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Benchmark set for OHS professionals
With the nature of work changing – flexible work arrangements, 24/7s, fly-in-fly-outs – the hazards to which workers are exposed are also changing. So what kind of education and training can safety professionals look to in order to stay up-to-date?...
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Master Electricians Australia at Trader’s 500 Expo
Trader’s 500 is the biggest electrical industry trade show in Australia, designed and run by one of the leaders in the electrical wholesale industry, Lawrence & Hanson. With more than 50 suppliers presenting their most current products, this is a...
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National Safety Awards of Excellence open for nominations
Now in their 20th year, the National Safety Awards of Excellence celebrate organisations and people that recognise OHS&E as a cornerstone of elite business performance. Award organisers, the National Safety Council of Australia (NSCA), is encouraging those...
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Launch of the OHS Body of Knowledge brings certainty to the OHS profession
The OHS Body of Knowledge was launched on 18 April 2012 at the SIA National Convention, Safety in Action. The OHS Body of Knowledge describes the core knowledge expected of OHS professionals, and provides a basis for accrediting OHS graduate and post graduate...
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National licensing delayed until 2013
The Council of Australian Governments (COAG) has announced that the introduction of national licensing will now start in 2013. This first wave of licences to be affected includes electrical, plumbing and gasfitting, refrigeration and air-conditioning, and...
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Safe Work Australia releases fatality statistical report
This report is the seventh in a series that estimates the number of workers and bystanders killed each year due to work-related injury. Because there is no single national data collection system that identifies all work-related injury fatalities, the exact...
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Have your say on Work Health and Safety Codes of Practice
Interested Australians are encouraged to have their say on five new work health and safety model Codes of Practice released for a 12 week public comment period. The Codes released for public comment are: Safe Design, Manufacture, Import and Supply of Plant...
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Draft Work Health & Safety Strategy now open for public comment
The draft Australian Work Health & Safety (WHS) Strategy for 2012-2022 is now open for public comment. The strategy contains objectives and actions for improving the safety conditions of all workplaces in Australia and supporting businesses in preventing...
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Call for road toll-style campaign to highlight workplace safety after the deaths of 3000 Australians
Workplace Relations Minister Bill Shorten will today kick off a campaign calling on workers to speak up about workplace safety. A new report shows more than 3000 Australians have been killed in work-related accidents over the past seven years and the annual...
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National workplace safety laws face defeat in SA upper house
National workplace safety laws will be blocked in the South Australia parliament without significant amendments, crossbench MPs have warned. Debate on national harmonisation laws is scheduled in the state's parliament later this month, but the Liberals and...
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Don’t be a fool – Check your smoke alarms
Master Electricians Australia is urging all Australians to change their smoke alarm batteries and check their safety switches on the 1st of April this year. Master Electricians Australia Chief Executive Officer Malcolm Richards said April Fools’ Day...
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WorkCover NSW launches Small Business Rebate Program
WorkCover NSW has launched a new program to make small businesses safer. WorkCover’s Small Business Rebate Program offers rebates of up to $500 to help small business owners and sole traders purchase and install safety improvements. General Manager of...
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Three fatal electrocutions in Queensland in one week
Workplace Health and Safety Queensland is investigating three fatal incidents that occurred last week in Queensland. A worker was electrocuted while working on a billboard in the western Brisbane suburb of Sherwood. A young worker was electrocuted on a construction...
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Salaries jump ahead of compliance
The salaries of some senior health and safety executives have jumped to almost $300k, but safety compliance is not a top priority for them, says the latest SafeSearch remuneration survey. Eighty Australian organisations covering 700 work health and safety...
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Don’t get burnt by solar scammers
Queensland consumers are being urged to do their homework when buying solar power systems following a growth in complaints about questionable traders and poor quality products. Fair Trading Executive Director, Brian Bauer, said while solar products could offer...
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Top safety professionals say WHS harmonisation over emphasised
As corporate Australia, regulators and the government have struggled to agree on when and how all states will fully implement harmonised WHS laws, a new report has indicated that harmonisation is not the top-rated concern it was thought to be. According to...
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SafetyConnect Australia set to release Version 5 of its Safety Management Manual
SafetyConnect Australia is pleased to announce a new manual which is compliant with AS/NSZ 4801 – ISO 18001 will be released later this month. The release of the new Safety Management Manual was originally delayed so it could be aligned with the requirements...
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Transitional Asbestos Provisions
New transitional arrangements for asbestos will be phased in with the implementation of the Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 from 1 January 2012. NSW Existing asbestos removal work licences will be converted to the equivalent asbestos removal licence...
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Nine Victorians dead at work in 24 days
A man has died in remote country in the Otways after a tree fell on him this afternoon. The incident happened around 2pm at Gellibrand. WorkSafe has sent inspectors and investigators to the scene near the Colac-Lavers Hill Rd. It’s Victoria’s second...
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Master Electricians Australia backs Queensland Government safety switch push
Master Electricians Australia today commended the Queensland Government for taking a bold step towards increasing electrical safety in the state’s homes. The Government today released a discussion paper canvassing a range of options for increasing the...
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Business scams associated with the national harmonisation of WHS laws
Workplace Health and Safety Queensland has warned Queensland businesses to be extra vigilant about callers selling products or services that they claim must be purchased before 1 January 2012 in order to comply with the new nationally harmonised WHS legislation....
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Deadline nearing for comments on the new Work Health and Safety Codes of Practice
The deadline for public comments on the nine draft model Work Health and Safety (WHS) Codes of Practice closes this Friday 16 December 2011. The model Codes of Practice provide practical guidance to support the model WHS Act and model Regulations. The Commonwealth,...
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Australia’s first safety ambassador of the year announced
Safe Work Australia Chair Tom Phillips AM today announced Janine Coleman as Australia’s first Safety Ambassador of the Year Award winner. Ms Coleman, a Workplace Health and Safety Coordinator from Macarthur Disability Services in NSW, has been awarded...
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Agreement signed to improve safety in Government construction industry
WorkCover NSW and NSW Public Works today signed an interagency agreement to improve consistency in workplace health and safety standards across more than a billion dollars of public assets. WorkCover CEO Lisa Hunt said the agreement would have wide-ranging...
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Put the spotlight on safety in your workplace
More than 300 Australians have made a commitment to workplace health and safety by getting involved in Safe Work Australia Week from 23 – 29 October. National Safe Work Australia Week is an annual event organised by Safe Work Australia to encourage all...
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Update on OHS harmonisation: Where are we at?
The planned commencement date for the Model Work Health and Safety Laws is now a few short months away. In this article Freehills have provided an update of the progress of reform in each Australian State and Territory. In order to participate in the harmonisation...
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Safe Work Australia Week puts safety in the spotlight
National Safe Work Australia Week puts workplace safety in the spotlight for one week every year. Now in its seventh year, Safe Work Australia Week will be celebrated from 23 to 29 October 2011. National Safe Work Australia Week is an annual celebration that...
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Insulation firm fined $100,000
A Queensland company has been fined $100,000 for unsafe practices after an employee was electrocuted while installing foil insulation. Mitchell Sweeney, 22, died in February last year while working on the ceiling of a home at Millaa Millaa, south of Cairns....
