Make job safety a priority this National Safe Work Month

Making sure workers remain safe in the workplace should be a paramount consideration for employers, and now is a better time than ever to ensure compliance is being met.

October is National Safe Work Month, a key period where businesses can reflect and analyse work health and safety policy.

The construction industry is one of many which can benefit from leaders taking the proper time and care to implement a safe working policy. As discussed in a report by Safe Work Australia, the construction industry made up 14 per cent of total workplace fatalities in 2022.

Simon Croft, Housing Industry Association (HIA) chief executive for industry and policy, believes it is imperative to protect these vulnerable workers: “Safety on site in the construction industry is a core aspect of the day-to-day work builders and tradies manage in building the homes we all live in and enjoy.”

“The construction industry has made significant strides over the last two decades in managing safety on site, and workplace safety incidents are continuing to trend downwards,” Mr Croft said.

“October is National Safe Work Month, and whilst safety should always be front of mind, it provides an important opportunity either as a reminder, or just a good reason to take time to reflect and discuss safety on site.”

There are plenty of ways that workplaces can acknowledge and improve issues with work health and safety. Providing resources and training for employees can be a great way to spread awareness and combat incidents.

“Workplace health and safety rules builders and tradies need to navigate are getting more and more complex and extending beyond just physical hazards to cover physiological hazards and risks,” explained Mr Croft.

“Therefore, it is essential the building industry continues to take steps to manage risks, keep workplaces and workers on site safe and healthy as well as understanding their safety obligations.”

He concluded: “HIA encourages everyone walking on site to think about safety as a shared responsibility – if you see something like a scaffold plank been moved or a piece of timber that may create a potential trip hazard – don’t walk by it, help to remedy or get assistance in doing so.”

Another effective way to ensure workplaces are up to standard is through a safety inspection. Comcare listed some key considerations for approaching an inspection:

• Listen to the concerns of workers and their representatives.
• Review and analyse workplace hazards and incident reporting data.
• Identify existing and potential hazards and determine their underlying cause.
• Review how effective hazard controls that were previously implemented were.
• Identify areas that need special attention due to the nature of the work carried out.
• Identify areas that need attention where data shows signs of stress, wear, impact, vibration, heat, corrosion, chemical reaction or misuse.
• The entire workplace area should be included in the inspection. This includes parking lots, building access, rest areas, storage and amenities.

Getting work health and safety wrong can be detrimental to a business. To read more on the consequences of this, click here.