By Sarah Childs
As October rolls around each year, a few things come to mind… Spring is in the air and the weather is warmer, racing season is upon us and we’re all looking for a way to fill the massive hole that the end of the footy season has left in our lives.
But for us in the business October brings around an opportunity to get involved with National Safe Work Month – an initiative by Safe Work Australia in conjunction with each state & territory’s regulating body to shine a spotlight on the importance of health and safety in the workplace.
Now I know that it’s not the most exciting subject and for many of you, Work Health and Safety is an afterthought, a reaction to an incident or a near miss. In most instances the reaction is a band-aid fix or even a “geez that was close” whispered under your breath before getting on with the job. But neither of these reactions significantly reduces the likelihood of it happening again to yourself or another worker, and next time you might not be so lucky. By having a structured and proactive approach to identifying hazards, assessing risks, and implementing the right safeguards, the chances of a serious workplace injury can be significantly reduced.
Recent statistics show that as of September 30, there were 89 work related deaths in Australia in 2021. If you think about the families, friends, colleagues and first responders involved in each occurrence, these deaths have affected many tens of thousands of people. If you include the number of reported workplace injuries each year, these incidents are impacting millions of Australians each year. Safety isn’t just a workplace issue, it is a community issue, and any work-related death or injury should not be acceptable.
Since 2009 Safe Work Australia has asked for workers and employers across Australia to commit to safe and healthy workplaces by participating in a number of initiatives to help reduce workplace injury. So, we at Integrated Human Resourcing, are proud to align ourselves with this year’s campaign to Think Safe. Work Safe. Be Safe.
Think Safe: get Work Health and Safety on your mind. Identify risks and come up with a plan to implement and maintain safe workplaces.
Work Safe: take the steps to minimise those risks and avoid those dreaded workplace incidents.
Be Safe: from now on and in all that you do. Because we all have a right to feel safe at work and return home at the end of each shift to our families.
Throughout the month we are asking not just our clients but our friends and families as well to focus on safety so that no one you know becomes another statistic. Do a Work Health and Safety check-in at your business and make sure that safety is at the centre of all that you do.
It all starts with a conversation. So, the first way for you to be part of Safe Work Month is to “have a safety chat over a cuppa”. Visit the Safe Work Australia Website and download the resources to help facilitate the conversation.
If you need assistance with this, touch base with one of our team to discuss how we can help you with your workplace’s Work Health and Safety.
Integrated Human Resourcing is an outsourced HR firm based on the Gold Coast, Australia. Contact us here or call 5613 1846 / email: info@humanresourcing.com.au