GMAQ - Golf Management Australia Queensland Spring 2017 | Page 28

Safety News Bulletin. C ompanies charged for breaching health and safety laws in the past 12 months... An agency of the state government, that provides maintenance to roads and bridges, began working on a bridge that contained asbestos. Asbestos was not identified and workers were not informed that the bridge contained asbestos. Workers were exposed to dust particles over a two-week period. The company was fined over $180,000 with additional enforceable undertakings and remedial actions that cost millions A carpenter had employed a worker to drill holes into block work while standing on a 6-foot ladder. The worker over-balanced and fell, sustaining injuries to his head and fracturing ribs and vertebrae. The defendant was fined over $60,000. It was found that the employer had a Safe Work Method Statement – but this was not shown to workers. It is frequently found in Golf of dollars. Workers will now have a lifetime of wondering if they have been exposed to asbestos. Clubhouses and golf courses have been known to contain asbestos. Older buildings often contain building materials which contain asbestos and golf courses have been known to have irrigation and plumbing that contains asbestos. It is the obligation of the Club to ensure all asbestos has been identified at the workplace and both workers and contractors are given access to Asbestos Registers before undertaking work onsite. Clubs that Safe Work Procedures or SWMS may be available but they are often not shown to workers, not discussed with workers, and not signed off. It is not unusual for a template procedure to exist on a computer which has never been distributed to staff. You must ensure you have instructed all your staff in any hazardous tasks they undertake, and recorded this on a training register. A tree lopper agreed to allow a customer to assist him while cutting down branches, in order to save costs. The tree lopper continued to cut down branches and tree limbs while the customer would carry out ground work and assist lowering the branches using a rope. During this process, a tree branch was cut down and fell on the person below killing him. Many golf clubs use volunteers to assist them on the golf course. This sometimes involves cutting down trees. While the enthusiasm of the volunteers is appreciated, we don’t want them helping themselves to any tools, or just any job they feel like doing. When managing volunteers, you should have strict rules for what they are permitted to do, as well as records of training for any tool or task they are completing. These are just some examples of the multiple prosecutions that have occurred this year. If any of these scenarios raise an alarm for you, then you probably should review how you manage your workplace risks. Lighthouse Safety has solutions for many compliance requirements in your workplace. Ph. 0422 669 631 [email protected] www.lighthousesafety.com.au PROUD SPONSOR OF RSL & SERVICES CLUBS ASSOC. QUEENSLAND INC. & GMA QUEENSLAND