POSTED: 19 May 2020

AUTHOR: Blake Thackrah, Director

No one should get hurt at work. That is the premise on which HTS base their safety culture. We don't just strategise to minimise injuries; We work hard at ensuring that we get to 'zero harm' and stay there. While Construction sites are a hazardous landscape, it is the Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing industries that have topped the list of dangerous sectors to work in, for four years running. We can assume the innovation, focus, and effective methods of targeting positive safety culture have resulted in the Construction industry recording fewer fatalities than other sectors. Construction does, however, sit at number four, a sombre reminder. In WA, construction is the top 3 sub-division for traumatic injury fatalities and is likely to remain high on the list as long our work involves these top five most dangerous hazards on construction sites in Australia.

Complying with legislated workplace safety rules and regulations is the minimum Australian companies are required to undertake to keep workers safe and meet the duty of care obligations. Factoring in the increased travel distance to healthcare, exposure to weather events and other environmental factors coupled with worker-related issues such as fatigue, dehydration and mental health, construction sites take on an added layer of complexity. At HTS, we are always innovating and focus on the effectiveness of our work. We have adapted our safety practices to include ongoing elements of measurement that improve the dynamic nature of our controls ("How do we know that it is working?"). Here are some of our benchmark controls for the top five most dangerous hazards in our remote construction worksites:

Falls from height

According to Safework, 28% of fatalities at construction sites in Australia (2008-2013) were caused by falls from height. The top three occupations involved were Carpenters, Plumbers and Electricians. The location where our people are most at risk is on ladders, on roofs and scaffolding. At HTS, we ensure all of our on-site employees receive Working at Heights (WAH) training, appropriate for the work they are doing. Only approved ladders with a platform and rail are used on our sites to ensure additional safety.

We have assessed that WAH risk is highest when employees are conducting temporary or short duration, adhoc tasks. HTS has introduced additional planning into our schedules to program activities where scaffolding and access to the job are safest, not just when time permits. HTS utilise drones where possible to inspect and potentially eliminate the need to access high elevated and unprotected work locations.

Vehicle incidents (Vehicle vs Vehicle/Object)

Machinery Operators and Drivers recorded the highest amount of fatalities by occupation in Australia in 2018.

All HTS vehicle and plant operators are trained and competent on the equipment they are using. Each machine and vehicle is inspected every day for faults or issues. We have innovated existing administrative controls by providing an online pre-start form that is specific to the vehicle type rather than being generic. This method allows for timely communication of faults or repairs which, notified to the maintenance manager at the time of identification.

Electricity

At HTS, we ensure all live testing scheduled is communicated to the workforce daily and ensure signage is visible on-site to ensure that nobody unintentionally enters or works on a building that is 'live'. Many remote sites are on land that may have had multiple unknown uses dating back over 50+ years. These sites may have incomplete plans or have unrecorded services, or in some cases, the plans may be outdated and incorrect. As a benchmark, our electrical safety procedures involve the use of a cable locator as a mandatory requirement on all Brownfields sites (remote or not) to locate any existing services. Located services are then overlayed on the services plan and corresponded to all personnel involved with the excavation. Use of a cable locator as additional controls and subsequently updated plans, ensure safe excavation for our people and protection of the existing services, before approval for any excavation is granted.

Falling objects

Barriers to prevent people from putting themselves in the line of fire are essential on any worksite. On HTS sites we ensure areas located under works occurring above are cordoned off to prevent people ever being under a falling object.

We take a serious approach to communication about falling objects on-site to remind people to have a 360-degree view of their risk assessments. We create delineated work areas with signage and barriers. We ensure toolbox meetings continually address and educate people about the high risk of working near an area that has the potential for falling objects.

Moving vehicles (Vehicle vs Person)

Interaction between personnel and vehicles is minimised on our sites by only using vehicles where necessary and minimising the people in the area of an operating vehicle, equipment or plant. To assist with the safe operation of vehicles, all personnel wear high visibility clothing and adhere to our rules of ensuring positive communication practice on site. We have set the rule that anywhere a person has an interaction with a vehicle there must be communication to the operator of the person's presence and, visual acknowledgement from operator back to the person before entering a shared area.

Safety is not just part of our planning and administration of a project; it is incorporated into our daily and operational practices. The element of measuring whether something is working is an ongoing measurement at ground level. In remote sites, in particular, location introduces issues of time and distance. I believe it is ineffective and risky to check at the end of a shift or at the end of the day to find out something isn't working, a part of a task has failed, or controls are not effective. We take extra steps such as thorough checks for the presence of existing services before excavation, not just relying on plans; Ensuring the vehicle operator has acknowledged a person entering the area, not just relying on the person seeing the vehicle operator. These are just some examples of how we ensure our safety controls are working. At HTS, we will continue to innovate and create new benchmarks to ensure safety, not just compliance. Our safety statistics are reflective of our progress. In 2019/20 we recorded 0 LTIs (lost time injury), and to date, we have a TRIFR of 0 (total recordable injury frequency rate).

It is my firm belief that safety isn't a set of rules - it is a value system. At HTS we encourage, build and reinforce positive safety culture by involving employees in decision making, listening to them about their concerns and implementing effective controls to help improve both our work practices and the overall safety of our team.

For our clients, innovative ways to increase productivity and improve safety and well-being are all part of our one contractor solution. Talk to us today about how we can rocket the value of your next project!