WorkSafe and VECCI team up to benefit small business

WorkSafe and the Victorian Employers’ Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VECCI) are teaming up to help small businesses keep their workers safe and to provide them with support and practical assistance if a worker is injured.

A new rebate program offers small businesses in the food and beverage, wood products manufacturing and road transport industries a rebate of up to $500 on a range of best-practice lifting equipment, including pallet trucks and hand trolleys.

“We recognise small business can find it difficult to provide workers with manual handling equipment due to limited resources and the competitive nature of their business,” said WorkSafe’s Director of Manufacturing, Logistics and Agriculture Ross Pilkington. “Sprains and strains associated with manual handling account for half of all workplace injury claims reported to WorkSafe by small business. Simple solutions like pallet trucks and trolleys can drastically reduce the risk of injury while also improving productivity.”

The program will be delivered by VECCI and funded by WorkSafe.

“At VECCI, we understand better than most the challenges facing small business,” said VECCI Chief Executive Officer Wayne Kayler-Thomson. “To make these businesses safer, they need practical assistance that is simple to access. Ultimately, the Small Business Rebate program delivers on the mandate that we have at VECCI to cut red tape and support innovation.”

Information on eligibility for the rebate is available from www.vecci.org.au or www.worksafe.vic.gov.au/rebate.