October marks Mental Health Month, (as well as Safe Work month) shining a light on the importance of good mental health and encouraging help-seeking. This year's theme is 'we all have a role to play' which serves as a reminder that whether you're an employee, manager, or employer you can help contribute to a happy and healthy workplace.

While awareness days and months are valuable for highlighting key issues and themes, we encourage you to champion mental health in your workplace all year round.

Training is an effective way that you can build better mental health at work. To learn more about Black Dog's range of skill-building mental health training programs, you can download their workplace brochure or schedule a time to talk with one of their Workplace Engagement Managers about training options.

ACCESS FREE MENTAL HEALTH TRAINING.

Black Dog Institute has received further funding from the NSW Government to continue to deliver Mental Health at Work training programs. Proudly delivering the programs since 2019, over 38,000 individuals have completed the free training, resulting in a 35% increase in knowledge about workplace mental health issues.

Tailored for employees, managers, and leaders, these programs provide individuals with practical skills to protect mental health, respond to mental ill-health, and promote wellbeing in the workplace.

Training is free to privately owned NSW businesses with less than 200 employees and not-for-profit organisations of any size.

Learn more and book training

Identifying and addressing complacency in the workplace is critical to reducing incidents and fatalities, however, many organisations still struggle with addressing complacency in practice.

“Most organisations know that complacency is the root cause of every tragedy,” said Patrizia Cassaniti, director at Let’s Talk about safety.

“I always say: ‘It is never an accident, it is always an incident waiting to happen because of complacent decisions that are made, that lead up to it.’”

Cassaniti, who lost her 18-year-old son in a fatal scaffolding collapse in Macquarie Park, said that unfortunately, when risks are identified and mitigated through SWMS, they are not always followed through in the task itself.

“Paper does not save lives. Management and workers must all take responsibility for safety and need to work together to enforce it,” said Cassaniti, who was speaking ahead of an AIHS webinar on the reality of what tragedy looks like.

“Many times management relinquishes their responsibility because they feel they have mitigated the risk and have produced a SMWS, but the responsibility of making sure the task is performed as per the specific SWMS is vital and even more important than the SWMS itself.”

Complacency will always override what we know is safe to do in the first place, according to Cassaniti, who said that, as human beings, it is a habit that is hard to shift unless you have been through a tragedy or have witnessed one.

“Complacency is any time an individual is about to take on a task and says, ‘She’ll be right,’ ‘I’ve done this a thousand times before,’ and ‘It’s not going to happen to me.’

“I hope to be the only reality of what tragedy looks like to each individual who gets to listen to my presentation, in the hope that I can shift their complacent mindset, to recognise when they are having a ‘she’ll be right moment’ so that they can stop and evaluate.”

Workers need to remember the reason they are at work is to create a better life for themselves and their families, and Cassaniti said they must stop risking their lives to get a job done.

“If something happens to them, the job will get done with or without them, because they are replaceable but, they will never be replaceable at home,” she said.

The potential risk of complacency at work is always injury or death, followed by loss of production and income, to both the victim and the PCBU, Cassaniti added.

“Once a tragedy occurs, unfortunately, it is too late: a tragedy costs more to a life or a company than being proactive in keeping safety at the forefront of every job,” she said.

“A pain and grief that my family and all that knew him must endure for eternity, all because of a 5-minute complacent decision that took my son, Christopher for life.”

The builder and scaffolding company experienced significant financial loss, along with all other trades who were on site.

“The site was closed for three months; 250 workers were onsite that day, who will never be the same mentally.

“The clean-up crew was also affected mentally. My family and the community of Macquarie Park will forever be scarred by the tragedy. The effect of this tragedy is unmeasurable,” said Cassaniti.

The responsibility for WHS professionals and management in keeping sites safe can be a nightmare, both personally and legally, Cassaniti added.

“My advice to all WHS professionals and management is to keep it real and personal with workers,” she said.

“Remind workers of the reason why they are at work, and that is, to make their own life a better life for themselves and their families and that they must not risk injury or death just to get that job done.

“Make your family the reason why you work safe every day” is the key to keeping safety at the fore for every worker, and Cassaniti said it is important to encourage speaking up, following through and never reprimanding a worker for doing so.

“Respect and listen to the workers and realise that they are the most important asset to the job because without them the job does not get done,” said Cassaniti.

“When this respect is felt by workers the job gets done better and safer.”

Original article published in AIHS.

Changes relating to enforcement, inspector powers and investigations are among a suite of amendments to Commonwealth work health and safety laws now in force.

A bill that makes a broad range of amendments to the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 passed the Australian Parliament earlier this year, implementing recommendations of the 2018 review of the Model WHS Laws which looked at how the legislation was operating in practice.

The changes came into effect on 21 September 2023 and include:

More information:

Received an improvement notice and need to educate or re-educate/familiarise your workers on formwork specific WHS best practice, the formwork code of practice or principles of adequate protection against risk of falling - then sign up your workers to their FREE places on the Safe Formworker Program.

ACCESS YOUR FREE SAFE FORMWORKER PROGRAM HERE

Closing date 30the September 2023.

Between the 22nd and 24th of August, SafeWork, State Insurance Regulatory Authority (SIRA) and Fair Trading NSW inspectors visited 85 construction sites in the Canterbury Bankstown LGA, focusing on reducing high-risk harms and cracking down on dangerous construction site work practices.

Each year SafeWork NSW responds to incidents where workers are either fatally or seriously injured when working at heights, with electricity, hit by moving plant, or are exposed to crystalline silica.

These key harms have been identified in the SafeWork Regulatory Priorities 2023 and the Building and Construction WHS Blueprint to 2026 with goals set in place to reduce the risks of these harms and to ensure that NSW is a safe and healthy place to work.

Inspectors took a zero-tolerance approach during this blitz to ensure consistency and that those in the construction industry understand their duties and work health and safety obligations.

The high average of 4 notices per site visited shows a need for improvement in this area. If you see something that looks unsafe, call SafeWork NSW on 13 10 50 or report it through the Speak Up App.

Notices Issued

Reason for Penalties

Visit the FIA safety pages and Knowledge Channel for updates, information and advice on best practice and guidelines.

Received an improvement notice and need to educate or re-educate/familiarise your workers on best practice, the formwork code of practice or principles of adequate protection against risk of falling - then sign up to your FREE places on the Safe Formworker Program.

ACCESS YOUR FREE SAFE FORMWORKER PROGRAM HERE

The Inside Construction Expo 2023 conference program has been announced, with six themes being discussed over three stages across the two-day event.

More than 150 construction industry professionals and experts will be speaking throughout the conference addressing key themes for the major vertical construction and infrastructure sectors.

The FIA will be speaking on a panel addressing the 'Skills Gap: Training, Education, Recruitment and Careers' where we will discuss the new education and skills pathway, Safe Formworker Program and progress with certified training to improve safety, quality and productivity in the Formwork industry.

Conference themes:

Bringing a wealth of experiences, backgrounds and skills together, the conference program promises to be informative and engaging.

Inside Construction Expo 2023 will be held from 10am-5pm, 20-21 September at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre.

Registration is free for both the Inside Construction Expo 2023 exhibition and conference.

REGISTER FREE HERE

Join us at the 2023 Workplace Health & Safety Show Sydney and discover what’s new in the world of work health and safety.

Experience two days of industry-leading insights, thought-provoking sessions, and networking opportunities. Meet top leaders from the sector and discover hundreds of new products and innovations that can help you keep your workforce safe.

Don’t miss out on this unique chance to learn about the newest trends in WHS as well as learn more about the Safe Formworker Program and how collaboration with SafeWork NSW and other industry associations is changing the culture around safe work at height on Wednesday 20th.

Meet representatives from key organisations and associations ready to share their knowledge of working safely at height. How can you change the culture at your workplace? Bring your questions, ready for a robust discussion around this important topic.

We hope to see you there on the 20 September 2023 at Sydney Showground

Register FREE to attend.

In a bid to strengthen Workplace Health and Safety (WHS) standards, Safe Work Australia has introduced a consultation paper outlining a range of suggested amendments to incident reporting obligations. These changes are aimed at enhancing the visibility of workplace incidents for WHS regulators. However, while the proposed amendments to incident reporting are no doubt well-intentioned, they risk imposing undue administrative burdens on businesses and overburdening safety regulators. This is especially concerning given that the businesses and regulators are still coming to grips with how to effectively manage psychosocial risks and the skill sets required to do so.

In this insight, our WHS experts, FIA PArtner Kingston Reid, delve into the proposed changes and the number of variables proposed in each notification approach.

Below they set out the proposed changes and the number of variables proposed in each notification approach.

Proposed Change 1 – Periodic Reporting of Incapacity Periods

Currently, incident notification for psychological injuries is only required in cases of death, immediate hospitalisation, or dangerous incidents. For physical injuries, incidents necessitating immediate treatment are also covered.

What Could Change?

Safe Work Australia proposes amending the model WHS legislation to introduce periodic reporting every six months of incapacitation periods lasting ten or more consecutive days due to work-related psychological or physical injuries, illnesses, or harm.

This change would require a person conducting a business or undertaking (PCBU) to assess whether a worker’s illness or injury resulted from the conduct of the business or undertaking. The consultation paper suggests potential evidence that may aid this determination includes:

• Specific events leading up to the worker’s absence;
• Reports from supervisors; or
• Self-reporting by workers.

Proposed Change 2 – Attempted Suicide, Suicide, and Other Deaths

Currently, suicide or death due to psychological harm is reportable. A suicide attempt ‘arising from the conduct of the business or undertaking’ requires notification when the person needs immediate treatment as an inpatient in a hospital or immediate treatment for specific injuries.

What Could Change?

Option 1: Suicide and other Worker deaths

Safe Work Australia proposes clarifying guidance material to encompass the death of a person from:

Option 1 also includes amending guidance material to provide examples of circumstances and evidence indicating that psychological harm contributing to a person’s suicide may have arisen from the business or undertaking’s conduct. Examples include:

Option 2: Suicide of a Worker whether or not death arises from conduct of PCBU

A second option suggests broadening the definition of a notifiable incident to include a worker’s suicide, regardless of whether the act arises from business operations. This would eliminate the need for PCBUs to speculate on the potential causes of the suicide. Upon a suicide occurring, a PCBU would be required to promptly report the incident to the WHS regulator.

Option 3: Attempted Suicide of a Worker stemming from business activities

A recommendation revising incident notification provisions to mandate immediate reporting by PCBUs to WHS regulators upon becoming aware of an attempted suicide stemming from business activities.

Under this change, notification would be required when a reasonable suspicion exists that the attempt resulted from severe or prolonged exposure to psychosocial hazards at work. Notification would only be necessary where the attempt posed a high risk of death or serious injury. PCBUs would not need to notify if that threshold was not met.

Option 4: Attempted Suicide of a Worker

This recommendation requires notification of attempted suicide by workers, irrespective of whether the attempt arises from the conduct of the business or undertaking. This approach would eliminate the need for PCBUs to speculate on the potential causes of the attempted suicide.

Proposed Change 3 – Reporting Workplace Violence

Currently, reporting workplace violence is only mandatory if it leads to death, immediate hospitalisation or treatment, or results in illness requiring medical attention within 48 hours.

What Could Change?

Safe Work Australia proposes amending the model WHS legislation to mandate immediate notification to the WHS regulator for cases of serious workplace violence and threats. Immediate notification would be required for incidents such as:

These proposed changes would be triggered by verbal, written, or otherwise communicated threats of serious violence, posing an immediate or imminent serious risk to health and safety. Excluded would be threats where the person making the threat lacks capability or intent to carry it out or where the threat does not involve serious violence.

Optional Add-On: Tailored Reporting Arrangements

Another facet of these changes is the optional inclusion of allowing WHS regulators to approve alternative reporting arrangements for certain PCBUs. This aims to offer reporting flexibility for industries with high incident volumes, where immediate reporting to the WHS regulator may be unfeasible.

Proposed Change 4 – Periodic Reporting of Exposure to Traumatic Events

Current provisions only require notification of notifiable fatalities, serious injuries, or dangerous incidents arising from business activities with a focus on physical harm, rather than psychosocial risks.

What Could Change?

Safe Work Australia proposes amending the model WHS legislation by introducing a new requirement for PCBUs to periodically report to the WHS regulator on exposures to serious injuries and fatalities, as well as instances of abuse or neglect likely to be experienced as traumatic by workers or others. This would encompass exposures to situations, materials, and reports.

Optional Add-On: Tailored Reporting Arrangements

An optional add-on recommends allowing alternative reporting arrangements for certain PCBUs to reduce administrative burden (such as first responders).

Proposed Change 5 – Periodic Reporting of Bullying and Harassment

Current incident notification provisions only capture bullying and harassment where it results in the person requiring immediate treatment for a serious injury (e.g. the person is physically assaulted).

What Could Change?

Option 1: Unreasonable Behaviours

This option suggests amending the model WHS legislation to mandate periodic reporting (every six months) of de-identified data related to complaints or instances of:

Option 2: Bullying, Sexual Harassment, and Harassment on Protected Grounds

Similar to option 1, this option proposes amending the model WHS legislation to mandate periodic reporting every six months, focusing on complaints or instances of:

Proposed Change 6 – Reporting of Long Latency Disease

Current incident notification provisions focus on immediate effects of substance exposure, such as injuries or illnesses requiring treatment within 48 hours. Dangerous incidents cover serious risks from uncontrolled substance exposure. However, these arrangements allegedly do not cover long latency diseases that may appear years after exposure.

What Could Change?

Safe Work Australia is soliciting feedback on how reporting on long latency diseases could be conducted. Although no specific proposal has been presented, it appears that four options are under consideration:

Option 1: Record and Report Latent Disease Exposures

Introduce a mechanism to record and report exposure to hazardous substances leading to long latency diseases.

Option 2: Enhance Exposure Monitoring

Explore advanced technologies beyond air and health monitoring to provide real-time data on substance exposure levels for a more accurate understanding of potential risks.

Option 3: Reporting Exceedances of Exposure Standards

Incorporate a requirement for PCBUs to record and report instances where the workplace exposure standard is exceeded.

Option 4: Broadening Statement of Exposure Records

Extend the requirement to maintain records of exposure documents to include substances known to cause long latency diseases for a comprehensive WHS approach.

Proposed Change 7 – Reporting Serious Head Injuries

Presently, serious head injuries are reported based on specific criteria, including the need for “immediate treatment.” Concerns have arisen that this provision may not sufficiently cover head injuries that worsen over time.

What Could Change?

Option 1: Broaden the Definition of Serious Head Injury

Amend the model WHS legislation to broaden the definition of “serious head injuries” without requiring “immediate treatment.” This change would empower PCBUs to determine the severity of the head injury, providing a more comprehensive reporting framework. Guidance materials would aid PCBUs in identifying reportable cases.

Option 2: Include Suspected Serious Head Injury

Amend the model WHS legislationto include “suspected serious head injuries” requiring immediate treatment. This modification would identify cases where the injury’s severity may not be immediately evident but necessitates urgent care. The existing threshold of “immediate treatment” would remain.

Option 3: Clarify the Concept of Immediate Treatment

Clarify the concept of “immediate treatment” for serious head injuries to ensure it is not perceived as limited to surgical interventions. Use an “incapacity period” to capture injuries worsening over time and leading to work incapacity.

Proposed Change 8 – Reporting Incidents Involving Large Mobile Plant

Presently, dangerous incident provisions cover plant collapse, malfunction, or damage posing a significant health and safety risk. Safe Work Australia has identified that dangerous incidents involving mobile plant, such as collisions, overturning, or loss of control, are not reported unless they meet specific criteria (e.g., resulting in fatality or serious injury).

What Could Change?

Amend the dangerous incident provisions in the model WHS Act to require immediate notification of powered mobile plant malfunction or loss of control exposing individuals to a serious health and safety risk. This provision would specifically cover incidents listed under Regulation 214 of the model WHS Regulations, including overturning, entrapment, collisions, and roll-aways. Clear guidance material would accompany the provision to offer comprehensive examples and ensure accurate reporting.

Proposed Change 9 – Capturing the Fall of a Person

Interestingly, Safe Work Australia has found that the current provisions relating to falls from height do not encompass the fall of a person unless the incident results in a fatality or serious injury, or involves another notifiable dangerous incident. Current provisions primarily relate to the risk of objects falling from a height rather than the fall itself.

What Could Change?

Amend the dangerous incident provisions in the Model WHS Act to include the fall of a person exposing individuals to a serious health and safety risk. This would cover falls into holes, pits, trenches, crevices, and bodies of water.

Other Proposed Changes

Causal Link Principle: Amend the model WHS Act to emphasise the ‘causal link principle’, requiring incidents to relate to the business or undertaking’s conduct. This aims to prevent the notification of non-work-related incidents.

Objective Test: Amend incident notification provisions to explicitly reflect that the test for serious injury or illness is objective. This change ensures consideration of whether the injury or illness could reasonably warrant medical treatment, regardless of actual administration. This clarification aims to guide PCBUs in applying the objective test.

Clearer Description of Terms: Amend guidance material to provide clearer descriptions of terms such as ‘immediate treatment,’ ‘inpatient,’ and ‘hospital.’ This will enhance PCBUs’ understanding of notification requirements, even in situations where treatment is not immediately administered or in a conventional hospital setting.

Loss of Bodily Function: Enhance guidance to provide better understanding of the injuries and illnesses encompassed under this category.

Medical Treatment for Exposure to Substances: Contemplate expanding the ‘medical treatment’ definition to include health professionals beyond doctors. This would reflect the broader range of professionals, like paramedics and registered nurses, providing urgent treatment after substance exposure.

Exposure to Human Blood and Body Substances: Offer improved guidance to PCBUs regarding notifications required for exposures to human blood and body substances.

Infections and Zoonoses: Provide prominent information on these requirements to enhance compliance and reporting accuracy.

Simplifying Dangerous Incident Provisions: Consider amendments to simplify dangerous incident provisions while preserving policy intentions.

Improving Reporting of Electrical Hazards: Amendments to better capture incidents involving electrical hazards, such as electric shock, electrical explosion, and arc flash explosion.

Mutual Duty to Notify: Introduce a mutual duty for PCBUs and individuals with workplace management or control to notify each other upon becoming aware of notifiable incidents.

What do these changes mean for businesses?

The consultation period for feedback to Safe Work Australia closes on 11 September 2023, which does not leave businesses significant time for considering the proposed changes and raising any concerns.

The current incident reporting framework, outlined in the model WHS legislation, mandates that a PCBU must notify the safety regulator of specific incidents, including deaths, serious injuries or illnesses, and dangerous incidents. That current notification framework applies to incidents which arise out of the conduct of the business or undertaking at a workplace.

Safe Work Australia’s proposed amendments in relation to clarifying existing reporting obligations are welcome. However proposed amendments to psychosocial risk incident reporting seek to introduce language which is, in a number of respects, ambiguous and open for interpretation. For example, some proposed changes have a link to the workplace, for example, using language such as “work related”, “arising from business operation” and “linked to business activities”. As has been apparent from the current notification requirements, there are many incidents where it is not clear if there is a link to the workplace. This raises issues of who will ultimately assess whether these incidents are notifiable, and what are those persons’ skills or qualifications in assessing them to be e.g., their particular expertise in assessing psychosocial risks.

Other proposed changes by Safe Work Australia do not require any link to the workplace and are purely event based. This appears at odds with the general obligations in the model WHS legislation which require a causal link to the business or undertaking.

Other changes, for example in relation to workplace violence, require notifications in all cases. It is unclear whether any regulatory impact has been undertaken to assess how such notifications will impact a situation where, for example, an incident investigation is yet to have commenced or be completed and the alleged perpetrator is to be given due process whilst the investigation is undertaken. This is even more significant when external authorities such as the police may have become involved and are investigating a criminal offence.

Without clear and unambiguous regulatory guidance (which has not been developed and which needs to be provided so that PCBUs can consider the impacts) the proposed changes may lead to confusion and complexity for workplaces. Implementing the proposed changes will undoubtedly place significant administrative burdens on PCBUs, strain safety regulator resources, and divert focus from immediate safety concerns. Policymakers should carefully consider the efficacy of the current framework, necessary guidance and evaluate potential consequences before introducing unnecessary changes.

It will be important for employer representative associations and organisations to consider the proposed changes on behalf of their employer members and provide advocacy on potential impacts before any changes are legislated.

John Makris Partner +61 2 9169 8407 john.makris@kingstonreid.com…………………………

Liam Fraser Partner +61 7 3071 3113 liam.fraser@kingstonreid.com

Erica Elliott Special Counsel +61 2 9169 8409 erica.elliott@kingstonreid.com

 

Sarah-Jayne Rayner Senior Associate +61 7 3071 3122 sarah-jayne.rayner@kingstonreid.com

George Stent Lawyer +61 2 9169 8421 george.stent@kingstonreid.com

300 new FREE places on the Safe Formworker Program have now been released.

APPLY HERE 

THE 'SAFE FORMWORKER PROGRAM', on our new digital training app 'FIA SAFE', delivers microcredential learning, focusing on formwork specific WHS issues.

The Safe Formworker Program can bridge the training compliance gap quickly, ensuring formworkers receive the necessary knowledge and skills to perform their duties safely and efficiently.

There is some good news for formwork training today with the announcement that ASQA have approved an extended transition period of the Cert III in Formwork/Falsework, demonstrating that the collaborate power of the industry, RTOs and the Formwork Industry Association does get results.

As part of the new education and skills pathway for formworkers this is great news for the future skills of our industry.

Don't forget to register for your workers free place on the Safe Formworker Program, the first part of the education and skills pathway, and an essential formwork tool.

ASQA announcement:

In some cases, ASQA is empowered to approve transition periods longer than those detailed in Clauses 1.26 (a), (b) and (c) of the Standards for Registered Training Organisations 2015.

In accordance with the Guidance for Providers - Learner Transition, ASQA will only consider applications for a longer transition period where it can be demonstrated that there would be genuine disadvantage to a cohort of learners if such an extension was not approved.

ASQA has recently approved an extended transition period for:

The extended training, assessment and certification issuance period for this qualification ends on 31 December 2024.

It permits new enrolments in this qualification throughout the extended transition period, however all students must either complete or be transferred to the replacement qualification by the transition end date.

ASQA consulted with the VRQA and TAC WA for this extended transition request.

This qualification will remain on the RTOs scope of registration until the end of the extended transition period.