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Make it safe While a safety incident can happen in a moment and in any workplace, a moment’s forethought can prevent harm. Taking a safety moment can be as simple as spending five minutes every morning talking with your team about the hazards and risks in your National Safe workplace, and how Work theme: to prevent harm.
A moment is all it takes
Over the coming months, we will publish a range of resources on the National Safe Work Month website to help workplaces take a safety moment this October. Injury or death in the workplace changes lives forever. This October, take a moment to consider what workplace safety means to you. Safe Work Australia CEO Michelle Baxter www.safeworkaustralia.gov.au
Silicosis, tradies new deadly A news article in the Herald Sun (24 July 2018) on the alarming spike in “tradies hit by deadly condition caused by ‘the new asbestos’” caused concern. The new asbestos is a condition called silicosis, the irreversible lung disease caused by long-term exposure to silica dust, which is created when artificial or engineered stone is cut.
You responded: I started plumbing in 1992 and safety wasn’t a thing. Remember chasing wall’s with a 9-inch grinder wearing sunnies until I couldn’t see or breathe; let the dust clear and repeat. Was hard being an apprentice in those days. Hopefully, my future isn’t so grim??? B. Hall Every kitchen bloke doesn’t clean after themselves and the cupboard is full of it ready for us to work in.
An ABC story about brass fittings found to cause slightly elevated levels of lead in drinking water prompted Master Plumbers to post: “Our advice to consumers is quite simple – if you’re installing taps at home, make sure they’re WaterMarked and they’re installed by a licenced plumber.”
You responded: You need to explain that watermarked means they have been tested and approved to Australian Standards plus the WaterMark symbol is stamped on the product. The general public don’t know what you mean otherwise. V Murray
It raises the question, what’s not going to kill us.
I had to tell someone two weeks ago I couldn’t install something without the WaterMark. It’s a problem that anything can be imported and sold even if it doesn’t meet the required standards.
A Sahir
P Lovegrove
R. Johnson
Australian Plumbing Magazine wants to hear more from you, email australianplumbing@plumber.com.au with your letters.
Move that Mo Movember is creating positive change for men’s health by raising awareness through their takeover of the month formerly known as November. From humble beginnings back in 2003, the Movember movement has grown to be a truly global one, inspiring support from more than five million Mo Bros and 8 | Australian Plumbing Industry Magazine | Spring 2018
Mo Sistas. For 30 days, your moustache turns you into a walking, talking billboard for men’s health – use it to start the conversation about men’s health this Movember.
The challenge: MOVE every day in Movember. Take a 30 minute walk to work, play a game of ping pong or go on an epic bike ride – no MOVE is too big or small.
And this year there is more. We are calling on you to get more than your Mo moving with MOVE, a 30-day physical fitness challenge to champion men’s health this Movember, starting with your own.
The team at Movember