The NSW Centre for Work Health and Safety needs businesses to help their research.
If you’ve ever seen the fall-out from poorly guarded machinery you will no doubt be motivated to ensure it doesn’t happen again.
The traumatic injuries associated with this hazard are as horrific as they are avoidable, and they are occurring all too frequently in the wood and metal manufacturing industry.
The NSW Government’s Centre for Work Health and Safety is in the final stages of creating a tool to make manufacturing workplaces safer, better places to work in.
But with only 30 places remaining, you’d better get in quick to secure your spot in the study.
Skye Buatava, Director of the Centre for Work Health and Safety said the field of injury prevention has progressed beyond engineering, education and enforcement to improving resilience and safety culture.
“It’s not just about having technical systems in place; ‘safety culture’ is as much a part of the picture as any of these other factors when it comes to injury prevention,” Ms Buatava said.
“The safety culture concept takes a holistic approach to injury prevention and reflects an organisation’s shared perceptions and behaviours in relation to safety.
“It’s about why you do safety as much as how you do it.”
The Centre is teaming up with the Griffith University Safety Science Innovation Lab to improve safety culture and leadership within the manufacturing industry.
The research aims to demonstrate the link between management characteristics, safety culture, and safer use of machines by young workers in ‘traditional’ heavy manufacturing industries (e.g. metal and wood).
“Over the next six months, the Centre will be developing and trialling an industry-specific safety culture toolkit that includes: a free safety culture survey, results report and debriefing; as well as a free online training course for supervisors and managers,” said Ms Buatava.
“This information will help each business identify opportunities and learn how to improve its safety culture.
“We want the toolkit to reflect the industry so we’re talking to managers and workers in wood and metal manufacturing who are willing share their experience and insights.
“We will use this information to develop the toolkit, and then invite participants to take part in two short surveys between May and October this year.
By participating, businesses will receive:
- Personalised results as to what your workers and leaders think and do in terms of safety;
- what you are doing well
- and how you can improve.
- Access to an online training course for supervisors and managers
If you run a manufacturing business, know someone who does, and are keen to get involved, please let the Centre know via http://www.centreforwhs.nsw.gov.au/research-to-practice/register-your-details
For more information on the project please visit our news and events page.
