When it comes to the safety of contractors, hindsight can burn the retinas. The Work Health and Safety obligations of business owners are so important, but sadly are skimmed over time and time again, as you can read in the case studies below. How can we do our best to keep safety within our vision? One simple way is with the iSafe Program.
Now accepted by the Queensland Government as supporting documentation for Labour Hire License applications, the iSafe Program provides objective assessments and safety reminders which can assure the business owner has done everything in their power to keep the site safe. Annie Dunne, a young Irish backpacker, was using a conveyor belt on November 7th, 2015, and was brutally injured. A usual productive day in Shepparton took a dark turn as Annie was scalped in her temporary workplace; the conveyor belt grasped her dangling hair and ripped it from her skull along with attached skin and one of her ears. Not only is this a devastating event for Annie and her family, but the labour hirer was fined $60,000 for failure to comply with his legal responsibilities to Annie’s work health safety while on his site. This failure may have been avoided had he had a more in depth knowledge of potential risks of his site.
In another case of negligence, Kenoss Contractors, in 2014, faced a maximum penalty of $1.5 million after being charged with breaching the ACT WHS Act in connection to an incident where a truck driver died from electrocution in 2012. The company, already previously forced into liquidation, was fined $1.1 million in 2015. Can your company afford to pay that fine? Do you want a death on your conscience? It is clear that many businesses can suffer from a lack of knowledge of the hazards of their work environments.
Examples like these highlight the need for the iSafe Program; industries that sign up to our program become more aware of their responsibilities to the safety of contracted or temporary staff, as well as their workplace as a whole.
The iSafe Program is designed to help manage the health and safety responsibilities of recruitment agencies and on-hire or contracting companies. iSafe can give peace of mind regarding the fulfilment of relevant legal obligations, and the skills required to manage a business safely and effectively according to legislation. The iSafe Program assesses worksites and generates reports indentifying key areas of risk. Through comprehensive reports, systems and site assessments, businesses can develop a clearer understanding of areas for improvement to then implement their own personalised safety procedures.
With industry experts and certified assessors, the iSafe program is based on the improvement of safety in the management of your business, host clients and labour-hire agencies alike. When looking to strengthen a business, best not to make it just safe, but iSafe, as we “believe that everyone deserves a safe workplace”.
To complete an application for the iSafe Risk Management Program, head to https://www.isafe.net.au and simply click ‘Request an assessment’. If you are not yet convinced of the dangers of seeing without iSafe, click below for more examples of negligence to safety causing havoc...
Labour Hirer fined $60,000…
https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/labour-hirer-fined-60000-after-irish-backpacker-is-scalped-loses-ear-in-shepparton-fruitpacking-accident-20170113-gtquuf.html
Kenoss Contractors, fined $1.1 million…
https://www.canberratimes.com.au/national/act/kenoss-contractors-fined-11-million-for-workplace-death-20150819-gj2fra.html
Labour hire company fined $20,000 in relation to workers it supplied…
https://www.commerce.wa.gov.au/announcements/labour-hire-company-fined-20000-failing-ensure-safe-workplace
Australian Personnel Services liable for 30% of $170,000 industrial industry…
https://www.sclqld.org.au/caselaw/QSC/2010/466