Despite the fact that most businesses from all over Australia strive to follow OHS guidelines and provide training to their employees and managers recent activities by certain businesses, questionable accidents, and court findings only stress the need that adequate training and adherence to OHS guidelines is still needed across the board.
Man Trapped In Freeze Raises Questions About Training
According to a September 16th ABC news update a man operating a forklift overturned in an industrial freezer and was trapped there for two hours before rescue crews were able to get him out. Taken to Sunshine hospital the man suffered only minor knee injuries but, so far there is no information how the accident happened causing the forklift to overturn. But, it seems likely there will be questions to insure that the 20 something worker had adequate training in the running of heavy machinery and that all safety precautions were followed. At the very least there will probably be some investigation on how such accidents can be avoided in the future.
Boral Closed For Asbestos Findings And May Face Stiff Sanctions For Ignoring Employees Warnings
In a September 16th report in the Canberra Times the building material giant which had it’s site shut down due to the finding of asbestos on the factory floor at it’s Fyshwick distribution centre may be in a world of hurt since the Construction, Forestry, Mining, and energy union decide to take the building company to court over the company’s refusal to allow them to investigate workers complaints about asbestos hazards at the centre twice in the last month. With ACT Work Safety Inspector Mark McCabe vowing to refer builders who ignore asbestos safety concerns to the Director of Public Prosecutions and ask for stiff fines the building giant may come under some heavy fines if it is found that not only did Boral ignore safety concerns about the proper handling of this dangerous material but, actually tried to keep their actions from being discovered while ignoring employee warning and complaints and putting their health at risk.
While it seems as though workers at the facility did receive adequate training in spotting and reporting asbestos concerns the management of the company either lacked or ignored the training that should have had them dealing with these concerns in a timely and safe manner.
These incidents and others like them point out that there is still a very real need for OHS training and refresher courses to insure the safety of employees and the public while helping businesses avoid stiff penalties, lost production time, and prosecution. Only through adequate training and adherence to the OHS guidelines can Australia hope to keep every workplace safe for both their employees and the public at large.
By business owners making sure that everyone has adequate and appropriate job related training and preforming safety checks and insuring that all safety procedures are being followed they can avoid the stress and worry of being closed down, taken to court, and paying huge fines for injuries or dangers that are entirely avoidable. Now would be a great time for all businesses to update their employee and managerial training to help make sure that all safety precautions and guidelines are understood and being followed.
