Snapshot
from around the nation Australian news Mary pleads for plumbers to be sun smart Australian Plumbing recently received a humbling note from Mary the widow of a subscriber, wishing to cancel the magazine subscription for her husband, Eneas, who had recently passed Mary’s message away. Mary for other plumbers: wanted to share Be sun smart. a message with Skin cancer is a the readers to potentially lifeensure they threatening disease acted to avoid the same fate as her beloved husband. “Quite often when Eneas came home from work in summer he would be red raw from sunburn, he wore a floppy hat, bib and brace overalls and in summer, shorts and a short sleeved shirt underneath his overalls,” Mary shares. “He didn’t wear sunscreen as there wasn’t any around in those days… He started to get skin cancers by the age of 35. “Over the years he had many skin cancers removed, unfortunately, a tumour that we thought had been cut out years earlier had come back quite aggressively and he passed away just 13 days before his 80th birthday.” Mary’s message for other plumbers: Be sun smart.
22 | Australian Plumbing Industry Magazine | Summer 2020
Each time the skin is damaged by UV, the skin cells become less able to repair which increases the risk of skin cancer. Skin cancer is a potentially life-threatening disease. Cancer Council Australia’s Sun Protection Plan 1 Slip on sun protective clothing 2 Slop on SPF 30 or higher sunscreen. Apply liberally to clean, dry skin at least 20 minutes before you go outside. Reapply every two hours. 3 Slap on a hat. A broad-brimmed, legionnaire or bucket-style hat provides good protection for the face, nose, neck and ears. Baseball caps and visors do not. 4 Seek shade, especially in the middle of the day 5 Slide on some sunglasses. Choose closefitting, wrap-around sunglasses that meet the Australian Standard AS 1067. Incolink, in partnership with SkinPatrol, offer comprehensive on-site skin checks for its members.
Are you ready for a wage audit? The Australian Building and Construction Commission (ABCC) is auditing labour hire businesses to ensure they are paying their employees correctly. The audits started in December 2020 and will examine records from November 2020. There are three simple steps you can take now to prepare for the audits: 1 Make sure you are paying your employees correctly Check that you are paying your employees the right amount under the relevant agreement or award. Even if you are paying above award, you still need to pay all of the relevant allowances and entitlements. Don’t forget: the minimum pay rates in construction modern awards increased in November. 2 Make sure you are keeping all required records Records and pay slips must comply with the Fair Work Act and Fair Work Regulations. 3 Contact the ABCC for assistance For more information, visit www.abcc.gov.au/contact or call 1800 003 338
