Unions and employers will clash over Australia’s new OHS laws at The Safety Conference in Sydney on 27 October, but increasingly the regulator - rather than the law itself - is in the hot seat.

A serious safety incident is, without fear of contradiction, a serious crisis. While the primary concern is to minimise the negative impact to injured workers, appropriate measures also need to be put in place to minimise the consequential negative impact to the company and all other stakeholders involved in the incident. While a safety incident is not a welcome experience, a degree of preparedness is essential to mitigate its effects.

A recent NSW Industrial Court ruling over an injury sustained by a worker from an unguarded machine stresses the importance of avoiding taking short cuts just to meet production schedules at the risk of injuring employees.

The Siemens LDS6 laser gas analyser is helping to improve safety and save millions of dollars in damage repairs for the Tasmanian Electro Metallurgical company (TEMCO), a subsidiary of BHP Billiton that is located in Tasmania. It does this by alerting workers at the manganese ferro-alloy plant of an imminent furnace explosion and giving them sufficient time to prevent it.

The skills needed to be an effective return-to-work coordinator require maintenance. Regular training and retraining will help these individuals do the best they can to assist injured workers return to work.

Workplace Health and Safety Queensland provides some sound advice in properly dealing with asbestos in the workplace.

In the previous Safety Solutions eNewsletter, we presented key findings from research into what contributes to workers making unintentional mistakes that often lead to workplace injuries. This article follows on by presenting guidelines on how to stop yourself from making unintentional mistakes and reducing human error by using your brain as PPE.

It’s about time the people responsible for machine safety and operation - engineers, electricians and integrators - quite literally took control.

Nestlé’s manufacturing plant in Campbellfield, Victoria, takes safety very seriously. It’s a culture that’s embraced and practised by every employee, from senior management to those on the shop floor and the company enjoys a good safety record as a result.

Recent developments in laser technology may provide a new means to safely test materials for hazardous substances.

As I speak with people from different industries about their PPE, I frequently hear disparate views on what safety footwear should be worn to provide protection against various hazards. When it comes to electrical hazards, some say antistatic boots should be worn, while others say non-conductive boots are the way to go. So, which is the right boot to protect against electrical hazards?

Although human error is a part of everyday life, many industries seem to be reluctant to look at reducing the unintentional mistakes people make that can cause injuries. The more popular approach seems to be trying ‘fix’ the problems instead.

A US-based study on the effectiveness of hearing protection devices has shown that one-on-one training is the most effective means to ensure proper protection for wearers.

A number of key decisions were made regarding OHS legislation and strategies at the inaugural Safe Work Australia Council meeting recently that will affect businesses and workers across the country.

A recent announcement from WorkCover Victoria has indicated that the average workcover premium for the forthcoming fiscal year will remain the same as this year.