Queensland releases guide to complying with OHS laws in flood clean-up

Workplace Health and Safety Queensland has released a comprehensive guide to complying with OHS laws during the flood clean-up phase. 

The guide includes steps for planning safe work and information on working at height, demolition, quad-bike and machinery use and work with asbestos-containing materials.

It also includes advice on fatigue management, biological hazards and displaced fauna, such as snakes and spiders.

Most snake bites occur when people attempt to strike and kill them, the regulator warns. "Engage a wildlife removal specialist to remove snakes from buildings."

Patrick fined $180K in Victoria's first OHS discrimination conviction

Patrick Stevedoring has been fined $180,000 for discriminating against a worker who raised a health and safety issue, but the employer insists it has significantly improved its systems since the incident and supports "all safety improvement endeavours".

As reported by OHS Alert last week, Victorian Magistrate Rosemary Carlin found a Patrick unit manager at a Geelong wharf suspended and threatened to sack the experienced stevedore - who was also an elected health and safety representative - for "the dominant reason that he raised a health and safety concern".

In 2007 the stevedore resisted the implementation of a new method (known as basket lifting) for unloading steel from vessels because he and other safety representatives were unfamiliar with it and the company's OHS committee had not been consulted before it was introduced - as was required under safety laws.

When the stevedore was observed employing the old unloading method he was accused by the manager of failing to follow a "lawful" instruction, and suspended.

Patrick was subsequently charged with breaching s76 (prohibition on discrimination) of the Victorian Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004.

It pleaded not guilty, but was convicted of three of the five charges laid against it, and sentenced on Friday.

The case was the first discrimination conviction under the Act, and sent a "clear message" to all employers that such conduct was unacceptable, WorkSafe Victoria health and safety director Ian Forsyth said.

"Protecting yourself and your co-workers by raising health and safety matters at work isn't just a right, it's a necessity," he said.

ACTU president Ged Kearney welcomed the conviction and called for all Australian regulators "to more vigorously prosecute employers who discriminate against HSRs".

"Health and safety reps are democratically elected volunteers who play an essential role in protecting their workmates," Kearney said.

"They are often the first to raise the alarm about unsafe practices and they must in turn be protected from intimidation or discrimination by their employers.

"At Patrick, an HSR raised legitimate concerns about safety in Geelong and was hounded out of a job by a management culture that puts profits ahead of the health and safety of workers."

A Patrick spokesperson said that since the 2007 incident the employer had "made numerous improvements to its management and safety systems and will review the court's decision to ensure all improvement opportunities have been undertaken".

She said Patrick's safety representatives "receive the company's full support in all safety improvement endeavours", and that the employer was "actively participating" in the Federal Government's Stevedoring Transport Advisory Group, which is considering the creation of a nationally recognised regulatory safety and training framework for the sector.