Health, safety and now wellbeing

AS an employer, are responsible for an employee’s wellbeing, I hear you ask?

My name is Caylene Vincent I’ve now been involved in health and safety for more than 20 years.

I remember well into my career asking why is it that people who are trained and competent in the use of plant and machinery suddenly have an accident?

This creates havoc in the workplace putting pressure on you, the business owner.

That then results in lost time by the injured person and also may affect other workers as they themselves stop work to chat about the incident.

They could also possibly struggle to cope with the event especially if it’s traumatic.

When people are either mentally and/or emotionally not present at work due to personal struggles, they are at risk of an injury simply because their minds are not on the work that they are performing.

The challenges workers are trying to deal with outside of work can affect their performance.

This is especially important when the worker lacks the capacity or skills to resolve and deal with their issues.

No easy fix I hear you exclaim. You are right! When WorkSafe comes calling due to an employee’s injury, just how prepared are you regarding management of the following areas: plant, manual handling, hazardous substances, bullying and harassment, mental health, risk assessments, work cover and rehabilitation requirements, ohs consultation or issue resolution?

The mental health regulation still hasn’t been passed in Parliament, however mental health claims are having a significant impact on workplaces and your WorkCover premiums have more than doubled last year.

As a small medium enterprise (SME), you may not have the skills, capacity or have determined the need to employ someone for your workplace to be health and safety compliant, especially if you haven’t had an accident at your worksite.

You may also be reluctant to spend money in this area.

At Safety Xperts we have both the skills and capabilities to audit your worksite and provide you with guidance on what is needed to get your workplace health and safety compliant.

If your business has 60 employees or less the government funds eight-and-a-half hours of my time to assist you on the journey towards a safer workplace and enable you to try before you buy.

Or simply get the advice you need to be aware of the missing components in your safety systems.