Keeping workplaces injury free
Health and Safety Representatives (HSRs) are on the front line of a workplace’s Work, Health and Safety (WHS) regime. Trained to observe the workplace, engage with colleagues, understand legal responsibilities and identify and reduce risks, HSRs make a valuable contribution to the continuous improvement in an organisation’s WHS systems.
St Andrew’s Hospital is a complex workplace involving a diverse mix of patients, staff, and the general public performing many roles, often under extreme pressure. As such, it has a higher WHS risk profile than many other workplaces.
“The roles of an HSR is well defined and these people are of course, at the coalface of our WHS systems,” St Andrew’s Workplace Health and Safety Manager, Cos Lamberto, told Business SA.
By representing workers in their work group, the HSR provides a means for workers to raise safety issues within their workplace, and follow a process to resolve them,” he said.
“While this sounds straightforward, the reality is that in many organisations, HSRs sometimes find themselves stuck in an unenviable and very uncomfortable position of trying to navigate tension and different views of workers, managers and the organisation, and the perception that their role is merely ‘lip service’.”
HSRs are much more than ‘lip service’ at St Andrew’s. A recent analysis of manual handling tasks undertaken by HSRs with a view to reducing the risk of workplace injury saw the replacement of stainless steel meal trolleys with new light weight plastic trolleys resulting in a 24 kilogram lighter pushing force required.
To discover more about St Andrew’s Hospital, visit
www.stand.org.au
Business SA plays a key role in training HSRs for St Andrew’s Hospital. It offers training courses for a wide variety of workplaces that can be tailored for individual members and clients. Further details of the training available for the three year terms of HSRs and refresher courses can be found here or by calling Employer Solutions Sales Manager, Cindy Jackway, on (08) 8300 0247 or [email protected]