WorkSafe Victoria recently called on cattle farming businesses to prioritise human safety elements in their operations following a number of recent incidents and fatalities in the agriculture sector.
WorkSafe Victoria recently announced that employers and those responsible for prescribed equipment used outside of workplaces must notify the regulators of certain incidents involving a broader range of machinery. Importantly, high-risk machinery in common use such as tractors, quad bikes, forklifts, excavators and mining and quarrying equipment are now included.
The NSW Government recently launched a strategy that outlines how SafeWork will support employers to manage risks and comply with their duty to prevent psychological harm in NSW workplaces. The SafeWork NSW Psychological Health and Safety Strategy 2024-2026 will be supported by $5.6 million in government funding over the next two years to deliver workplace mental health programs through the Black Dog Institute and Transitioning Well.
WorkSafe Victoria recently released new guidance to improve forklift safety and launched a state-wide inspection program to help drive down the toll of forklift-related deaths and injuries. The newly-published guidance provides advice to employers on the safe use and maintenance of forklifts and highlights the need to separate forklifts from people on the ground.
WorkSafe Victoria recently issued a safety alert about the risks of using hardened steel tools on hardened steel following an incident in which a worker was injured when a hardened steel hammer shattered. The employee was working as an underground drill operator and was trying to separate jammed drill consumables by striking the shank.
WorkSafe Victoria has urged the state’s construction industry to check fall prevention measures after one worker has died and several others have been injured in a recent spate of serious incidents. The regulator is investigating the death of a 56-year-old worker after an incident at a residential construction site in Doncaster East.
WorkSafe Victoria recently issued a safety alert reminding employers about managing the risk of falling through plaster ceilings. The alert was issued after several construction workers have fallen from roof spaces recently. In separate incidents, two workers fell through plaster ceilings while working in roof spaces, while another lost balance while standing on roof trusses. They all sustained serious and life-threatening injuries.
WorkSafe Victoria recently issued a safety alert about the risks associated with operating mobile plant on batters and slopes following an incident in which an operator was injured when an eight-tonne excavator overturned while moving felled trees. A contract arborist was using an excavator with a log grab attachment to move felled trees down a batter, and while slewing the excavator down slope, a log slipped through the ‘log grabber’ attachment pulling on the excavator’s boom.
