SafeWork Wrap | May 2024
Welcome to the May 2024 edition of SafeWork Wrap.
Our?incident hotline will be available 24-hours over the King’s Birthday public holiday (10 June) on 13 10 50.?
For general enquiries, our Customer Service Team is available between 8am and 5pm weekdays, except public holidays, or visit the SafeWork NSW website.? ?
We want your feedback??
The SafeWork NSW Customer Research team would like to speak to people who have recently interacted with SafeWork, particularly anyone who has:?
We want to understand your experiences to improve our services.?? Interview details:??
In this issue:
A message from the Deputy Secretary
Hello,
Recently, I had the privilege of attending the launch of SafeWork NSW's?Psychological Health and Safety Strategy 2024-2026.??
The event at NSW Parliament House was also attended by the Minister for Work Health and Safety, the Hon. Sophie Cotsis MP and the Minister for Mental Health, the Hon. Rose Jackson, MLC. Both ministers shared their commitment to supporting our strategy, which is aimed at fostering psychologically healthy and safe workplaces and more broadly, mentally healthy communities.?
We were also joined by representatives from the Black Dog Institute, Unions NSW and Business NSW who all shared valuable insights and perspectives. Learn more about the strategy and how you can support this important work?below.?? ?
It’s the safe way or ‘no way’ campaign??
SafeWork NSW has also launched?the?It’s the safe way or ‘no way’?campaign. The campaign is based on a range of criteria including evidence from workers compensation injury claims and incident data, research on enduring and emerging high-risk harms and the day-to-day experience of our inspectors.?
Our key message is?together, we say ‘no way’ to unsafe practices.?
The campaign focuses on high-risk work activities, including working at heights and around moving plant, working with farm machinery and working in food delivery.?
Our aim is to create safer workplaces by driving awareness of the importance of reducing workplace risks and promoting safer work practices. Find out more below, or visit the SafeWork NSW website.???
Trent Curtin
Acting Deputy Secretary, Head of SafeWork NSW
Business fined $375,000 after employee exposed to silica dust
An engineered stone provider has been fined $375,000 after it exposed a worker to risk of serious illness over a six-year and 10-month period where reasonably practical steps were not taken to minimise exposure to airborne respirable crystalline silica.?
Edstein Creative Pty Ltd failed to take adequate actions to minimise the risk of exposure to airborne respirable crystalline silica while undertaking tasks associated with the installation of engineered stone products, including cutting, grinding, drilling and polishing.?
NSW along with the other states and territories and the Commonwealth agreed unanimously to ban engineered stone from 1 July 2024.?
SafeWork NSW inspectors are continuing to undertake compliance inspections in the engineered stone industry, including site visits and issuing penalties to any non-compliant operators.?
Visit the SafeWork website?for?more information on SafeWork’s silica compliance work.
Increasing compliance checks on psychological health and safety
SafeWork NSW has launched the Psychological Health and Safety Strategy 2024-2026 - a new strategy aimed at making sure businesses manage psychosocial risks in the workplace.
The strategy will see increased compliance checks on high-risk and large businesses and government agencies.?High-risk industries include healthcare and social assistance, public administration and safety, and education and training.
Inspectors will be checking that businesses are meeting their legal duty to identify and manage psychosocial hazards and risks during visits to workplaces with 200 or more workers.
The strategy will continue to support small and medium size businesses, such as by offering ongoing access to free workplace mental health training and coaching.
This focus comes as data shows psychological injuries are on the rise in NSW workplaces. Workers’ compensation claims for psychological injury rose 30% in the four years to 2022/23, compared with 11% for physical injuries.
Common psychosocial hazards that businesses need to know about and manage include high job demands, exposure to traumatic events, and harmful workplace behaviours like bullying and harassment, including sexual harassment.
It’s the safe way, or ‘no way’.
Workplace fatalities have decreased by 35% over the past 10 years*, but one death is one too many. Every worker has the right to return home safe. We’re focusing on improving safety in high-risk activities, including:
Together let's say 'no way' to taking risks to get the job done quicker. Whether you're an employer, site manager or worker, access our tools and resources to help you create a safe workplace.
*The 2022 Work Health and Safety Statistics
Work shouldn’t hurt: Take action to prevent sprains and strains
On recent visits to food manufacturing sites, we saw workers handling product ingredients in a hazardous way, exposing them to the risk of musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs), commonly known as sprains and strains.
In one instance, workers were repetitively lifting 25kg bags of flour from a pallet to a mixing machine, reportedly for up to eight hours each day.
MSDs are preventable. Simple changes can make a difference.
Read our new MSD Safety Alert – Handling product ingredients in food manufacturing.
Avoid the shocking consequences, be electrical safe
Electricity can kill or cause severe injury to workers. SafeWork NSW inspectors will be proactively visiting construction sites across NSW between May and?November 2024, to check for safety when working on, or near, electricity. SafeWork Inspectors take a zero-tolerance approach to workers’ lives being placed at?risk, and can issue on-the-spot fines of up to $3,600 for businesses and $720 for individuals.
Keep everyone safe on construction sites from electrical risks and don’t take shortcuts. Test for live, and stay alive.
Take these simple measures to keep workers safe:
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Portable workplace toilets in construction factsheet
?SafeWork NSW has identified significant issues with unclean, poorly maintained and potentially hazardous portable toilets on building sites.
Employers?have a legal responsibility to provide workers with facilities, including toilets, that are in good working order, clean, safe and accessible.
To help you understand these requirements, we have created a factsheet outlining how to consult with workers, what type and how many toilets you need to provide and how to avoid hazards.
Ask an inspector
?
This is our Ask an inspector section where you can submit your work health and safety questions to our team.
We have been sent a wide range of questions this month.?See if any apply to your workplace. ?
Safety around pallets
Are there any rules on storing wooden pallets in or around warehouses?
The maximum height at which empty pallets can be stacked depends on several factors. This includes the type of pallets, their size, weight, and the structural integrity, weight limits as well as the ground/surface that it is placed on and the environment stored in (wind can blow stacks over, uneven surface can cause leans on stacks).
Typically, it is accepted industry practice that empty pallets are stacked around 15 to 20 high (to around three metres).
Employers’ road safety obligations
With a focus on transport and other industries that use public roads, to what reasonable lengths do employers have to comply to ensure the physical road is safe for work travel?
Work Health and safety (WHS) legislation requires managing reasonably foreseeable hazards, and there may be some situations where there is a foreseeable risk a public road is not safe to travel on. Examples might include flooding or bushfires, or where drivers have previously identified hazards on the route.
Boom lift licensing requirements
Does the passenger of a boom lift require a working at heights ticket? The driver does have the required licence to operate the boom lift, but which qualifications/tickets does the passenger require?
A high risk work licence (HRWL) is required to operate a boom-type elevated working platform (EWP) if the boom length is 11m or more. A licence is not required to be a passenger.
Exposure to welding fumes When does the new Exposure to welding fumes standard take effect in NSW?
The workplace exposure standard (WES) for welding fumes was reduced from an 8-hour time weighted average of 5 mg/m3 to 1 mg/m3.
This change came into effect in NSW on 18 January 2024 and?is a response to International Agency for Research on Cancer reclassifying welding fumes as a Group 1 Carcinogen.
Visit SafeWork NSW to find more information on how to manage risks associated with welding.
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Displaying?safe operating procedures
Am I correct in that SOPs (safe operating procedures) are not mandatory to be displayed in a workplace?
You are correct, there is no mandatory requirement to display a safe operating procedure.
Workers must be provided adequate information, training, and supervision to carry out their work.
Risk assessment matrix
Does a risk assessment have to have a risk matrix and risk scoring?
It’s not mandatory for a risk assessment to have a risk matrix and risk scoring, although it may be helpful for some people.
Verification of competency
What is best practice for verification of competency (VOC) for plant & equipment?
This is difficult to answer, as plant includes digital thermometers, industrial robots, dentist drills, amusement rides and thousands of other items. Plant is used in all industries, by companies of all sizes. It is important that operators are competent and can use plant safely. This may be achieved by providing inhouse information, training and supervision. However, best practice is really what works best for the PCBU and their circumstances.
Ask your question
Thank you to everyone who has submitted a question for our inspectors in?SafeWork Wrap.
Events, webinars and more
Ends soon: Free asbestos awareness and safety course
SafeWork NSW has partnered with the Building Commission NSW and TAFE NSW to offer free asbestos awareness and safety training.
Created for construction workers, tradespeople and home renovators, this 2.5-hour, online course is free until 13 June 2024. This is a saving of $175 per person.
Enrol by 13 June 2024 to take advantage of the free period. Once you have enrolled you have six months to complete the course.
Reminder: Register now for our regional health and safety representative forums SafeWork NSW is delivering free, face-to-face work health and safety (WHS) forums across regional NSW. These forums have been developed for health and safety representatives (HSRs) safety committee members and workers looking to develop their WHS skills, discuss safety issues and network with local SafeWork inspectors.
Register now to secure your place at one of the following locations:
Albury - Tuesday 25 June
Newcastle - Wednesday 3 July
Wagga?Wagga - Thursday 4 July
Coffs Harbour - Wednesday 10 July?????????
Orange - Wednesday 17 July
Ballina - Wednesday 24 July
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. Learn more about your notification obligations.
Other NSW Government news
Stay safe this winter