Many industries around the country are battling a skills shortage, particularly for tradespeople, and the compressed air sector is no exception. As Australia strives to meet recent infrastructure demands as a result of natural disasters, major project initiatives and the mining resources boom, it is clear that placing a ‘vacancy’ ad in the newspaper is no longer enough.

While there are many different protective suits on the market, not all meet the same performance standards. Faced with a bewildering choice, what criteria should buyers use to ensure they select the right protective suit for the right application?

Every year many Australian businesses experience a serious fire. The risk of fire in the workplace is a serious concern for businesses. Fire can result in injury, fatality, property loss, significant damages and lengthy downtime. Although it is not always possible to prevent a fire, businesses must be adequately prepared to help to minimise the impact if a fire was to occur.

The upcoming harmonisation of national OHS laws has many organisations struggling to see how, or if, budgets can possibly be stretched further to gain compliance. However, doing so need not break the bank. Paying close attention to existing systems and some creative thinking, when it comes to skilling up OHS teams, are the best steps an organisation can take to prepare for this, or any other, new legislative regime.

If Facebook were a country, it would be the world’s third-most populated, with over 400,000,000 users. So it would not be news to anyone that the use of social media is growing: Socialnomics 2011 claims that over 50% of the world’s population is under 30 years old, and 96% of them have joined a social networking site. Further, the fastest growing segment on Facebook is 55- to 65-year-old females. However, what seems to come as a surprise to many employees is that what they post on social media sites can get them into all sorts of trouble - including termination of their employment.

The harmonisation of the occupational health and safety laws has allowed the asbestos codes to be further refined, incorporating a range of new best practices from the asbestos industry. The codes of practice have been simplified and clarified where necessary, but at the same time the former ‘grey’ areas have been expanded in detail

Paul Anthony Friend, who operates Latrobe Roofing and Spouting Services in the Geelong region in Victoria, has accumulated more than $65,000 in fines for safety law breaches since 2001.

WorkCover NSW has issued an alert to remind employers, and those who control railway construction sites, to keep workers clear of crane loads that are under tension.

A recent study by Wormald has found that 61% of small businesses do not have fire detection or evacuation procedures in place.

When the Australian marine terminal operator, DP World, was looking to improve its occupational health and safety (OHS) system, it contacted SCRIM, part of software consultancy firm Accelrelation.

After using some trial and error systems for reviewing driver fatigue that didn’t reflect the experience of mining operations, Australian metal mining and exploration company, Perilya, discovered Optalert. Some interesting results emerged from the trial, which involved around 12 drivers. The trial allowed Perilya to gather hard data to indicate that their drivers are not suffering from fatigue and their roster was suitable. The Optalert Fatigue Risk Profiler system detects the early onset of drowsiness during a journey by accurately measuring a person’s level of alertness.

NT WorkSafe has issued a safety alert that highlights the importance of an effective fatigue management system for drivers of heavy and light vehicles following an increase in incident notifications of accidents at or near mine sites.

From 30 September 2011, operators of loadshifting machines will no longer need a certificate of competency to operate some loadshifting equiment.

Implementing measures to eliminate or control the risks arising from the consumption of intoxicating liquor or drugs might seem like a relatively simple task, but the myriad options for testing and recording results, legal and compliance requirements, as well as the rise in availability of synthetic drugs which may not be detected in traditional tests, can provide a number of hurdles to scale before a mine operator ensures that legal obligations are being met.

Harmonised OHS laws are due to commence on 1 January 2012. Each Australian state and territory has committed to adopting a form of the model Workplace Health and Safety Act (Model Act). Not all states and territories will adopt all parts of the Model Act as it is presently drafted. One area where there appears to be no disagreement is the provisions for workplace investigations.