May's Safety Focus is Hazard Reporting
During the last OHS Committee meeting, CEO Jacqui Weatherill pointed out the low numbers of Hazard Reports in the quarterly OHS statistical report.
In the past three months, there were 102 corrective actions generated to address hazards in our workplaces. Of the 102 corrective actions, 38 were generated from ‘Hazard ID’ (Proactive reporting), and 64 generated from ‘Incidents’ (Reactive reporting). This means more proactive reporting is required in order to lower the number of ‘Incidents’ occurring.
Hazards can be proactively identified through planned workplace inspections, or through observations as we walk around our workplace environment.
Add ‘Hazard Reporting’ to your next team meeting agenda and see if your staff can identify hazards that can cause harm (eg. clutter and poor housekeeping = slip/trip/fall hazard, faulty equipment = manual handling/electrical hazards).
The OHS unit has an Inspection Checklist template that can be used for any department. Please ask the team for help and guidance.
Hazards can be reported through to Elumina via the Incident, Near Miss and Hazard Report form.
Some departments might already have an inspection program or a local hazard reporting process in place. Please advise the OHS Unit of the hazard reporting systems you use internally (eg. Pinforce, Merit, iAuditor, Gold Care, or other methods of recording these hazards). This will assist us in capturing the true picture of our proactive approach to ‘Hazard ID’ across Council operations.
Proactive Safety Messages
The Customer Service team engaged an acoustics and ergonomic specialist to identify improvement opportunities for the Parkmore Customer Service centre. An action plan is currently being put together in consideration of the recommendations from these specialists. This will enrich the customer experience and the safety and wellbeing of staff.
Safety Reminder
In line with the May’s monthly focus, staff are to be reminded to look after our workplace amenities and clean up after spills to avoid slip/trip/fall hazards. If you do notice a spill hasn’t been cleaned up, please report it as a hazard in Elumina.
Please be mindful of shared kitchen facilities and clean up any mess that might be present after using the microwave, sandwich presses, toasters, cooktops and sinks. Also be mindful of keeping food too long in fridges.
We can all work together in keeping our workplaces cleaner, safer and healthier.
Upcoming OHS Meetings
OHS Policy Sub-Committee and HSR meetings on Thursday 8 May and OHS Committee Meeting on Thursday 31 July.
OHS Procedure Update
This is your chance to comment on any of our draft OHS Procedures under our motto “Your Safety Say”.
The following draft procedures have been recently reviewed by the OHS Policy-Sub Committee and are now ready for all staff to provide feedback.
- Draft Working in Extreme Weather Conditions Procedure - 138.2KB
- Draft UV Radiation Protection for Outdoor Workers Procedure - 168.9KB
Please provide comments to the OHS Team by Monday 12 May 2025.
As a reminder, the members of the OHS Policy Sub-Committee comprise of three Management Representatives and three Health and Safety Representatives (HSRs):
Sally Goedheer – Senior Coordinator Integrated Community Support
Matt Berry – Manager Infrastructure Services & Planning
Mel White – Manager Community Amenity
Wendy Phillips - HSR Community Care
Erik Van Doorn - HSR Operations Centre Parks