Issue Date:  -  Thursday, 31 August 2006

Kimberley workplaces to benefit from free safety assistance

Kimberley businesses wanting to improve safety in their workplaces will benefit from a free three hour on-site visit by an independent WorkSafe consultant during September.

The opportunity follows a similar program conducted in the Pilbara region during August, where businesses welcomed the WorkSafe consultants to help them address safety issues.

WorkSafe WA Commissioner Nina Lyhne said that strong interest from regional areas, and particularly the Kimberley, prompted the visit by independent consultants for the ThinkSafe Small Business Assistance Program in September.

The benefits for businesses are that the session involves only three hours out of their day, and the consultant is assisting them with safety issues rather than assessing them.

Consultants will visit Kununurra, Derby and Broome and other locations where there is a demand.

“The program started in February 2005, and 780 small businesses have applied for help over that time. Interestingly, half of these are from regional areas throughout the State, which shows how important the ThinkSafe program is to a huge range of businesses,” Ms Lyhne said.

“Nineteen small businesses in the Kimberley have applied for assistance, and we have visited 14 so far in industries such as retail and wholesale, agriculture (pastoral stations), commercial fishing, health and community services, manufacturing and transport services.

“They face issues such as proper induction of employees, documentation of safety and health procedures, new and young workers and manual handling - lifting and pulling – issues.

“These are common OSH issues for small business. Consequently, our offer of a free three-hour session with an independent, fully qualified occupational safety and health consultant for small businesses with less than 20 employees is a great help.

“The benefits of a safe workplace – in both human and financial terms – can be immeasurable.”

When a company registers for the program, WorkSafe arranges for an independent occupational safety and health consultant to conduct an assessment of the workplace and prepare a simple safety action plan.

WorkSafe’s visit focuses solely on education – not enforcement – and the consultant’s visit is kept confidential with no aspect of the company’s actual safety performance reported back to WorkSafe.

“We aim the program at high-risk industry sectors that have significant rates of injury and disease – agriculture, forestry and fishing, construction, health and community services, manufacturing, retail and wholesale and transport and storage,” Ms Lyhne said.

The program was evaluated after its first year of operation, with a market research company contacting 200 small businesses that had taken part in the program. Around 94 per cent of the businesses said they were either 'very satisfied' or 'satisfied' with the program.

Small business employers in the Kimberley should register their interest in meeting with a consultant by submitting an application to WorkSafe.

For further information or to apply for assistance under the ThinkSafe Small Business Assistance Program, complete an application form obtained by telephoning WorkSafe’s Hazard Hotline on 1800 429 273 or by downloading the form from the website at www.safetyline.wa.gov.au and returning it to WorkSafe.