WorkSafe has launched a campaign urging safety improvements before an inspector visits. The campaign, Any Day Now, will remind employers that WorkSafe inspectors are out and about and that they are serious about safety.
WorkSafe’s Executive Director of Health and Safety, Mr Ian Forsyth, said “plenty of people are doing the right thing, but our inspectors come across the same problems over and over again.”
“They’re generally basic matters that can be fixed at little or no cost
NOVEMBER 2011
WorkSafe have issued a Safety Alert in response to a recent incident which occurred when an operator replaced a single diamond tipped cutting bade on a petrol demolition saw with two blades. The consequences of these actions, which were not in line with the manufacturer’s safe use instructions, saw the two blades, whilst rotating at high speed, detach and fly 50 metres across the site. Luckily no one was injured, had anyone been struck they would have been seriously
A Reservoir bricklaying company recently paid the price for failing to observe scaffold loads.
When WorkSafe investigators visited the Prahran construction site in February 2009, they discovered that:
• The scaffold was overloaded by more than double the safe limit
• The bricks were not evenly distributed across the platform
• The Company’s employees were not properly trained in unloading and stacking bricks
• There was no supervisor on site to ensure that the
All 240 volt and 415 volt tools/equipment and electrical leads must be inspected and tagged prior to first use and at three monthly intervals by a qualified electrician. Earth leakage, residual current devices (RCD's) should be tested every month.
All items tested should carry a test tag color coded to indicate whether it is 'current' as follows:
