The Risk Management Tool Box Blog

WorkSafe in Western Australia has reported on new figures which demonstrate that one West Australian worker dies every 21 days as a result of a work related accident

Statistics compiled between 2008 and 2013 showed 5,350 workers suffered very severe injuries in total, with at least one fatality occurring every three weeks.

At the Risk Tool Box, we know that all of those accidents could have been prevented if the hazards were correctly identified and managed. 

Effective hazard management is essential to your safety and the safety of those you work with. 

Do you know how to identify, assess, and control  workplace hazards?

As the Worksafe statistics clearly demonstrate, workplace accidents occur every day. 

But most accidents are  preventable, particularly when the correct hazard management process is used.

For many years now, the Risk Tool Box has been at the forefront of equiping workers with the knowledge and skills to apply the hazard management process to assist in managing risk and maintaining an injury-free workplace.

Our training courses are modular and aimed at any individual who may be exposed to hazards in their workplace.

On completion of our course, workers are able to:

1. Define the Hazard and Risk Management Process;

2. Identify hazards and assess triggering factors;

3. Understand incidents and the potential consequences which could occur when things go wrong;

4. Select and implement controls using the hierarchy of control;

5. Monitor and review controls, ensuring that emergency situations are quickly dealt with; and

6. Record the results of the hazard management process using hazard spotting or JSA.

For more information about our award winning program, call Dr Graham Marshall on 0408 472 678.

WorkSafe WA has recently issued a warning that fraudulently-produced High Risk Work Licenses are in circulation in Western Australia.

The fake licenses have been printed in New South Wales and a further warning states that unconfirmed information suggests that fake licenses are being made overseas.

The scam was discovered when two workers visited the WorkSafe office in Karratha to have their NSW permits upgraded to acknowledge additional rigging classes.

Fortunately WorkSafe's procedures for verifying the validity of licenses issued in other states revealed that these licenses were fraudulent.

WA's WorkSafe Commissioner Lex McCulloch is reported as saying that "it is of great concern that holders of High Risk Work Licenses may not be adequately trained to perform high risk work safely and competently, and I urge employers, assessors and trainers to verify any High Risk Work Licenses presented to them".

 

Congratulations from the Risk Tool Box to our clients at Fremantle Ports for having won the prestigious Worksafe Award for the best safety and health management system in the Western Australian public sector.

Initiatives under Fremantle Ports safety plan focus on critical risks, leadership skills, behaviour and OHS support.

We're pleased to be continuing to play a small supporting roll in bow-tie analysis, risk assessment and hazard awareness training  to our key customers at the port operations.

So once again, well done to all concerned!

There has been a slide in Western Australian workplace safety performance after WorkSafe WA revealed it had investigated about 2,000 fewer workplaces in the last financial year compared to each of the previous four years.

The reduction in site visits was due to the shortage of WorkSafe inspectors, as the agency struggled to compete with resources companies in the booming minerals sector for skilled workers.

WorkSafe currently has 15 unfilled vacancies in its complement of 103 inspectors

WorkSafe WA investigated 7,600 workplaces in 2011, compared to 9,400 the previous year and a high of 10,000 in 2009.

Figures from the agency's annual report show the number of its workplace visits almost halved since 2008.

The report said the number of improvement notices dropped by 25 per cent and prohibition notices by 33 per cent in the same period.

And there are no doubts to the Risk Tool Box that safety standards are falling in WA.

Research shows the frequency of severe injuries at WA workplaces had risen to its highest rate in 11 years.

Figures show the total number of severe incidents in which a worker needs to take 60 days or more to recover from an injury or disease sustained in the workplace - was 2.65 for every million hours worked in 2011, compared with a frequency rate of 2.24 incidents in this category a year previously.

The lost time injury (LTI) rate also increased in the 2011 year to 9.51 from 9.07 per million hours worked in 2010.