Safety in Action Trade Show

SEAN KINDER, Documentation Officer CMPA reports on his visit to the Safety in Action Trade Show.

ON the 19th April, 2012; as part of improving the Work Safely training with the CMPA, I was able to visit the Safety in Action Trade show at the Melbourne Exhibition Building.

This year, there was an emphasis on using computer software to help monitor safety. Organisations have developed programs to conduct live surveys and audits and have created custom risk assessment forms ( JSEA, incident, improvement and checklists).

The main purpose of these software programs is to keep the general information such as reports, records, plans and forms in a centralised place within the organisation.

It can also be accessed by anyone remotely, ultimately reducing time requirements and increasing productivity for the organisation where safety is a concern including monitoring the changes in legislation.

Such systems could be considered useful in the management of staff , contractors and sub-contractors, organisation of tasks and improvement of safety control in the organisation.

Another core component of the trade show was the importance of Safely Working at Heights in the industry. I attended a lecture on the subject, conducted by Peter Ferguson owner of First Access and board member of the International Society for Fall Protection.

He spoke about the importance of correctly engaging and educating workers rather than trying to out-design the poorly trained workers and equipping them with adequate fall arrest equipment. He suggests that “currently, organisations in the industry rely too much on the harnesses for safety, rather than the operators’ education which is equally as important”.The emphasis of his lecture was to be proactive, rather than reactive, when working at heights.

This concept can be equally applied throughout any subject within educating safety to operators, including confined spaces, electrical work, fire safety, day to day procedures and site inductions.

A guide to working at heights is included in the Work Safely Reference Manual, including the operation of cranes and hoists, working from scaffolding or elevated work platforms, rigging and dogging and using ladders. Additional training on the issue is available by contacting the CMPA.

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