Below you will find guidance on what to do in the event of an attack or site emergency involving an assault or an armed offender, including some practical advice on minimising the chances of an attack on-site.
Check:
Speak Up:
Ensure:
It’s important to be aware of Critical Incident Stress (CIS)
A “critical incident” is an event that can be so emotionally intense that it can be hard to handle using our usual ways of coping. These could include situations like a sudden death, serious injury, or a physical or psychological threat to the safety or well-being of an individual, workplace or community regardless of the type of incident.
Typical symptoms of Critical Incident Stress include:
There are some techniques and professional assistance you can reach out for:
Informal debrief with peers post-event:
This can be done with supervisors, senior team members, or just work colleagues. Try and assess those team members who may need further support. Keep assistance within your training, and reassure colleagues that support is there for them with the provision of support numbers or how to access EAP services if available.
Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
EAP Services provides brief, solution focused support, to help workers deal with any difficulties they may be experiencing and to minimise the impact on their life. Counselling is available via video, over the phone or face to face. It’s important for employers to ensure that they have EAP services organised for their employees before an incident occurs.
Seek professional assistance to help you run a Crisis Management Briefing (CMB)
A Crisis Management Briefing (CMB) is one of the most highly utilised and versatile crisis intervention techniques. A CMB is a structured group meeting designed to provide information about the event.
Critical Incident Peer Support Groups use CMB’s as a way to share education about typical stress reactions and to provide information about basic stress management and coping techniques and resources.
Seek professional assistance and run a Critical Incident Stress Debriefing (CISD)
Following trauma exposure, an individual can experience multiple emotional, mental, and physical symptoms that impact their well-being. CISD is a practice that allows survivors to process and reflect on the traumatic events they’ve experienced and gain personal control over the incident.
Helplines that could be useful:
Winter weather has the potential to hit hard, with strong winds, low temperatures, and of course, lots of rain. All of these factors can cause hazards for you and your workers. From trips and slips, to numb fingers and damaged gear and equipment, cold temperatures call for specific measures to ensure that your workplace is safe during the cold and wet winter months.
Work doesn’t stop when winter weather rolls in, so it’s important to know what to do to keep your workers safe and warm.
When the winter weather starts rolling through it’s important for you to inspect your workplace. If you are somewhere that experiences snow, make sure that you identify and clear, where possible, all snow and ice from working surfaces, platforms and walkways that are used. It’s crucial to stress the importance of fall protection when icy conditions are present. To ensure your site is safe, complete a Site Assessment using your HazardCo App, or you can download a .pdf version from the templates section of your HazardCo Hub, or by clicking here.
Vehicle accidents don’t just happen on the roads, they can also happen in the work yard. Stress to your team that winter driving rules for the road also apply to your workplace and it’s important that they take care while operating work vehicles and equipment. To ensure your vehicles are safe for the road complete a Vehicle checklist using your HazardCo App, or you can download a PDF version from the templates section of your HazardCo Hub, or by clicking here.
The last thing you need is for the weather to catch you by surprise. Keep an eye on the weather forecast, so your workers can prioritise the work that will be affected should the weather take a turn for the worse, and that they have the right gear to be able to do the job safely.
Be vigilant when ensuring that workers are wearing proper PPE and suitable clothing when winter weather conditions are present.
Follow these tips to optimise your crew’s safety so you can enjoy a productive winter while keeping your team safe. If you have any questions reach out to the HazardCo Team
Summer is here – longer days, sunshine, and the outdoors sound like the perfect conditions to get all that work done. It doesn’t matter what time of year it is, hazards and risks are forever present and summer brings with it its own risks. Have you thought about what you are doing to protect your team from the effects of the summer sun and heat?
“Slip, Slop, Slap and Wrap” to minimise the obvious risks of sunburn or skin cancer, but we also need to be aware of the risk of heat exhaustion, dehydration and fatigue.
Heat exhaustion occurs when our bodies overheat from the loss of water and salt due to sweating. If left untreated it can lead to heat stroke.
Heat stroke occurs when the body is no longer able to keep itself cool causing a high body temperature of 39.4 degrees or more.
Heat rash and heat cramps are earlier stages of the onset of heat exhaustion. Knowing the signs and what to do will help prevent the onset of heat exhaustion or worse, heat stroke.
If you have underlying health issues that could be affected by extreme heat make sure you let your business know.
Planning is key – With the sun at its peak between 10am-4pm, make sure you take regular breaks within this time and where possible arrange work that can be done in covered or shaded areas to be completed during this time period.
Check out this handy resource on how to protect yourself when you’re outside
Take it easy – Don’t overdo things. Keep strenuous tasks to a minimum and regularly rotate work tasks.
Listen to your body – Just because the weather is nice and you can work longer to get those jobs done doesn’t mean that you should. Fatigue affects your mental and physical capabilities making it harder for you to concentrate. When we lack concentration is when incidents can occur.
Discussing the effects of the Sun (UV and Heat) at your Safety/Toolbox meetings is a great way to remind everyone of this often overlooked environmental hazard. You can easily record your Safety/toolbox meetings using the HazardCo App.
If you have any questions or would like to discuss your work hazards give our Advisory team a call on 0800 555 339, option 4.
The holiday season is over and it’s time to get back into the swing of things. Coming back to work and reopening your site is just as important as shutting it down. The New Year is the perfect opportunity to refocus and set the tone for the year ahead. Coming back to work after a couple of weeks off can give some people a serious case of Mondayitis, so consider taking the following steps on the first day back:
Having a soft start can ensure that everyone has enough time to check their work areas and equipment, and remind everyone that safety is the number one priority. This also includes keeping in mind workers don’t overheat.
As the weather heats up, so can risks on-site. Make sure that workers are provided with adequate protection from working in the heat so that they can do their work safely and comfortably.
If it’s too hot, consider rescheduling tasks to perform more strenuous work outside of peak sun hours. You may also think about swapping physical work for plant or machinery, for tasks such as lifting or digging.
Make sure there’s good airflow going through the workspace by opening up windows or using fans. If the work is outdoors, make sure workers take regular breaks in shaded areas and stay hydrated.
Ensure your workers have access to drinking water and sunscreen. Wearing the right clothing and PPE will also make working in the heat more comfortable such as wearing loose-fitting, light-weight clothing, sunglasses, and sun-protective hats.
Not everyone reacts to heat the same way so you should keep an eye out for each other and if a worker experiences heat-related illness, you must act quickly. For the early stages of heat-related illness, first aid can often be effective, but you should always seek medical assistance if in doubt, or if the person’s symptoms are severe. Symptoms to look out for are:
Be prepared this summer, make sure and remember to keep the health, safety, and well-being of workers first. If you have any questions give our Advisory Team a call on 0800 555 339.
