Are there any Convict Island inhabitants who may be able to show me actual examples of these Red Tape items . Safe Work Method Statement . Risk Assessment forms . Pre-start Plant Checklist . Whatever happened to just getting on with doing the job ? If i write all this bull down on paper , will it make me a safer operator ?
No but it will make you a better writer. Seriously, what kind of documentation are you guys down under required to have on the job?
Red Tape items Hi Iron Horse. PM me with your email address and phone number and I can supply you with some examples of these requirements which I had to fill out for an organisation I worked for. This particular organisation had a hard time obtaining insurance after the HIH bust a few years back and the insurers they eventually got required heaps of paperwork with regard to OH & S and risk management. A real pain in the arse as far as I was concerned, but it was a "no paperwork then no work" scenario. Regards AusDave ph: 0411 572 725
I have some but I dont know if they will be acceptable to those on a convict island
CM1995 , I'll have to let someone else answer that question as I'm not sure myself until i see an example . AusDave , thank you for your kind offer , PM coming . Stock , us convicts are wary of you guys .
Risk assessment http://www.hse.gov.uk/risk/template.pdf http://www.eriding.net/resources/ed...3_tbowles_edvis_GenericRisk_BlankTemplate.pdf A risk assessment to be honest should be a very simple document with the following outlined, you an write one up in word or some other format to suit yourself a but KISS : keep it simple s****d. it should contain details of who drew it up ,who it affects and risk involved ,location etc etc.To do one properly all items of plant should also be accessed individually and included as a reference on the job form I know it sounds difficult but if you get a system in place it will become very routine. You should use the following steps if possible ; 1 IDENTIFY THE HAZARDS 2 ACCESS & EVALUATE 3 DECIDE WHAT SAFETY PRECAUTIONS 4 RECORD AND COMMUNICATE 5 IMPLEMENT CONTROLS 6 REVIEW AND UPDATE THE ASSESSMENT So it would go something like this Site George st : F/m;- paddy ryan work to be done :-excavate for service Employees/public affected____________ date of assessment_____________ 1:- low risk 5;-high risk 1:- Minor injury 5:- death, likely hood 5:-small,25:- Catastrophic Hazard;- public walking on job site (is it lightly to happen ,it is big risk or small) so it a big risk which is a 5 (if they did, what could happen to them)death is a 5 so it's a high risk minor injury a 1 they could be killed so give it a 5 Lightly hood of it happening is 5x5=25 which is a max risk so it has to be stopped or controlled. precautions :- Erect safety fence ,cone ,sign and mark new walkway,install safety zone .(now the risk has being reduced to a 1 so lightly hood is 5x1=5 which is minuscule. Put someone in charge of erecting & checking the fence daily and record the checks Then review as the job continues and changes. This is only an example for one instance of risk,on one piece of work All perceived risks have to be listed A HAZARD/RISK IS THE POTENTIAL TO DO HARM, this can include noise ,dust,services oil spill (burst hose)to irate road users to treehuggers all are risks and may need to be included only if the risk is there ie if you are up a mountain you wont meet an irate business man being late for a meeting Hope this helps a little and more so makes sense Below I found these a good while ago and have adapted them to my scenario you may be able to do the same ,I must reaffirm that you get the correct methods to comply with the current safety and welfare at work act in your country these systems I use may be a good starting point but the local law may require some thing more. Stock http://safety.cat.com/cda/layout/cda/layout?m=129926&x=7&f=206890 http://safety.cat.com/cda/layout?m=129945&x=7
Thank you Stock for your very helpful and informative post , it will help me a lot . I do have a big problem with onlookers , i tell them to keep well away but it does not sink in . My flail mower runs so quietly and smoothly people think it's harmless . I often have site bosses walking along behind it watching how well it cuts . Not long ago , i was pulling out 60' tall trees with Tree Hugger and saw a flash of Red moving through the bush , it was the cardigan of a 12 year old girl and her father(the property owner) taking photos of the machine working not 50' away .
Pete , Squizzy , RnR and others , what do you guys do ?
I work on a minesite, before we start a job and/or if the job changes we are required to do a hit (Hazard Identification Tool) at one time called Take Five (Take 5 minutes to check the job/hazards), it's in notebook form and everyone should have one with them. The first page is a checklist and can vary with different work groups, eg. production would have a different checklist to the blast crew. In your case you would have to make one up. With all our written work procedures , work instructions and road rules this is usually all that is needed. Yes means a hazard exists, no everything is good. 2nd page, flip side of page 1, if you get any yeses you make a note of it and use the RISK MATRIX to give it a score, then read the notes at the bottom. Controls could be barricades, witches hats , signs, bunds, spotters(With a big stick ) or something that will seperate your job from anyone or thing else. Positive communication weather it be signs, twoway radio between workers or getting off your machine and speaking to people is a control. Last one might be a bit iffy, make a note of it. A JSEA is a Job Safety Enviroment Assessment and involves a number of people, usually the persons doing the job, supervisor and the OCE (Open Cut Examiner ( a statutory official)) who identify, assess the risks and hazards and come up with appropiate controls. This is all written down and everyone working on or entering that job must read and sign off on the jsea. I hope this helps and doesn't add to any confusion I still get muddled up sometimes. Coming up with a HIT or Take Five list I imagine would be the first step. It must be hard for contractors especially small ones to keep up with all the red tape.
Thank you for your help and the time it took to post all that info , it will help a lot . Yes it is hard to keep up with these regs. , especially when I'm not good with paper work and Red tape . I'm used to doing a walk around the machine , having a look about for power lines etc.(common sense) , check it all off in my mind and start working . But everything has to be written down , if something were to happen , the prosecutor would use your Work Method statement against you in court . He would study what you have written , with the benefit of time on his side , find an error or omission and make a big deal of it in court . In this scenario , i doubt you could write enough info to cover every single aspect of the task . I was reading an example on the Workcover site . They successfully prosecuted a tractor drive and fined him $64,000 . He was driving a tractor across a golf course , his mate was walking to get a greens mower . He gave him a lift on the tractor , he was standing on the step when his hat blew off . Without warning the driver , he jumped off and went under the back wheel and got banged up pretty good . They charged the driver with not having it written in the statement that a person should not ride on the tractor . This is of course correct but most of us have done similar . Why wasn't the fool who jumped off responsible for his own actions ?
Well Iron Horse, I am probably the last person on earth to be able to help you here, because I have an extreme aversion to red tape, bureaucracy and paperwork. Because of where we are and what we do, the situation never arises, where we have to fill out that type of paperwork. Where we have worked on major projects, there has been a three hour induction course and the same applies if we ever had to work for the two or three major companies in our area. If a question does arise where there might be a query with the local council, other than safety, my attitude is, the less said the better and if qestions are asked, plead ignorance. At the same time, forms or no forms, we do not compromise on safety. All of our operators are told, if they have a problem with anything they are asked to do, where they feel that their safety may be compromised, to tell us and we will do something about it. We also operate in a safe manner, so as not to compromise anyone else's safety, like the situation where the people were taking photographs, while you were pulling trees. It is a case of being aware of your surroundings. Obviously you are looking at some work, where it is necessary to fill out thes forms. Rn'R.
See you're halfway ,well a bit of the way there , just gotta document it Any decent operator would do what you do, walk around, look around, HIT , TakeFive ,call it what you like, the catch is write it down and then DO something about it if you identify risk/hazard. We were told years ago that the term common sense should not be used as what you and I would consider common sense might not mean the same to someone else ( sneaking thru the trees to get a better look). Don't worry I'm not having a go at you,its just what we were told. I still use it and can't think of anything better . cheers :drinkup:drinkup have a couple.
A long time ago when I first started working an old hand told me this "Lad the first three letters you learned at school were A B C A lways B e C overed is what they stand for remember it always ". The longer I live the more I understand the wisdom of that mans advice ,now with the way our safety health and welfare at work acts have been set up we are all guilty and now we have to minimize our guilt , the only way to do this is to have the paper work right .We have had Lectures after lecture on this subject, I have stories to fill a book where stupidity was rewarded with financial Gain because the systems were not in place or records not kept ,one that springs to mind was a case where a person was involved in a incident that was orchestrated by himself and an injury was inflicted ,when the insurance investigated the claim they found it was as a result of his negligence but the company had no record of training, no safety file etc ,so the insurance paid up the following year the premiums doubled only when the company produced a safety file with all staff training records etc otherwise they were uninsureable ,the real kicker here is that it was this individuals sixth claim in 5 years and he knew that the lax procedures of this company were a blank cheque for him to cash . I would strongly recommend that you all familiarize yourselves with the requirements of the law in your respective joristictions and save yourselves a lot of money or even jail time .HOW MANY OF US COULD AFFORD A PERSONAL FINE UNDER HSWAWA LEGISLATION?? I hope it never happens but lads and lassie the laws are there and ignorance of them is no defence in a court of law. Most of the training courses are full allowable as expense here maybe the same applies in your respective countries ,they may even be subsidized by the state. Stock
Safe Work Method documentation Hi Reg. I've sent a couple of documents, a Safe Work Method statement and Form in MS Word and MS Excel respectively. Let me know if you don't receive them. The statement describes the purpose of the SWM documentation and the form you can fill out to submit with your quote or subbie pack to your prospective employer. Let me know if you need anything else. When I had to fill out one of these I was a bit pissed as I also had to get additional insurance and fill out more forms. However I was also at the time the President of the organisation which I was quoting to, which was a charity, so I was able to understand why I had to do it. As well as insurance requirements, the Government funding received by this charity also had the requirement that when the organisation employed contractors or subcontractors, Safe Work Method statements and other paperwork applies with no exceptions. What this meant was that if the organisation did not have Safe Work Statements etc from a sub/contractor the organisation would also be held liable in case of an accident as well as the contractor. So the implications for an organisation in this situation were pretty well life and death, they didn't have any choice but to comply and administer the red tape. Fortunately most of my clients don't need such paperwork Regards AusDave
Your a legend Dave , thanks for your help . I'll have to send the MS Word doc to my wife at her work so she can open it for me , I can't on my pooter , but not a problem . I am also having to spend more on insurance as I am a sole trader , I can't get Workers Comp but they will settle for an uprated Health Insurance policy . I wonder when I get to start getting wealthy out of all this ? It seems everyone else is getting wealthy off of me . :beatsme
Iron horse down load open office 3 it free and will allow you to open most MS word doc ,excel pp etc, Ausdave forwarded them to me and I had no trouble opening the attachments with OO3. Stock
SWM and other matters Hi Reg. I've attached the SWM documents again, this time in Adobe Reader (pdf) format and sent them to your private email address. You should be able to read these on your "pooter". If you don't have Adobe Reader go to http://www.adobe.com/go/EN_US-H-GET-READER and you can download it for free. Getting the free Open Office as Stock has suggested is a good idea as well. You can get it from http://www.openoffice.org/ As for insurance, do you have income protection insurance? That is usually satisfactory for your employer. However it's another cost It does work however. I broke my neck about 8 years ago and claimed on it. It covered the cost of a specialist spinal/neurosurgeon who repaired my neck. I'm not sure how you get wealthy doing what you do. I've been self employed for 95% of my working life (over 30 years). Of the many businesses I have operated I don't think I began any of them to get rich, I just did them because I wanted to. I worked even harder and I hope smarter, if someone told me my business idea wouldn't work out! However I believe I've been a lot happier than most people in their so called secure 9-5 jobs. Also I'd be a crap employee as I like to be the master of my own destiny and not be told what to do. This means a healthy dislike of bureaucratic paperwork such as the subject of this thread. However you've "gotta do what you've gotta do" to do what you like in your own business at times. Even though I'm not particularly wealthy, I'm not too badly off. The skills one has for running your own business and repairing equipment saves heaps of money. My father is a mechanic and can turn his hand to building or repairing just about anything. The genes rubbed off and I am able to do most things myself such as welding, construction, equipment repairs & maintenance, even sewing with an industrial sewing machine I have downstairs for sail and kitesurf repair. I don't have a lathe, yet ... The main thing is I have enough money to have the equipment and toys I need and an understanding partner who realises that need. Fortunately the toys she likes are not that expensive so I make sure she's happy as well We also live in a great area on the NSW coast with a nice climate all year round. Can't complain too much. Regards Dave
Thanks Dave , they opened perfectly , someone should name something after you . Yes , i tend to look at the glass being half empty instead of half full . I'm trying to enjoy life more but it's a constant struggle and it wipes the smile off . I'll have to work on it .
gidday reg, have not been looking at the forum for a while and just noticed your questions re SWMS, i will email you mine, it was written for me by a guy who does OH&S for a large earthmoving company, part of his job is checking SWMS. even with his knowledge some companies were not happy with some small parts of it, i just changed it a few times to suit different situations and now every one is happy with it, we have to have a SWMS for 99% of the jobe we do. even did a job for multiplex who were ok with it., you cant have too much info in it. i had one earthmover ask me for for a material safety data sheet for the diesel we use in our engines, i got it off the caltex website, have only been asked for that once, i know a guy who has been asked for a material safety data sheet for the coolant in his engine.
i also sent a copy of the service report, for our daily checklist we use the one from the earthmovers and civil contractors association, i think you have to be a member to get them, you should be able to find some one who is and get a copy, from my experience once you give them the SWMS along with a copy of you service report ( 250 hour service) they rarely ask you for the daily check list, you need to have them just in case they ask you for it, you can fill it in then.
reg, both of the emails i sent you came back with the answer. the operation failed.dont know why.