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What risks are associated with labour hire?
Labour hire agencies and group training companies are usually the direct employers of on-hired workers and, accordingly, have the OHS duties of employers under respective Occupational Health and Safety legislation. Even though you will not always have direct control or management of the workplaces involved, your duty of care remains as an employer to your on-hired workers. This means that you have a legal obligation to act to establish that the workplace and its operations are safe before workers are placed with a client. You also need to continue monitoring workers’ safety throughout the term of their placement.
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Fall Prevention
Falls from even moderate heights can leave workers with permanent and debilitating injuries. The risk of serious injury or death from a fall increases significantly if you are working at heights over two metres. What are falls? Employers have a duty to ensure their workplace is safe, and this means controlling the risk of falls from any height. Analysis has shown that the risk of serious injury from a fall is much higher in falls from two metres or more. Typical falls that cause death and injury include those resulting from: • using unsafe or incomplete scaffolds • inappropriate ladders/ladder use • falling from or through roofs • falling from trucks • falling into holes, pits or shafts • accessing shelving • accessing mezzanine areas