Workplace Safety : HPOTS releases new operator log book

Workplace Health and Safety is a primary concern in Australia, and Australian businesses and the community place a great deal of attention on the care of workers and looking after people injured in industrial accidents.

Safe Work Australia recently released statistics for July 2011 showing that nine people were killed as a result of industrial accidents in that month alone.  Add to that the eight people who lost their lives in workplace accidents in June and the much larger numbers of people injured, some permanently, each month.  A great deal of suffering results from these workplace accidents.  Industry also loses skilled, competent people at a time when the country needs them to sustain our living standards and international competitiveness.

Phil Stuart of HPOTS Training says . . .

“Investigations of industrial accidents often indicate that these events are preventable.  All high risk work operators must now be licensed under the National Licensing standards but there is also a lot more that can be done. Licensing training incorporates a variety of tasks that are commonly performed but work varies between companies, between sites and between industries. As a result a rigger may only occasionally carry out installation of cantilevered crane loading platforms for example, whereas some riggers do that regularly.  Ensuring operators maintain their skills can be an issue, particularly with the very transient workforce we are seeing at the moment.”

As an aid to creating safer working environments, HPOTS have released an Operator Activity logbook.  The aim is to assist operators to maintain an up to date log of their work experience and promote increased operator safety and compliance.

Under the proposed new Work Health and Safety legislation due for introduction on 1 January 2012, officers of a company will be required to undertake adequate due diligence and to take reasonably practicable steps to reduce risks and maintain a safe work environment.  Ensuring operators log their work may assist officers to determine an operators level of competency to undertake a particular task or scope of work.

The current Occupation Health and Safety Act 2000 also requires employers to put work systems in place ensuring a working environment that is safe and without risk to health.  This includes controls to eliminate or minimize risks to the workers and pedestrians. Ensuring operators are adequately trained, informed, and supervised is a requirement.

To find out more about what can be done, you can visit www.hpots.com.au

Contact Information

Phil Stewart

Manager

HPOTS Training

(61) 02 4990 2588

info@hpots.com.au