldrum falling from his ladder to know how dangerous working at heights can be. Falls from heights presents the leading cause of workplace fatalities, and are found more often in the construction, transport and manufacturing industries. Exposure to Silica Dust happens when workers work with manufactured stone, concrete, brick or rock. CIRCLE Recruitment & HR work with a specialised WHS team on these more specialised areas and can assist you to locate the right WHS team and protect your workers.
With our office clients, we can assist with WHS documentation, basic advice, and a well-developed checklist to ensure that you are meeting your WHS obligations. We partner with our on-hired clients to complete a WHS check for every worker we place, which ensures legal compliance, protects our workers and assists our clients to understand what is required. By doing our WHS check, we are helping our clients do the right thing, developing documented evidence and being a true partner.
Some good advice from Safe Work NSW for all businesses includes:
- Having and emergency plan and a first aid plan
- Holding a Workers Compensation Policy
- Displaying Safe Work posters and messages in the workplace
- Asking the question at regular staff meetings, ‘Does anyone have any WHS concerns?’
What we all need to remember, every day, is that your health and safety at work starts with you! This means that we should all show commitment and start conversations. If you see something that you don’t think is quite right, speak up. You can do this from a point of care for your colleagues and also a risk management point of view for the business. Simple conversations can make a huge difference to people’s lives. Look after yourself at work and look after your colleagues. Everyone deserves to return home after a day at work, so become a WHS Champion today!
Important Note: These articles have been prepared for general circulation and are circulated for general informational purposes only; these articles should not be regarded as business or investment advice. The articles represent the views of the writers and are subject to change without notice. Additionally, while every care has been taken in the preparation of the articles no representation or warranty as to accuracy or completeness of any statement is given. An individual or organisation should, before any business or investment decision is made, consider the appropriateness of the information in this document, and seek professional advice, having regard to objectives, situation and needs. This document is solely for the use of the party to whom it is provided.