Work Safe Week is set to take place this year from 23-27 October.

Seminars will focus on five of the major OHS issues affecting Victorian workplaces: consultation, managing workplace health and safety risks, manual handling, plant and machinery risk control and safety in labour hire arrangements.

The Work Safe Week website contains a calendar of events and I encourage you to take note of the different events which are running, so that you can pass this information on to people who may benefit from attending.

By encouraging someone you know to register for a Work Safe Week seminar, you can go into the draw to attend a breakfast held in the change rooms at Telstra Dome, hosted by the Senior Coach of the Western Bulldogs, Rodney Eade. See below for more details.

Also happening over the next couple of weeks are the WorkSafe workshops for inputting into the VWA Five Year Strategic Plan. This is a series of seven workshops for WorkSafe people, providing everyone with the opportunity to have a say in our future direction.

The workshops will be both fun and challenging, and I look forward to seeing many of you there. Please contact Larissa Garvin, WorkSafe Communications (9641 1908) or Margy Ferguson (8663 5034) if you have any queries about these workshops.

And finally, I'd like to again congratulate all those who have been working so hard in preparation for Work Safe Week. Your work will help the Victorian community to 'Learn the latest and stay up to date'.

Regards

John Merritt

Executive Director, WorkSafe

Tool of Trade Private Use Vehicles (blue plate) log books no longer mandatory

The Business Improvement Unit has been working to reduce red tape and unnecessary paperwork. As a result, it is no longer mandatory for drivers of Tool of Trade Private Use Vehicles (blue plate) to fill in log books on every journey. This also means that drivers of blue plate vehicles no longer need to retain fuel dockets.

A team talk kit has been distributed to Group Leaders which explains the details of this change. If you drive a blue plate vehicle your manager will brief you about the change.

If you have further queries after you have seen the team talk kit, please contact: Barry Rabin (Finance Services) on 9641 1259, Sam Johnson (Fleet Manager) on 9641 1231, Murray MacLachlan (Business Improvement Unit) on 9641 1146.

Spread the word about Work Safe Week seminars

Do you know someone who could benefit from attending a Work Safe Week seminar? By encouraging someone you know to register for a Work Safe Week seminar, not only will you be helping to make Victorian workplaces safer, you will go into the draw to attend a breakfast held in the change rooms at Telstra Dome, hosted by the Senior Coach of the Western Bulldogs, Rodney Eade.

Rodney Eade will go over the tactics he used in the last game of the season, the preparation involved and the post match evaluation.

Just send an email with your contact’s name to [email protected] When this person registers for a seminar, we will match the name up with your entry and you will go into the draw for the Coach’s Breakfast. There are 40 tickets to give away.

Forklift safety - VCAT ruling

You may be aware of the case which was before VCAT on the wearing of seatbelts in forklifts. The decision came through on 15 September. The hearing affirmed the decision to issue an improvement notice made on 15 February 2006. This decision was also affirmed on internal review on 7 March 2006. The date by which the contravention is to be remedied was altered to 27 October 2006.

The improvement notice included a direction that the company ensure that any risk of an operator being ejected from the forklift should a roll-over occur be eliminated or reduced so far as reasonably practicable. One means by which compliance is proposed is the fitting to the forklift of a suitable operator restraint device such as a lap seat belt.

Two witnesses from WorkSafe were called at the hearing: Mark Norman, the inspector who issued the improvement notice, and Wayne Skinner, who ran the Forklift Instability & Traffic Management Project.

This affirmation of the decision to issue this notice is fundamental in the future of forklift safety. All those involved should be congratulated for their hard work to achieve such as positive outcome for workplace safety.

Recent publications

Publications released recently are listed below. Twenty copies of each publication have been sent to each WorkSafe office. For further copies please email publications or phone 9641 1444. • Prosecutions 2004

• Prosecutions 2005 • Occupational Health and Safety in Boards

• Good Health and Safety Means Good Business • A Guide to Workplace Injury Insurance and Safety at Work

• Return to Work Coordinator Database