24 How to deal with suicide
24 SPRING 2011 Working from home Eliminating workplace bullying A challenge for OHS regulations How to deal with an employee contemplating suicide 1 SIWA Corporate Members This space is reserved for City of Wanneroo SERENIDAD CONSULTING PTY LTD International Consultants in Excellence, Great Leadership and Positive Personal Power This space is reserved for WA Police Union Nola A. Hennessy Founder and Managing Director www.serenidadconsulting.com Membership is open to everyone Join today www.siwa.org.au Safety in Workplaces Australia P : Gavin 0409 295 781 E : [email protected] SIWA Ltd. PO Box 8463,Perth BC, WA 6849 We operate solely in the Mining, oil and gas, ConstruCtion and engineering seCtors. Partner in safety with Safety institute of(Western) Australia www.siawa.org.au ISSUE 24 SPRING 2011 Safety Matters Executive Officer: Ron Adams PO Box 8463, Perth Business Centre, WA 6849 (36 Brisbane Street, Perth) Tel: 08 9427 0848 Fax: 08 9427 0849 email: [email protected] Board of Directors Gavin Waugh 0409 295 781 [email protected] CO N TE Milos Nedved [email protected] Craig Ralph [email protected] Gary Phillips [email protected] Committee assisting Rosalina Chiu Nicki Coker [email protected] Ron Greenwood [email protected] Sheryl Dell (VIC) Phil Kamay (VIC) Sasha Calleija (NSW) Produced by SIWA Limited Executive Editor: Gavin Waugh Publishing support by: Media Support Services Editorial and design: Media Support Services Editorial contact: 1300 557 660 [email protected] Click here to email articles for publication Click here to upload documents for publications Click here if you would like to be kept up to date with safety and health news and events N How to deal with an employee contemplating suicide Call for Papers 6 TS 12 Working from home A challenge for OHS regulations 9 Creating a lead-free solder presents a challenge 11 Plea for road transport industry to ‘look up and live’ 16 Eliminating workplace bullying 18 Around the Courts 20 24 2011 Global Workplace Fatality Statistics Glimpses of the challenges in the oil drilling fields of Siberia 3 27 Executive Editor & Director Gavin Waugh [email protected] Mob: 0409 295 781 Executive Editor & Director Click here for membership enquiries “SIWA LIMITED” CLICK HERE TO JOIN NOW AND BECOME A PART OF THE REVOLUTION IN SAFETY AND HEALTH ORGANISATION AND DELIVERY. Again a warm welcome to one and all. And thanks again to all our new members and colleagues who have shown such interest in developing Safety in Workplaces Australia (SIWA Limited) along our current pathways. Since our registration in February, the enormity of past restrictions to organising the Occupational Safety and Health fraternity has become increasingly apparent. The lack of restrictions within our new organisation has opened up an enormous array of opportunities to work on projects in cooperation with other organisations. The challenge for us to date has been in prioritising. It really is exciting to see what is opening up before us. Anyone wishing to assist in managing our programs please forward your expressions of interest. Ethics: You may have noticed that we have reinitiated our series on ethics and moral issues through the articles on Eliminating Workplace Bullying, both in the magazine and newsletters. 4 I find it saddening that the Safety Industry has more that its fair share of people wavering along the moral path. Two recent incidents have reminded me of how entrenched this problem is. In the first, I was advised by an officer of another safety organisation that “many people just don’t care” which to me was as much an indictment on the organisation as it was on the members. The second incident occurred in a company where the safety officer was so engrossed in his own self importance that he had not met the obligations of his employment, resulting in a less than satisfactory safety management program being installed. When challenged by his employer, his stance resulted in the position becoming vacant. In a happy ending for the company, the newly appointed safety officer was ethically motivated and quickly became popular among the employees and held the respect and support of the general manager through visible improvements to their safety program. These are not isolated stories and can be heard all too frequently as I visit workplaces. It would be easy to dwell on the past and ask who is to blame for achieving such a position in a field dedicated to eradicate it. However, that will not remove the problem and it is my firm belief that the past belongs to those who don’t care, while the future of safety resides with those who do. Our new SIWA has been created as an organisation for members who do care and who are serious about caring, sharing and learning. Readers should remember and reflect that the entire world-wide safety regime was built from the history of experience; so where people “just don’t care” about the safety organisation they belong to, it’s programs, it’s directions and it’s managers, then they are very much demonstrating little or no interest in the future of safety holistically. Each and every person’s contribution must be encouraged, heard and integrated before there can be a clear positive forward movement in holistic safety. I hear our regulators state that new directions must be found because our safety improvements are plateauing! The answer to their problem is staring them in the face. The sought-after improvements will never be achieved while as an industry, the safety fraternity allow and enable and engage in the continuance of practical and political policies that divide, fragment and segregate attention to safety and health in the workplace. Magazine I was recently pleasantly surprised from an unexpected quarter, by another complement that this magazine is popular and well read. I would like to pass on my compliments to each and every contributor, as it is the contributors who make the magazine as beneficial as it is. Thank you. However, the fact that we are complimented from an outside source does not mean we should simply sustain what we have as there is a limit to people’s consumption of the same. It is fundamental to our future that we continue to develop and improve the magazine. We will try different concepts and functionality, keep that which works and move on from that which lags. Please click here to forward your thoughts, ideas for any suggestions you have for improving the magazine. Remember, SIWA Ltd is about you and for you, so if you feel in any way overlooked or not receiving the benefits you expected, then please contact us with those issues so we can remedy your grievance or concern. You have a ‘cast iron’ guarantee that SIWA Ltd will address any matter raised without any fear or favour. Each and every member, whether they are a director or student or within any other place in the organisation shall be treated respectfully and equally. SIWA is not averse to compensating a member for an identified shortcoming by SIWA Ltd. Best regards and travel safely. Gavin Waugh Safety in Workplaces Australia (SIWA Ltd) Practitioners and Professionals who care CLICK HERE TO JOIN NOW AND BECOME A PART OF THE REVOLUTION IN SAFETY AND HEALTH, ORGANISATION AND DELIVERY. Join today www.siwa.org.au Membership is open to everyone 5 Safety one - Safety all Safety in Workplaces Australia Dear Members and Friends, Call for Papers Safety in Workplaces Australia Limited Invites you to apply to speak at our WA Safety Conference 7th – 9th August, 2012, Parmelia Hilton Hotel, Perth Building on the successes of 2008 and 2010, Safety in Workplaces Australia (SIWA Limited) is pleased to again bring you another professional Safety Conference opportunity. As a leading occupational safety and health organisation, SIWA Ltd is again helping delegates maximise and enhance their career investment through this internationally promoted Safety & Health conference, to explore challenges around safety law, issue solutions, audit & event analysis, research and training experiences enhancing sustainability in businesses through the real life experience of practitioners and professionals. The following themes are being promoted for this three-day conference: Stream Title Suggested Topics Potential Audience Safety at Law – enforcement directions and good governance Implementing Harmonisation and its cross jurisdictional management. ASX principals and recommendations for good governance Legal cases and their impact on businesses, communities & individuals Enforcement from a regulators perspective, successes & failures Lawyers, directors, executives, managers, regulators & Safety professionals Safety in Practice – In the workplace Case studies; techniques & processes, innovations – hazard & risk management in practice - performance management, communications, workplace culture, manual handling etc for general workplace practices General, supervisors, safety practitioners & HSRs Road and Transport Safety – workplaces on the move Issues and impact of motor vehicle design & road construction on commercial and public users. – Road / rail & air transport intermodal issues – Dangerous & hazardous goods transport & Security. Competencies, laws and practice. Civil Contractors, logistics, consultants, regulators Contract & Contractor Management Law related to contracts and contractors - audits & auditing for safety – risks – the value adding role of OSH practitioners and professionals in National and International company management Lawyers, executives, managers, supervisor, engineers & consultants Occupational Health & Fitness Pre-employment medicals - health & health ownership – bullying & dealing with difficult people - BBS/Culture & Leadership in Safety, Physiological & psychological fitness for work, issue Ageing in the workforce & gender balance issues Safety & Human Resource & Injury Managers, Return to Work coordinators Future Safety education, research training & knowledge Critical Incidents case study/management for future prevention or amelioration Investigation Techniques - Research – Design, , instructions, training and education case studies. Making OSH a recognised profession. General Trainers & Educators RTO’s Risk Management insurance and business continuity Emergency events and corporate recovery – Workplaces and their business from an Insurer Perspective - Value adding from your Insurer – Mine disaster, cyclones, tsunami, flooding, bushfires, and volcanic ash and more Corporate Risk Managers, Workers Compensation & Rehabilitation Applying & managing Workers Compensation, rehabilitation and return to work. Effective therapies and practices - Protecting and promoting both the employer & employee, after injury and back to full capacity return to work. Medical practitioners, HR, Injury Managers, Work coordinators Healthy Workplaces Occupational Health assessment, risk and management. Effects & illness attributable to physical and psychological workplace factors. Personal & community health impacting. Health Ownership across community and workplace boundaries Managers, Health practitioners, community supporters If you wish to present a paper, please submit an abstract in no more than 150 words & noting your preferred stream to [email protected] by December 20th, 2011. 6 Aug, 2011 Safety one - Safety all Safety in Workplaces Australia Application & Abstract Call for Papers Safety in Workplaces Australia, welcomes your submission on any of the listed themes, for consideration as a presentation at this conference. All submissions will be subject to review by the program committee. Please keep your abstract proposal to no longer than 150 words. Notification of acceptance will be via email and should occur prior to February 1st, 2012. (Applications in other formats will be accepted provided they include all the information required by this form.) Title / First Name: Job Title: Address: City Postcode: Telephone: Email: Requested Stream: Surname: Organisation: State: Country: Facsimile: Presentation Details Please complete the title of your presentation as you would like it to appear in the program: ___________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________ Abstract of Presentation (alternatively please attach your abstract to this form): ___________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________ Please return your completed form to [email protected] or the address below. 7 Aug, 2011 Membership Applications All membership applications are put to the Board for approval. Student Membership 1. Full time students may join at no cost. 2. Part time students may join at a pro-rata reflecting the %age of study load they have (% of L1 membership fee which is currently $100.00) 3. IE: a 50% student load = $50 membership The balance of membership fees are payable following approval by the Board. An applicant does not become a member until full fee payment is received. Where an applicant is accepted, the application fee is discounted from the final fee payable. Current membership rates are also listed on our website http://www.siwa.org.au/ Membership is of a career structure format reflecting employment opportunity. MEMBERSHIP LEVEL Level 0 Student Level 1 General Practitioner Level 2 General Practitioner Level 3 Practitioner Level 4 Practitioner Level 5 Para - Professional Level 6 Professional Level 7 Professional Level 8 Professional EMPLOYMENT POTENTIAL Click here for your application form QUALIFICATION & EXPERIENCE STUDENT INDICATIVE DESCRIPTION FEE Full time Student Part time Student Complimentary Discount from L1 equal to student load WORKPLACE SAFETY INDUCTIONS Induction Trainee or newly employed operative or service sector worker. $100 ELECTED HSR Cert III Competent skilled operative or service sector support worker. $150 SAFETY TECHNICIAN. Cert IV Advanced competent skilled autonomous worker. $200 SAFETY COORDINATOR Diploma 3 years experience Advanced skilled autonomous worker. $250 SAFETY SUPERVISOR Assoc Dip 5 years experience Competent administrator, specialist, technician or paraprofessional. $300 PROJECT / DEPARTMENT SAFETY MANAGER. Degree 7 years experience Competent senior administrator or specialist manager. $350 COMPANY SAFETY MANAGER. Honours Degree 10 years experience Competent professional or senior manager. $400 AREA / REGIONAL CORPORATE SAFETY MANAGER. Master Degree 15 years experience Competent senior professional or executive level manager $450 8 Working from home A challenge for OHS regulations Is a home considered a workplace if an employee works from it? Should employers have OHS visit employees’ homes to check safety issues? Karlo Milosevic (OHS Manager, Victoria, Gallagher Bassett Services Workers Compensation Vic Pty Ltd) makes the point that working from home does come under OHS regulations. Because of the challenges many businesses face in being able to retain skilled, experienced workers more employers are being proactive in developing flexible working arrangements with working from home an option. This is occurring within many organisations with work ranging from computer work to clothes making and other activities. While working from home can provide a flexible solution to both worker and employer, the home is likely to be classified as a ‘workplace’ and therefore, health and safety laws apply to those parts of the home in which workers carry out approved work. It is important to remember, that workplace health and safety laws apply wherever a worker is engaged in the course of work. Creating and implementing some basic steps to identify and control hazards, whatever the environment, represents the minimum level of protection an employer should be providing. General employer duties relating to hazard identification, risk control and workers’ welfare are likely to apply in this situation so it’s worth asking: • What are the strategies you have in place for working from home arrangements? • Do you have a policy on working from home? • Is the ability to work from home subject to approval? • Does approval involve a process of hazard identification/assessment? • Has electrical equipment been tested and tagged? 9 National Safe Work Australia Week Safe Work Australia is encouraging businesses to get involved with Safe Work Australia week, held October 2329. Now in its seventh year, the week is held annually in October to raise awareness of workplace safety. The Week aims to encourage all working Australians to get involved in and concentrate on safety in their workplace to reduce death, injury and disease. You can get involved by: • becoming a Safe Work Australia Week Safety Ambassador • taking part in Take 10@10 • planning your own activities and events - a range of Safe Work Australia Week information and resources are available to assist you. • participating in activities and events organised by the work health and safety authority in each state The organisation is keen to have Safety Ambassadors, people who have a passion for health and safety and are dedicated to making workplaces safer. In previous years Safety Ambassadors have included Ministers, CEOs, health and safety representatives, managers and employees from a wide range of industries The role of a Safety Ambassador is to promote the importance of safer workplaces, primarily during Safe Work Australia Week. They set safety examples, drive safety messages and continually emphasise everyone’s right to return home safely from a day’s work. Safe Work Australia has a Safety Ambassador of the Year Award which is presented to the Safety Ambassador who demonstrates the most creativity, commitment and participation in Safe Work Australia Week. Information can be obtained email [email protected] Safety Ambassador Information sheet ( PDF 327kb | DOC 435kb) Worksafe Forum to cover key topics for safety managers: Effective communication and workplace fatigue The Perth Worksafe Forum being held October 17 in the Burswood Convention Centre will have two key speakers, Margot Halbert speaking on Margot Halbert ‘Tools for Talking – Stepping up the Safety Conversation’ and Isobel Boylan discussing the management of fatigue in workplaces. 10 Margot Halbert, a communication and influence expert from Positive Persuasion, has worked extensively with industry leaders to help them create and craft engaging safety presentations. She said : “Health and Safety representatives play a significant role in changing behaviours and influencing decisions to achieve better safety outcomes. “To be effective they need to be able to get the ideas from the team on where the issues are and how they might be solved, and then be able to elevate these to management confidently and persuasively”. Margot will work closely with delegates to inspire, encourage and ignite their confidence in the way that they communicate and influence to achieve better safety outcomes. Creating a lead-free solder presents a challenge Demand for lead-free solder alloys is increasing as a result of legislation designed to protect manufacturing workers, consumers and the environment from the welldocumented hazards of lead. According to ‘Lightspeed’ the newsletter of the Australian Synchrotron, Kazuhiro Nogita (pictured) from the University of Queensland is developing new lead-free soldering alloys for use in a broad range of applications. He recently used powder diffraction (PD) at the Australian Synchrotron to investigate how trace levels of nickel influence the processing and service properties of a popular type of lead-free solder: neareutectic tin-copper alloys. Kazuhiro first began working with tin-copper-nickel alloys in 2003, when he undertook a small consulting job for Nihon Superior Co. Ltd, an international supplier of solder alloys based in Osaka, Japan. Nihon’s unique tin-copper-nickel alloy has been used in more than 1.5 billion circuit boards since 1999 and the market continues to grow strongly due to consumer demand for electrical goods and the need to introduce lead-free alternatives into products previously exempt from legislation. “The move to lead-free products is relatively recent and there is significant research still to be done for the development of products suitable for specific applications,” Kazuhiro said. “Neareutectic tin-copper alloys with trace levels of nickel perform better during production and product service life than nickel-free alloys.” The work at the Australian Synchrotron has helped establish how nickel improves the performance of soldered joints containing the Cu6Sn5 intermetallic phase. Kazuhiro and his colleagues used powder diffraction under controlled temperature conditions to study how various transformations in the process vary with time and temperature. “ Being able to do this work in Australia has allowed us to expedite some of our main research priorities,” Kazuhiro said. “The PD beamline at the Australian Synchrotron is a leading international facility, and the ability to control temperature and atmospheric conditions has helped us ascertain the fundamental mechanisms behind the behaviour of our materials. We have also done complementary experiments at synchrotron facilities in Japan.” 11 Kazuhiro plans to use the Australian Synchrotron for ongoing investigations of the stability of the solder alloys and the intermetallic reaction layers that form between solders and their substrates. He particularly wants to look at how substrates and solder composition influence texture formation, phase stability at low and high temperatures, and stress generation. He is an associate professor and principal research fellow in the School of Mechanical and Mining Engineering at the University of Queensland and a Queensland Government Smart Futures Fellow. Cover Story How to deal with an employee contemplating suicide By David Broadbent Safety Psychologist In the last couple of weeks I’ve heard a number of news stories concerning suicide - some of which either occurred in the workplace, or it has been indicated that workplace stressors have been a key contributor to that most awful of outcomes. In my clinical practice I am working with a 33 year old male ambulance (EMT) officer. I often think that these guys must see, in their daily work, visions that exceed our worst nightmares. Why is he consulting me in 12 my other life as a Clinical Psychologist? In the last five years he has lost over half a dozen colleagues to suicide. His question to me - “I’m a professional health worker, I should have seen it coming?” Feelings of responsibility, guilt, and even just plain old uncertainty are common following becoming aware of a suicide. The following are some thoughts with regard to what you might do if you think/feel that someone you know might be thinking about suicide. Suicide is a significant cause of death in Australia, far larger than the official figures indicate. Many single vehicle car accidents are thought to be “suicide by tree”. Though there are differences in suicide rates, based on such factors as age, gender, and ethnicity, a person from any background can commit suicide, or go through a period of seriously contemplating it. Even the person who appears to be highly functional, in control, and successful can commit suicide. No-body is immune People considering suicide often have been “worn down” by stressors and problems or actually or expected loss, especially a love relationship. The suicidal person is frequently lonely and without a solid support system. Sometimes this is a long term characteristic of the person; in other cases a geographic move, death, or a divorce may deprive an individual of personal ties that were formerly supportive. Listen carefully to what your employees say. People thinking about suicide often, though not always, give hints about their intentions. Talking about not being present in the future, giving away prized possessions and making funeral plans are examples of possible hints of suicidal intent. If you hear such talk, question it. Express your genuine concern for the person; you won’t make the situation worse by clarifying it, and an open conversation with you may be the person’s first step toward getting well. Be alert to changes in behaviour. A deterioration in job performance, personal appearance, punctuality, or other habits can be a sign of many problems, including suicidal concerns. If an employee admits thinking about suicide: You’ll want to arrange professional help. The way you approach the issue can have an impact on the employee’s willingness to receive professional help. Your genuine respect and concern for the employee can contribute to the healing process. First offer your own personal concern and support. Let the person know you care; the employee is both a unique human being and a valued member of your team. Show understanding of the employee’s pain and despair, but offer hope that, with appropriate help, solutions can be found for the problems that are leading the person to feel so desperate. Keep away from the “I know just how you feel” statements. Whether you have been in that “same place” or not, does not matter. As far as the person is concerned you don’t! Ask whether any of the employee’s problems are work related, and, if so take initiative in attacking those problems. For example, the employee Get Help: As a general rule, anyone feeling enough pain to be considering suicide should be referred to a mental health professional, at least for evaluation. Make it clear that you want the employee to get the best possible help, and that some types of assistance are outside your own area of competence. Usually, the Employee Assistance Program (EAP) is the referral source for mental health assistance; if your organisation has one. If not, then the employee’s General Practitioner. If the employee consents, call the GP yourself, emphasising that the situation is serious and needs timely attention. Arrange an appointment and firmly offer to drive the employee to the appointment. If for some reason the EAP or GP is not immediately available, turn to your community’s Crisis Intervention or Suicide Prevention resource. These are normally listed with other emergency numbers in the telephone book, and available on a 24 hour basis. Offer to sit with the employee, whilst they make the call. 13 may feel improperly trained for key responsibilities, or may be having difficulties with leave or some similar issue without having made you aware of it. If you can act as an advocate in remedying some of these problems, you will help in three ways:1. Removing one source of pain, 2. Showing concretely that someone cares, 3. Offering hope that other problems can also be solved. Do not question the employee about personal problems, as the individual may wish to keep them out of the workplace, but listen with empathy if the employee chooses to share them. Do not offer advice, but acknowledge the problems are real and painful. Protect the employee’s privacy with regard to other employees. This will require thought and planning, as questions are sure to arise. When dealing with higher management, you need to think clearly about what they actually need to know, e.g., that the employee is temporarily working a reduced schedule on medical advice as opposed to what they don’t need to know, e.g., intimate personal information that the employee may have confided in you as the immediate supervisor. Without hovering over the employee, show your continued support and interest. Make it clear that the individual is an important part of the team, and plays a key role in the ongoing life of the workplace. Cover Story Follow Up: Once your employee is involved in a treatment program, try to stay in touch with the program. This does not mean that you should involve yourself with specific personal problems that the employee is discussing with a therapist. What you do need to know, however, is how you can work with the treatment program and not at cross-purposes to it. 1. Does the employee need to adjust work hours to participate? 2. Has the employee been prescribed medications whose side effects could affect job performance? 3. Should you challenge the employee as you normally do, or temporarily reassign the person to less demanding duties? This kind of communication will occur only if the employee permits it, since mental health professionals will not, for ethical reasons, release information without the employee’s consent. If you make it clear to the employee and treatment team what your goals are:• to support them, • not to delve into the employee’s private concerns, you will probably have no difficulty getting cooperation. A meeting involving you, the employee, and the counsellor can be particularly helpful in clarifying relevant issues and ensuring that your supervisory approach is consistent with the employee’s treatment. Remember you only want to be focused upon how you can assist with the resolution of any influencing workplace factors. 14 Take Care of Yourself. Working with a suicidal person is highly stressful, and you should take positive steps to preserve your own mental health while you help your employee. You should not hesitate to get support for yourself, either from your own supervisor or from a professional counsellor. David Broadbent is an internationally qualified trauma recovery expert. He runs a series of specialised workshops titled ‘When trauma strikes’ designed to prepare organisations and individuals for handling traumatic events in the workplace. The workshop covers • stages of trauma response • effective management of organisational trauma • How to deal with workplace fatalities • How to design a trauma recovery program • How to communicate with traumatised employees. He also provides a DVD–ROM packed with useful material. He can be contacted via [email protected] Remote site, water quality management – A West Australian perspective By Ryan Milne – Director Ecosafe International Being part of the ‘developed world,’ there is anticipation that our water is safe, of good quality and fit for use. Although this is the case within the large scale, scheme supplied water systems, the reality is often different within remote self extracted, treated and managed water systems typical to West Australian mining and other remote sites. There is a need to ensure adequate awareness and rigour, together with a holistic, risk based approach to the management of self extracted, treated and managed water systems. Reasons for increased risks There are a number of reasons for the increased risks typically associated with remote site water systems. These can be summarised as follows: • • • • Reduced awareness / training Lack of defined roles and responsibilities associated with the management of the on-site water systems (programs typically inherited and high personnel turnover associated with remote sites) Lack of adequate system knowledge Often lack of suitable ‘source / catchment risk assessments’ and associated water quality management plans • • • • • • • • False sense of security due to presence of water treatment plant / program Insufficient microbiological / water quality monitoring Ineffective results interpretation and lack of trend analysis Lack of suitable ‘out of spec’ procedures Provision of water to local communities Challenges surrounding water reuse initiatives Presence of conditions suited to microbiological proliferation (particularly the temperature profiles associated with the majority of water systems in north West Australia) Reliance on periodic ‘end point testing’. An holistic risk based approach, which includes the verification of the selected treatment program, is required to ensure effective management of water borne pathogenic microorganisms. The degree of risk management should be determined by the quality of the source water, the size and complexity of the distribution network as well as the number of consumers or individuals potentially exposed. An important consideration in determining the risk mitigation strategy should include the practicality of implementation, maintenance and ongoing management associated with any management program. Additional insight into the approaches to identifying, quantifying and managing risks associated with remote self managed water systems will be provided in future articles. What risks? Additional Information Risks are potentially present within both the potable / domestic systems as well as the process or miscellaneous water systems and can include exposure to unsuitable quality drinking water as well as exposure to water borne pathogens such as Legionella bacteria and other pathogens. Systems that pose potential risks include: • Potable / domestic water systems (including domestic showers) • Cooling systems • Dust suppression systems • Vehicle wash systems • Other spray systems. Additional information pertaining to effective Legionella / potable water hygiene management can be obtained from Ecosafe International direct: Email: [email protected] www.ecosafeinternational.com 15 Plea for road transport industry to ‘look up and live’ Queensland: Workplace Health and Safety Queensland has recently carried out a publicity campaign to encourage road transport operators and workers who move high loads to be more conscious of the risk of coming into contact with overhead power lines. Incidents of workers coming into contact with power lines and receiving fatal electric shocks while transporting containers, using cherry pickers, mobile cranes etc have been occurring regularly throughout Australia. Workplace Health and Safety Queensland says power lines could be avoided so preventing injury or death to workers and damage to vehicles if companies carried out route assessments more often. It said that if the route assessment identifies a risk of 16 coming within the minimum distance (exclusion zone) of power lines during transport, loading and unloading, then the load transport should not proceed until it is safe. These safety principles should be adhered to: • Treat all power lines as electrically live and hazardous. • Identify the location of power lines before starting work and use risk treatment measures. • Maintain the safe minimum distances (exclusion zone) from power lines detailed in the Electrical Safety Code of Practice 2010 – Working Near Exposed Live Parts. • Electricity can jump across short distances (arcing); you do not need to directly contact a power line to receive an electric shock. • Workers should not allow any part of their body, or anything they are holding or operating to enter the exclusion zone. Man trapped in trench One dead, one in critical condition following workplace incident Victoria: A young man is lucky to have such quick thinking workmates after a trench collapsed in Templestowe. The man had been working in the trench about halfway down when the walls collapsed, similar to a mudslide, forcing him to the bottom about three and a half metres down. The 25-year-old man had dirt up to his ears so his workmates, jumped in and started digging. He was finally freed and taken to hospital with suspected fractured ribs, a suspected collapsed lung and leg injuries. Victoria: A man was electrocuted and another suffered serious injuries in July after the cherry picker they were working in struck overhead powerlines. The incident in Spotswood resulted in the one man aged 35 dying at the scene while the other man aged 20 was transported to the Alfred Hospital in a critical condition. WorkSafe believe the men were undertaking routine maintenance work on the roof of a building when the cherry picker struck the powerlines. The death of the man took Victoria’s workplace death toll for the year to nine, compared to 13 last year. Fire retardant overalls a danger when oil contaminated According to an article in Saft Eng fire retardant overalls can become a danger especially when they’re washed frequently and become oil contaminated. The article makes the point that there is evidence that frequent washing reduces the fire retardant properties of some materials, thereby increasing risk to wearers and compromising their safety in a fire. Secondly, there is a problem with fires 17 in the laundries on offshore drilling rigs. Overalls often become particularly badly contaminated with oil on oil rigs. An experimental trial has been commissioned to investigate the possible degradation of the fire performance of fire protective overalls. Eliminating workplace bullying by Nola A. Hennessy Serenidad Consulting Pty Ltd In our first issue on this vitally important topic we looked at what constitutes workplace bullying – primarily the behaviours and attitudes associated. In this issue we look closely at perceptions of workplace bullying and how these should be managed by workers and employers alike. What is Perception? Perception relies on inputs to the brain from the senses – sight, hearing, touch, taste, smell (not forgetting the sixth sense, intuition) – and the organising and interpreting of this information by the conscious mind, using subconscious memories as a solid foundation. Input from the senses is one of humanity’s survival mechanisms – without it and memories (and past learnings) we would not have the capability to make appropriate decisions necessary for our survival and growth. Perception is an active process and depends on the body’s nervous system undertaking rather complex physiological functions however, to us, it appears almost effortless because the processing happens beyond our immediate awareness. Perception facilitates stability for the individual; a combination of information that, collectively, allows the best possible decision making at any given point in time. What Can Impact Our Ability to Accurately Perceive? Ambiguous sensory messages are perhaps the biggest threat to accurate perception. When the mind receives ‘mixed messages’ both sets of information need to be processed until such time as the individual reaches a point of decision - effectively making a choice as to which messages are valid and which are not. Think of the ‘old woman/young woman’ image: 18 Generally we will see either the old or the young woman, however when the ‘other’ image is shown to us we will either (i) accept the possibility and therefore have the ability to see two images in the one picture, or (ii) if our thinking is less flexible or, conversely, our mind is ‘made up’, we will continue to only recognise the one image that we saw in the first place. What we see will be largely dependent on our mindset. Mindset, be it positive or negative, will greatly influence an individual’s perceptive ability. If in a negative mindset the brain will “hear” negative and process incoming messages with that foundation e.g. an individual with a negative mindset may perceive (through hearing and other senses) a request for assistance as a criticism; an interaction (a comment, look or movement) may be perceived as a source of harm. A positive mindset, by contrast, will greatly enhance an individual’s ability to accurately perceive. Sensory input can more easily be discerned. The individual is less likely to attach negative emotion responses to the thinking process (as subconscious as the process might be). The importance this has for the individual is best expressed in how a person reacts or behaves as a result of perception. With the power of a positive mindset as protection, whilst an individual may be the subject or witness of workplace bullying, it is more likely that the incident of bullying can be processed and dealt with by the individual in a non-emotive manner. This greatly enhances the individual’s personal power, helps to strengthen their self control, and facilitates the subconscious mind retaining important memories necessary for future reference. The Perception of Being Bullied Without doubt perceptions are real to the person perceiving. When someone genuinely believes they are being bullied, has no other negative motive for making a claim of being bullied then, to them, they are being bullied. Make no mistake about that. An individual’s perception may not reflect the actual truth but the perception is real to them i.e. the ‘perceived’ bully may not consciously have chosen bullying behaviors or know that their behaviour is wrong, however the behaviour may, by definition, be classed as bullying. Employers have a legal and moral duty of care to take all perceptions of bullying seriously, investigate, determine root causes and work diligently to resolve the matter for the benefit of all stakeholders. To leave a claim of bullying unchallenged or unresolved may bring negative cultural changes to the organisation that may not necessarily be visible in the short term. In such circumstances the bullies see that nothing is done about wrong behaviors, continue (and possibly nurture) the toxic behaviors, and so the cycle continues. When an individual’s perception of bullying (either as the recipient of it or in witnessing an incident) does reflect the truth of the incident, i.e. bullying has actually occurred, then the challenge for employers, recipients and bullies increases significantly. Each will have a vital role to play in making things right. Each has an equal obligation to make things right. Each stakeholder is obligated to do, and not do, everything they can to minimise risks to others in the workplace. In our next edition we will look closely at how bullying can affect your work and, in turn, the other facets of your life. A useful reference for discovering and then re-engineering your mindset is the author’s award-winning “inspirational” book No Boxing Allowed. If there is a particular Workplace Bullying topic that you would like to see included in this column, please email the SIWA Secretary directly, [email protected] and we will do out best to include that in a subsequent edition. 19 Around the Courts Around the courts... Explosion costs plumbing company and director $98,000 NSW: A plumbing company and its director were fined a total of $98,000 in the NSW Industrial Court after two apprentices were seriously injured in an explosion at a Bondi Junction apartment block in 2009. The prosecution follows an incident in March 2009 where the apprentices received serious burns while purging the main (natural gas) supply line to a residential tower above Eastgate Shopping Complex. WorkCover’s investigation found the explosion was the result of a gas pipe-line not being fully purged in accordance with the Australian Standard for this type of work. Flammable gases from the supply line ignited when they were released into the enclosed plant room in the eastern tower that contained multiple ignition sources. Surrounding apartments in the complex also sustained extensive damage as a result of the incident. The Court heard there was a foreseeable risk involved with this incident and TLC Plumbing & Bathrooms Pty Ltd was fined $80,000 and its director Michael William Causer fined $18,000 after pleading guilty to failing to ensure the safety of their workers. Fall into a riverbed costs company New Zealand: Contracting giant, Fulton Hogan, was fined $38,400 after an employee fell about 3 metres onto a riverbed while repairing a bridge on the West Coast of the South Island. The accident happened while maintenance work was being done on the single-lane steel and wooden 20 Big Wainihinihi Bridge on State Highway 73 between Greymouth and Christchurch. The employee stepped onto what he thought was a steel ‘I’ beam and fell about three metres breaking his kneecap and suffering cuts and bruising. The company pleaded guilty to failing to take all practicable steps to ensure the safety of its employee in that it failed to ensure he was not exposed to a fall from height by installing an adequate fall prevention system. Mining maintenance company fined $90,000 over injuries to 15-year-old apprentice W.A. A Boulder mining maintenance company has been fined $90,000 (and ordered to pay $3654.50 in costs) over an incident in which a 15-year-old was seriously and permanently injured. Dalmain Enterprises Pty Ltd – trading as ATS Mining Maintenance – admitted failing to provide and maintain a safe work environment during maintenance work on a 40-tonne Caterpillar dump truck with a 10-tonne tray in one of the bays at the company’s workshop. The employees included a qualified heavy duty fitter and the 15-year-old apprentice. The tray of the truck was raised into the vertical position while the repairs were being done. Two safety pins would normally be inserted into eyelets at the anchor points to keep the tray vertical, but metal “harden” bars were being used because the eyelets were damaged and the usual safety pins could not be used. The safety pins are designed to hold the tray against its own weight, but not to hold the tray against hydraulic pressure exerted by the truck. The truck had a master lock-out switch that prevented the truck being started and stopped the hydraulics from being engaged. The switch had a locking cover suitable for employees’ personal padlocks. On the day of the incident, no isolation tags were attached to the truck to indicate it was being worked on. The apprentice was tidying up tools and rags near and on the truck when the heavy duty fitter told him to get out from under the elevated tray of the truck because he was about to start it to check for oil leaks. The apprentice moved to another position still under the tray, while the fitter assumed he had gone down the ladder to the ground and was clear of the tray. The fitter called out to other employees to tell them to stand clear, and started the truck. The tray began to descend under hydraulic pressure and snapped the harden bars. The 10-tonne tray came down on top of the apprentice, causing him to suffer permanent injuries including serious facial fractures and lacerations and leg and back injuries. “The court found the employer did not adequately train its employees, and that the company’s policy did not require employees to physically lock out machinery while it was tagged. Big fine for construction company after worker dies NSW: A Coffs Harbour construction company and its director were fined a total of $137,500 and ordered to pay legal costs after a worker received fatal head and spinal injuries. Suncoast Formwork Pty Ltd was employed in the redevelopment of the Grafton Shopping World, Grafton.to construct 390 concrete columns in the centre’s car park designed to hold the weight of the ceiling. The incident occurred when the 33-yearold Suncoast employee, Lee Tapping was helping remove the moulds from the dried concrete when a mould fell over hitting him across the head and body. He was rushed to the Grafton Base Hospital with fractures to the base of his skull, face, spine and ribs, swelling on his brain, significant damage to his spinal cord as well as internal lacerations to his left lung, and deep cuts to his right shoulder. The WorkCover investigation found that Suncoast, and it’s director Mr Garry Watt, had failed to carry out the appropriate safety protocols that would most likely have prevented the injuries. Asbestos dumper prosecuted Victoria: Geelong man, John Tsorotes has been convicted and fined more than $40,000 for two separate incidents involving the large scale dumping of asbestos and industrial waste in Geelong. Mr Tsorotes pleaded guilty to a charge of abandoning industrial waste (construction and demolition waste) and another of permitting the deposit of industrial waste (asbestos). The Court heard that Mr Tsorotes and a business partner took over the occupation of a site and over the next two years increasing volumes of industrial waste were accepted on the site. The landowner became increasingly concerned and requested the waste be removed. The EPA issued a notice and directed the site be cleaned– the notice was never complied with. 21 An industrial hygienist who attended the site at EPA’s request, put the volume of waste at 15 piles of building and demolition waste measuring 35 metres circumference by about four metres high and 15 tonnes of separated asbestos. Mr Tsorotes was ordered to pay $18,539.20 in EPA costs and required by the Court to publish a notice in newspapers regarding his convictions. His codefendants McCormacks Demolitions Pty Ltd and Casey McCormack were convicted by the Court and fined on similar charges. Bank of America ordered to reinstate fired employee and pay $930,000 SAN FRANCISCO – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has found Charlotte, N.C.-based Bank of America Corporation in violation of whistleblower protection provisions for improperly firing an employee. The bank was ordered to reinstate and pay the employee approximately $930,000, which includes back wages, interest, compensatory damages and attorney fees. The findings followed an investigation by OSHA’s San Francisco Regional Office, which was initiated after receiving a complaint from the Los Angeles-area employee. The employee originally worked for Countrywide Financial Corp., which merged with Bank of America in July 2008. The employee led internal investigations that revealed widespread and pervasive wire, mail and bank fraud involving Countrywide employees. The employee alleged that those who attempted to report fraud to Countrywide’s Employee Relations Department suffered persistent retaliation. The employee was fired shortly after the merger. OSHA enforces the whistleblower and other statutes protecting employees who report violations of various airline, commercial motor carrier, consumer product, environmental, financial reform, food safety, health care reform, nuclear, pipeline, public transportation agency, railroad and maritime laws. Under these laws employers are prohibited from retaliating against employees who raise various protected concerns or provide protected information to the employer or to the government. Employees who believe that they have been retaliated against for engaging in protected conduct may file a complaint with the secretary of labor to request an investigation by OSHA’s Whistleblower Protection Program. Painter falls from roof Workplace Health and Safety Queensland is investigating a fatal incident that occurred on Wednesday 7 September 2011 at a house in Mount Louisa, Townsville. A painting contractor died when he fell approximately 2.8m from the roof of the house onto the driveway. 22 Worker survives being shot in the head by a nail gun USA: Texas - A North Texas construction worker is recovering at home after accidentally getting shot in the head with a nail gun. Doctors at Medical City Plano said the man was just doing his job at a construction site when someone handed him a nail gun. It went off and fired a four-inch, barbed nail into his brain. “The skull itself stopped the nail, just like if it was fired into wood. The head of the nail, once it hit the skull, stopped,” said Dr. Rob Dickerman, a Medical City Plano neurosurgeon. The patient underwent a risky surgery to remove the nail from his dominant lobe. Despite the chances of paralysis or even death, the surgery was a success. Dr. Dickerman expects the man will make a full recovery. Scaffolding firm fined after floor collapses at wedding UK: A couple’s wedding celebrations went seriously awry when the floor of a marquee collapsed as a result of faulty scaffolding work. According to the UK’s Health and Safety Executive the floor fell more than 1.2m to send the bridal couple, 150 guests plus tables, chairs, cutlery and glassware crashing to the ground. Scaffold poles also fell into the marquee, narrowly missing guests. The incident resulted in Court Block Scaffolding Ltd, of Camberley, Surrey, being fined £8,000 and ordered to pay costs of £7,370. The scaffolding had been installed to counteract a slope in the lawn of the wedding venue. HSE Inspector Joanne Woodcock said: “the couple’s wedding day was ruined and 23 guests unwittingly risked being seriously injured. “The fact no one was seriously injured was solely down to good fortune. Glimpses of the challenges in the oil drilling fields of Siberia Photos found on the web. Source unknown 24 25 Lighter ‘concrete products’ improve workplace safety Glass Reinforced Concrete, a much lighter and easier to work with material than standard concrete is rapidly setting the world on fire when it comes to drainage and plumbing installation work. GRC is a composite of concrete and fibreglass technologies that began to be manufactured in Australia in the mid 1980s. The products are rated as strong as old fashioned steel reinforced concrete products, stronger than drycast concrete but one tenth of the weight. The weight saving means reduced freight costs, reduced on site costs as lifting equipment is generally not needed and as a result less likelihood of injuries occurring from manhandling heavy items. According to Nick Taylor,principal of Mascot Engineering, one of the leading manufacturers of GRC, the installation savings are so great with GRC that many contractors claim to cut installation times by about 50% when using these pits instead of the traditional concrete versions. As an illustration of the difference in weight the company transported thirty, 1200sqmm pits as well as risers on a semi trailer truck whereas the equivalent number of standard concrete pits would require 4 semi trailers. 26 And in another example: This photo shows one hundred 450sq X 800mm deep pits being delivered from the company’s Perth warehouse to a site following delivery by truck from Sydney. Mr Taylor said that if the pits had been made from standard concrete a number of them would most likely have been broken and to replicate this load with the old fashioned concrete pits you would need another 6 or 7 trucks. Not only are they making drainage pits from GRC but also concrete drain trenching, electrical pits and even planters for office gardens. 2011 Global Workplace Fatality Statistics @ 31 August 2011 2011 Totals are 1866, which break down to the following: Afghanistan Albania Armenia Australia Austria Austria Bahrain Bangladesh Brazil Canada China Colombia Congo Egypt France Germany Ghana Guyana India Indonesia Iran Ireland Israel Italy Japan Kenya Lebanon Macau Malaysia Mexico Nepal Netherlands New Zealand 11.00 1.00 2.00 41.00 4.00 1.00 1.00 8.00 4.00 57.00 209.00 9.00 72.00 2.00 1.00 3.00 2.00 1.00 134.00 5.00 10.00 7.00 1.00 2.00 3.00 2.00 2.00 1.00 6.00 18.00 2.00 1.00 8.00 Nicaragua Nigeria Oman Pakistan Philippines Poland Romania Russia Saudi Arabia Serbia and Montenegro Singapore Somalia South Africa South Korea Spain Sri Lanka Sweden Switzerland Taiwan Thailand Tunisia Turkey Ukraine United Arab Emirates United Kingdom United States Vietnam Wales West Bengal West Indies Zambia Zimbabwe 27 1.00 44.00 1.00 68.00 18.00 14.00 6.00 16.00 8.00 1.00 5.00 1.00 31.00 1.00 7.00 1.00 1.00 1.00 7.00 16.00 2.00 27.00 26.00 8.00 70.00 794.00 40.00 1.00 3.00 1.00 4.00 11.00 TOTAL FATALITIES & INCIDENTS are: • 1192 Incidents • 1866 Fatalities MORTALITY RATES are: • 7.68 Fatalities per Day • 53.31 Fatalities per Week • 233.15 Fatalities per Month Five HIGHEST Fatality Industries are: Construction Manufacturing Mining Infrastructure Maintenance 317.00 314.00 300.00 99.00 87.00 Five HIGHEST Mechanism of Fatalities are: Explosion Crushed By Struck By Fall Fire 408.00 364.00 211.00 193.00 93.00 BOTH reports (STATISTICAL & FULL INCIDENT DETAILS) can be downloaded from: http://www.achievablesolutions. com.au/safetyxpress.php SAFE BEHAVIOUR Safety shockers This photo of a worker in the USA shows him using a cardboard box that once contained flammable liquids as a welding face shield. Source: Safteng This bricklayers scaffolding leaves a lot to be desired and has certainly not progressed with the times. Photo – Worksafe Victoria. 28 Can you prove you’re dinkum about OH&S? What’s the point of having OH&S personnel if safety issues aren’t at the forefront of employee attention? It’s all very well having policies and procedures but if they’re not being regularly brought to people’s attention you may as well not have them. That’s why it has been found that a company newsletter for staff that highlights various OH&S issues is one of the best means of keeping the message to the fore. Evidence has shown that a professionally produced company newsletter builds employee interest in the company, strengthens in-company relationships and increases company loyalty to reduce staff turnover. The evidence speaks for itself…… Standard & Poors investigated the habits of 4,000 people receiving a newsletter to discover: ▪▪ 92% read at least some issues of the newsletters received; 83% read most or some articles and 84% found the information useful. And in another study, PDI Global found… ▪▪ ▪▪ 81% of printed newsletters are read by more than one person. On average each newsletter gets passed along to two others, greatly leveraging its reach. In fact they found that a well developed newsletter costs less per contact than any other form of promotion. Think about it – if you want to reach people with a message, a newsletter when it is created correctly can be the one form of promotion that people actually welcome! Media Support Services specialises in creating good readable newsletters. We can write, design and either print or create an email format newsletter for you. After meeting with you to discuss the topics …you can leave it to us to undertake the entire project. If you would like to discuss the possibility of your organisation having its own newsletter call us on 1300 557 660 or email [email protected] 1300 557 660 29 www.mediasupportservices.com.au
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