Wednesday 12th May 2021

Safety News for Wednesday 12th May 2021

Safety with asbestos remains a priority. SafeWork SA will commence proactive compliance audits of licensed asbestos removal jobs to ensure they meet required regulations.

Beginning on 10 May 2021, just two days before this news update on 12th May 2021, SafeWork SA has taken a stance of no excuses for non-compliance with safe removal of asbestos, given risks are clear: asbestos is carcinogenic.

In 2020, three compliance campaigns were undertaken by SafeWork SA, including desktop audits and routine site visits.

Glenn Farrell, Acting Executive Director of SafeWork SA, said: "There is an expectation amongst the community that engagement of an asbestos licence holder will give some certainty that compliance with legislation is being met and that high safety standards are applied. If there is a continued disregard by licence holders and other duty holders in meeting their obligations under the law, I will not hesitate to take action. Asbestos regulations have been in place for more than 25 years, and there is ample information around the risks and control measures in place, including the Asbestos website."

The 2020 asbestos snapshot can be viewed to see what enforcement actions were taken by SafeWork SA and why. Original source: SafeWork SA website.

Focus on Preventing Falls From Trucks

Data from SafeWork SA has identified that in 2020, there were 18 serious injuries resulting from falls from vehicles. These included exiting cabs of trucks and falling from trays.

Injuries suffered included ten serious head injuries, with falls occurring between 1 and 2 metres and below 1 metre.

To keep drivers safe, employers can reduce risks of falls by conducting regular maintenance on truck equipment, implementing safe systems of work and training drivers correctly.

Falls from height, slips and trips remain leading causes of workplace injury across all industries after hazardous manual tasks. Original source: SafeWork SA website.

More Workplace Safety News

For further updates dated close to 12th May 2021, readers can review our Wednesday 5th May 2021 safety news roundup, covering compliance developments from the week prior.

Those following ongoing SafeWork SA enforcement action can also check our Wednesday 19th May 2021 update, published one week after this 12th May 2021 briefing.

Our Wednesday 26th May 2021 news summary rounds out the month with further asbestos compliance and vehicle safety coverage relevant to construction, manufacturing and healthcare professionals.