As 2018 progresses enjoy the workplace but stay safe

As we step into February and New Year is firmly behind us, we look to the year ahead and all that it will bring – new appointments, new staff, new offices, and fresh opportunities requiring new strategies!  However, these may all bring potential hazards that need to be looked at!  What we mean to say, is that now is as good a time as any to make sure your company’s health and safety is up to date. Enjoy the workplace but stay safe.

Fresh HR Insight believes that enjoying your work is just as important as working hard in the workplace. Employees and employers who take time for enjoyment alongside their responsibilities tend to have the healthiest workplace dynamics. Yet as we look at new plans and budgets, we can’t help thinking that maybe it’s time to look, at the same time,  at whether our workplaces are safe and compliant with the law!

New strategies come with overtime, and overload of staff!  Whatever the business, whether a small trader or a huge conglomerate, tasks increase when new ventures are started. Under so much pressure it is easy to let safety matters slide.

In 2012, the Australian state and territory governments brought the WHS Act and Regulations into force in order that all workplaces and workers would benefit from consistent workplace health and safety law. Yet here in Queensland we have the highest rate of workplace accidents in Australia.

It should be remembered that employers, employees and customers can suffer because of lapses in good health and safety practice, and that one person’s playground, is someone else’s workplace.

Last year, Australia marked one year from the terrible tragedy at Dreamworld in Gold Coast, when 4 people lost their lives and 2 young children’s lives and those of their families were left traumatised. Whilst investigations continue and the accident’s cause is still not clear, it is currently and widely believed to be an accident that should not have happened.

In 2015, a man tore his shoulder ligaments after lifting heavy classroom equipment too quickly.  Under pressure to get the job finished, he let his own safety take second place. 2 years later, after many surgical treatments and a lot of pain, his health is still impacted and he cannot go back to work.

Here are some more instances of workplace incidents from Workcover Queensland

• Two workers die inside agriculture tanker
• Automotive mechanic run over by vehicle
• Worker fatally crushed by elevating work platform

It is easy to bypass the safety of people when other pressures are given priority, and as we plan new work the stresses ahead are great, FreshHRInsight wants to highlight how crucial it is that workplaces develop the policies and procedures that, once in place and adhered to, can mean fun without risk to life and limb.

Fresh HR Insight will advise you and your management team on how to make health and safety top of the priority list and both a corporate and individual responsibility.  This will ensure that any pressure brought to bear in the workplace – for any reason, at any time of year – will not displace the safety measures that you, your workers and customers need.

 For information on how Fresh HR Insights can work with you on creating safer workplaces drop us an email to paulette@freshhrinsights.com.au