Campaign Final Reports

 

New and Young Workers in Hospitality

There has been a significant increase in the number of young workers taking up employment. The proportion of young people working part time has doubled between 1983 and 2003 from 18% to 47%.

Young workers are disproportionately represented in the casual workforce. In 2004, young workers made up 21% of all employees, however this is 40% of all casual employees. Approximately 60% of young people hold casual jobs, compared with 29.8% in 1984. Between May 1994 and May 2004, the proportion of young part-time workers who were participating in study increased from 67% to 74%.

Data sources regularly show that young workers overall have a higher incidence of injury than other workers, and that young men (15 – 19 years) are a particularly at risk group. It is estimated that about 50% of young workers do not report injuries or make claims. This under-reporting may be due to fear of potential consequences of reporting, a lack of understanding about entitlements to workers’ compensation, and not recognising work-related injuries and illnesses. Additional reporting difficulties arise because the primary occupation of many young workers is often given as ‘student’.

Data on new workers is not routinely collected by each OHS jurisdiction, with the exception of Workplace Standards Tasmania. This data reflects that between 2000 and 2006, the number of injuries for new workers has fluctuated. Given the declining number of injuries being reported for all workers, the number of injuries to new workers as a proportion of injuries to all workers has grown, from 21.7% in 2000 to more than a quarter of all injuries in 2006 (25.7%) .

“Newness” and inexperience is however a risk factor in workplace injury that is present at all age levels. For example, a 45 year old worker who starts a new job, new role, or a new task that involves different work practices or using different plant or chemicals, has a higher risk of injury than his or her workmates of the same age who are not new to the particular set of workplace circumstances. 

The assumption of this project is that improving the levels of awareness and understanding of duty holders, new and young workers, health and safety representatives/officers and other stakeholders in terms of managing risks to new and young workers given their particular vulnerabilities will lead to a reduction in workplace injuries and illnesses.

The primary purpose of this project is to reduce the risk of injury and illness to new and young workers by:

  • Raising the awareness of duty holders regarding controlling risks to new and young workers
  • Raising the awareness of new and young workers regarding their rights and responsibilities in terms of workplace health and safety
  • Development of nationally consistent harmonised guidance and resources for internal and external stakeholders in the targeted industry

Prevention of Falls in Construction

At the December 2006 meeting HWSA nominated “Prevention of Falls in Construction” as the national construction campaign for 2007/08. WorkSafe Victoria committed to coordinating the campaign, which was a repeat of the 2003/04 HWSA Joint Construction Compliance Project.

The two main purposes of this campaign were to:

  • Undertake a coordinated national compliance and enforcement campaign focusing on falls prevention in the housing construction and the smaller general construction industry sectors, and
  • Compare the current level of fall prevention compliance, within the targeted construction industry sectors, with that found during the 2004 Project.

Inspections of construction sites occurred during February and March 2008.
 

Labour Hire in Manufacturing - Food Processing

In May 2006, the Heads of Workplace Safety Authorities nominated the Food Manufacturing Industry as the focus of the Labour Hire Project to be conducted in 2006/2007.

There was general agreement between the various state regulators that each jurisdiction had previously dealt with the labour hire sector in different ways, potentially resulting in a lack of clarity about OHS obligations owed by labour hire agencies and host employers.

The primary purpose of the project was to implement a national model for jurisdictional application of OHS obligations / duties in labour hire arrangements; and to measure compliance in a small sample of targeted high-risk host employer / labour hire agencies across the food manufacturing industry to establish baseline compliance data.

Guarding of Machinery in Manufacturing (led by NSW)

Moving machine parts have the potential for causing severe workplace injuries, such as crushed fingers or hands, amputations, burns, or blindness. Safeguards are essential for protecting workers from these needless and preventable injuries. Any machine part, function, or process that may cause injury must be safeguarded. When the operation of a machine or accidental contact with it can injure the operator or others in the vicinity, the hazards must be either eliminated or controlled. The purpose of this campaign is to prevent injuries in the targeted manufacturing sub-sectors due to inadequate machine guarding by:

  • Improving the rate of installation and maintenance of adequate guarding on machines
  • Building the capacity of businesses in the targeted sectors to systematically identify hazards and manage the high risks associated with operating machinery
  • Providing businesses with nationally consistent and practical guidance on machine guarding
  • Improving jurisdictional understanding of the barriers and enablers to the effective management of risks associated with guarded machinery

The campaign will target high-risk sub-sectors within the manufacturing industry that make extensive use of machinery. Activities will be implemented from April 2007 to December 2008 and will involve an evaluation.

Manual Handling – Manufacturing (led by SA and NSW)

The primary purpose of this campaign is to improve the capability of employers within targeted manufacturing sectors, to effectively manage manual handling risks in consultation with employees. The campaign activities were implemented from July 2006 to August 2007. The campaign final report is currently being prepared and will be available on the HWSA website once complete.

Manual Handling & Slips & Trips in Hospitals (led by Tasmania)

In 2004–2005, 17,400 national claims for compensation were made by employees in the healthcare services industry, accounting for 12% of all workers compensation claims where the employee was off work for one or more weeks. The most common causes of compensated injury and disease were muscular stress due to manual handling or repetitive movement (51% of claims), falls and trips (16 % of claims) and being hit by a moving object (11% of claims).

The Safe Steps—National Hospital Intervention and Compliance Campaign, specifically aims to reduce the number of manual handling and slip and trip injuries sustained by non clinical (kitchen, laundrette and clinical sterilisation) hospital workers. It also aims to increase awareness, through the provision of information, of manual handling and slip and trip hazards in this industry sector.

As part of this campaign, which commences in April 2008, workplace health and safety inspectors will be auditing hospitals nationally focusing on the control of manual handling and slip and trip risks. Inspectors will also be able to provide practical guidance and information during these visits. At the same time, the Office of the Australian Safety and Compensation Council will be assessing the effectiveness of the audit and the provision of information through an employee survey.

The data collected during the campaign will assist in informing future directions for workplace health and safety in the healthcare services industry.

For further information on the Safe Steps Campaign, contact the Project Manager, Pamela Atkinson, on (03) 6233 7671, 0439 630 104 or Pamela.Atkinson@justice.tas.gov.au

Large Mobile Plant - Civil Construction

In May 2006 the Heads of Workplace Safety Authorities (HWSA) agreed to mount a national compliance campaign targeting moving plant in civil construction across all jurisdictions.

The objectives of the project were to: Provide relevant advice, guidance and information to persons involved in civil construction and road works, Provide advice and compliance where safe systems of work are missing or inadequate, Measure compliance with Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) legislation applying to the identification, assessment and control of mobile plant and traffic hazards on civil construction sites, Provide a nationally coordinated approach, with a balance of information, assistance and enforcement activity, to educate and increase industry awareness and capacity to manage safety and identify causal factors relating to civil construction and roadwork activities.

Design 4 Health National Manual Handling Campaign final report

The National Manual Handling Compliance Campaign in the Health and Community Services industry sector was called "Design – 4 – Health" and was coordinated by Workplace Health and Safety, Queensland. The campaign working group was established in August 2003 and was made up of representatives from all Australian OHS jurisdictions and the then National Occupational Health and Safety Commission, (NOHSC).

Campaign activities included the development of an audit tool, inspections of randomly selected hospitals and aged care facilities, implementation of a communications strategy, audits of a number of facilities and an evaluation.

National Falls from Heights in the Heavy Vehicle Sector Campaign final report

In late 2003 HWSA agreed to conduct a national program for the transport industry focusing on falls from heights in the heavy vehicle sector. NSW led the campaign.

A campaign working party was established, known as the National OHS Road Transport Coordination Group (NORTCG). The NORTCG agreed that the national strategy would have two elements, with the first being an information/advisory element and the second being an intervention (compliance) element. It was also agreed that the programs would focus on car carriers, livestock transport, tankers, and dry bulk haulage (pneumatic).

Agricultural Plant Designer, Manufacturer, Supplier and Importer Program Post Implementation final report

In December 2004 HWSA agreed to conduct a campaign on the use of plant in agriculture. NSW and WA agreed to jointly lead the campaign and a Farm Safety Working Group was established. The campaign aimed to protect and improve the workplace health and safety of agricultural workers by ensuring that plant and equipment provided to the market complies with health and safety standards.

This campaign targeted manufacturers, suppliers, importers and retailers of plant and equipment, which is supplied generally to the agricultural sector.

Hazardous Substances in Manufacturing campaign final report

In October 2004 HWSA agreed to implement a national campaign with a focus on hazardous substances in manufacturing. Queensland agreed to lead this campaign. The campaign working party agreed that the campaign would focus it’s activities on the boat building and repair industry. Campaign activities commenced during 2005 and involved:

  • Development of a self assessment audit tool;
  • Development of a media release for distribution in each jurisdiction in November 2005;
  • Selection of fibre-composite boat building workplaces for auditing;
  • Mail out of the self-assessment tool in late November/early December 2005;
  • Field visits/phone calls to boat building workplaces; and
  • Inspector training and fieldwork conducted in early 2006.

Asbestos Demolition Campaign final report

In October 2004 HWSA agreed to conduct a campaign on the demolition of asbestos. SA and WA agreed to jointly lead the campaign. The Demolition/Asbestos Project Management Group was established and the campaign objectives were agreed as:

  • To improve the levels of compliance in demolition and asbestos removal work;
  • To improve the capabilities of contractors in hazard identification and risk management associated with demolition and asbestos work;
  • Increase contractors and sub contractors perceptions of the risk of detection and sanctions imposed where non compliance with demolition and asbestos requirements is identified; and
  • Identify and promote best practice in managing demolition and asbestos related hazards.

Campaign activities included site visits and commenced in February 2006. An audit tool was developed for use during the site visits.