A topic grabbing everyone’s attention at the moment is industrial manslaughter and as always fear is in the air. Principal Contractors may think the best course of action is to take more control of contractors operations when the opposite is needed. The more control you take the more liability you have. Make sure your contractors
Is the cacophony of legal noise around IM preventing us from seeing that the tools to manage it are already staring us in the face? Is the fear of IM going to drive regression into draconian, rule driven safety management practices? Should we abandon the movement away from progressive safety management? I am going to
I have just read in an opinion piece with the following comment “Other CoR parties’ (other than drivers and transport operators) maintenance responsibilities are only likely to be triggered where they observe a vehicle defect. In this case, their responsibilities are likely to involve not permitting the use of the unsafe or defective heavy vehicle
Engaging specialist 3rd party’s to assess and approve the safety arrangements of contractors is sadly quite common place these days (its a bit of a money spinner). Many of these companies offer services where they establish complex systems and criteria against which they asses contractor safety management. They collect contractor documentation, review it, go back
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On 24 October 2014 a worker lost his hand in an aluminium baler at SKM. I was the OHS Manager. How could this happen? The supplier was an expert engineer, they installed and commissioned the machine and trained operators. It was used exactly as intended and had all guarding in place. No incidents or near
The South Australian Road Transport Association (SARTA) has launched a broadside at an increasing incidence of overzealous clients in the supply chain, in what it deems an unintended consequence of last year’s chain of responsibility (COR) reforms. The growing COR compliance and consultancy space is leading to some clients becoming increasingly intrusive in the operations
Unintended Consequences Contractor Arrangements. The LHLA intends to protect workers from being exploited by Labour Hire Providers and hosts. Under the Act an LHP provides labour to perform work in and as part of a business or undertaking of the host. Work specifically includes (but is not limited to) cleaning, meat work and horticulture. Owner
A recent decision by the NSW Workers Compensation Commission in respect of a widows entitlement to workers compensation for her deceased husband has again considered the issue of when a worker will be considered a contractor vs an employee. However what is important about this case is not so much the indicia of when a
Here are key indices to consider when deciding if a person you employ is a contractor vs an employee. Thanks to Workplace Bulletin You do or can control and direct the way contracted work is performed. The worker can perform work for others. The worker has a separate place of work and can advertise their
Principle Contractors (lets call them PC group 1) often tell me (and I see when reviewing contractor management systems) that they issue independent contractors with permits to work to undertake work. To be clear permits to work under WOHS regulations are a risk management process to manage high risk tasks to confirm that prescribed risk
Safety professionals and legal experts often exhort Officers to “do a walk around” to get familiar with safety hazards in their organisation and demonstrate due diligence. I have been present when these “walk arounds” occur. The workers shake hands with the boss, the boss diligently wears their PPE and asks interested questions about what is
The Workplace Health and Safety Show will be in Sydney soon (22 – 23 May 2019). I am presenting and will be covering clarification of liability for contractor safety and how to develop and structure a best practice contractor management process. See you there. Register at www.whsshow.com.au
My relationship with LinkSafe means they provide the only software solution for contractor management that correctly reflects the legal requirements of the Heavy Vehicle National Law and will into the future as I closely monitor the reforms. Stop your the headaches and be totally reassured that you have both the IT and legal back up
It is great to see the NHVR consulting with the transport industry on the proposed HVNL reforms but where is the WHS input, Safe Work Australia, Safety Institute of Australia and state regulators. Input from those who have worked under the WHS legal regime which is predicated on reasonable practicability is vital to get this
I am running another webinar to help combat the ongoing misinformation around the National Heavy Vehicle Law and Chain of Responsibility. Please register if you really want to understand in the simplest terms how it all works. I will also be discussing the proposed overhaul of the HVNL to align it with the legal principles
The truck related crash on the Murray Valley Highway over the weekend which devastated a family, will no doubt see the changes to the National Heavy Vehicle Law (NHVL), which came into effect on 1 October 2018, put to the test. As a result of those changes, all parties in the chain of responsibility need
In a recent Fair Work Commission decision a worker was reinstated after he was dismissed for failing to sign onto a confined space permit and entering the space. The reason for reinstatement was that the workers supervisor had previously waived the need to sign on and that his actions didn’t cause any actual harm. This
The promotion of the implementation of safety management systems (SMS) to ensure compliance with the upcoming amendments to the Heavy Vehicle National Law must be approached with caution, particularly in an industry with 80% very small operators. The experience in the WHS space indicates that SMS may well create as many problems as they solve.
It is great to see the NHVR communicating accurately about the upcoming changes to the NHVL in October 2018. A recent newsletter (On The Road August 2018) issued by the NHVR confirmed that “Although the laws will change, they will still only apply to activities that a person or business has control over and could