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CSG Posts (112)

CSG Posts

Central Safety Group committee bulletin

The committee has begun to meet regularly under the direction of new President Nan Austin. Once a month we catch up in the days following the zoom presentation and discuss future speakers, our financials, membership, website resources and other topics to benefit and promote the organisation.

Financial members can access the minutes via Quicklinks in the footer on our Home page. Go to About Us - Meeting Minutes or click here (log in first). They are posted after they have been accepted at a subsequent meeting, so the first one there is for June 2021. It is your opportunity to see how we are working on your behalf. We welcome your feedback!

In other news, Adrian Glaubert has resigned from the committee as he has moved away from the sphere of health and safety and has secured a role as Head of Enterprise for a large retail operation. We wish him all the best and thank him for his valuable contributions over the last two years.

WorkSafe Victoria’s new Infringement Notices scheme

I recently attended an information session held by WorkSafe Victoria about the new infringement notices scheme. Held via zoom, the session was very informative and professionally presented and, with approximately 2,000 viewers, it was clearly important to business.

Infringement Notices (or on-the-spot fines) commence on 31 July 2021 and will be an additional tool to existing notices, such as improvement notices, prohibition notices and non-disturbance notices.
The notices will be issued by an Inspector to relevant persons who have obligations under the OHS legislation (employers, employees and self-employed persons). Some other key points:

  • 54 offences have been prescribed and will be listed in Schedule 20
  • A notice will include a prescribed penalty, details on how to pay, the date the payment is due (at least 21 days) and how to appeal the notice
  • The penalty amount is greater for corporations than for individuals and will be noted as penalty units as with other notices
  • Other notices can be issued at the same time
  • Infringement Notices cannot be issue retrospectively

 

As the session was only for an hour, not all viewer questions could be addressed, but here is some of the additional information that came from the Q&As:

  • The dispute process, as with other notices, could be via WorkSafe internal review or through the courts
  • Money raised through the notices will go into the Workers’ Compensation scheme
  • Inspectors will not be set a number of Infringement Notices to issue - they must observe the breach and determine what notice would best serve
  • Employers are expected to consult with their employees about the introduction of these notices
  • Psychological safety is not specifically included in these notices, but employers are still required to provide a safe system of work (including welfare)
  • Infringement Notices apply to all industries
  • The amount of the fine does not increase for repeat offenders, but other actions can be taken in these circumstances
  • The Attorney General and the Department of Justice were consulted prior to releasing this scheme

 

More information, including the presentation, will be available on the WorkSafe website in the coming weeks. Meanwhile, check out what is there already:
https://www.worksafe.vic.gov.au/introducing-infringement-notices-workplace-safety-breaches

Thursday, 05 August 2021 05:56

Keeping up-to-date with contractor management

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Keeping up-to-date with contractor management

Earlier this month CSG members LinkSafe alerted us to a webinar they are hosting on August 24, featuring Sue Bottrell on the topic of contractor safety management. Well, the webinar became fully booked within 30 minutes! If you missed out, don’t worry, they told me that they are hoping to do another later in the year, so we’ll let our mailing list know about that as soon as we know more.

Sue Bottrell is LinkSafe’s Legal Advisor and a leading expert in contractor safety management. You may remember her excellent video presentation during our CSG Talks short video series last year. She spoke about the legal implications arising from the tragic incident on the Eastern Freeway that resulted in the death of 4 Victorian Police officers. Of course that is being played out in the courts as we speak, so it’s timely to hear again what Sue had to say about the contractor management aspects of this incident. Her talk A very public tragedy – but who is really responsible? is available to members and non-members alike.

Presentation & Full Meeting Video Now Available
CSG Meeting: July 2021
Speaker: 
Dominic Melling, Lead Organiser, OHS Team, Victorian Trades Hall Council
 
Check out the latest presentation from our July 2021 meeting, along with the full meeting video, now available to members.
 
 

COVID-19 response in Victoria: A union perspective

This was a very informative session that consolidated many of the issues we learned about throughout the last 18 months that affect vulnerable workers. Dominic highlighted a number of areas where the essential workforce was exposed to risks. In particular, he spoke about aged care, the quarantine frontline, supply chain and meatworks. In the case of the latter, while WorkSafe acted quickly to produce guidance, some of it was not practical and needed to be modified.

Dominic and his team have developed an extensive program to assist Health & Safety Representatives (HSRs) and workers, with resources that are readily available via two of their websites: www.covidsafeworkplace.org and www.ohsrep.org.au. Resources include checklists for auditing and free 2-hour training sesssions.

Dominic also spoke about those who worked from home and how the rush to implement this new way of working has resulted in its own challenges. In our December 2020 presentation by David Caple, he went into this issue in greater detail and you can access it here (log in first)

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Presentation & Full Meeting Video Now Available
CSG Meeting: June 2021
Speaker: 
Dr Kate Branford, Senior Human Factors Specialist, V/Line
 
Check out the latest presentation from our June 2021 meeting, along with the full meeting video, now available to members.
 
**Please note that the video of this presentation is available for 2 weeks only**
 

Human factors and human error

There was a great turn-out for this presentation, even though some members were a bit shy to turn on their cameras!  Nevertheless, all attendees were treated to an excellent and informative session.

The bulk of the presentation focused on human error, which typically accounts for 60-80% of incidents. However, Kate demonstrated that there are many aspects to this. For instance, it doesn't relate to operators alone; it could be human error on the part of a designer or the person who does a risk assessment, among others.

In relation to design, it is worth considering optical illusions and perception of information. This was illustrated brilliantly via an interactive section of the talk that showed us just how easy it is to misread visual information. One of the take-home messages for me was that human errors do not occur randomly; context is important.

If you would like learn more about V/Line's general approach to safety, Sylvia Hudson gave a detailed presentation in April 2016 about their updated management system Destination Zero (log in first)

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Presentation & Full Meeting Video Now Available
CSG Meeting: May 2021
Speaker: 
Gavin Kenny, Manager SHEQ - Service Delivery, Melbourne Water
 
Check out the latest presentation from our May 2021 meeting, along with the full meeting video, now available to members.
 

Using technology to make work safer

This was a fascinating presentation and quite an eye-opener for those of us who are technologically-challenged. While Central Safety Group has only recently joined the world of zoom, Gavin Kenny at Melbourne Water has spent the last 4 years implementing a whole range of innovative solutions to common health and safety issues.

Gavin covered the whole gamut: from the use of Virtual Reality technology when designing new plant, through the use of animation to bring the Confined Spaces compliance code to life and developing apps for workers and maintenance contractors to use in the field, to very low-tech ways to engage with the workforce. With the latter, one that caught my eye was an annual staff barbecue called "Whingefest".

Another feature is the conversion of many of their procedures into a digital format to make them less cumbersome and, therefore, easier to use. It is part of their philosophy to reduce safety clutter. This was also the topic of our October 2019 presentation by Dr David Provan, here, which is definitely worth checking out again (log in first to access it).

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Presentation & Full Meeting Video Now Available
CSG Meeting: April 2021
Speaker: 
David Trembearth, Safety Business Partner, Coles
 
Check out the latest presentation from our April 2021 meeting, along with the full meeting video, now available to members.
 

Musculoskeletal issues – what’s new in risks and prevention

There was a lot of interest in this topic and David gave attendees a lot to think about after his excellent presentation.

David was keen to point out that manual work is not a bad thing and that he is not against manual handling. In fact, current research indicates that it is not only physical factors that contribute to workplace musculoskeletal disorders, but other workplace factors as well. Therefore, one needs to look at how a task is "shaped". With appropriate design controls, manual tasks can be made much safer.

David busted a few myths about the reliance on conventional interventions. He confirmed what many of us have suspected for a long time, that training is not an effective prevention tool. There was certainly quite a bit of head-nodding at this point from attendees.

David alerted us to some useful resources, including Safe Work Australia's handbook on the principles of good work design.

Due to copyright reasons, we are not able to include the video David shared about a couple of the innovative design solutions he has implemented at Coles. You had to be there! Make sure you put the second Tuesday of the month into your diaries so that you don't miss out on our great presentations!

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Presentation & Full Meeting Video Now Available
CSG Meeting: March 2021
Speaker:
Christina Rennick, General Manager Health, Safety and Wellbeing, St Vincent’s Hospital, Melbourne
 
Check out the latest presentation from our March 2021 meeting, along with the full meeting video, now available to members.
 

Hospital safety during the pandemic

This informative session provided fascinating insights into the experiences of St Vincent's Hospital during both waves of the coronavirus pandemic in Victoria. And the experiences of each wave could not have been more different.

During the first wave much of their time was spent making extensive preparations for what the pandemic may bring. While they had only one case of Covid-19, they had to deal with a degree of anticipatory anxiety among their staff as they came to grips with the quickly-developing knowledge about this novel coronavirus.

The second wave was a completely different story, where "the only constant thing was change". They developed many strategies to deal with all the new challenges, and then when staff infections increased, they needed to review their processes to keep everyone safe. Christina shared many of these strategies in detail.

Her presentation stimulated a lot of discussion and has inspired us to delve into related topics for future meetings. In particular, dealing with post trauma from these experiences.

 

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Celebrating Ollie Matthews

At Central Safety Group's AGM on the 9th February 2021, our President Alan Matthews (universally and affectionately known as Ollie) formally resigned from the position after being at the helm for an impressive 18 years. Ollie's career in OHS and association with CSG is extensive, making him one of the group's living treasures!

He commenced with Fairfield Plumbing in 1966, which became Pratt Safety Systems in 1974, where he was their sole technical adviser. The company specialised in safety eyewash units; safety showers; safe storing and dispensing of chemicals and flammable liquids, as well as manufacture of safety signs, including working with the authorities to develop HAZCHEM signage for vehicles and buildings. It was at this time that Ollie first started attending CSG meetings.

In 1986 Ollie commenced as the first OHS Manager with the now John Fawkner Private Hospital in Coburg. By 1991 he was OHS Manager for five hospitals and eventually became National OHS Auditor for Healthscope hospitals across Australia, a position he held until March 2015. After a brief break of 6 months, he joined the Ramsay Healthcare group looking after two hospitals part-time before retiring from work in July last year.

Ollie has many memories of CSG since he first attended meetings in 1974 and he offers an insight into the evolution of the group. Originally  there were a number of safety groups that all had a connection with the Department of Labour and Industry (DLI), now Worksafe.  Meetings were in a similar format to how they were conducted prior to the coronavirus pandemic, but the venues were many and varied. He recalls that meetings in 1974 were held at the Richmond football ground; later they took place in various hotels, including the Celtic Club, and the group even experimented having breakfast meetings at the North Melbourne football ground. Other venues were the Bryant and May match factory in Richmond, the Australian Ballet in Southbank and a number of meeting rooms in offices in the CBD. He also recalls that there was a period when CSG conducted annual Apprentice Seminars with guest speakers on safety-related topics.

In 2003 Ollie was elected President of CSG and in 2013 he was awarded Life Membership. He has overseen many changes within the composition of the Committee. While welcoming and encouraging the evolution of the group through the input of new Comittee members, he provided continuity and a steady and supportive presence along with a strong commitment to our values.

In addition to his illustrious career in OHS and long involvement with CSG, Ollie has packed in many other interests. In 2020 he retired, after 20 years as board member and 16 years as President, of the Riddell District Football and Netball League. He has umpired 2,038 matches and continues to play and umpire football in the AFL Masters competition. In 2019 he was inducteOllie's ostrichesd as a Legend in the Hall of Fame.

Ollie has been a volunteer fireman with the CFA and was the initial Unit Controller with the Craigieburn SES for 10 years. In between all of that, he is a painter of wonderfully quirky emu images.

We wish Ollie all the best in his retirement alongside Jan, his wife of 50 years, their three daughters and seven grandchildren. Family, golf, painting, travelling...he continues to enjoy a rich and fulfilling life, and we look forward to seeing his smiling face at future CSG meetings. Thank you, Ollie, for all you have done for Central Safety Group!

Central Safety Group news

Central Safety Group's AGM on the 9th February 2021 was action-packed! (Well, as much as an AGM can be, that is.)

A motion to commence the process of becoming an Incorporated Association was passed, and a sub-committee has been formed to facilitate this. It's expected to take about 6 months to complete the process. The main advantages of this move are to establish a clear structure for the group as well as to protect individual members from legal liability.

Our long-serving President Alan Matthews formally resigned from the position (see the separate blog entry about this), and Vice-President Nan Austin was duly elected as his replacement. Congratulations Nan! 

Due to the move to becoming an Incorporated Association, it was decided not to fill the role of Vice-President at the moment, nor to alter the rest of the make-up of the committee. The review of our group and roles within it means that the scope of the Executive roles in particular could change and we want to clarify those before asking anyone to put up their hands to join the committee.

Finally, two new Life Members were appointed at the AGM. Our Secretary Jane Loudon was the first of these. In 2014 when our then secretary John Knowles left the group suddenly due to ill health, Jane became our saviour by stepping into the role immediately without a second thought. She has since established herself as an invaluable member of the committee, particularly in her work securing a high calibre of speakers for our monthly meetings.

The other new Life Member is Marina Milankovic, who has been a committee member since 2006, served as Treasurer from 2008-2015 and, since 2016, has been Membeship Secretary. During the challenges of 2020 she played an important part behind the scenes to ensure that CSG could adapt to the changing situation.

To view the full list (and smiling faces) of our committee and Life Members, go to the About Us section of the website here.

To view the AGM minutes, President's report and Treasurer's report, go here (login required).

 

 

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