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Latest ISO 45001 update – October 2017

October 1, 2017

ISO has confirmed a provisional publication date of 27 November for the Final Draft International Standard (FDIS) of ISO 45001. Publication of the final standard is likely to be in the first half of 2018. OHSAS 18001 will be withdrawn on publication of ISO 45001 and organizations currently certified to OHSAS 18001 will have a three year period to migrate to ISO 45001. BSI will continue to keep clients updated with the development of this standard, with support materials and training courses available to support the migration.

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If your workers aren’t safe, then neither are you!

February 22,2016

WorkSafe Victoria has launched a powerful new public awareness campaign showing the impact that a serious injury can have on a workplace. The campaign, which contrasts people experiencing typical, everyday frustrations against the trauma of serious workplace incidents, is aimed squarely at employers. According to WorkSafe Chief Executive Clare Amies, it is important for Victorian employers to fully appreciate the consequences of a workplace fatality or serious injury. “While the majority of employers understand why it is important to maintain a safe workplace, there are still far too many fatalities and injuries occurring every year,” Ms Amies said. “Our campaign shows an employer dealing with the consequences – telling the family, supporting traumatised employees, and dealing with a WorkSafe investigation. “The campaign reminds employers that inspectors visit workplaces anywhere, any day, any time and the message is a blunt one: if your workers aren’t safe, then neither are you.” Ms Amies said the prevention work undertaken by WorkSafe’s inspectors is an important component of the campaign. “Last year, our inspectors made almost 42,000 workplace visits and their goal is clear - to prevent the shock and trauma that comes from the kind of scenarios seen in this campaign. Ms Amies said everyone suffered when someone was injured at work - not just the person involved but their family, friends, colleagues, and the business itself. “So it is vital employers do everything they can to prevent this from happening,” she said. “Last year, 20 Victorians lost their lives at work and more than 26,000 workers were hurt seriously enough to make a claim. Already this year, there have been four workplace deaths. “That is why we make no apology for delivering this blunt message to employers that they must do everything they can to protect the health and safety of their employees.” The campaign will appear on television, radio, online, in print and on outdoor sites. It will be supported by a strong social media campaign. Visit worksafeeveryday.com.au for more information on how you can improve the safety of your workplace. - See more at: http://www.worksafenews.com.au/news/item/477-if-your-workers-aren%E2%80%99t-safe,-then-neither-are-you.html#sthash.UFexugiy.dpuf

Revealed: the cost of bullying and violence in the Australian Public Service

June 30,2015

The annual bill to taxpayers for bullying, harassment and "occupational violence" in the public service is now approaching $80 million. Trauma from workplace bullying or violence now make up the largest proportion of mental-stress compensation claims among public servants, according to the latest data from federal workplace insurer Comcare. Mental-stress workers' compensation claims are now costing $342,000 each on average, but there have been nearly 500 mental-stress claims by public servants over the past five years that have cost taxpayers $500,000 or more. Mental-harm claims have soared by more than 88 per cent since 2009, according to Comcare's latest statistical snapshot. Nearly 39 per cent of claimants in 2013-2014 said bullying or harassment by their colleagues had left them unable to work, the same proportion of public servants who cited workplace stress as the cause of their psychological problems. Advertisement Another 8 per cent of mental-stress claimants said they had been traumatised by "exposure to workplace or occupational violence", with 40 such claims accepted in the 2013-2014 financial year. The 233 claims linked to bullying or violence accepted by Comcare in 2013-2014 will cost the taxpayer more than $79 million on present trends. The figure represents just under 20 per cent of the total $410 million spent on claims across the Comcare scheme that year. The statistics underline the impetus behind efforts across the Australian Public Service and the broader public sector in recent years to combat bullying and perceptions of bullying. With premium bills to cash-strapped government departments increasing by 20 per cent in 2013-2014, their bosses are on notice that poor performance in preventing workplace injuries and getting public servants back to work will hit their bottom lines. Since 2009, 2173 mental-stress claims have been accepted from government agency employees, with 475, or 22 per cent, costing more than $500,000 each. By contrast, only 3.5 per cent of claims for body stressing, which remains the leading cause of public service compensation claims, cost more than $500,000, although Comcare planners are worried by the growing cost of body-stressing claims, which topped an average of $129,000 in 2013-2014. The insurer has launched a campaign to get public servants out of their seats more often, targeting "sedentary" workplace behaviour, which it says leads to higher rates of chronic disease and injury. Workers in the public sector, including drivers, call-centre staff or data-entry employees are considered particularly vulnerable to the dangers of prolonged sitting. The Stand Up Comcare campaign has produced, fact sheets and guides for managers and team leaders on strategies to get their public servants out of their seats, with posters distributed to government workplaces, warning workers of the dangers of sitting down for too long. "Comcare actively promotes strategies to reduce sedentary behaviour in workplaces and encourages the use of sit-to-stand workstations. We use this type of workstation in our own office locations," a spokesman for the insurer told Fairfax. "Comcare has conducted successful campaigns and seminars to promote research on the benefits of alternating sitting and standing in the work environment. "Prolonged sitting is a risk that employers should consider in their work health and safety policies and practices."

"They Can Attack You at Any Moment"

March 29,2016

Do you know workers that tend to refer to a constant exposure and sense of imminent danger, regardless of time and location of work? Do they often frame risk concerns in the context of relatively extreme ‘what if’ scenarios, implying that anything could happen at any-time? Do they virulently express that the workplace must provide additional security measures such as security guards, bullet proof glass, body armour and/or panic buttons to protect them? During workshops these same people often state “you never know” when the actual prevention of workplace violence is discussed. They appear to struggle with the fact that most incidents of customer violence (including verbal threats) could have been prevented with the worker making safer choices at the early stages of the continuum of conflict. Where does this “you never know” perception and attitude come from? Often times their perception of risk and subsequently unsafe client interaction choices has a lot to do with the effects of generalized stress. One should consider that compared to other areas of OHS, violence is a topic that is often quite emotionally charged. Because of this, a number of stress related issues sometimes become linked to the perception of risk. The following are some factors that increase generalized stress for some workers: Clients creating excessive noise and disturbances throughout shifts Exposures to difficult, verbally abusive, uncooperative clients Changes in operations Inconsistent philosophies and approaches to client management Workforce adjustments and concerns regarding job stability Lack of acknowledgement of the importance of their job function These factors can impact levels of stress, frustration and morale, but in most cases they have no direct link to actual risk of violence. Interestingly, workers who report higher levels of generalized stress tend to report higher levels of risk for violence. Workers that tend to focus on these generalized factors often find it challenging to identify tangible factors that affect the relative risk and are less likely to identify tangible solutions. Stress, Perception of Risk and Impact on Actual Risk I have found that in work environments where there is a relatively high level of interaction with more difficult clientele, stress can have an impact on perception of risk. This can profoundly influence the actual level of risk for some individuals. The link to risk of violence is more a function of how stress affects an individual’s ability to maintain their cool when dealing with difficult or challenging people. If a worker’s perception of risk is ever-present, constantly high and unpredictable, it is difficult for them to maintain a healthier and more safety focussed approach to their work. Change the Perception-Adjust the Response and Lower the Risk By contrast, workers that have less concern for generalized stress factors tend to report more specific and tangible risk factors and hence are more likely to suggest tangible solutions. In addition to this, they are more likely to assume greater responsibility for their safety and recognize their role in preventively responding to situations and behaviours. Perhaps not surprisingly, they are likely to express higher levels of job satisfaction and are less inclined to indicate high levels of stress and fear. So what does this all mean for your organization? Opportunity! There is an immense opportunity in your organization to firstly enhance worker safety and reduce incidents of violence, but also to create a shift in perception of risk which will result in increased employee confidence, enhanced service motivation, reduced fear and significant reduction of worker stress. In order to successfully achieve these things the workplace must: Make concerted efforts to acknowledge, address and monitor risk factors; review and analyze incidents in the context of ongoing training, with the purpose of emphasizing best practices for violence prevention. Provide violence prevention training that recognizes one’s own personal responses, choices and stress levels, as a factor in the potential for violence. Encourage ongoing communication related to recognition and management of stress associated with day to day job duties. When choosing a training provider for workplace violence, recognize that a truly effective curriculum should do more than simply provide a few defusing tips, trademark hair pulling releases, direction to set verbal limits and supportive stance coaching. ARETE recently facilitated customized violence prevention workshops to approximately 1000 government employees who are regularly exposed to face to face customer challenges, abuse and potentially threatening behaviours. ..... 98 % of the employees reported feeling better prepared to deal with workplace violence | 96 % of the employees assessed ARETE training as excellent or very good | 99 % of the employees assessed ARETE Instructors as excellent or very good..... Hugh Pelmore is the President and CEO of ARETE safety and protection inc, a proudly Canadian company. Hugh has facilitated more than 4700 conflict management and customer violence prevention workshops since 1993. Clients you know include BC Hydro, WorkSafeBC, the City of Vancouver, Saskatchewan Government Insurance, University of BC, Workers Compensation Board of BC, WHSCC (Nfld), Mercedes Benz, TELUS, Fairmont Hotels, Convoy Supply and the Provincial Government of BC.

Manual handling, What to look for now?

August 6,2015

In 2014 Safe Work Australia published some good news statistics: 2011–12 — serious workers compensation claims with “muscular stress while lifting, carrying, or putting down objects” listed as the mechanism of injury were down on the previous year by 21%. Even better, this was no statistical aberration; it reflected a general downward trend since 2000–01. In addition, the number of back-related serious claims has fallen by 21% between 2000–01 and 2010–11, and the proportion of back-related claims of all serious claims has fallen from 27% in 2000–01 to 23% in 2010–11. If these were economic statistics, politicians would be crowing over “a beautiful set of numbers”; however, OHS people should be more cautious, because the statistics still tell us that manual handling-related injury is a (and arguably “the”) major occupational cause of body stress-type claims and the back is still the most frequent injury site. What these statistics may be telling us is that the measures that we have been pursuing — measures that have been around since the early 1980s, the legislative levers, barrage of codes, information/fact sheets, professional prescriptions and resultant actions taken by employers and workers — are preventing lifting, carrying-type injury. The picture does not look as rosy for the other two mechanisms of injury under body stressing with: “muscular stress while handling objects other than lifting, carrying or putting down” showing a slight decrease over 2011–12 but a 3% rise over the preceding years since 2000; and “muscular stress with no objects being handled” having a 5% rise over the same period. At 25 claims, these two mechanisms of injury account for over half of the total number of claims in the body stressing category. So perhaps we need to focus more on casting the hazard identification net, risk assessment and control beyond the lifting and carrying tasks to those where we do not seem to be getting the same positive results. Based on the claim numbers, it would seem that jobs involving pushing, pulling and other actions need our attention now just as much as lifting and carrying. This might require a slight change in focus for hazard identification and risk assessment action, including training. For the most part, control strategies should remain essentially the same. Driven by the regulations, the control hierarchy will still apply and it is hoped that its increased acceptance in the workplace, allied with the ever-expanding range of higher order engineering devices designed to reduce manual handling risk, shall lead to a parallel reduction in injuries. In Australia, we read about the need for increased productivity due to our high relative labour costs. The factors that contribute to manual handling risk are almost certainly aligned with lower than optimum productivity. This provides an opportunity to achieve gains in safety and productivity through implementing manual handling controls. Manual handling controls are not always highly technical or costly, but access to specific expertise can be necessary to get people to accept or understand the potential productivity gains that can be realised in their workplace. Practical, industry-based research and/or experience can support an effective case for investment in controls, as a recent example shows: Getting equipment to a roof where a crane lift is impracticable can be a difficult task involving both manual handling and work at heights. On a domestic construction job where this was the case, the builders were considering methods to haul up equipment to the roof using ropes and ladders and were overheard by a roofing plumber carrying out some roofing works in the vicinity. Without going into the specifics here, the plumber, who had a great deal of experience in work on roofs, gave them a few brief instructions on how the job could be done safely, quickly and at a reasonable cost by a qualified, experienced person (himself). This included the installation of approved anchor points, harnesses and use of approved rope access equipment to haul up the materials without excessive force. The builder was happy that the plumber’s approach represented a good investment rather than risk his own guys. The decision was to some extent based on cost; however, the availability of the control and the confidence in the person offering the solution as someone with industry-specific experience was critical to convincing the builder that the investment would pay off for him, in his workplace. If we are to continue to make gains in this area, OHS practitioners need as much of this type of practical research on manual handling controls as they can get to enable people to make informed decisions on manual handling control measures.

How is your business handling Manual Handling?

May 26,2015

anual Handling: What are you doing to prevent almost half of Australia’s workplace injuries? While some jobs have obvious hazards, others present dangers that aren’t so apparent. And every workplace poses risks to the people who work there. By keeping your Manual Handling information and training up-to-date you’ll keep more your employees safer, and avoid a lot of financial pain for your business. A third of Workers’ Compensation Claims relate to Manual Handling ‘Sprains and strains’ are usually the result of poor Manual Handling (resulting in body stress). And 32% of all Workers Compensation claims relate to Manual Handling. It’s no surprise that these types of injuries are most common in the construction, health and community service, transport, and manufacturing industries. However, they are a concern for all businesses, across all industries. Even administration workers are at risk – typing, filing, reaching and sitting for long periods of time can adversely affect your health. How to make your workplace safer A proven way of helping employees understand the impact of Manual Handling is through appropriate training that encourages a safe workplace culture. Manual Handling courses work in two ways: Teaching workers correct techniques for assessing loads and moving them. Improving the way employees view their own safety, and the safety of their workmates. It’s also important to remember that as preventable injury incidents decrease, employees often get complacent. So regular training keeps safe work practices ‘top of mind’ and can reduce your exposure to the possibility of an incident even further. The painful cost of complacency The cost of an incident far outweighs an investment in Manual Handling assessment, instruction, and setting up safe work practices. Data from the 2008/09 Report By Safe Work Australia estimates the cost of a single body stress injury at $109,700. This is because it can have a huge impact on your: • Work Cover and workplace insurance premiums • worker morale and lost productivity • money and time needed to recruit and replace an injured worker during recovery and rehabilitation. Not to mention that, if the incident is severe enough, the potential to face fines for unsafe work practices. Young workers need guidance Statistics from the same Safe Work Australia Report also show our young workforce is most at risk. 20% of all workplace incidents involve workers under 25. Younger workers are so vulnerable because they aren’t knowledgeable and experienced in regards to potential workplace risks and dangers. As a business, you need to support this group as they enter into your workforce, and continue to educate and help them as they progress along their career path. How to best protect your people and business Accidents happen, but data and anecdotal evidence shows that many are preventable – especially those that are due to incorrect Manual Handling. The most effective way to prevent needless injuries in your workplace is when everyone has a sound knowledge of the risks they face, and how best to avoid them. That comes down to good ongoing Manual Handling training, consultation and employee co-operation.

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