Blind to the Obvious - Some Simple Health and Safety Tips

Sitting in my second-floor office, I find myself distracted by activity next door.  On the neighbouring building is a man washing the roof.  As he climbs over the ridge at the top of the roof he slips (presumably the roof was slippery due to the water from his hose), flattens his body against the roof and holds onto the ridge.  He then scrambles back into a standing position and gets on with the job.

My neighbouring building is residential.  So it may well be that the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 doesn’t apply to the situation I witnessed.  The man on the roof may have been the owner, or the owner’s son.  But the situation he was in was dangerous, and this danger was obvious to me. I wonder whether it was obvious to him or the person who asked him to wash the roof?  Maybe he has done this hundreds of times, so felt confident he could save himself from a fall.  Alternatively, perhaps he’s never worked on a roof before, and has no idea that a roof might be slippery or steep. 

An important underlying philosophy of the Health and Safety at Work Act is that assumption is dangerous.  That is why the Act requires “persons conducting a business or undertaking” to take deliberate steps to identify risks and develop a plan for addressing them.  You may have heard of “safe work procedures” or “job safety analyses”.  These are terms which describe the process of thinking about what needs to be done, how that job might be risky, and designing a way to do it safely.  Recording that process in some way is important for two reasons – the first is that the act of recording this process helps to focus your mind on the issues, and the second is that this is how you prove the process occurred. 

There is another important component to this process, and this is an area where Worksafe increasingly focuses its attention when it is conducting an investigation.  I call it “audit”.   You have a system in place.  It is a good system, perhaps purchased at great cost from a reputable consultant.  How do you know that workers are complying with the system and the system is doing what it should? 

I recently worked with a business following an incident.  When the Worksafe Inspectors arrived, they watched the business’ induction video – a very impressive video, which the business had spent considerable effort creating.  Rather than congratulating the business on a job well done, the Inspectors asked, “how do you know people actually absorb this information?” How indeed. 

Because when you see something every day, it is easy to become a little blind to something that might be obvious, I recommend you consider asking someone to review your system, or parts of your system regularly, and consider whether it is working as you planned.  You could ask another business operating in the same industry to look at the way you operate a particular part of your business and provide feedback.  This might not be an expert review, but sometimes you don’t need an expert to tell you that the roof might be slippery – what you really need is a fresh pair of eyes!  Keep a record of this feedback, and any steps you have taken to address it. 

Another inexpensive idea is to check the Worksafe website for industry relevant material (from guillotines, to doughmixers, to forklifts – there is a very wide range of material).  Check your knowledge and processes against the factsheet, keep a record of that and any changes that might be required. 

These simple steps help you stay on top of your obligations, and help demonstrate that you have a safety culture in line with your statutory obligations.

I can help you by reviewing and critiquing your current processes, both by observing the work onsite or by document review.  I can provide you with relevant information to consider and work into your current approach. 

 If you would like to discuss your particular health and safety issues, please do not hesitate to call me.