Articles

Free Safety Resource

Free Safety Resource – International Labour Organization’s Encyclopaedia of Occupational Health and Safety This link was brought to our attention by a reader – thanks Mike. This is an enormous volume and body of safety knowledge and pretty heavy going at times. But, as a resource for safety and risk management info, probably second to [...]

Safety and Continuous Improvement

‘George’s Safety Reflections Safety and Continuous Improvement Continuous improvement is a long-term business strategy to improve your business in terms of customer value and satisfaction, quality, speed to market, flexibility and reduced cost. One of the principal objectives of continuous improvement is to increase the skills and capacities of all the organisation’s employees so they [...]

Safety Solutions Newsletter

Latest from Safety Solutions – www.safetysolutions.net.au What’s New? Changes to licence requirements for loadshifting machines From 30 September 2011, operators of loadshifting machines will no longer need a certificate of competency to operate some loadshifting equiment. [ read more ] Driver fatigue management alert NT WorkSafe has issued a safety alert that highlights the importance [...]

Safety Myths and Misconceptions

Safety Myths and Misconceptions Another classic article in the series by George Robotham from www.ohschange.com.au *This paper draws heavily on the work of Brisbane OHS consultant Geoff McDonald. Quotable Quote "A health & safety problem can be described by statistics but cannot be understood by statistics. It can only be understood by knowing and feeling [...]

Qualities of an Excellent OHS Professional

Qualities of an Excellent OHS Professional A few thoughts from George at www.ohschange.com.au with a little help from me. We were originally going to call it the “Perfect Safety Professional” but decided that “perfect” wasn’t the right word as perfection could never be defined or achieved. If you were perfect then you wouldn’t be quite [...]

George’s Philosophy on Life, Work and Relationships

Must Read Article For All Safety Professionals Hot off the press from Australia’s Safety Guru, George Robotham. No apologies for the raw language and honesty. George does not hold back on telling it how it is and I respect him 100% for that because he has actually been there, done that. This is one of [...]

Confined Spaces – safety compliance cost & compromise

Confined Spaces – safety compliance cost & compromise New Safety Article from Safety Solutions and MSA Statistics indicate accidents occurring in confined spaces have been more frequent and often more serious than accidents in other workplace environments. This is driven by the fact that when things go wrong in a confined space it is difficult [...]

Passion 101 – Passionate about safety

Passion keeps one fully in the present, so that time became a series of mutually exclusive ‘nows.’ Another great article from the “Safety 101 = Keep Safety Simple” Series by Ruth Jenkins from SINA SAFETY SOLUTIONS I am passionate about safety. Now “how does that work”? I hear you say. This is simple for me [...]

How to make Safety Culture a Reality

Recommended Reading: Culture of Safety – A Reality Another great article from Sina Safety Solutions. Their mission is to make Health and Safety become a way of life in every workplace. They are very successful at this by creating simple and useable systems that can and will be used by all employees. As one of [...]

Latest Safety Matters Newsletter – Out Now

Featured Articles: Efforts being made to drive cultural changes Businesses vulnerable to hold-ups Congress and Conference Inspection programs Institute awards for outstanding students OHS harmonisation National Blitz Targets Roadside Safety Around the courts Companies face massive prescription safety eyewear costs DOWNLOAD HERE:

OHS Challenges in Australia 2011

OHS Challenges in Australia 2011 This is one of the best safety papers I have read for a long, long time and TOTALLY RELEVANT ANYWHERE ELSE IN THE WORLD. Its Author, George Robotham from OHS Change admits to having a healthy dis-respect for many common approaches to OHS Management and OHS Training – and he [...]

Safety and Health in the Workplace – Physical, Mental and Social

Safety and Health in the Workplace – Physical, Mental and Social By Jayme Carl Safety and Health in the workplace is more than just accident prevention. A good safety program needs to look at and address all aspects of working conditions. When looking at safety and health in the workplace, we refer to the conditions [...]

WorkSafe delivers a knock at the door about what’s important

WorkSafe is taking a tougher approach to its calls for Victorians to value workplace safety with an emotional public awareness advertising campaign beginning on Victorian television screens tonight. The state-wide campaign shows the ‘knock at the door’ received by a woman and her daughter after a major safety incident at her husband’s workplace. “It’s a [...]

Barriers To Improving Safety Culture

Safety Culture – Nine Warning Flags – Factors That Defeat Controls By James Roughtonand Nathan Crutchfield The implementation of an improved safety culture requires an almost Sherlock Holmes ability to use observation and logic to identify where underlying loss potential resides in the workplace. Just as Sherlock searched a crime scene, the OHS professional must [...]

Communicating The Safety Policy

Safety Culture – 3 Ways of Communicating Your Written Safety Policy! By James Roughtonand Nathan Crutchfield To be effective, Top management must state its commitment to safety, quality, etc. through a written and clearly communicated policy. This policy usually outlines the value of providing a safe place for employees to work or producing a quality [...]

Safety Culture

Safety Culture – Developing, Writing, and Communicating the Direction! By James Roughtonand Nathan Crutchfield When you plan a vacation, you and your family have this great vision in mind about where you want to go, what you want to see, and what you want to do as well as the types of experiences you want [...]

A Year in Review – SafetyRisk Blog

When we started this blog in March 2010 the purpose was not to grand stand our opinions or intellectualise about the latest obscure theories. Rather, the safety and risk management world has been good to us and we have collected a stack of useful information and tools over the years. We wanted a forum where [...]

Safety Signs Help Keep Us Away From Danger

Safety Signs Help Keep Us Away From Danger By Cole Rees What would we honestly do without safety signs? Because of safety signs, so many unnecessary accidents have been prevented from happening. Safety signs are uses all day and everyday out in the public whether you are in a parking lot, mall, factory, driving on [...]

Identify Workplace Risk and Hazards – Part 2

Develop a Foundation – Identify Workplace Risk and Hazards – Part 1 Develop a Foundation – Identify Workplace Risk and Hazards – Part 2 By James Roughtonand Nathan Crutchfield In part 1 we discussed why you should define what your safety and health system should look like. Do you just want to be just [...]

Pure Safety Articles and White Papers

PureSafety Articles & White Papers Born out of a workplace tragedy, PureSafety is led by industry professionals who understand the safety and health risks that threaten your organization’s people – and profits. We’re committed to offering the industry’s most comprehensive suite of training, safety, occupational health and medical management software solutions – and to maintaining [...]

Identify Workplace Risk and Hazards – Part 1

Develop a Foundation – Identify Workplace Risk and Hazards – Part 1 By James Roughtonand Nathan Crutchfield Setting the Stage – Providing the Foundation Here are several questions that are usually asked by safety and health professionals: “What are the skills that I need to have in order to be effective within my organization?,” “What [...]

David Cameron’s big society has to survive risk assessments

David Cameron’s big society has to survive risk assessments The Prime Minister David Cameron wants to have a Big Society. There is lots of fretting about quite how to define it but apparently we know it when we see it. One such example would be the Bucknell Women’s Institute doing volunteer gardening in their village [...]

Police to tick 238 boxes on a safety form before they save a life

What kind of idiots would tell police to tick 238 boxes on a safety form before they save a life? Health ’n’ safety? It’ll kill you. Or so runs the long-standing joke. What was once thought of as black humour, however, now turns out to be all too horribly true. A document that surfaced yesterday [...]

Measure Health and Safety Performance

Recent article by OHS Reps @ Work. Outlining the negative aspects of using traditional safety performance indictaors: Too often, the only measures used in workplaces and by government authorities are ‘negative’ measures. These are known as outcome indicators, and while they are important, they generally reflect the results of past actions. Outcome indicators may hide [...]

Measuring Health and Safety Performance

[picappgallerysingle id="182103"] A Review of Commonly-Used Performance Indicators By Jerome E. Spear, CSP, CIH How an organization measures performance undoubtedly influences organizational behavior. However, measuring safety is difficult because it is difficult to predict the impact that new safety metrics will have on individual behavior, attitudes, and the overall safety climate. Regardless of how difficult [...]

10 Success Factors for Effective Safety Committees

Great Article by Jerome Spear about how to get safety committees performing to their full potential Download Article Here Jerome E. Spear, MBA, CSP, CIH is President of J.E. Spear Consulting, LP and has 20 years of experience helping organizations prevent injuries and illnesses, control losses, and achieve regulatory compliance.Other interesting articles by Jerome Spear: [...]

Health and Safety Incidents and Fines

A list of the incidents, prosecutions and fines which took place over August 2010, brought to you by OSHEM Solutions via Health, Safety. 23 yr old go kart driver suffers neck and throat injuries when his scarf is entangled. WorkCover call for go karts operators and their patrons to heed the warnings about loose clothing [...]

Toyota hit by new Lexus brakes and fuel recall

Toyota hit by new Lexus brakes and fuel recall | This is Money. The recall principally affects vehicles in Japan and the US – but more than 17,000 Lexus drivers in the UK have been asked to return their cars. Read more: http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/bargains-and-rip-offs/motoring/article.html?in_article_id=516936&in_page_id=53949#ixzz13JRekrUl

Safety first at BP as pay gets revamp

Safety first at BP as pay gets revamp

Lab safety tips

Laboratory Safety Workplace laboratories, whether they are research laboratories or medical laboratories, are subject to their own sets of safety rules. If you work in or manage a laboratory, there are many safety rules and procedures to keep in mind. Every lab will establish different sets of specific rules, but some general rules remain the [...]

Bicycle Safety Tips

Improving Bicycle Safety As a city or town council attempts to improve bicycle safety, there are many safety concerns that can be addressed. From offering off-road bicycle paths to lighting the paths to enforcing helmet laws, a city or town can help bicyclists be safer in cycling. Some free measures, such as personally assessing current [...]

Emergency Preparedness

Life is unfortunately filled with potential emergencies, and offices should be prepared with an emergency plan, including a trained emergency response team. Offering some employees free first aid classes and CPR (Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation), forming an emergency response team, and offering first aid tools could save one or many lives in an emergency situation. First [...]

24 Tips on Step Ladder Safety

24 Tips on Step Ladder Safety By Lukman Nulhakiem Accident statistic shows that a third of all reported falls from height involves ladders and step ladders. At least three hundred people a year die in simple falls from ladders. There must be something wrong with the usage of step ladder if we look at both [...]

Risk Management Safety

Risk Management Safety By Frank Quarato It is a sensible idea for every company to have regular evaluations for risk management and safety, and a qualified safety officer either outsourced or employed on site can have this done for you. If you have been looking online to find the best training courses for your company [...]

A Quick Guide to Risk Management

A Quick Guide to Risk Management By Sam Miller We cannot deny that we are in a world where risk is something that we cannot avoid. Risk is everywhere no matter what you do and wherever you may be. When it comes to business, risk is something that has to be dealt with successfully. This [...]

Employee Participation in Job Hazard Analysis

Job Hazard Analysis – How to Develop Effective Employee Participation By James Roughtonand Nathan Crutchfield Many organizations have recognized that employee participation greatly enhances the safety communication and improvement of their safety process and, in particular, the quality of developing an effective Job Hazard Analysis. This success stems from enlightened management understanding that employees have [...]

Public Safety

Latest articles from the Public Liability Website: Public Swimming Pool Safety Public Safety in Hotels and Resorts Public Safety in Car Parks Public Liability Claim Examples Public Liability What is Product Liability Public Liability Insurance Quote New Swimming Pool Safety Legislation Public Liability Insurance Quote – Why You Need One How to get a better [...]

OHS Law Harmonisation

The Safety Show updates employers in the wake of harmonisation turmoil In the wake of NSW’s announcement that it will withdraw from OHS law harmonisation, The Safety Show and Sydney Materials Handling will provide much-needed clarification for employers when they run from October 28 to 28. NSW premier, Kristina Keneally, says the state will go [...]

Why Do We Love Stupid Safety Photos

In the world of safety management, why do we find it so appealing to watch videos or photos of people committing unsafe acts and doing stupid things at home or work. We safety management professionals laugh at photos on free sites like www.safetyphoto.co.uk. Some photos that make us laugh might include: Two haphazardly built scaffolds [...]

Office Safety Tips

Even though office work is thought to be some of the safest work available, office work can be straining. Office workers can suffer from carpal tunnel, muscle strains from uncomfortable working angles, and eye strain from poor illumination or lengthy exposure to computer screens. Many other hazards exist in the office workplace, including the following: [...]

Halloween Safety – Trick or Treating tips

As you and your children begin to plan your Halloween Trick or Treating, it is important to consider the dangers lurking in costumes, candies, your neighborhood, and even your own home. Keeping an eye on safety while you enjoy Trick or Treating can help keep your children safe. Let’s look at some safety tips: Costumes [...]

Effective Safety Committees

An effective safety committee is one in which motivated committee members communicate problem solving ideas and promote general safety in all employees. A fully comprehensive safety team demonstrates the company’s commitment to safe and healthy employees, and the team builds upon effective safety practices to encourage further injury prevention. Committees should be formed with ideally [...]

BCA Requirements for Balustrades and Handrails

Thumbnail image for BCA Requirements for Balustrades and Handrails

Great article from the Australian Timber Database about the bca requirements for timber balustrades and handrails. They state that: For all buildings, handrails and balustrades are required to comply with the Building Code of Australia (BCA). The BCA is primarily concerned with the safety of building users and occupants. Design and construction must therefore take [...]

Job Hazard Analysis – Assessing Training Needs – Part 2

Job Hazard Analysis – Assessing Training Needs – Part 2 By James Roughtonand Nathan Crutchfield In part 1 we discussed that developing an effective Job Hazard Analysis is only the first step in hazards and risk identification and that we must assess the proper levels of training to ensure that everyone is on the same [...]

Job Hazard Analysis – Assessing Training Needs – Part 1

Job Hazard Analysis – Assessing Training Needs – Part 1 By James Roughtonand Nathan Crutchfield As with many trainers, we have been a given specific training topic to conduct along with a time limit to conduct said training. As a result of the limited time, we can only essentially tell the trainee the bare basics [...]

Safety Poem

I’ve seen this on notice boards and read out in toolbox talks – seems to have the desired effect: I could have saved a life that day, But I chose to look the other way. It wasn’t that I didn’t care; I had the time, and I was there. But I didn’t want to seem [...]

Liability Claims – latest Proclaim newsletter

Proclaim have released their last newsletter for the year with 3 very informative articles: 1 – Richard Thomas discusses the advantages and disadvantages of using contract Security in pubs and Clubs: Insurers of licensed venues such as clubs, pubs, bars and nightclubs often include in their liability surveys and questionnaires a question about whether security [...]

Running of the bulls injuries

There have been 15 fatalities since 1922 in Spain’s traditional Running Of The Bulls. There were no fatalities in last weeks race but 4 people were taken to hospital, including one who was in a serious condition after being gored in the thigh. Read more here. Pressure is on to the event due to poor [...]

Publish Your Safety and Risk Related Information

This site is only a few months old but already getting over 2000 hits per day and growing. We are always on the look out for new articles, tools (our risk score calculator has been downloaded over 10,000 times), checklists, new products to review, quality safety services and consultants or in fact any unique information [...]