SafeWork NSW Inspectors will be across metropolitan Sydney this week, targeting risks related to moving plants and machinery frequently found in workshops, warehouses and manufacturing plants.
SafeWork NSW Executive Director Compliance and Dispute Resolution, Matt Press, said, “SafeWork has sent 58,000 letters with advice to businesses across Sydney who have been identified as working with machinery.”
The most well-known factor prompting people to be killed or genuinely harmed by working machinery eliminating a blockage or jam while a machine is as yet running, as per SafeWork.
“Business owners should know that we are coming and there will be no excuses for putting workers’ lives at risk.
“No worker should be assigned to a machine until they have been trained in the operating procedures for setting-up, operating, cleaning and maintenance – machines can be dangerous if not handled properly and there is no room for shortcuts,” said Press.
The manufacturing area represents just about 10% of workplace fatalities, with seven percent of all workplace fatalities in 2021 related to being caught by moving machinery.
SafeWork NSW is proceeding to research various late occurrences including machinery, remembering a June 27 incident at a stockroom for Minchinbury, Sydney where one worker experienced lethal wounds and two different labourers were harmed.
“Young and inexperienced workers are particularly at risk around unfamiliar machinery, and SafeWork inspectors will be talking to businesses about properly training their workers and ensuring appropriate supervision.
Since 2019, SafeWork NSW has responded to more than 540 workplace incidents involving machine safety. Inspectors will be proactively targeting workplace risks based on high-risk work and working with businesses and workers to improve safety,” said Press.