If you are a manufacturer, importer, supplier, or end user of workplace hazardous chemicals – are you ready for the new classification and labelling system?
The Globally Harmonized System of classification and labelling of chemicals (GHS) will become mandatory under the model work health and safety laws from 1 January 2017.
Manufacturers, importers, suppliers and users of hazardous chemicals have duties to manage risks associated with hazardous chemicals in the workplace. This includes ensuring the safe use, handling and storage of chemicals as well as ensuring chemicals are classified and labelled correctly under the model work health and safety laws.
If you work with hazardous chemicals, it’s important you:
ensure safe systems of work are in place to manage the risks associated with hazardous chemicals in the workplace
review your chemical inventory and dispose of chemicals which are out of date or no longer used, and
talk to your chemical suppliers to check you will receive GHS labelled stock.
Users of hazardous chemicals are not required to relabel or dispose of existing stock. It is okay to keep using, handling and storing hazardous chemicals labelled in accordance with a previous labelling code in your own workplace if the product was supplied to you before 1 January 2017.
From 1 January 2017, end-users should not accept new hazardous chemical products that are not GHS labelled, e.g. labelled in accordance with previous labelling codes. If you are a manufacturer, importer or supplier of workplace hazardous chemicals, it’s important you:
consider how the introduction of the GHS will impact your business, and
review your business practices to ensure chemicals supplied to your clients are classified and labelled under the GHS.
For more information about the transition to the GHS visit the Safe Work Australia website.
Safe Work Australia has announced it will evaluate the workplace exposure standards for more than 600 chemicals to ensure worker health and safety in Australia is comparable with latest evidence and international best practice.
Exposure standards are specified in the model Work Health and Safety Regulations as mandatory legal limits to assist in protecting the health of workers and minimise exposure to airborne contaminants in the workplace.
Exposure standards aim to minimise the risk of adverse health effects by establishing precise targets for businesses to follow.
Safe Work Australia has engaged Golder Associates Pty Ltd to undertake an evaluation of Australia’s list of 644 workplace exposure standards, including a review of current scientific data for each chemical.
The evaluation follows a public consultation process held by Safe Work Australia late last year, examining the role and use of exposure standards and how they could be effectively reviewed and maintained.
This process noted that many of Australia’s workplace exposure standards are out of date and there was support for mandating a smaller number of exposure standards on the basis of risk. In addition, many submissions suggested the need to streamline the list of exposure standards and to update the standards to reflect current knowledge of health effects.
Public consultation sessions will also be held and members of the public are invited to subscribe to the ‘Chemical exposure standards’ mailing list on the Safe Work Australia website.
The harm associated with prolonged occupational sitting is likely due to insufficient dynamic muscle activity, insufficient energy expenditure, insufficient movement, lack ofpostural variety, and diminished gravitational resistance.
What is considered excessive work related exposure?
Occupational sitting is common among workers, with one half of workers reporting sitting often or all of the time at work. Exposure to occupational sitting occurs across different industries and occupations.
There is no clear definition of excessive occupational sitting exposure. However, sitting for longer than 30 minutes without a mini-break, and sitting all day at work (being “too busy” to take a break) are likely to be detrimental to health. To date, assessment of occupational exposure has largely been focussed on office work environments, with limited evidence for exposure or interventions in non-office environments.
Ways to reduce prolonged sitting at work
A range of initiatives has been proposed to reduce prolonged sitting at work, including those focussed on the design of safe work systems via the work environment (physical and psychosocial), work tasks, work tools and the individual worker. Multi-component interventions targeting multiple elements of work systems appear to have been most successful.
Good job design can use substitution and breaks to minimise the harm from excessive sitting at work. Safe Work Australia recently published a handbook on the Principles of Good Work Design. It contains 10 principles which demonstrate how to achieve good design of work and work processes, which are all general in nature so they can be applied to any workplace.
Simple interventions can interrupt prolonged occupational sitting by substituting sitting with non-sedentary tasks, such as switching to work on a computer at a standing workstation, standing to read a document, having a standing or walking meeting, standing while talking on the phone, or walking to deliver a message to a colleague rather than emailing. In essence, employers and workers should aim for small and frequent changes from sitting as much as possible and less time sitting in total.
Conclusion
Available evidence suggests that prolonged sitting is common in Australian workplaces. Prolonged sitting is associated with significant negative health outcomes, and is increasingly being recognised in the community as an important issue that needs attention. There have been a number of initiatives that have demonstrated some success in reducing occupational sitting exposure in some industries and occupations.
Work is an important determinant of health. Satisfying, safe work contributes to positive health, financial security and greater engagement in society. It can even enhance recovery from injury. These effects are inter-generational; the children of happy workers also experience social, emotional and educational benefits.
But there’s a flip side. Under some conditions, work is a major risk factor for poor health, disability and even death.
So far this year, for instance, 62 Australians have been killed while at work. In 2014, there were 185 workplace deaths from traumatic injury. And the latest Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) data show there were over half a million workplace injuries in 2013/14. That’s one person hurt while working every minute.
The economic costs of this are enormous, equalling about 4% of global gross domestic product (GDP). The human costs are even higher, especially when you take into account the impact that death or serious injury can have on family, friends and work colleagues.
All kinds of hurt
Some common work-related conditions are among the top five leading causes of disability in Australia. These include low back pain, musculoskeletal disorders and neck pain. Among working-aged people, these conditions are associated with the greatest burden of disability, higher than levels of other common health conditions such as cancer, diabetes, mental health conditions, cardiovascular or respiratory diseases.
As you can see, the data are compelling. And this is only in Australia, where we enjoy very safe working conditions compared to many other countries.
It can also be difficult to count instances of work-related diseases, such as some cancers and respiratory conditions, because they’re often captured in other health datasets and may not be identified as relating to work or working conditions.
Ripple effect
One way of measuring the impact of a health condition on an individual and on society is to determine the “burden” of disability associated with that condition. Such estimates include changes in health following injury, and the extent to which this limits our ability to participate in activities we usually take for granted, such as housework, driving a car and caring duties.
But work-related injury can also impact workers’ mental health; studies show higher rates of anxiety and depression among injured workers. There’s also a ripple effect created by injury that extends well beyond the injured person – to their family, workmates and employers.
Work injury can also result in economic deprivation and income inequality. One recent US study showed people receiving workers’ compensation earned 15% less in the ten years after their injury than a matched group of non-injured workers. Presumably those who are injured but not receiving such compensation are even worse off.
Studies like these illustrate the profound impact work-related injury can have on the lives of those injured, their families and the broader community.
Shouldering the cost
The cost of work-related injury and illness in Australia for 2008-09 was estimated at A$60.6 billion – that’s the equivalent of 4.8% of GDP. The figure includes direct costs, such as payments for health care and income replacement, and indirect costs, such as lost productivity and reduced quality of life.
Just over half of the total cost (51%) was due to injury, with the remainder due to work-related disease.
As you can see from the graphic above, the vast majority of these costs are borne by workers. The average cost per case of injury or illness is A$99,100, and A$73,300 of this is paid for by the injured worker.
The latest ABS data shed some more light on sources of financial assistance for injured workers. Many injured Australian workers receive no financial assistance. About one third access workers’ compensation and about a quarter receive support from their employer, such as paid sick leave or other entitlements.
New challenges
Current systems of injury prevention and compensation were established in the 1970s and 1980s to address the problems of the time. But the world of work is changing.
Musculoskeletal conditions, traditionally the major type of workplace injury, are becoming less prevalent, whereas work-related mental health conditions are becoming more common. We have more workers with insecure jobs, we work longer hours on average, and workplace stress has been growing.
But while we have been effective at reducing workplace risk for physical injuries in Australia, we have not paid the same attention to risk factors for mental health conditions.
This change represents a big new challenge for employers as well as government prevention and compensation agencies. It must be coupled with changing workplace culture to address the discrimination and stigma that many workers with mental health conditions experience.
Some government-led and employer-focused initiatives are now tackling these issues, but much more needs to be done.
Only time will tell whether the changes governments make to create better workplaces and safety nets for workers will be effective for addressing the new ways we work.
The manufacturing industry is designated as a priority industry for work health and safety in the 2012-22 Australian Work Health and Safety Strategy due to the high number and rate of work-related injuries and illnesses and inherent risks associated with working in the industry.
The report Work Health and Safety Perceptions: Manufacturing Industry is now available for download. This report is one of a series produced by Safe Work Australia on priority industries.
The report summarises research findings for the manufacturing industry from several existing Safe Work Australia data sources. The report presents areas where the manufacturing industry is doing well and areas for improvement. It focuses on:
self-reported exposure to hazards and workplace control measures
self-reported work health and safety activities undertaken in manufacturing
workplaces work health and safety perceptions and attitudes that may act as barriers and enablers to work health and safety.
The perceptions of both manufacturing workers and manufacturing employers are included.
This research report was written to inform the development of policies in relation to work health and safety in the Manufacturing industry. The views and conclusions expressed in this report do not necessarily reflect the views of Safe Work Australia members.
Workplace stress is now being recognised as a growing problem in today’s workplaces with it coming in as the second most compensated illness or injury. The psychological stressors that contribute to such stress can be attributed to a range of factors from organisational practices, workplace change and workplace bullying.
The existence of increasing competition, push for more efficiencies and downsizing create toxic environments where workplace bullying can thrive. Workplace bullying has received increasing attention within the work health and safety arena and is now considered a major problem in many industries.
The cold hard facts!
It is estimated that the annual cost of workplace bullying in Australia ranges between $6 and $36 billion every year.
Workplace bullying is prevalent in between 3.5 per cent and 21 per cent of Australian workers.
Being subjected to workplace bullying doubles the risk of having suicidal thoughts.
Mental stress can play a leading role in developing musculoskeletal disorders
The underlying problem
Workplace bullying is defined as ‘repeated unreasonable behaviour directed towards a worker or group of workers that creates risk to health and safety’. Bullying is seen as a frequent occurrence that is generally long term in nature and intensifies as time goes on intending to make the victim feel powerless, intimidated or humiliated. While a key in defining workplace bullying is “repeated” behaviour it should be understood that single events where unreasonable behaviour is identified have a significant potential to escalate into workplace bullying and as such should not be ignored.
Currently workplace bullying seems to be condoned in a lot of organisations and is just simply written off as ‘management’s style’ or it can be entrenched in the organisational culture ie ‘that’s just what we do around here, we’re only kidding’. It’s obvious that more needs to be done to address workplace bullying and that simply maintaining the ‘status quo’ is no longer acceptable.
What is workplace bullying costing your organisation?
The common perception of workplace bullying is that it only affects those directly involved i.e. the victim and the bully; however studies have shown that the impact of bullying is not only widespread but can be felt right throughout an organisation.
Organisational cultures where workplace bullying thrives can expect to experience low morale and lack of support from their workers, which in return increases the risk of other workplace injuries and fosters an unsafe psychological working environment. Workplace bullying bears many costs for organisations both directly and indirectly.
Direct costs include:
Absenteeism
Loss of productivity
Presenteeism
Hidden costs can include:
Re-staffing and re-skilling of workers due to turnover of both victims and bystanders.
Increased workers compensation premiums as the cost of mental health stress claims are twice that of other workers compensation claims.
Legislative changes
With workplace bullying continuing to be an issue for Australian business recent attention has been given to the way in which legislation and guidelines address this issue. The WHS Act seeks highlights through the inclusion of the definition of health as both physical and mental reinforcing that workplaces needs to be free from both physical and psychological hazards. Therefore under the harmonised legislation, organisations have a ‘duty of care’ to recognise workplace bullying as a risk and take reasonable steps to ensure the emotional and mental health of its workers.
Workers can also apply to the Fair Work Commission (FWC) for an order to stop the bullying. The FWC can make any order it considers appropriate if it finds that the worker has been bullied at work and that there is a risk that the worker will continue to be bullied at work. If the subject of an order by the FWC does not comply, that is a contravention of the Fair Work Act which may result in civil contravention proceedings and potentially fines.
How to create a good working culture
Managing workplace bullying is a complex issue that presents many challenges for an organisation. When managing workplace bullying the key lies within a consistent and clear process which should be broken down into a systematic risk management process. This should include:
Identifying bullying risk factors.
Fostering an organisational culture that is supportive and committed to prevention this should be documented in an organisations code of conduct, policies and procedures.
Encouraging open communication and consultation with workers and encourage them to contribute to work health and safety management.
Providing training and information
Establish an effective complaint handling process and support system
Sources
1. Performance Benchmarking of Australian Business Regulation; Occupational Health and Safety, Productivity Commission Research Report, March 2010, pg 279-301.
2. ‘Preventing and Responding to Workplace Bullying’. Draft Code of Practice. Safe Work Australia. 2011.
3. ‘Preventing and Responding to Bullying at Work’. WorkCover NSW20094.
4. The Incidence of Accepted Workers Compensation Claims for Mental Stress in Australia, Safe Work Australia, April 2013.
When we think about bullying behaviour we often revert back to our childhood and think about those kids in the school yard that would taunt, steal lunch money or food, cause or threaten physical harm, verbally abuse and generally just make life miserable for the kids around them.
Unfortunately the reality is that some of those kids continue this bullying behaviour into their adult life and become the person that makes derogative and inappropriate comments, withhold vital work information or even spread malicious rumours.
Bullying in the workplace is a problem that is costing Australian businesses anywhere between $6 billion and $36 billion a year, according to the Australian Productivity Commission. This figure includes indirect costs such as absenteeism, staff turnover, loss of productivity and legal costs. According to Comcare, in 2011 the number of mental stress claims from workplace bullying equalled those for stress from work pressure.
Bullying is a complex issue. Case management can be difficult and organisations often lack follow-up procedures. What is more, Australian law does not easily categorise workplace bullying. It can fall under the mantle of workers compensation, unfair dismissal, workplace health and safety, discrimination and even criminal law.
From 1 January 2014, workers can apply to the Fair Work Commission (FWC) for an order to stop the bullying. The FWC can make any order it considers appropriate if it finds that the worker has been bullied at work and that there is a risk that the worker will continue to be bullied at work. If the subject of an order by the FWC does not comply, that is a contravention of the Fair Work Act which may result in civil contravention proceedings and potentially fines.
Many employers and organisations are nervous and are looking to seek advice on what to do. There may not be obvious signs that bullying is occurring but does not mean it is not occurring. What we do know is that wherever people work together, there is a risk of workplace bullying occuring. We also know that the longer the bullying behaviour continues the more difficult it is to address and the harder it becomes to repair working relationships.
What is bullying?
Safe Work Australia define workplace bullying as “repeated and unreasonable behaviour directed towards a worker or a group of workers that creates a risk to health and safety“. Bullying behaviour can take many forms and can be carried out in a variety of ways, including through email or text messaging, internet chat rooms, instant messaging or other social media channels. A single incident of unreasonable behaviour is not considered to be workplace bullying however it may have the potential to escalate and should not be ignored. Here are some examples of what may be considered unreasonable behaviour:
abusive, insulting or offensive language or comments
unjustified criticism or complaints
continuously and deliberately excluding someone from workplace activities
withholding information that is vital for effective work performance
setting unreasonable timelines or constantly changing deadlines
setting tasks that are unreasonably below or beyond a person’s skill level
denying access to information, supervision, consultation or resources such that it has a detriment to the worker
spreading misinformation or malicious rumours
changing work arrangements, such as rosters and leave, to deliberately inconvenience a particular worker or workers
excessive scrutiny at work.
What can you do?
It is really important to create a work environment where everyone is treated with dignity and respect and unreasonable behaviour is not tolerated. Employers should have systems in place to prevent bullying as well as having clear procedures to respond to any allegations that may arise. If you believe these things will sort themselves out, STOP now before you find yourself in front of the Fair Work Commission.
Safety Consultants Australia recommend a risk management approach that treats workplace bullying as a safety hazard. If bullying is occuring at your workplace now then the issue should be dealt with promptly just as you would address any other workplace hazard. When investigating allegations it is really important to ensure procedural fairness and that all parties are supported. If you do not have the internal professional resources to deal with bullying allegations we recommend you seek professional advice.
If there are no obvious signs of workplace bullying occuring, a good starting point would be to speak to workers to find out if there are any instances of unreasonable behaviour occurring or situations which could increase the risk of bullying. Keep an eye out for changes in workplace relationships, patterns of absenteeism, turnover or workplace grievances. You cannot manage risk if you haven’t identified the potential hazards.
Everyone in the workplace should have a clear understanding of what is expected of them and work towards productive and respectful relationships. Safety Consultants Australia have developed the ‘Safety Hazard‘ initiative which seeks to create a more harmonious and collaborative environment. The idea is to concentrate far more effort on prevention of bullying and promotion of constructive communication.
Find out more information about how our Safety Hazard initiative can help your organisation.
STRESS. It’s public enemy number one – the thing we worry about more than our finances, family, future and relationships.
For most people, their jobs are the main source, and it can lead to a variety of conditions from burnout and fatigue, to anxiety, heart disease and diabetes. It also costs a fortune, with an estimated $15 billion lost to the economy each year due to stress-related issues.
So what jobs stress us out the most?
Statistics from Safe Work Australia based on the number of accepted claims for workers compensation for mental stress-related issues show one job stands out as being particularly hard.
Train drivers have the toughest job in the country, according to the data, with 1025 claims made per 100 million hours worked – about 26 times more than the average job for males.
“For males, drivers of public transport in particular train drivers had very high rates of workers’ compensation claims arising from mental stress. This is likely due to the unfortunately large number of suicides witnessed by these workers on the rail network,” a Safe Work Australia spokesperson said, adding that the high incidence for males is likely because there are more men than women in the job.
For both men and women, law and order professions like police offers, security guards and paramedics were also extremely difficult, with the largest number of claims made for work related issues like general pressure, bullying and exposure to harassment and violence.
“Occupations associated with high rates of workers’ compensation claims arising from mental stress tended to involve work where there are high levels of personal responsibility for the welfare of other people and where there is potential exposure to dangerous situations,” the spokesperson said.
“The main point to note is in many of these occupations (both male and female) workers may have very little control over their exposure to traumatic events or aggressive or abusive people.”
High risk jobs for men
Train drivers and assistants
Police, ambulance officers and paramedics
Prison officers, welfare and community workers
Fire fighters, bus and tram drivers
General clerks and nursing assistants
Special care workers and secondary school teachers
Guards and security officers
Primary school teachers and education mangers
High risk jobs for women
Police and prison officers
Ambulance officers & paramedics
Welfare, community workers and social workers
Secondary school teachers and special education teachers
Personal care and nursing assistants
General clerks and customer service managers
Vocational education teachers and education aides
Enrolled nurses and education managers
Source: The Australian, Victoria Craw – 10 September 2013
Have you noticed an emotional change in someone you work with or perhaps yourself? Things like erratic behaviour, being withdrawn from colleagues, inability to concentrate or loss of confidence could all be early warning signs that someone is not coping at work.
Learning to identify the early warning signs and how to respond appropriately to these signs could help avoid a workplace injury.
In most cases, workplace injuries can be avoided if that person is supported through an early intervention program. Early intervention practices have proven to be more effective in fostering a happy and healthy workplace as it promotes a workplace that is supportive and committed to the health and wellbeing of workers. Healthy workers in general are more productive and have better overall morale.
Employers that ignore the early warning signs and do not have an early intervention program in place are more susceptible to a workplace injury occurring which could lead to additional costs associated with that injury. According to Safe Work Australia, the total economic cost of work-related injuries and illnesses for the 2008-09 financial year is estimated to be $60.6 billion dollars.
Robert Keft, Managing Director for Safety Australia said “the direct and indirect costs associated with an injury will ultimately cost an organisation more in the long term than what it would to set up a health & wellbeing program”. Workplace injuries can lead to absence from the workplace and in cases where chronic illness has developed it can be long term absences. “This will have an impact on your workers compensation premium and productivity. The key here is to be proactive with safety in the workplace and for employers and employees to work collaboratively around health & wellbeing issues”. For the worker it will avoid the financial, health and emotional impacts on them and their family.
WorkSafe Victoria have launched a major new campaign to help injured workers get back on their feet and back to work. Assistant Treasurer Gordon Rich-Phillips said the move follows the release of new statistics which shows the longer injured workers are off work, the more likely they are to require psychiatric and psychological help. “This campaign aims to highlight that returning to work as soon as it is safe to do so can be an important part in the injured worker’s recovery,” Mr Rich-Phillips said. “Being off work for an extended period of time can be extremely detrimental to a worker’s health”. “New data shows injured workers who remain off work one year after their injury are six times more likely to access mental health treatment than injured workers who went back to work after a month”.
An organisation should have robust injury management policies and guidelines in place supported by training. “Training will help employers and supervisors to understand the injury management process and identify the early warning signs” says Mr Keft. A return to work coordinator is an employee nominated by an employer or a contractor engaged for the role who can assist in this process. “A proactive return to work co-ordinator will work closely with workers and their supervisors to create an environment that encourages safe work practices and early reporting of injuries”.
If an injury has occurred, employers must ensure that the injured worker is supported and that they are given assistance to either remain at or return to safe and sustainable work. As the studies show, returning to work quickly and safely benefits both the employer and worker. A return to work coordinator will develop a return to work plan and identify suitable duties. They will be your key liaison person between injured worker, treating practitioners and insurer to ensure the best possible outcome.
Employers have a legal obligation to appoint a return to work coordinator for premiums or wages over a certain threshold so if you are not sure, it is best to check with the regulator in your state or Territory. In June 2012, the NSW government introduced changes to their Workers Compensation Scheme and WorkCover inspectors are now authorised to issue legally binding improvement notices to employers not meeting their injury management and return to work obligations. Failure to comply with the improvement notice can attract maximum penalties of up to $11,000.
The Safety Australia Group have been helping organisations with experienced return to work coordinators to review current outstanding claims, develop return to work plans, return to work policies and procedures, early intervention and health and wellbeing programs.
Safe Work Australia have released a new report which details the early findings from a project conducted as a partnership between Safe Work Australia and The Australian National University.
The findings provide a number of insights into the inter-relationship between the psychosocial aspects of work, health and productivity, and describe important policy-relevant issues.
The report shows that certain workplace conditions and experiences can increase the risk of depression and subsequent consequences such as time away from work, and that workers with low levels of support from colleagues and managers were more likely to have depression than those who reported higher levels of support.
A major focus of the study was on workplace bullying. Consistent with past research, three types of workplace bullying were found: person-related bullying, work-related bullying, and violence and intimidation. Experiences of person-related and work-related workplace bullying were associated with high job demands, low job control, lack of fair pay for effort, job insecurity, poor organisational culture and lack of support from colleagues and managers. Experiences of violent or intimidating workplace bullying were uncommon but were related to poor organisational culture and lack of support from colleagues. Unsurprisingly, workplace bullying was strongly associated with increased risk of depression. One potential implication from the findings is that fair reward for effort and support from colleagues and managers may help prevent the occurrence or minimise the consequences of work-related depression.
The report contains some highly technical statistical techniques and language, so a Summary Report has been made available describing the study’s aims, methods and findings without the technical details. The summary report may be read as a stand-alone document or with the Technical Report as an attachment.
Safety Consultants Australia have updated our SafetyHazard Learning/Resources area of our website with the summary report or alternatively you can download a copy from the Safe Work Australia website.
Miriam Corowa speaks with Linda Scott from Safety Consultants Australia. Linda talks about the impact that workplace bullying can have on the individual.
