SafeWork Wrap | August 2024
Welcome to the August 2024 edition of SafeWork Wrap. ?
Building and Construction Symposiums 2024
SafeWork NSW’s Building and Construction Symposiums begin Wednesday 21?August at CommBank Stadium, Parramatta. Throughout September and October, we will be taking the symposium to regional centres, including Newcastle, Port Macquarie, Ballina, Merimbula, Wollongong, Albury and Dubbo.
In this issue:
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A message from the Deputy Secretary
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Hello,
August is Tradie Health Month, the perfect time for tradies to review and speak up about their work health and safety concerns.
Workplace incidents can cause life changing injuries, illness or death. Construction businesses must ensure they are creating environments where workers are protected and where young tradies receive appropriate support and are empowered to speak up.?? ?
Young tradies in particular need thorough training and supervision. From 2017 to 2021, approximately 20 percent of incidents reported to SafeWork NSW were the result of an injury to a young worker.
If you employ young workers or work experience students, make sure you understand your obligations to protect them and support their health and safety at work. They are vulnerable. They often lack experience, are eager to make a good impression and can be reluctant to ask questions. ?
Not taking the time to ensure their workplace safety is not worth the risk. ?
Trent Curtin?
Acting Deputy Secretary SafeWork NSW?
Tradie Health Month
August is Tradie Health Month. This year, we’re focusing on improving safety practices in construction.
If you're an employer, you must provide:
Remember, your commitment to health and safety plays a crucial role on every construction site. ?
Young and at-risk workers
If you’re a manager or site supervisor, watch our informative webinar covering:
Refer to our Young workers eToolkit for tips and training resources on work safety rights and responsibilities.??
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New rules for working with silica begin 1 September 2024
New safety requirements for work involving the processing of crystalline silica substances (CSS) begin 1 September 2024.? These safeguards apply to all materials containing at least 1% crystalline silica and include work involving:?
These safeguards will protect workers, together with the engineered stone ban which came into effect on 1 July 2024. The ban prohibits the manufacture, supply, processing and installation of engineered stone benchtops, panels and slabs containing at least 1% silica. ?
Register for silica information webinars?
SafeWork NSW is holding two online information sessions on the silica regulatory amendments that come into effect from 1 September 2024.? These webinars are suitable for anyone who works with crystalline silica substances, including excavation and earth moving, general construction and demolition, brick or stone cutting, road construction and tunnelling, concrete works, and manufacturing.? Find out what will be changing and understand what compliance requirements will be in place for persons conducting a business or undertaking (PCBUs).?You will also have an opportunity to submit questions when you register for the session that best suits you.? Register now:
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Welding fumes: Workplace exposure standard reduced
On 18 January 2024, the Federal and State Work Health and Safety Ministers agreed to an immediate reduction to the workplace exposure standard (WES) for welding fumes (not otherwise classified). The WES has been reduced from an 8-hour time weighted average (TWA) of 5 mg/m3?to 1 mg/m3.?
Welding is common in many industries, including construction and manufacturing.?This change is to better protect workers from the health risks associated with welding fumes.?
Welding processes can generate a variety of gases or fumes depending on the type of metal or welding process. This is why the respective exposure standard for that particular substance must not be exceeded.???
Exposure to welding fumes can pose both short-term and long-term health risks to workers. In the short term, inhaling welding fumes can lead to headaches, dizziness, nausea and metal fume fever (a flu-like illness).
Repeated exposure can increase the risk of serious conditions like lung cancer, kidney damage and nerve problems.?
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Be Scaff Safe: Unsafe scaffolds can kill
SafeWork NSW inspectors are targeting scaffold safety from August as part of Scaff Safe 2024. Scaffolds that are poorly built or not managed properly by principal contractors/site supervisors can pose a serious risk to workers including:
When we looked at serious scaffold incidents reported to SafeWork NSW in 2023, we found that most incidents included modular scaffold and were due to:
Employers have duties to keep workers safe
Employers must ensure scaffolds are in a safe working condition for the duration of the construction project/work, including managing alterations to the scaffold as the construction build progresses. This means you must:
Only licenced scaffolders can erect, alter and dismantle a scaffold
Inspectors can issue on-the-spot fines of up to $4,500 per non-compliance, for not managing the risk of scaffolds, falls from heights risks and alterations by unlicenced persons. Many workers think they can remove scaffold components if they are in the way, in order to “get the job done”. Unfortunately, when this happens the structural integrity of the scaffold can be compromised, and the missing components can create collapse risks or gaps for workers to fall through. Check if a scaffolders licence is valid at Verify.Licence NSW. ?
Where to get help
SafeWork NSW has a number of key resources for employers and site supervisors to help manage scaffold safety on your site. These include:
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Preventing sexual harassment is your business
Under NSW work health and safety laws, businesses are required to adopt a preventive approach towards sexual and gender-based harassment, whether from colleagues or customers, and whether occurring online or offline.??
Sexual harassment costs workers their mental and physical health. It also costs businesses thousands of dollars in lost productivity, staff absences and reputational damage.
SafeWork NSW has produced a suite of resources to help businesses take action to prevent sexual harassment in their workplaces including, a three-part webinar series.
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Ask an inspector
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This is our?'Ask an inspector' section, where our inspectors respond to questions sent in by our readers. ?
Managing workloads
What are our responsibilities as a business to manage the workloads of our workers? We just can't get enough workers to keep up.
Your responsibilities, for both physical and psychosocial hazards, is to eliminate or minimise any risks present in your workplace/s.
First aid and fire safety
In an office environment (VIC), is there a requirement to have first aid officers and fire wardens if the risk assessment has deemed them unnecessary?
For advice on work health and safety in Victoria, contact WorkSafe Victoria. In NSW, there is no specific requirement to have fire wardens. Businesses are required to have an emergency plan that details how emergencies such as fires will be addressed. Workers in NSW must always have access to first aid, so businesses must ensure that an adequate number of workers are trained in first aid, or an alternative arrangement may be made with a nearby medical facility.
Earphones on site
What are the rules regarding listening through earphones when working on a site?
The increasing speed of mobile phone and Bluetooth technology has resulted in many workers adopting listening habits at the worksite using personal earphones. Listening to music has been proven to promote worker productivity, job satisfaction and morale, however there is a growing body of evidence that personal earphones at the workplace can pose a risk to worker health and safety.
Working at heights training
In construction, there are two different types of Working at Heights training courses:
These units are NOT equivalent and written for very different purposes. One is for the civil sector only and the other is for the general building and construction industry. Is there any advice SafeWork can provide to raise the education of workers and employers when dealing with RTO’s and selecting the most relevant and suitable training for working at heights please?
We are taking your concerns into consideration at a national level as part of the implementation of the Reducing falls from heights in the construction industry?Options Paper June 2023. One thing to remember is ‘working at heights’ is a risk to be controlled, not a qualification that can be obtained.
Responsibility for defective scaffold
If scaffold Company A builds and hands over a scaffold, but the builder decides that Company A’s hourly rates for adjustments are too dear, can the builder hire Company B at a cheaper rate? If so, who is responsible if there is an accident caused by defective work by Company B? Also who is responsible if the builder uses their own scaffold staff?
In the example given, the builder can hire Company B to undertake scaffold adjustments, provided Company B holds the appropriate high risk work (HRW) licence. A company is accountable for the things they have control over. So, if the accident was solely caused by defective work by Company B, then Company B would be responsible. However, if, for example, Company B’s defective work was itself caused by relying on false information provided by Company A, then Company A would be responsible. Similarly, if?defective work that caused an accident was undertaken by the builder’s own licenced scaffolding staff, they would be held accountable for their work.
Working around energised electrical equipment
Regarding the high risk work category of working on or near energised electrical equipment - can you please describe what this means? Does this mean where live parts can be directly touched? What distance do you need to allow? What precautions need to be taken?
The answers to these questions are addressed in the Australian Standard - AS/NZS 4836.
Ask your question Thank you to everyone who has submitted a question for our inspectors in?SafeWork Wrap.
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Events, webinars and more
Building and Construction Symposiums 2024
SafeWork NSW is holding free symposiums on workplace health and safety for the building and construction industry across NSW. Register for a symposium near you:
Sydney 9am Wednesday 21?August - CommBank Stadium - Registrations closed
Newcastle 3pm Monday 23 September - Wallsend Diggers
Port Macquarie 3pm Tuesday 24?September - Panthers Port Macquarie
Ballina 3pm Thursday 26?September - Ballina RSL
Merimbula 3pm Tuesday 15?October - Club Sapphire Merimbula
Wollongong 3pm Thursday 17?October - Wollongong Golf Club
Albury 3pm Tuesday 22?October - Commercial Club Albury
Dubbo 3pm Thursday 24?October - Club Dubbo
WHS training resources
You can find huge library of training resources, as well as details of upcoming courses, on the SafeWork NSW website. See our:
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Recent incidents
Read our updates on serious workplace incidents in various industries, including:
You can use this information to review your risk management and safe work systems and help prevent similar occurrences.?? ?
Know your notification obligations
You must notify us immediately in the event of a serious injury, illness, dangerous incident or death. Call SafeWork on 13 10 50. You must also notify us of any adverse health monitoring or of your intention to undertake hazardous work.
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Other NSW Government news
Find out about the latest NSW Government initiatives and share with your family, friends and colleagues. ?
NSW Women of the Year Awards 2024
Nominations close 15 September 2024. ?
Be GambleAware
Gambling can impact your life in ways you might not think.
Have your say
The NSW Government invites you to have your say on:?
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Tell us what you think
Are you reviewing your work practices this Tradie Health Month?
Responses from last month’s survey Last month we asked: Do you find the Other NSW Government News section useful?
Yes 84.3%
No 15.7%
Thank you to everyone who provided their feedback.