With the update to Western Australia’s Safety legislation, Work Health and Safety (WHS) Act 2020, 31st March 2022, there have been significant changes. From our experience during site visits, many do not appear to be aware of the changes, in particular, the following. The current WA WHS Act (2020), Part 3 – Incident Notification now identifies a Dangerous Incident (Section 37) states; dangerous incident means an incident in relation to a workplace that exposes a worker or any other person to a serious risk to a person’s health or safety emanating from an immediate or imminent exposure to — (a)…

As you may be aware Western Australia has joined the majority of other states and territories with alignment with the Work, Health and Safety (WHS) legislation. The WA WHS legislation came into effect on March 31st 2022, which replaces the…

Do you plan (prepare) for all outcomes?   ‘I didn’t budget for that’   A line that we have heard used many times over the course of our business in the construction/manufacturing industry. It is usually stated after;   An incident had occurred Identified from an Audit or inspection   Extra scope had been identified after the contract had started (not during the tender phase),  Information in the contract specification had not been identified and accounted for earlier etc.   More time is required for paperwork then first though.  Quality issues need fixing etc.  Scope has changed and extra resources are required which the organisation does not…

Why Safety in Design is sometimes overlooked?  (The Auditors perspective)  At SOS-Switched Onto safety one of the many activities we conduct are in-depth audits and/or inspections on a multitude of projects and industries. These audit/inspections assist our clients and their contractors comply with contract requirements, specifications and legal compliance. During an audit we look at all levels of the documentation trail, products and physical activities (We drill down to identify any gaps in the projects processes to eliminate future issues). We don’t just look at the main contractor (or their sub-contractors) we sometimes look to see that all relevant information has been conveyed/communicated to all stakeholders to the project.  Throughout all the years of SOS conducting these audits (25+ years) there…

Chemical management ‘It’s not rocket science’ but people still don’t get it! Stuart J. Platt Back in 2016 (July) we thought we would identify some of the “Common Chemical Management Non-Conformance’s we regularly see” while out and about conducting our audits and inspections for various clients and organisations. http://switchedontosafety.com/common-chemical-management-non-conformances-we-regularly-see/ Back then we had identified on a regular basis regarding hazardous substance management: Safety Data Sheets (SDS) were either not available or out of date. Hazardous substances risk assessments not conducted or documented A lack of spill response preparedness or old/worn spill response equipment. Lots of Incompatibility issues i.e.  Class 2…

Why it makes sense to invest in an AED for your Business, organisation or home! Have you ever taken the time to think how much a life is worth? What if someone you knew (work colleague or family member?) had a heart attack in front of you, could you assist? Do you have the right equipment on hand if they did?  Cardio vascular disease Cardio vascular disease (CVD) remains the leading cause of death worldwide as of 2017 data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). In Australia the prevalence of heart disease is approximately one in twenty (4.8% or…

By Stuart Platt Definition of sustainability in business: ‘The ability to be maintained at a certain rate or level’. Business sustainability can also be defined as managing the ‘triple bottom line’, this means a process by which companies manage their financial, social and environmental risks, obligations and opportunities, especially in a holistic approach. These three impacts can also be referred to as; Profits, People and Planet. The fundamentals of everything your organisation does should revolve around quality, quality systems, quality product/services & quality staff etc. If you are sustaining a quality product or service, everything else should follow and fall…

Cancer causing or ‘Fake news’ By Guy LeNoir and Stuart Platt There has been a bit of public concern recently to ‘Round-Up’ and its link to cancer. Round-up is a herbicide weed killer with the main active ingredient ‘Glyphosate’. It was first developed by Monsanto in the 1970s (an American agrochemical & agricultural biotechnology). Mosanto is now owned by Bayer (a German multinational pharmaceutical and life sciences company). In Australia more than 500 Glyphosate products are available. Glyphosate is a broad-spectrum systemic herbicide and crop desiccant. It’s an organophosphorus compound (a phosphonate) and acts by inhibiting the plants enzymes. Its…

With a database of more than 50 Million Vendor (M)SDS and powerful tools to manage (M)SDS and their updates, Chemwatch is the trusted (M)SDS Management provider to more than 5,000 organisations, globally. Chemwatch maintains a team of Emergency Response Experts, available 24/7 in 150 Languages, GLOBALLY. This service is operated by an experienced team of Toxicologists, Environmental scientists, Chemists and Medical Doctors with 24/7 access to the world’s largest library of Chemical information. Chemwatch has released SmartSuite 2 APP, an upgrade to the original SmartSuite Platform. This system provides Chemicals Management tools on location (in the field), when are where…

Written by: Stuart Platt During our Audits and inspections, we often come across risk assessment that are generic templates (not specific) and do not reflect the activities being observed i.e. missed hazards, not site specific or the controls documented are not the ones implemented etc. Usually on further investigation it is identified that they were written by one person, workers were not consulted or involved with the development. Most of the time workers could not recall what was within the risk assessment and enough monitoring has not taken place to ascertain their suitability to the tasks at hand. A sound…