Operating cranes is complex and dangerous and workers must have the necessary skills and capabilities to do it safely.

CRANE DEFINITION:

A crane is an item if plant used to raise or lower a load and move it horizontally. There are a range of fixed and mobile cranes ranging from tower, bridge, gantry, portal boom, slewing, vehicle loading, etc.

WHS DUTIES:

Everyone in the workplace has a WHS duty when it comes to operating cranes. A range of people have specific responsibilities for cranes including: crane designer, manufacturer and supplier; crane owner and others with management or control of the crane where a crane will operate and competent person who inspects cranes and the crane operator.

Managing the Risk Associated with cranes

Cranes if not operated correctly can posed dangers to the users, therefore it is important to manage the risks by following the process below:

• Identify hazards
• Assessing the risks necessary
• Controlling the risks
• Review control measures to ensure they are working as planned.

Identify hazards

When it comes to cranes, it is important to identify the potential hazards.

• Know whether the crane is working in the facility
• Perform the necessary maintenance, sinpection and repair to the crane.
• Review the inspection, test and maintenance records of the crane.

Assess the risk

People who work with or near cranes are at most risk, some of the risks when using a crane include.

• Structural failure, overturning, or collapse of the crane
• Contact or collision or the crane and its load with people of other plant and structures
• Falling objects.

Control the risk

Examples of controlling risks on the use of the crane includes; isolating the hazard from the people, use of engineering controls, use administrative controls, use PPE.

Inspection and Pre-use Safety Checks
Before a crane is used, inspections and specific adjustments must be carried out to make sure that the crane can be used effectively must be followed at all times and this includes:

• Workplace factors including identification of load bearing capacity and wet windy conditions of the area.
• Limit switches and load indicating switches are functioning
• Safe entry and exit into the crane

Inspection and maintenance on the crane needs to be done in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions.

National Safe Work Month
safeworkmonth.swa.gov.au

October is the National Safe Work Month and this year’s theme is Work Health and Safety through COVID-19, that acknowledges and reflects the wide reaching-impacts of COVID-19 on all businesses, employers and workers.

In line with this campaign, I have registered the organization within Safe Work Australia (SWA) and Australian Institute of Health and Safety (AIHS), by joining the Safe Work Month initiative and sharing these resources available to us and staying focused with these developed SSHE programs.

Staying SSHE Focused

We have safety videos for the month of October which will be rolled out via SAFETY HUB. These safety videos feature a 2-5 minutes presentation of the workplace safety measures and these includes topics that is relevant to health, workplace set up, emergency response, forklift operational activities and others.

Safety Shorts (Videos) Line Up

In partnership with our Training Provider for Safety, Safety Hub, we have the following safety videos lined up for viewing:

What is Correct Lifting and Safety Techniques, this short video runs for 4 minutes and accidents and injuries arising from incorrect manual handling technique comprise the largest group of occupational hazards that result in lost. This gives a quick overview of correct lifting and carrying technique.

WorkStation Set up, is a safety short that outlines the important factors to consider when setting up a WorkStation, with 2 minutes running time.

Fire Extinguisher Safe Operation, this is a short safety video that gives an overview of how to use a fire extinguisher, with a running time of 5 minutes.

Forklift Pre-Operational Checks, this safety short gives an overview of checks that would need to be performed before operating a forklift, running time for this video is 1 minute.

Gas Cylinders General Guideline, with a running time of 2 minutes, this safety short gives some general guidelines to apply when handling gas cylinders.

Gas Cylinders Pre-Use Check, with a running time of 1 minute, this safety short gives an overview of items to check before using gas cylinders.

Information
Refer to your training assignment to view these safety videos.

This Safety Bulletin highlights traffic management and associated risks whenever traffic flow between pedestrian and vehicle/forklift available around the workplace.

A person conducting business or undertaking must manage risks, so far as is reasonably practicable. This includes identification of workplace hazards (e.g. traffic hazards).

The following can help to identify traffic hazards:

• Observe the workplace to identify areas where pedestrians and vehicles interact. Think about the floor plan and placement of overhead structures in your workplace, whether work is done close to public areas, when traffic volumes are higher, where potential blind spots are and if there are areas of poor visibility. Security footage may be useful if available.
• Review work tasks, design and management. Monitor types and heights of vehicles, where loading and unloading occurs and the general needs of traffic, including parking, road surface and entering and exiting the workplace.
• Ask your workers, visiting drivers and other pedestrians about traffic management problems they encounter at your workplace.
• Review your incident and injury records, including near misses.

Assess risks—In many cases the risks and related control measures will be well known. In other cases, you may need to carry out a risk assessment to identify the nature of the harm that could be caused by the hazard, the likelihood of somebody being harmed by the hazard and how serious it could be.

A risk assessment can help you determine what action you should take to control the risks and how urgently the action needs to be taken.

Control the risks—implement the most effective control measure that is reasonably practicable in the circumstances and ensure it remains effective over time.

When implementing controls, the first thing that should be considered is whether a traffic hazard can be eliminated, for example through the removal of powered mobile plant and other vehicles from the workplace.

Substitution, isolation and engineering controls should then be considered. For example:

substitute the hazard for something safer: for example, swap trucks and forklifts with other load shifting equipment such as a walker stacker

isolate the risk from workers: including by isolating pedestrians from vehicles by using overhead walkways, and

engineering controls: such as fitting vehicles with devices such as reversing sensors and reversing cameras.

If a risk still remains, administrative control measures should be implemented.

Administrative control measures include processes such as training, instruction and supervision.

If the workplace is large with a high volume of traffic, or where carrying out work on or near public roads, a traffic management plan can help plan and communicate how the traffic risks will be managed.

A traffic management plan may include details of:

• the desired flow of pedestrian and vehicle movements
• the expected frequency of interaction of vehicles and pedestrians
• illustrations of the layout of barriers, walkways, signs and general arrangements to warn and guide traffic around, past, or through a work site or temporary hazard, and
• how short term, mobile work and complex traffic situations will be managed.

Personal protective equipment should be used to control any remaining risks. For example, high-visibility vests so that workers are easily visible in the workplace.

The risk controls you have implemented should be monitored and reviewed to ensure they remain effective.

Falls from height can leave employees with permanent and debilitating injuries. Falls often occur from roofs, scaffolds, ladders, trucks and mezzanine floors or into pits or holes.

Where work must be done at height, ensure the work is done from one of the following controls:

• Use of elevated work platform or portable scaffold with secure handrails;
• Use of travel restraint systems;
• Use of fall arrest systems (e.g. safety harness, industrial safety net or catch platform);
• Step platforms, and
• Ladders

It is important to note that travel restraint and fall arrest systems and the associated anchorages must be designed by a competent person. Any person using such systems must be given appropriate training and supervision.

• Ensure mezzanine floors, storage areas and any other areas that are intended to be accessed have safe access with well-maintained stairs and secure handrails and toe boards around the perimeter.
• Any storage area including racking, shelving or the roof space of an office area within a factory must be designed for the intended loads.

Tasman Group has a policy in place for workplace bullying which is part of the Employee Relations Manual (ERM).

Organisations can minimise the risk of workplace bullying by taking a proactive approach to identify early, any unreasonable behaviour and situations likely to increase the risk of workplace bullying occuring.

Other control measures to manage these risks include:

• Regular consultation with workers and health and safety representatives to find out if bullying is occuring or if there are factors likely to increase the risk of workplace bullying.
• Setting the standards of workplace behaviour
• Designing safe systems of work by clearly definining jobs and providing workers with the resources, information and training they need to carry out their work safely.
• Implementing workplace bullying and response procedures.
• Developing productive and respectful workplace relationships through good management practices and effective communication.
• Providing information and training on workplace bullying policies and procedures, available support and assistance, and how to prevent and respond to workplace bullying.
• Prioritising measures that foster and protect the psychological health of employees.

CONTRACTORS

Whenever there is a gap to the activities that Tasman would need to complete, labour hire or hiring contractors for a short period of time. The arrangements can either be through an “agency”.

Labour hire arrangements are covered by the Workplace Health and Safety Management Act that applies to the location Tasman operates. The arrangement include:

• Arranging worker for a short period of time to give relief due to staff shortages or
• Supplementing the workforce during peak seasonal demand.

Ensuring the health and safety of the hired workers

The primary duty of care under the Workplace Health and Safety is owned by the personnel conducting business undertaking, which includes labor or casual workers.

All hosts companies that have labor hire have a primary duty of care to ensure the workplace health and safety duties are met.

This Safety Bulletin highlights the importance of Emergency Plan which outlines the instructions on what workers, visitors and contractors at the workplace should do in an emergency.

The emergency plan must provide for the following:

• Emergency procedures, including an effective response to an emergency.
• Evacuation procedures
• Notifying emergency service organisations at the earliest opportunity.
• Medical treatment and assistance
• Effective communication between the person authorised to coordinate the emergency response and all people at the workplace.
• Testing of the emergency procedure, including the frequency of testing.
• Information, training and instruction to relevant workers in relation to implementing the emergency procedures.

This months Safety Bulletin highlights the following tips that can help you keep safe whilst working remotely, on self isolation and at home.

Safety Tips during Covid-19 Pandemic

Spreading cold and flu germs is easy, all it takes is a cough, a sneeze, and unwashed hands touching surfaces/desks/phones. It is recommended whether you’re at your own home, in public place and at workplace, it is important to wash, wipe and sanitize on a regular basis to prevent the spread of germs transmission.

• Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue and throw the tissue away.
• Stay at home, if you have any fever and flu like symptoms and seek medical advice.

Safety Tips during Easter at Home

As most of use will be staying home during the Easter break due to travel ban and government restrictions, it is important for us to stay home this Easter and save lives. We are only allowed to leave when we need to exercise, when we need to go to medical and care. Remember that police are stationed at locations where majority congregate; areas such as beach/tourist spots will be patrolled during this time.

It is also an opportunity for us to complete the home tasks/renovations/upgrades allowing time to complete. Below is safety tips reminder for anyone who will be using power tools, electrical machineries, and other home appliances during this time:

• Inspect any power tools prior to use.
• Use stepladders safely, ensure they are fully unfolded with the braces are locked.

Safety and Healthy Diets

With this government lockdown and working from home arrangements, it is challenging for some of us to stay out of the fridge or our pantries, where access to food/snacks is very convenient for us. The challenge for this Easter break is to keep ourselves’ healthy with a well-balanced diet. It is during this time that we are reminded to:

• Not overindulge in Easter chocolates
• Have a balanced calorie intake
• Walk or participate in light physical activity (if able to)
• Drink 8 glasses of water, and
• Others

For a new hope and new beginning this Easter 2020!
Stay safe!