One of the most important ways people can be protected is having employers and managers be active participants in safety.
Just about every worker faces some sort of safety risk at their job. For those working at height and in other high-risk environments those risks are very serious and can have very serious consequences attached to them.
Much of the action that needs to be taken in order mitigate or minimise those risks is done at the workplace by those completing the work. However, there is a lot that can also be done by managers and employers, even if they are not directly at the coalface themselves.
Being active participants in workplace safety systems is something that every employer and manager should be doing.
Disconnect between office work and site work
One of the main contributors to unsafe workplace safety systems is a disconnect between those making decisions who are based in an office and those actually completing the work out on site.
There are many reasons why this can be the case – and none of them are inherently intentional. Precious few people turn up to work each day and deliberately set out to endanger their colleagues.
But over time, the experience of those doing the work can become more and more hidden from those looking after the bigger picture of how work is commissioned and undertaken at a company or project scale.
Other aspects of a project can take up more of a manager’s time, which can lead to things like the details of fall protection or the amount of work required to complete specific areas of a project not being given their full consideration.
Much like fall protection systems themselves – things that are out of sight can quickly fall out of mind.
Consultation is key
The most effective tool in making sure the decisions being made are informed is ongoing consultation and engagement between employers, managers and those workers at the coalface.
From the early stages of a project, the workers that will be the ones completing the work should be consulted.
Ongoing consultation like this allows companies to improve the accuracy of their proposals and work programs. It can also assist in helping to find more efficient and safer methods of carrying out work.
Consultation allows each party to the work – employers, managers, team members and even the wider project group – better balance the competing priorities that exist when it comes to undertaking any building or construction project.
Deciding on the priorities
At the conclusion of consultation, the employers and managers then have to decide how the competing priorities are going to be managed. Decisions need to be made.
This point in the process is often the time when the reasons for deprioritising safety in favour of other things can start to look compelling.
Yes, the work team may be experienced. Yes, in any one single instance the chances of an accident occurring are small. Yes, it can seem like the odds are in your favour to squeeze the work timeline a bit or to skip that one small step in the process.
Each decision like this moves the needle in the wrong direction. Each time a shortcut is chosen is also a choice to place workers at increased risk.
For employers and managers, there needs to be a conscious and deliberate choice to raise the level at which safety is prioritised.
Making workplace safer
It is only through employers and managers being active players in the safety journey that workers can be better protected.
An understanding of workers’ experience and how that can provide a level of insight and understanding that an office-based manager might not have, interrogated through consultation can help create work plans that are both efficient and safe.
It remains, however, that this can only be achieved if employers and managers are active participants in the safety process. Including being able to make compromises that favour worker safety.
Creating safe workplaces extends well beyond the job site itself.
Partners in protecting people
Height Safety Engineers have been in the business of protecting people for over 20 years.
For those working at height and high-risk environments, HSE can provide and maintain fall protection systems for any type of work, any type of facility, anywhere in Australia.
Start your safety journey with us by calling 1300 884 978, emailing enquiries@heightsafety.net or dropping us a note through our contact page.
