Friday, August 7, 2015

SS1

Safety Sessions 

Episode One - An Introduction



G’Day, my name is Neil Norman and I am the Director of the Safety Guru Proprietary Limited – a health and safety consultancy here to help you by making OHS easier.

This blog combined with my YouTube channel is the first in what I hope to be many of my Safety Sessions over the coming months, maybe years or even millennia? Okay, maybe I’m getting ahead of myself here but I know businesses are struggling to understand their legal obligation under health and safety legislation and there isn’t a great deal out there in the way of free material to help them.

The idea for these sessions came about through my own personal experiences and from talking to my clients.  Often I find that the businesses I deal with have something in place to protect their workers but they just are doing quite enough to be compliant with all the requirements set out in the various legislation. And it could be that one thing that costs them the business if an accident was to occur. So I saw a need to provide information about occupational health and safety based on legislation that anyone could access to make sure they were on the right path. 

I did a search on the internet to see what information is available and while there is plenty of information to digest, I lost interest in half the videos and presentations after a few minutes. And most still had 30 minutes to go!

So I created the Safety Sessions.

Each Safety Session will be a combination of a short video for YouTube that will show you how easy it is to incorporate health and safety into everyday business and this blog which will provide an in depth look at the topic with further information, references and examples that you can actually use and implement in your workplace, but in a way that you can read and review in your own time.

The combination of the two will make meeting your legal OHS obligations easy and save you time and money all the while making your business safer and in the process more successful. And as I mentioned the best thing is it can be done at a time that suits you!

As mentioned in the video, I want to start by breaking the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 down into various sections so you can understand its requirements and ensure you and your business is compliant. Although this Act doesn’t apply to businesses or organisations in Victoria or Western Australia (yet), the principles are similar enough to apply across the board. I will cover how this works in future sessions but also if there is a major difference I will note it along the way.  This goes for anyone based outside Australia too. We have some of the best safety laws in the world so if you want to be the best in your industry why not apply best practice and take on board what is covered in each session.

I also want these sessions to become a bit of a network for all those businesses who can’t readily access a health and safety expert. I’m thinking farmers, business in regional and remote Australia. Heck you could even be in downtown Sydney but just can’t afford the crazy prices some consultants charge (I like to think we’re not like them!).

So if you have a problem that needs resolving why not put it to me and I will try to answer it for you. Think of it like having your own OHS consultant on retention for when you need them. 

It doesn’t matter if you call it Occupational Health and Safety, Work Health and Safety or Occupational Safety and Health, its all the same thing at the end of the day. Laws and requirements that have been developed to protect the most important investment in any business – the people.

Over the coming weeks I will be putting up a whole heap of free resources on my website (www.thesafetyguru.com.au) so be sure to like our Facebook page so you know when the next Safety Sessions airs and send through any questions you may have.

Until next time, stay safe and play nice with the other kids.

Neil Norman
Director
The Safety Guru Pty Ltd

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