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SAFETY IN THE WORKPLACE
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Australia’s manufacturing industry employs approximately 9% of the nations entire workforce meaning that just under one million of us rely on our employers to provide a safe working environment. Whether it is the petro-chemical, agriculture, construction or mining sectors, all have unique and sometimes specialised safety requirements. Whilst the vast majority of businesses are compliant with the various state and federal OH&S standards required of them, accidents and even deaths to employees in the manufacturing sector are still occurring at a rate that outstrips all other industries. According to Safe Work Australia’s latest data, 16% of all serious workers compensation claims were made by manufacturing industry employees. In simple terms, as a result of work related injury or disease, 57 employees each day require one or more weeks off work. For the period 2009-2010, nearly 80% of total workplace deaths occurred within the manufacturing and industrial sector. Whilst this is partly due to the high number of workers this area employs, it is a clear example of the often dangerous environments that employees are subjected to. Construction and Agriculture, Forestry & Fishing were responsible for 28 and 26 deaths respectively during this period whilst Mining reported 6 fatalities for the same time frame. Clearly, working in an industrial capacity has its inherent risks. We all have an obligation to ensure safe work practices are followed as our actions can have a very real and immediate
impact on not only ourselves but on our colleagues too but what is going to drive the incidence of work place injury in the manufacturing sector down? Here at Auslec, we believe knowledge is a critical and powerful tool in helping to combat workplace injury and death. Whilst employers have very strict and clear OH&S obligations, the individual employee also has a very real responsibility to ensure they have a thorough understanding of the environment they are working in, the tools and machinery they are working with and the personal protection equipment (PPE) needed to work safely. Take the chemical processing industry as an example. Potentially highly dangerous work places where personnel are subjected to machinery and substances that can inflict serious harm if the correct safe knowledge base has not been attained. Safe work knowledge can be acquired in many ways with information available from many sources. At Auslec, we work closely with our supplier partners to align the safety requirements of industry with an appropriate and effective safety solution. This often involves educating our customers on products that can help reduce their exposure to dangerous situations or protect them from injury. Whether it be highly technical sensing equipment for managing plant operations or chemical resistant footwear for a potentially corrosive work site, we have the expertise and the knowledge that can help a customer build their knowledge bank.
Information on workplace and product safety can be sometimes difficult to obtain however Auslec can provide specific industry related advice through trained staff and supplier capability to ensure your business gets the right safety product to in turn keep your operations and your staff safe. We take our obligation to safety seriously and as a Registered Training Organisation (RTO), we can also help provide qualifications that don’t just look good on a resume; they may in fact save a life. What’s your view? What are the key areas that will help us all reduce the incidence of workplace injury? Give us your thoughts at solutionsmagazine@auslec.com.au