Sharing lessons learned during Safe Work Month

October is Safe Work Month. In 2018, the Department collaborated with industry and held a variety of information sessions across the State focusing on safety and health in the workplace.

Roadshow supporting those who support you

The importance of safety and health representatives and the role they play in making workplaces safer in the mining industry was one of the key themes for the 2018 Mines Safety Roadshow.

Presented by the Department, the roadshows travelled to towns and cities throughout WA during October and November.

Director Mines Safety Andrew Chaplyn said the roadshow has grown in popularity over the years.

"This was the fourteenth year we have hosted the roadshow and it continues to be one of our most important proactive events in mines safety. Over 850 people attended the roadshow over the 13 locations," Mr Chaplyn said.

"This included the launch of a new series of safety videos focused on the importance of safety and health representatives and the key roles they play in consulting and promoting safe work practices in the mining industry."

The videos come off the back of the successful 'Know your hazards' video series produced by the Department.

"The latest video series is part of the Department's commitment to supporting safety and health representatives and acknowledging the work they do to help improve workplace safety," Mr Chaplyn said.

The roadshows also included an update from the regulator on what is happening in mine safety and health in WA, and workshops on mentally healthy workplaces and investigations into serious and fatal accidents.

The Mines Safety Roadshow is an interactive event that encourages engagement and the exchange of ideas. Findings from the workshops will be in the next edition of ThinkSafe.

Creating collective learning opportunities

To support Safe Work Month in October 2018, a series of DMIRS workshops for general industry focused not only on topical issues such as mental health at work, but also supported WorkSafe’s compliance campaign on armed holdups and violence in the retail sector.

Deputy Director General Ian Munns said that the workshops were always very popular.

“In some instances, such as Plant in the Workplace and the Safety and Health Representatives Forum, participants had the opportunity to gain valuable hands-on knowledge, and we find ourselves offering these workshops every year,” Mr Munns said.

“Safe Work Month provides us with the opportunity to promote safety at WA workplaces. Our workshops are not only opportunities to learn from presenters with a wealth of occupational safety and health industry experience and expertise, but also a chance to gain tools, techniques and strategies to take back to the workplace.”

Be part of Safe Work October 2019 – mark October as Safe Work Month in your 2019 calendar.

Top to bottom: The Emergency Response Exposure Reduction Initiative – BARRIO project team; The Lightning Protection System project team

Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety

Western Australia's resources sector continues to shine

Winners of this year's Safety and Health Resources Sector Awards were announced at the 2018 DMIRS Resources Sector Awards for Excellence ceremony in October.

The Safety and Health Resources Sector Awards recognise individuals, teams and companies that have developed a new initiative or an original solution to safety and health problems in the workplace. The Awards highlight and promote leadership and innovation to ensure continuous improvement to safety and health in WA’s resources sector.

Roy Hill Holdings was awarded in the Safety and Health Engineering category for its unique lightning protection system, which protects staff who are moving around facilities during lightning red alerts.

Mineral Resources Limited was recognised for its Spring Leaf Pack Hoist, reducing impact injuries to hands and fingers during the removal and replacement of leaf spring packs.

The Systems and People award was presented to Rio Tinto Iron Ore for its effective and practical solution to emergency response exposure reduction initiative, BARRIO.

Newmont Mining was acknowledged for its mentoring program supporting safety and health representatives.

More information on the awards is available online.

Celebrating safety

WorkSafe congratulates the finalists and winners of the prestigious 2018 Work Safety Awards, which were presented at the Celebrate Safety event on 24 October 2018.

These Awards recognise outstanding workplace safety and health management, innovations and solutions that reduce the risk of injuries and disease in the workplace.

The winners were:

Best workplace safety and health management system – Bethesda Health Care for its outstanding safety and health management system and improvement strategies aimed at reducing workplace injuries and diseases.

Safety and health invention of the year – Watertight Robotics for its custom-built electronically powered crawling robot designed specifically for the maintenance of water storage assets.

Best solution to a specific workplace safety and health issue – Qantas Freight for the development of remote control operation of pallet lifters, eliminating the risks of work at heights.

Best solution to a manual handling issue – Perth Airport for its Australian-first development of lighted runway cross trailers, which replaces previous methods of closing runways.

Best initiative to encourage worker engagement in safety – GFWA for its safety awareness program called 'Our Cultural Shift' to improve the organisation's safety culture.

Safety and health representative of the year – Scott Hunt from the City of Cockburn for his consistent championing of safety and looking for ways to improve safety in the Waste Collection Services area and across the City.

Read more about the 2018 Winners and finalists online.

2018 Work Safety Awards winners

Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety