in Small Business
Issue No. 31 - October/November 2006
Working towards safety
Although it can be very satisfying, running a small business presents a number of new challenges, especially if you are employing staff for the first time, says SafeworkSA.
The SA Government workplace safety advocate says often business operators do not have appropriate health and safety or industrial relations measures in place because they do not understand their responsibilities or they assume that processes are complicated or overly burdensome to implement.
Small business frequently contact SafeWork SA for a clearer understanding on how they can meet their occupational health and safety and industrial relations responsibilities
SafeWork SA adopts a hands-on approach to ensure that the small business sector receives the necessary support to comply with workplace safety and industrial relations legislation. It delivers a balanced range of services from information and assistance through to compliance and enforcement activities.
“We have a very dedicated and proactive inspectorate and Help Centre. In the past year our inspectors visited nearly 20,000 workplaces and the Help and Early Intervention Centre provided more than 90,000 employers and employees across the state with information and assistance about health and safety and industrial relations,” SafeWork SA Executive Director Michele Patterson says.
Ms Patterson says educating small business operators about systematically managing their OHS through a simple risk management approach — that is, hazard identification, risk assessment and risk control measures — in consultation with their workers de-mystifies the whole process.
“Our basic aim is to reduce the incidence of work-related death, injury, illness and disease as well as to encourage and promote fair working conditions throughout the state,” she says.
“Best results are achieved when everyone in the workplace is involved in developing a risk management approach to eliminating and controll...
