Safety, liability and property risk
Posts tagged Safety
Media Release – WA Safety Show Success
Sep 1st
The WA Safety Show draws employers hungry for safety answers
Western Australia’s employers turned out in force to learn about new legislation and uncover solutions to workplace safety challenges at the WA Safety Show last week.
The state’s largest workplace safety trade show, it hosted 150 safety and materials handling suppliers and ran concurrently with the WA Safety Conference. Automation safety, cold storage, road safety, vibration and ventilation were among the attractions for visitors.
Alongside the products and services on display were workshops run by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry WA (CCIWA) and the Norton Rose law firm regarding the new work health and safety legislation due to come into effect in January 2012. The workshops drew large attendances from employers keen to assess their new obligations.
Those employers took the search for workplace safety solutions equally as seriously in the experience of exhibitors. Adrian Manessis of safety management and compliance software supplier myosh says his company was very impressed by the number of decision makers visiting his WA Safety Show stand.
“The volume of visitors who were exactly our target market – influencers and key decision makers like senior OHS and human resources managers – was excellent,” he says.
Early analysis of visitor statistics shows Western Australia’s largest employers were well represented, accounting for 52 per cent of show-goers.
“I’ve been to some shows where people just came for a day out of the office and to collect freebies but the WA Safety Show wasn’t like that,” Mr Manessis says. “We reached a lot of potential clients we wouldn’t find any other way. It also provided enormous networking opportunities with existing clients that we deal with over the phone but rarely see face to face. I can’t speak highly enough of it.”
Equally pleased was first-time exhibitor, Stephen McPherson of Alegra Safety. The boutique consultancy offered visitors the chance to win MP3 players and three free hours of consultancy time.
“We gave away 2800 show bags in three days and gathered 480 sales leads,” he says. “I have a dozen business cards from people who want me to call them this week. The WA Safety Show won’t be our last and we are already planning to exhibit at Safety In Action in Melbourne or The Safety Show Sydney next year.”
The WA Safety Show will return in 2012, while its Sydney counterpart, The Safety Show, will run from October 26 to 28 this year. For more information, visit www.thesafetyshow.com, email safetyvisitor@aec.net.au or phone Australian Exhibitions & Conferences Pty Ltd on 03 9654 7773.
Why do we miss safety hazards
Aug 29th
This is a great resource to use at your next safety training session or tool box talk. Explains why sometimes we miss hazards in the workplace due to focus on other outcomes. This was a very famous experiment to prove that we don’t always see what is right in front of us. Read more about the experiment here (after you watch the video)
Work Method Statements – more examples
Jul 12th
We are being inundated with requests for free examples of safe work method statements, particularly for lawn mowing? Here are some really good examples from the The Municipal Works Officers Association (MWOA) Website.
Below the Ground less than 1.5 metres
Cleaning Gutters on a single story tiolet block
Hand Chemical Spraer Operation
Loading and Unloading Equipment
Oval Maintenance Grass Mowing Operation
Twin Vibrating Drum Roller Operation
Working at Height Above 2 Metres
Fireworks Safety Slogans
Jul 1st
Today is Territory Day in NT (the only Australian State where the public can buy fireworks) and with 4th of July Celebrations approaching, our readers are asking for firework safety slogans. Unfortunately there aren’t many around so I made up a few myself. If you can do better then leave send then in your comments below:
- If you fool around with fireworks you’re crackers
- They aren’t called FIRE WORKS for nothing
- Don’t let the number of hand and eye injuries SKYROCKET
Best I can do at short notice!
Few more from a reader:
- never handle a Roman Candle
- stand well back when you light the fuse or your eyes again you will never use
- Only jerks fool with fire works
Fireworks Safety Internet Resources:
Provided by keepkidshealthy.com
- National Council on Fireworks Safety: safety, statistics on injuries and state laws that will help you to have a safe and fun Fourth of July.
- Prevent Blindness America Fireworks Safety: “Prevent Blindness America warns that there is no safe way for nonprofessionals to use fireworks. It is only safe to enjoy the splendor and excitement of fireworks at a professional display.” Learn what to do if you ignore this advice and your child’s eyes are injured to prevent blindness.
- Fireworks Safety Fact Sheet: from the NFPA (formerly the National Fire Protection Association), a fact sheet on fireworks safety, including a fireworks safety lesson plan that students can use to plan and present a skit demonstrating decisions that could result in a risky situation involving fireworks.
- Celebrate Safely This Fourth of July : from the American Academy of Ophthalmology, learn firework safety to prevent eye injuries.
Office Safety Checklist and Guide
Jun 29th
How many people snigger or cringe when it is suggested that a safety inspection be done in an office? These environments may not immediately strike you as particularly hazardous but there are numerous potential risks in an office, many of which have caused serious short and long term injury at other workplaces.
First published in 2001 and updated in 2006, Worksafe VIC’s “Officewise” – provides an excellent guide to health and safety in the office. It is a 100 page publication intended for use as as a resource for managers, supervisors, SO’s and anyone involved in office work. Officewise covers: Managing occupational health and safety in the office, risk management, hazards, job and work environment design, office layout, workstations, furniture, working with computers, exercises, manual handling, and advice. Visit Worksafe’s Website
The guide includes information on how to apply risk management in an office environment, workstation set up, office hazards, exercises and a comprehensive checklist.
Download here: Officewise (23)
Publish Your Safety and Risk Related Information
Jun 25th
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 related to safety and risk management. SEND US YOUR INFORMATION and if its relevant, appropriate and unique, we’ll post it on this site for free with direct links to your website.
Lawn Mower Safety
Jun 17th
I dove past a bloke mowing his lawn in thongs this afternoon and I had a flash back to my childhood when my grandfather used to wear his thongs between his second and third toes after getting his big tow chopped off by his lawnmower. From memory, he had it on blocks and was doing maintenance on it when it dropped and started on his foot. He didn’t learn much though as I still remember watching him carry the mower, while it was running, up the back stairs because it was too hard to start when it was hot! I’ll never forget when he bought a new one and kept it in his bedroom for a few years!
He may not have learnt much but when I started mowing, I always wore safety boots thanks to him. I know I should know better but I rarely wear ear muffs or safety glasses. What I am paranoid about is mowing when other people are around. I remember doing a safety training course and the trainer telling us that a rock/bone/stick will fly from a lawnmower at the speed of a bullet. My wife has had her passenger side window smashed while driving past a bloke on a ride-on. Our shed has a big ding in it thanks to me mowing over a steel bolt.
I did some research on lawn mower injuries and here are some injury statistics from Stats.org- see full details
The Risks of Lawn Mowing
Trevor Butterworth and Jenna Krall, July 17, 2007
What happens when you take a set of sharp blades and spin them at 160 mph across a lawn?
Mowing the lawn is a more hazardous activity than one might think, sending 242,000 Americans to the ER between 2004 and 2006. A study by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health found that accidents increased from 1996 to 2004. Ninety-five percent of lawn mower accidents treated at the Johns Hopkins pediatric trauma center between 2000 and 2005 involved amputations that needed reattachment or reconstructive surgery, according to Medical News Today. The decision to mow the lawn can also have fatal consequences for adults with heart problems.
Number of fatal accidents
There were 133 fatalities in 2006 from using lawnmowers of all types, based on a national probability sample of hospitals in the U.S. and its territories. In 2005, there were 406 deaths. However the difference is almost certainly a result of a reduction in the statistical weighting given to those hospitals where the deaths occurred in 2005, so it would be wrong to infer any trend downwards.
Chance of a fatal accident
One in 2,245,264 in 2006.
Cause of death
All the fatalities from lawn mowing resulted from cardiac arrest. All were male and aged between 40 and 79.
Still not convinced?
Here are some links to sites with some pretty sobering photos of the results of lawn mower injuries. WARNING – there are some pretty gory injury photos here so enter at your own risk:
When Lawnmowers attack – American Society of Plastic Surgeons
Free Bow Tie Risk Assessment Software Download
Jun 15th
Risk Support Limited has developed Active Bow Tie for bow tie risk analysis and management system development. They are now up to v1.7 and are offering a free, fully workable download of their previous version Active Bow Tie v1.5. Click here for more info.
I’ve tried it but the program kept locking up before I could do anything useful with it. Try it yourself and let me know if you get it figured out.
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