Let’s talk about Health and Safety Month….

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Q. Who is responsible for the work health and safety in your workplace?

A. Everyone.

It’s really that simple: from front-line employees all the way to upper management, it’s essential that everybody works together to ensure every Australian worker arrives home safely and without injury after each and every shift.

October is National Safe Work Month, an initiative run by WorkSafe Australia to spotlight the importance of work health and safety. Across Australia, employers and employees are encouraged to actively improve health and safety in the workplace. And with work-related injury and disease costing our community $61.8 billion a year,[1] it’s an issue that affects each and every one of us.

So mark your calendar this October and get ready to commit to building a safe and healthy workplace – the theme for 2017 is “sharing safety knowledge and experience benefits everyone.”[2] And here’s why:

 

#safeworkmonth – why is health and safety in the workplace a collaborative effort?

Whether you’re an employee, employer or business owner, everyone has the right to feel safe at work. No workplace should be unsafe to work in, and injuries or fatalities should not be tolerated.

By sharing your knowledge, you can help prevent your coworkers from becoming a statistic:

  • Over 100,000 serious workplace injury claims are lodged in Australia every year[3]
  • 45% of Australians between the ages of 16-85 will experience a mental health condition in their lifetime
  • The average cost of a worker’s compensation claims is $10,000 and the average time lost is 5.6 weeks
  • Untreated mental health conditions cost Australian workplaces approximately $10.9 billion per year[4]

 

What can your business do during Health & Safety Month?

During October, you have a great opportunity to commence health and safety awareness programs or to refocus or build existing Occupational Health & Safety initiatives in your workplace.

At Bodycare, we offer the following programs to help jumpstart your Health and Safety Month initiatives:

  • Get Inspired! Schedule Workplace Health and Safety seminars[5] on a range of topics in your workplace to educate and inspire employees to improve their overall health and mitigate their risk of injury.
  • Get Moving! Implement interactive programs that are designed to educate and empower your workers by providing them with tools and techniques to prevent injuries and stay active.
  • Get Healthy! Book health checks to provide employees with the opportunity to have a one-on-one consultation with a qualified Health Professional in an onsite clinic to flag potential or existing health issues. Our Functional Movement Screening (FMS) tool is also a great way to identify individuals with an increased risk of musculoskeletal disorder.  

 

Everyone deserves to come home for Christmas

It’s no coincidence that Health and Safety Month occurs just twelve weeks before Christmas. With the festive season just around the corner, there is an increased risk of workplace accidents and incidents[6] due to end of year fatigue, traffic on the roads, and the high volume of product and service demands. For the Logistics and Manufacturing industry, the lead-up to Christmas can be particularly demanding time.

That’s why Health and Safety Month is the perfect pre-season training for your team. By booking health checks, scheduling workplace seminars, and implementing health and safety tools and techniques, you’ll be in a better place to see fewer workplace injuries come the festive season.

 

What is everyone else doing to help?

When it comes to safety, we are all in the same boat. In fact, there’s no harm in looking to your competitors for ideas, and sharing knowledge on how to better improve the safety of your industry. Health and Safety Month is a great time to educate yourself on all the initiatives available in the market – look to see if you can attend seminars in your state, hosted by various health and safety organisations.[7]

Safe Work Australia’s campaign kit[8] is also available to help you with your health and safety programs. There are plenty of activity ideas, posters, factsheets, statistics, flyers, videos and other campaign materials available to support your Health and Safety Month goals.

While there may be a decline in the rate of work-related fatalities and workers’ compensation claims since Safe Work Australia’s launch in 2009, there’s still a lot of work to be done.

It’s important to remember that while Health and Safety month is a very important time, the overall health and safety of your workforce is something that your business should be thinking about year-round. Injuries and illness can place your business under significant economic stress and reduce the happiness and morale of your workforce.

So let’s work together this October to reduce workplace incidents and injuries.

 

[1] https://www.safeworkaustralia.gov.au/news-and-events/media-release/media-release-october-national-safe-work-month

[2] https://www.safeworkaustralia.gov.au/news-and-events/media-release/media-release-october-national-safe-work-month

[3] https://www.safeworkaustralia.gov.au/statistics-and-research/statistics/disease-and-injuries/disease-and-injury-statistics

[4] https://www.headsup.org.au/docs/default-source/resources/bl1270-report—tns-the-state-of-mental-health-in-australian-workplaces-hr.pdf?sfvrsn=8

[5] https://www.bodycare.com.au/workplace-health-and-safety-training-and-seminars/

[6] https://www.randstad.com.au/workforce360/archives/festive-season-increases-risk-of-workplace-accidents_795/

[7] http://www.healthandsafetyhandbook.com.au/tag/safety-month-activities/

[8] https://www.safeworkaustralia.gov.au/national-safe-work-month/take-part