6. SET UP YOUR PIT CREW

‘Injury-proof’ is admittedly a simple term for a intricate model, the sort of complexity that requires active partnerships both internally and externally in order to achieve success.

Internal partnerships allow better intra-team coordination and collaboration, while also providing much needed credibility. External providers can bring specialist knowledge and support to the business while not requiring any additional internal resource.

Focus on a consistent approach across the team. Adopting a standardised approach to surgery safety has been key to the World Health Organisation’s recent success in reducing complications and deaths8, and has similar benefits when applied to workplace safety.

Setting and achieving consistency across worksites through tools like job dictionaries, uniform task analysis and training, and injury rate reporting allows for early intervention across multiple sites that may be thousands of kilometres apart.

Following the implementation of an onsite service that included an early intervention program, task specific manual handling training and functional pre employment screening assessments, Fuchs Lubricants saw a dramatic reduction in lost time injuries, and WorkCover claims dropped by almost 80%, representing a cost saving to the business of over $460,000.

And just as importantly, the company noticed a marked improvement in workers’ attitudes towards health and injury, communication between concerned parties, and accuracy in reporting injury causes.