Natasha Searle
Having a safe workplace and business comes down to having the right culture. In practical terms, this means that all people in the business:
- Have a commitment to Work Health and Safety (WHS), always working in a safe manner
- Have a positive attitude towards safety
- Communicate and live the shared responsibility
- Lead by example
- Encourage consultation, suggestions and feedback for continuous improvement
- Change practices to manage hazards – which may mean sacrificing some efficiency and/or adding some cost for the greater good
- Constantly review practices to improve the way things are done
- Inform, train and supervise team members
- Plan for tasks and ensure flexibility or a buffer is built in to manage unexpected pressures
How would you describe your business culture, and your focus on work health and safety?
Click here to download our new fact sheet which explores processes and systems to support you in implementing effective hazard management.
Having the right safety culture and taking action to manage risks should be your core focus. Documentation and records, while also important, are a secondary focus.
Don’t create a safety system for your team and business to just ‘tick a box’! Your approach needs to be a practical and true reflection of your workplace practices.
Following the theme of this edition of InTouch, there are many areas you can control and focus on to address common farm safety issues.
We recently developed a fact sheet which outlines these solutions that you can apply. Click here to download the fact sheet and review practical solutions for:
- Undertaking a risk assessment
- Signage
- Managing isolated workers
- Communication
- Chain of responsibility
- Redirecting traffic flow
- Removing access to unsafe areas
- First aid training and kits
- Testing and tagging electrical equipment
- Chemical accreditation
- Awareness of all workers in the workplace
What are some straightforward changes you can make in your business?
When you identify a risk in your business, your next steps is to assess it and identify how you will manage it. The extent of the action required to manage a risk is guided by the hierarchy of risk control.
- The idea is to assess control from Level 1 – Eliminate, if that cannot be achieved move down. The most effective control measure must always be considered first.
- Level 2 considers substitution, isolation and engineering controls.
- Level 3 should only be considered when higher order control measures are not practicable and include administrative controls (eg Standard Operating Procedures, signage, personal protective equipment (PPE).
It may be appropriate for a combination of control levels to be used to manage a risk.
For more information on the Hierarchy of Risk Control, click here to download our fact sheet.
What straightforward solutions have you implemented in your business? We’d love to hear from you. Share them with the HR Services team.