As a safety professional, what we don’t want to do is use the law to avoid taking real action to ensure peoples safety including that of contractors. However, my experience is that the process of engaging contractors has become so burdensome and complex that employers end up doing nothing because it is too hard and
When SWMS were first put into regulations they were meant to be an on the job tool to help workers and employers consider specific high risk tasks, develop risk controls to manage those risks and document them. In guidance material issued by WorkSafe Victoria in 2010 a SWMS is described as “a safety planning tool
Read Sue Bottrell’s opinion piece, published recently on page 8 of the MAV website (Municipal Association Victoria) who is the governing body that represents all Councils in Victoria. View Article
The responsibilities of employers to contractors is now very clear. The key concept is matters over which each party has control. In a recent WorkSafe Victoria Health and Safety Week presentation these concepts were clearly articulated by Karen Willis from Trusafety Solutions and endorsed by Worksafe Victoria. ContractorSAFE is reflects these principles and is the