There is often confusion and misinformation around the safety management requirements for small business. Whilst business owners usually works both in and on the business, they are time poor and desire to minimise their workload, yet want meet their WHS obligation; others presume that they are too small and do not require safety knowledge or established safety system. The WHS laws requires every business to have safety processes in place, no matter what size; whether they are a one-man band … [Read more...]
Time to Chill out …
Moving closer to Christmas it seems to get busy and busier. Besides getting on with our tasks, there’s numerous Christmas functions to attend, those timelines we need to meet and all the preparation for the family fare to celebrate. By the end of this hive of activity, we are fatigues and ready for a well earned rest. Taking time off from work is necessary and studies have shown that they increase psychological and physical wellbeing, as well productivity and focus. The benefits of … [Read more...]
To Party or not to Party ….
t’s incredible to think that Christmas is a few weeks away. In the next week we should see more Christmas stuff on the shelves of the supermarkets; in another week the Christmas lights and decorations going up at the shopping centres; with Christmas music blaring through the speaker systems. Some offices and business have booked their Christmas Party venues and some colleagues are talking about their holiday destinations. How exciting to party and then holiday after putting in those long … [Read more...]
What Safety is …
“Safety is not an accident” It is easy to get distracted by the industry trends and the current business climate. So much so, that we forget or see important things like workplace safety, and deem it as a lesser priority, focusing on financial investment elsewhere. “Safety never takes a holiday” In some cases, businesses do get away with non-compliance; and avoid penalties and fines for many years. However, these are the lucky ones. What about the unlucky ones: or that unlucky … [Read more...]
Every Business has Unique Needs ……
Recently, I attended an event and whilst there visited the ladies rooms. As I went to wash my hands, I looked up and noticed that there were six small mirrors mounted on the wall above each hand basin. I thought something was a bit unusual as I couldn’t even see the top of my head. I estimated the mirrors were mounted about 6 feet from ground level. I thought wow …. Who could have mounted these mirrors? Had they not considered that women are generally an average height of 5 ft. Was the person … [Read more...]
What have we learnt from the Storm …
The stormed occurred a few weeks ago and perhaps most of the clean up has happened, but many are still waiting to get that damage repaired, insurance payments and their businesses back to normal. Some were fortunate to have little damage and other lost so much more. Being without power, gas or water and in some places temporary homeless with the flooding has been very challenging. With services restored it’s easy to move on, however what lessons have we learnt. In or do we come up with … [Read more...]
Are you Prepared for the Unforeseeable incident?
Are You Prepared for the Unforeseeable Incidents … In December 2014 the Lindt Café was under siege in Sydney, where patrons and workers were take as hostages. The country watched hour, after hour with little or no outcome; with most, reluctantly turning in for the night only to wake up to the news that on the 16th hour the siege ended with two fatalities and a number of injuries. This was a shock to many and something most never envisaged would happen in our country. There was a great … [Read more...]
My Thoughts on trends in Work Health & Safety today ….
We are now seeing the reality of the WHS Laws 2011, which introduced increased fines for breaches of over 300% from the previous OHS Laws 2000. I am concerned, as over the passed few months a number of small businesses have faced company fines of $1M or $1.5M; but more so, where individuals were fined $80K; $300K and $476K which comes out of their personal pockets. Some of these businesses have since had to liquidate. But what about these individuals who have to pay these fines, and the impact … [Read more...]
Why invest in safety training programs for your business …
The Work Health and Safety laws place a legal obligation on companies and employers to provide adequate information, training and instruction to workers in all aspects of workplace safety. This commitment by the business to invest in training their workers; not only provides their workers with a safe work environment, but gives business a skilled, productive workforce, with a competitive advantage. Training workers in safety has numerous benefits that impacts on any business, whether large … [Read more...]
Are you playing catch up with Safety …. Can you afford to?
Twelve month have passed since the implementation of the Work Health & Safety (WHS) laws in NSW, when the new national model was introduced through the harmonisation of the safety laws. This introduction brought significant changes, such as, an increase in due diligence, maximum penalties and fines for breaches. Of particular importance was to manage the health and safety of workers, so far as is “reasonable and practicable” In June, NSW saw the introduction of the ‘Workers … [Read more...]