AU Archives - Page 10 of 14

Timber frame standing and truss erection can be back-breaking work! It is often high risk work with some serious potential injuries. We recommend these three steps are completed prior to every install. Ensure that everyone understands the process and their role, from when frames and trusses arrive on-site all the way through to standing.

Here are 3 recommendations to ensure that your site is safer during the arrival and installation of frames and trusses.

1) Risk Assessment and Safe Work Method Statement

The development of Risk Assessments and SWMS are crucial to your workers to ensure their safety throughout the build. To make these processes easy, you can complete these on the HazardCo App.

Some things to think about when creating a Risk Assessment and SWMS for frame and truss delivery and erection are:

Is the work area secure?

Clients, visitors, and members of the public cannot enter the area and workers are aware that they should only enter if they are required for the tasks.

Have all site inductions been carried out and an emergency plan developed for any at height work?

Have all workers who work at height been trained to do so? Is access to height suitable and is fall protection in place?

Have all workers been provided with the correct PPE? Are all tools and equipment available and in suitable working order for the task?

The purpose of a SWMS is to go into detail for each of the tasks to be carried out. Thinking about the hazards at each step and how they can be appropriately controlled.

You should think about:

The delivery of frames and trusses
Frame standing
Truss setting

Prior to work starting, workers should be involved in developing a SWMS. Consulting workers is important so they understand the detail of the SWMS and what they are required to do to implement and maintain risk controls. Sharing information and using the knowledge and experience of workers will help make sure the work is performed safely and in line with the SWMS.

On paper, this sounds like a lot of work – but it is made simple by using the HazardCo App, and using SWMS templates that you can save as templates and amend again and again. You’re not having to start from the beginning for tasks that you complete regularly. Do remember to check over your templates before approving them as different sites can present different hazards that you don’t want to miss, (overhead power lines as an example).

2) Working safely at height

When working at height, either on a second story or setting trusses you need to ensure that your workers are safe, not just from falling, but from tools, equipment, or materials falling too.

Scaffolding

Once the lower level frames have been stood/braced appropriately, safe working platforms should be installed such as scaffolding. Scaffolding over 4m must be erected by a licensed scaffolder and all scaffolding should be checked by a competent person regularly.

Edge protection

If the potential of a fall cannot be eliminated when working on a roof, some form of edge protection should be used to isolate workers from a fall. This includes working on single-story buildings and structures. Using the existing scaffolding as edge protection is often the simplest solution. If this is not practicable, then elevating work platforms or temporary work platforms should be used. Toe boards should be fixed to temporary edge protection as a way of containing all materials, including debris and loose tools.

3) Traffic Management Plan

Worksite traffic can be a major cause of harm on work sites. When it’s close to having your frames and trusses delivered to site and you’re considering dates with the delivery company, it is essential to communicate the traffic management plan with them. This provides the company and drivers involved with a clear picture of how the site has been structured and can assist the delivery company in selecting the correct sized vehicle for the delivery, taking into account the site size and structure.

Ensuring that you implement the above can prevent many injuries on site, as well as regular toolboxes, making plans for ‘what if’ situations (rescue plans) and discussing these with your workers to keep them alert so they’ll know what to do if an incident occurs on-site.

For some useful information on the safe installation of roof trusses and framing please view these resources:

WorkSafe Victoria: Safe erection of roof trusses

WorkSafe Victoria: Preparing to erect timber wall frames

SafeWork Australia Managing the risks of falls in housing construction

We are excited to announce our partnership with Acuite, a construction-specific reporting and analytics platform, to help small and medium-sized building companies to get on top of their health and safety.

This strategic partnership will deliver powerful new Dashboards, powered by Acuite to HazardCo members, giving them the tools to track health and safety activity and improve safety outcomes.

With so much to keep track of on-site, Dashboards are a practical way for HazardCo members to understand what health and safety activity is taking place across their business and at each project site. Often the business owner or admin staff are based in an office or moving between multiple sites. They want to be able to see at a glance what health and safety activity is taking place, view trends over time, and discover how to improve.

David Speight, Co-Founder, and CEO of Acuite Construction Intelligence says, “the Acuite founders are builders and we know it’s not easy. Through combining forces with HazardCo, we feel we can make a real difference by not only making sites safer but also improving the lives of builders through arming them with the knowledge to put them on the front foot of their projects”

Following the integration, HazardCo members can get real-time insights into key health and safety activities happening on their sites through Dashboards. These Dashboards help users to understand the areas that are performing well, and those in need of improvement in a simple and easy-to-understand way.

Iain Dixon, Chief Executive Officer at HazardCo says “We are excited to be working with Acuite because they are the best in the business for reporting, analytics, and insights. Like HazardCo, they specialise in construction, they come from the industry and keep things simple. We’ve had a great response from our members already with feedback that they are loving the quick snapshot they can get from viewing their Dashboards, and being able to see at a glance what health and safety activity is happening or not happening”.

About Acuite

Acuite is a reporting and analytics platform. As builders themselves, their mission is to improve the lives of those in construction by creating holistic data-driven insights as well as arming them with the knowledge, time, and transparency to make better decisions.

When it comes to incidents, a common misconception is that you need to report incidents to HazardCo immediately. This is not the case. Reporting to HazardCo can often happen later once details of the incident have been established. The only time an incident should be reported immediately is when it falls under the criteria of being a notifiable incident, which means it needs to be reported to the Regulator (WorkSafe/SafeWork).

The HazardCo Safety Advisory team assesses all incidents that get reported via the ‘Report an Incident’ function on the HazardCo App. If the incident is notifiable to the Regulator, we will contact you to provide support, determine further details and ensure that the appropriate steps have been taken.

Reporting an incident on the HazardCo App

Go to ‘Report an Incident’ on the HazardCo App to create a new record
Select the site location where the incident occurred
Select the date that the incident occurred on
List the people that were involved in the incident
Select the type of incident (near miss, injury, illness, other, incident)
Select the treatment received (first aid, medical centre, hospital, unsure, none)
Describe what happened: This is where you enter initial information about the incident. List the facts that are known so far. Such as :
- what job or activity was being performed at the time.
- What plant, equipment or tools were being used
- What went wrong
- What was the injury or damage (or the potential)
- What happened immediately after the incident

Below is an example of an incident report that could be improved upon and what good reporting looks like.

Initial incident report Description
Geoff hurt his leg.

What’s wrong with it?
This tells us nothing about Geoff’s injury, how he is or how it happened.

What does good reporting look like
Geoff hurt his leg whilst carrying timber planks around the site by himself. The load he was carrying was awkward and there were star pickets uncapped near where he was walking. Geoff scraped his leg on one of the uncapped start pickets and dropped the timber. He suffered a graze to the back of his right leg. Geoff was checked over by Bob, a first aider. The grace was cleaned and a band-aid was applied to his graze. Geoff rested for a few minutes and was able to return to work.

What’s good about it?
See how good reporting tells us everything that we need to know about the incident, only includes the facts, and can still be done in a quick and easy way. The summary provided key information such as:

What Geoff was doing prior/during the incident
What went wrong
What injury was sustained
What occured after the incident and if applicable, what the treatment was

Need Help?
Reach out to HazardCo and speak to one of our expert Health and Safety Advisors if you have any questions or need support for incidents or near misses on your site. You can contact us on 1800 954 702.

Work-related musculoskeletal injuries account for the majority of workers compensation costs in Australia compared to any other type of injury. Musculoskeletal injuries account for 37% of serious claims in Australia*.

Work-related musculoskeletal injuries can arise from body stressing such as:

handling, lifting, carrying or putting down of objects
Repetitive movement

Common injuries for construction workers can range from sprains, strains, and contusions (bruising) which can be caused by heavy lifting, repetitive movement, poor body posture, forcefulness or muscle effort, or the vibrations from continuous use of hand tools. It’s important to note that these types of injuries can occur suddenly or develop over a period of time. Symptoms of a musculoskeletal injury may be in the form of pain and/or discomfort located in and around the neck, shoulders, wrists, back, and knees.

What is the Musculoskeletal system?
The musculoskeletal system is made up of the bones, muscles, tendons, ligaments, and cartilage of the human body. Maintaining good musculoskeletal health through prevention and early treatment can make for a long healthy career if you work in the construction industry.

When should I seek help if I suspect an injury?
As soon as you detect any pain or discomfort, inform your employer. It may mean adjusting your work for the day so as not to worsen the pain. You can seek medical assessment and treatment from a professional if the pain or discomfort is preventing you from working or if you have any concerns.

Can physiotherapy help?
Physiotherapy can provide treatment and support and will work with you to understand what work and movement can be done safely and what the recovery process may involve. They can also assist with creating a return to work process if required, so employers know how to support you during your recovery period.

Musculoskeletal physiotherapy aims to help the patient recover from their condition more quickly through regular treatment sessions and to develop coping strategies to aid the injured worker during the recovery process and prevent secondary problems from occurring. This can be achieved by manual therapy, education, exercise rehabilitation, and finding alternative ways to accomplish your goals and live your best life. The ultimate goal of your unique treatment plan is to bring your body function back to optimal so you can continue carrying out your role in the workplace and continue to enjoy the activities you love in your personal time.

What can I do to prevent injury?
Prevention and early intervention are key to maintaining a healthy musculoskeletal system so you can carry out your day-to-day duties on-site as well as personal activities. Ensure you keep fit and healthy; regular exercise, a good diet, and sleep can all assist in keeping your body ready to perform optimally and recover faster.

Where can I find more information?
Across Australia there is a lot of information available on this topic, we have provided a few below for you. Of course, reach out to Hazard Co and speak to one of our expert Health and Safety Advisors if you have any questions or need more support on this topic. You can contact us on 1800 954 702.

* Safe Work Australia reporting period of 2019 – 2020.

Construction work involves many businesses and undertakings involved in the same task or activity (for example suppliers, contractors, and building owners). This means there may be multiple businesses that owe a duty to workers and other persons.

There may be multiple people or businesses that are responsible for the duty of care to workers and others on-site. Therefore, more than one person can have the same duty. When it comes to sharing duties, all parties have responsibility. In these situations, all parties need to consult, coordinate and cooperate so they can all meet their shared responsibilities.

**Some examples of duties you are likely to share include*:**

Managing risk
Identifying hazards, assessing, and controlling the risks. If the risk cannot be eliminated, minimise it. Regularly review your controls to ensure they are effective
Worker consultation, engagement, participation, and representation
Ensure that workers are consulted. This involves sharing information, giving workers a reasonable opportunity to express views, and taking those views into account before making decisions on health and safety matters. Consultation may also occur through the builder talking to subcontractors and asking them to share information with the subcontractors’ workers and pass any feedback back to the builder.
Information, Training, and Instruction
Ensure that workers receive relevant information, training, and instruction to protect every individual from risks to their health and safety arising from construction work carried out.
Notification
If a notifiable event occurs, you must notify the Regulator as soon as you become aware of the event.
First aid
Ensure that your workers have access to first aid equipment and trained first aiders. If you share a workplace with other businesses, you can coordinate sharing first-aid resources with them.
Emergency plans
You have a duty to prepare, maintain and implement an emergency plan at your work. Consult, cooperate and coordinate with other businesses that you share overlapping duties with to coordinate emergency procedures.

What are some ways you can ensure that people are not harmed, and that you are complying with your legal obligations?

Set clear health and safety expectations and incorporate these into your agreements with contractors
Ensure contractors have appropriate health and safety procedures in place
Prepare a Site Specific Safety Plan (SSSP) for the job and share it with all workers and contractors. A SSSP, also known as a WHS Management Plan or Health and Safety Coordination Plan, may be required by your relevant state/territory (based on a contract value or in the case of WA, the number of persons likely to be on-site)
Establish health and safety reporting requirements with your contractors. A great tool for this is to use the HazardCo App to complete SWMS, Risk Assessments, site reviews, Incident Reports, and more.
Ensure site inductions take place. Communicate site rules and procedures to everyone who accesses the site.
Get workers to sign in and out of the site. This can be done via the HazardCo App by scanning the QR code located on your Hazard Board.
Set up clear requirements for information sharing for the duration of the project
Ensure that there is effective communication between all parties (e.g. Toolbox Meetings through the HazardCo App)
Monitor your workers and/or contractors you engage

* This is not a full list of duties, it is important to make yourself familiar with health and safety duties for your relevant state/territory or talk to our Advisory team if you have any questions.

You might have heard some rumblings that Western Australia is introducing new Work Health and Safety (WHS) laws. Work started on modernising the WHS laws way back in 2017, and after a heap of industry consultation, the new rules will be in place from 31st March 2022.

It’s a bit to get your head around, so we’ve summarised the main things you need to know as a residential builder in WA.

What is happening?

The new laws are largely based on the national model used in other states and territories, so companies will now have similar obligations and requirements across Australia (except Victoria who like to be a bit different and do their own thing).

The WHS Act is supported by three sets of industry specific regulations to suit WA’s unique conditions. One is the “Work Health and Safety Regulations (General)” which applies to all workplaces including the residential building industry. The other two are for Mining and Petroleum industries so we won’t focus on them.

Why the change?

The new WHS laws are intended to improve the protection of workers by factoring in modern employment agreements, higher penalties for companies and individuals, and introducing the term ‘person conducting a business or undertaking’ (PCBU).

Did WA adopt all the clauses from the national model WHS laws?

Some sections of the WHS laws were tailored for WA following extensive consultation. The term ‘Not used’ has replaced any clauses that don’t apply in WA.

Will there be a transition period for businesses to adopt the new laws?

Transitional arrangements will be put into place where duties are new or are substantially changed from existing requirements.

Keep in mind, the systems for identifying, assessing and controlling known hazards should already be in place, as both the WHS legislation and the previous occupational safety and health legislation already focused on the elimination or minimisation of risks.

What are some of the key changes to what is currently in place?

Based on extensive consultation and recommendations, key changes by the government include:

Terms and definitions including the new term PCBU
Industrial manslaughter and increase in penalties
Prohibition on insurance for monetary penalties;
Union right of entry was retained in the Industrial Relations Act 1979 and not included in the WHS Act; and
A specific duty is included for providers of work health and safety services to ensure those services do not pose a risk to persons at the workplace.

What the heck is a PCBU?

PCBU is a new term and stands for Person Conducting a Business or Undertaking. This term is used throughout WHS legislation to describe all forms of modern working arrangements. As well as an employer, a PCBU can be a:

A builder (including principal contractors and sub-contractors)
Corporation
Association
Partnership
Sole trader

PCBUs have a duty to ensure the health and safety of their workers and others like visitors and volunteers.

PCBUs have the equal duty of care to a worker, even if there are multiple PCBUs involved. For example, if you employ a contractor who brings in a labour hire worker, you, the contractor and the labour hire company all share the same duty of care to that labour hire worker. So if an incident occurs, you can all be prosecuted under the WA WHS Act.

What is Management of Control?

Management of control (MoC) is when the PCBU has MoC of the workplace, where they are required to ensure that the means of entering and exiting the workplace and anything arising from the workplace are without risks to the health and safety of any person.

Who is the Principal Contractor (PC) on a construction site?

A PCBU that commissions a construction project is the Principal Contractor for the project. That person can engage another PCBU as the Principal Contractor and authorise them to have MoC of the workplace.

A construction project can only have one Principal Contractor at any specific time.

Find out more about how how you can work with other PCBUs as the principal contractor

What are the changes to Industrial Manslaughter?

The new offense of industrial manslaughter provides substantial penalties for PCBUs where a failure to comply with a WHS duty causes the death of an individual, in circumstances where the PCBU knew the conduct could cause death or serious harm.

The criteria for convicting someone for industrial manslaughter under the WHS Act is the same as convicting someone under the current WA gross negligence law. But the WHS Act states that prosecutors no longer have to convict the company to be able to convict individual company officers.

The WHS Act includes a penalty provision for industrial manslaughter. The maximum penalty for an individual for industrial manslaughter is $5 million and up to 20 years in prison, but penalties vary based on many factors.

What are the changes to Insurance?

If you’re prosecuted under the current OHS Act, your insurance can pay for your legal fees and your penalties.

Once the WHS Laws comes into effect, your insurance can still pay for your legal fees, but when it comes to paying the penalty, company officers and PCBUs cannot take out insurance to cover fines for breaches.

What does this mean for me?

Both the old laws and the new laws require you to have systems in place to identify, assess and control hazards.

These new laws are a good prompt to take stock of your current health and safety practices and make sure you’re protecting both your crew on site as well as your business. Here is the WHS laws checklist with advice on the key things you should be ticking off when it comes to your project site.

If you’re not yet a HazardCo member, sign up for a free trial today. We can help you get your health and safety sorted – making it simple and easy to manage but without cutting corners.

We’re here to support you, so don’t hesitate to get in touch for a chat if you have any questions or concerns. Give us a call on 1800 954 702 or email info@hazardco.com.

More information

Whenever you have an incident on site, whether it be big, small, or a near miss, you should record it in your incident register for your records, which is included in your HazardCo App. By reporting and investigating an incident, you will find the cause, but you are also likely to identify other areas where improvements can be made.

In some cases, you may also need to notify your state regular about the incident. WorkSafe Victoria has recently announced changes to the threshold of what is considered notifiable. Your HazardCo membership includes 24/7 incident support with the advisory team, so if you have an incident on site and you’re not sure if you need to notify the regulator, just give us a call and we will provide advice and walk you through the steps you need to take.

What is changing?

WorkSafe Victoria has revised the threshold for incidents that are notifiable.

When an incident occurs that doesn’t result in a serious injury, the threshold for whether it is notable was “incidents exposing a person in the immediate vicinity to an immediate risk”. The threshold is changing to incidents “exposing a person to a serious risk to the person’s health or safety emanating from an immediate or imminent exposure to a hazard”.

What is considered a serious risk?

WorkSafe considers that the term ‘serious risk to the health or safety of a person’ means:

that exposure to the incident created a risk which, if it had eventuated, could have resulted in death or a serious injury or illness of a person (seriousness of potential harm), and
the level of risk was not minor, in that there was a real likelihood of the risk eventuating (likelihood of incident occurring)

We now need to notify WorkSafe of incidents involving imminent exposure to hazards, why is this?

The amendments allow regulations to include certain illnesses as incidents for the purposes of notification. Illnesses could include large-scale, infectious diseases posing a serious health risk, like COVID-19, serious illnesses acquired in workplaces, like silicosis, and, potentially, work-related transmissible diseases.

Any other changes I need to know about?

WorkSafe has also stated that “Incidents relating to the collapse, overturning, failure or malfunction of, or damage to, plant will become notifiable if that plant is prescribed under regulations. The current provision that prescribed plant can only be used if licenced or registered is now outdated because Victoria no longer has a plant licensing regime.” This will be relevant to you if you use boom type mobile elevated work platforms and concrete placing booms.

How does this impact me?

Long story short, keep reporting all incidents (big and small) into your incident register using the HazardCo app so that you can learn from these experiences and you have proper documentation. If you have an incident on site, give us a call and we will provide advice on whether you should notify the regulator. If you do, we will walk you through the steps and be available for advice along the way.

When does this change come into play?

Effective from 17 March 2022.

We’re here to support you, so don’t hesitate to get in touch for a chat if you have any questions or concerns. Give us a call on 1800 954 702 or email info@hazardco.com.

For more information about these changes, visit the WorkSafe Victoria website.

WorkSafe Victoria has announced the reasons for issuing a prohibition notice have changed. Here’s what you need to know.

What’s changing?

WorkSafe inspectors in Victoria will now issue a prohibition notice if they think an activity “involves or will involve a serious risk to the health and safety of a person from an immediate or imminent exposure to a hazard.”

Under these circumstances WorkSafe inspections will also be allowed to give verbal or written directions. The directions are effective immediately and will be used to stop dangerous activity while the prohibition notice is being processed.

How is this different to what happened before?

Previously, WorkSafe could only issue a Prohibition notice if the risk had an “immediate health and safety risk or consequence”. WorkSafe inspectors can now issue a prohibition notice or give a direction relating to non-immediate yet serious health and safety risks and prohibit an activity until satisfied the risks have been addressed and the workplace made safe.

Does this mean businesses will shut down?

Prohibition notices are only issued in relation to a particular activity. If the risk is confined to a specific activity the entire workplace won’t be shut down.

I’m a small building company doing a handful of builds a year, do I need to worry about this?

Yes, all duty holders may be impacted.

Activities that pose a serious risk to health and safety of a person, arising from an immediate or imminent exposure to a hazard, can be prohibited by WorkSafe until the activity no longer poses that risk.

You need to be aware of these changes and to comply with any notices issued.

When is this happening?

Changes are effective from 17 March 2022.

We’re here to support you, so don’t hesitate to get in touch for a chat if you have any questions or concerns. Give us a call on 1800 954 702 or email info@hazardco.com.

For more information about these changes, visit the WorkSafe Victoria website.

FieldPulse, a powerful job management app for service providers, today announced its partnership with HazardCo, a top health and safety management company.

This strategic partnership brings together two leading systems that are revolutionising the way tradies do business. The partnership will feature comprehensive integrations for both the FieldPulse and HazardCo apps.

“FieldPulse’s partnership with HazardCo provides a solution for health and workplace safety that no other job management software can compete with. We’re very excited to begin this new chapter with the HazardCo team, and look forward to expanding our partnership offerings as FieldPulse continues to meet the wide-ranging needs of tradies everywhere,” said Bobby Shuey, Vice President of Channel Partnerships and Strategy at FieldPulse.

FieldPulse users can now access their important SWMS documents via the FieldPulse app, while HazardCo users can utilise FieldPulse’s job management software to better organise and structure their businesses.

Iain Dixon, Chief Executive at HazardCo says “Our goal is to help builders and tradies to feel confident they are keeping themselves, their crew, and their business safe. The new integration between HazardCo and FieldPulse brings health and safety tools into the daily job management process, making it faster and easier to complete H&S administration without cutting corners. We are pleased to be working with FieldPulse and know many trades will benefit from the end-to-end solution we can provide together.”

This partnership is the latest milestone in FieldPulse’s expansion into the APAC market. FieldPulse is a premier partner of Reece, Australia’s largest plumbing supplier, providing users with a direct line to Reece’s immense product catalog. With this latest partnership with HazardCo, FieldPulse expands its already growing list of products and services to best serve trade businesses around Australia and New Zealand.

FieldPulse CEO, Gabriel Pinchev, adds “We’re excited to kick things off with HazardCo, as we continue to build on our vision of containing the entire customer workflow within FieldPulse.”

About FieldPulse
Headquartered in Dallas, Texas, FieldPulse is the premium field service management partner for tradies around the world. FieldPulse makes doing the valuable work of the trades easier, thanks to a robust feature set including one-click customer communication, quick and easy invoicing and quoting, simple job scheduling, and more.

About HazardCo
HazardCo is a digital health and safety management system trusted by more than 10,000 businesses across Australia and New Zealand. HazardCo is designed to help Builders and Trades get home safely at the end of every day, providing members with simple guided tools and the very latest health and safety advice.

Using machinery and equipment for work on-site puts workers in close contact with powerful and fast moving tools. This makes getting the job done easier and more efficient but it does also present some risks to workers health and safety. If a worker comes into contact with machinery or equipment in an unsafe way, it can cause significant harm or injury. It is common practice to use guarding on machinery and equipment to create a barrier between the workers and the moving parts that can cause harm or injury.

Common risks and Hazards
Machinery and equipment guarding is designed to eliminate or minimise the risk of workers being harmed while completing their work. It is important to assess the hazards and risks involved with all the machinery and equipment used in the workplace. If machinery and equipment is not guarded properly, workers can sustain significant injuries due to coming in contact with moving parts.

Some common injuries are:

Cuts
Burns
Electric Shocks
Degloving
Amputations

Because there is potential for serious harm when using machinery and equipment, it is necessary to plan a safe approach when conducting a job. This will help identify the hazards of working with machinery and equipment.

The hazard management process includes:

Identifying hazards
Assessing the hazard – decide if the identified hazards are significant
Assessing the risk – decide how likely and seriously a worker could be harmed
Controlling the hazard – either by eliminating, isolating or minimising the hazard
Regularly reviewing and monitoring the hazards and risks.
Create safe working methods like Standard Operating Procedures (SOP)

Choosing the right guarding
There are many different types of guards that can be used to protect workers from being harmed when using machinery and equipment. Here are some common types of guarding and examples of when they are used:

Fixed – Screwed or fixed in place guarding to protect users from hazards. – E.g. grinders
Self closing – the cutting edge only opens to the extent necessary to cut the workpiece E.g. drop saw
Adjustable – Safety guarding that is movable. The guard is in place to protect the user but moves to allow the function of the tool. E.g. drop saws and skill saws

When choosing a guard, It is important to make sure the guard can actually prevent an operator from reaching into the dangerous parts of machinery and equipment. To make sure the operators are protected from the dangerous parts, the safest guarding must take into account an operator’s ability to reach into or come in contact with moving parts.

There are many different types of guards to choose from. It is important to choose guards that eliminate the potential for harm. If this is not possible, then guards should be chosen that isolate or minimise the risk to workers. It is very important that guarding is not removed or tampered with as this will increase the risk of harm to workers.

Control hierarchy

Elimination involves removing the risk to health and safety from the work site. It is the most effective risk control and should always be prioritised.
Minimisation is used when a risk cannot be eliminated. This is done using: substitution, isolation, engineering, administration and PPE.

Training/ Competency
Workers should be trained to competently complete the work they are required to do. Workers should be trained and educated on the purpose and function of the different types of guarding in the workplace. Make sure that workers have the appropriate training, supervision, and qualification (if required) to safely use the necessary machinery and equipment. Keep an up-to-date register of what machinery and equipment workers are trained on and competent in using.

If you have any questions about guarding machinery and equipment, give HazardCo a call on 1800 954 702.