Central Safety Group Melbourne

Taming Contractor Management

John Naughton shared his experiences of working with George Weston Foods to overhaul their contractor management system and bring it into the 21st century.

Being a large organisation with multiple sites across Australia, New Zealand and the Asia Pacific engaging more than 4,000 external contractors, there were particular challenges in streamlining the multiple systems that existed. However, any sized organisation could relate to his descriptions of ad hoc manual systems with the potential for frequent safety breaches.

The centralised electronic system he developed was tailored to the users and is so much more than a database. It was built as a management and compliance tool that allows everyone in the organisation to become a contractor manager. An example is the Permit To Work system that was built from the existing procedure then improved and can now be tracked easily. As John explained, centralisation = control.

The system has resulted in many safety improvements and the business gained a 600% return on investment in just 12 months.

The meeting provoked quite a bit of discussion as attendees were keen to dig down into the details of John's successful project.

View Presentation
members only, please login first.

Date & Time: WEDNESDAY 15 August 2018 at 12:00pm Venue: Level 1, 333 Queen Street Melbourne (AMS Consulting Group)

Taming Contractor Management

John Naughton.

Contractor management is one of the most challenging areas of safety risk management. Contractor management systems can be onerous and complicated, leaving gaps when it comes to covering business and compliance requirements.

John Naughton and his team tackled this problem and transformed contractor management while he was Director of HSE at a major food company, and he will share his experiences at a lunchtime talk to Central Safety Group on Wednesday 15 August.

He will describe the journey from a manual spreadsheet-based contractor management system to an easy to manage, efficient and flexible system embracing modern technology. This change also brought crucial new dimensions and features to the company’s system for managing contractors, and significantly, reduced administrative time and costs.

.

Note: When booking for the Event, please ensure you select the August Meeting from the dropdown list (shaded orange), to RSVP to this meeting.

RSVP Here

Paper mentioned by Kevin Jones at the June 2018 meeting

This paper about the role of safety professionals was hot-off-the-internet when it was mentioned at the CSG Meeting. It was written by Dave Provan, Sidney Dekker and Drew Rae and called “Benefactor or burden: Exploring the professional identity of safety professionals”. The abstract says: “Understanding the professional identity of safety professionals provides an important foundation for exploring their professional practice, and by extension, understanding organizational safety more broadly.”

Read Paper
members only, please login first for link to work correctly.

Date & Time: Tuesday 10 July 2018 at 12:00pm Venue: Level 1, 333 Queen Street Melbourne (AMS Consulting Group)

A WorkSafe Inspector’s-eye view

Les Cameron, WorkSafe Inspector, WorkSafe Victoria.

Things have been happening at WorkSafe Victoria, including the relocation this year of its head office along with several hundred roles from Melbourne CBD to Geelong.
This and other current changes, projects and priorities at WorkSafe will be outlined by seasoned WorkSafe Inspector Les Cameron in a lunchtime presentation on 10 July.
Les will also have something to say about his work on the front line, discussing incidents and some new intervention programs now being tested.
Questions, comments and discussion will be welcome during the session.

Note: When booking for the Event, please ensure you select the July Meeting from the dropdown list (shaded orange), to RSVP to this meeting.

RSVP Here

The state of OHS in Victoria

Based on his forensic research and analysis of data from WorkSafe Victoria, Barry Naismith presented some measured and thought-provoking findings to a packed room. Some findings are somewhat dispiriting, including the fact that this data can be inaccurate, shallow and lagging. Nevertheless, his presentation provided some interesting insights into trends in injury rates and claims, including mental claims.  

He also took a clear-eyed look at the current push for wellbeing programs in the workplace and how these are grabbing the spotlight from OHS.  He discussed the issue of whether wellbeing included both the physical and mental, and how we embed wellbeing into injury prevention. 

Barry concluded with a call to OHS professionals to speak out if they see a need for things to change. "Don't just leave safety leadership to the regulator in these challenging and interesting times - times that are re-shaping OHS, hopefully for the better", he said.

View Presentation
members only, please login first.

View Presentation
Exclusive pre-release OHSIntros Paper to CSG members only, please login first.

Date & Time: Tuesday 12 June 2018 at 12:00pm Venue: Level 1, 333 Queen Street Melbourne (AMS Consulting Group)

The State of OHS in Victoria

Barry Naismith.

What do the latest data and developments tell us about the current state of OHS in Victoria? Barry Naismith, who has done a keen-eyed independent analysis, will share his conclusions at the Central Safety Group lunch meeting on 12 June.

Barry was a consultant with the Victorian WorkCover Authority (now WorkSafe) for 14 years. Since then he has produced a number of independent reports into the operations and performance of WorkSafe Victoria.

He has just concluded his latest report, based on 2017, and will discuss his findings and spell out some trends and predictions that are likely to be of interest to those working in OHS in Victoria.

To quote leading blogger Kevin Jones, “This level of analysis and interpretation is rarely available outside of formal academic research, and Naismith provides the all-important social and political context from which much academic occupational health and safety (OHS) research shies.”

Questions, opinions and comments from the audience will be welcome.

Note: When booking for the Event, please ensure you select the June Meeting from the dropdown list (shaded orange), to RSVP to this meeting.

RSVP Here

Safety & the Big Cats

Jason Hensel, Senior Advisor, Health and Safety, at Zoos Victoria gave a fascinating insight into the work he has been undertaking, developing a program for working with dangerous animals. These animals are known as Category 1 Animals, because they are likely to endanger human life. Jason has been concentrating on Melbourne Zoo, where there are 20 species of Category 1 Animals. (At the Healesville site, the only Category 1 Animal is the cassowary!)

It is two years into the development of the program, which has proved to be much bigger than expected due to the many interconnected aspects. In the past, dealing with these animals relied on people making sound decisions and a number of ad hoc systems. Now this approach has been replaced with consistent streamlined processes and the introduction of engineering controls that are being tailor-made to suit this unique environment.

Jason is supported by a CEO with a strong interest in health & safety, which we all know is a key factor in successful programs.

View Presentation
members only, please login first.

Reducing Manual Handling Injuries

Conor Healy was a very engaging speaker as he spoke enthusiastically about the program he has developed for Jetstar that has resulted in a 40% reduction in manual handling injuries and the risk of musculoskeletal disorders in just two years.

He spoke about the challenges of working within a regulatory framework (CASA + airports) that make it difficult to introduce design & engineering controls. As a result he has developed a multi-pronged program that includes onsite physiotherapy, particpatory ergonomics and a radical shift in their training approach.

While acknowledging that it is early days and there is still a way to go, he is rightly proud of what has been achieved so far. He offered quite a few practical strategies in his presentation that are applicable to many industries.

View Presentation
members only, please login first.

Date & Time: Tuesday 8 May 2018 at 12:00pm Venue: Level 1, 333 Queen Street Melbourne (AMS Consulting Group)

Safety and The Big Cats

Jason Hensel, Senior Safety Advisor - Zoos Victoria.

Injuries and fatalities from contact between people and animals are known to be a high risk in zoos worldwide.

At Zoos Victoria a special program for working with dangerous animals is being supported by Jason Hensel, Senior Advisor, Health and Safety, who will give a presentation on this subject to Central Safety Group on 8 May.

Jason will discuss how he has drawn on safety programs from a number of industries to develop effective and consistent controls for the safe keeping of all animals likely to endanger human life, known as Category 1 Animals (CAT 1).

Melbourne Zoo has 20 species of animal that fall into this category – ranging from the big cats to gorillas, hippopotamuses and African wild dogs. Jason has been working on risk assessments and safety systems for each of these, taking into account physical, mechanical, animal behaviour and human factors.

This initiative is part of Zoos Victoria’s aim to become a world leader in zoo safety. Zoos around the world put a sharp spotlight on safety following incidents such as a child falling into a gorilla exhibit at Cincinnati Zoo and the death of a keeper at New Zealand’s Hamilton Zoo

Note: When booking for the Event, please ensure you select the May Meeting from the dropdown list (shaded orange), to RSVP to this meeting.

RSVP Here

Date & Time: Tuesday 10 April 2018 at 12:00pm Venue: Level 1, 333 Queen Street Melbourne (AMS Consulting Group)

Reducing manual handling injuries

Conor Healy, Manager, Work Health & Safety - Jetstar Australia New Zealand.

Manual handling injuries are some of the most common and costly injuries in the workplace.
An account of how Jetstar Airways reduced these injuries by 40% will be shared by Conor Healy, Manager, Work Health and Safety, Jetstar Australia New Zealand in a lunchtime presentation on 10 April.
Baggage handlers, cabin crews and engineering workshop teams all do a lot of manual handling at Jetstar, which now has 7,000 employees and is one of the world’s fastest growing airlines.
Conor developed a multi-pronged program to reduce manual handling injuries and the risk of musculoskeletal disorders for employees working in body stressing environments. In two years he has found that the program has already made a significant difference.
He will discuss the program and what the airline is doing to continue to gain improvements in this area.

About the Speaker

Conor Healy has been Manager, Work Health and Safety, Jetstar Australia New Zealand for three years. His background includes significant experience in areas ranging from transport with London Underground, defence with BAE Systems to logistics with Toll and working with aerospace organisations. He is a graduate of the University of Westminster in the UK and has attained an MBA in Strategy.

Note: When booking for the Event, please ensure you select the April Meeting from the dropdown list (shaded orange), to RSVP to this meeting.

RSVP Here