Since 11:59pm on 13 September 2020, it has been mandatory for every Victorian business to have a COVID Safe Plan and to review it regularly to ensure it is up to date and aligns with the latest advice. To ensure compliance, WorkSafe Victoria are doing random spot checks in both metropolitan Melbourne and regional Victoria. You do not have to lodge your COVID Safe Plan with the Victorian Government, however, you do need to provide your COVID Safe Plan to an Authorised Officer or WorkSafe Inspector upon request.

EHS Today is an American magazine that informs safety professionals on trends, management strategies, regulatory updates and daily news to help them provide safe and healthy work sites. Just over 700 safety professionals recently participated in an editorial survey. Managers and leaders provided insight into how companies are managing the evolving business environment and what they think workplace safety will look like in a post pandemic world.

The hotel quarantine inquiry with its extraordinary, unprecedented political and legal implications has more mundane yet equally important lessons for those of us in the prevention game. Here we look at both, making a big effort to dip into the political/legal blame game while avoiding the gravitational pull of the black hole this looks like morphing into.

Life has changed for everyone due to the COVID-19 Pandemic and, for many of us, working from home has become the new norm. Whilst most employers and managers are concerned about maintaining employee productivity; what you really should be concerned about is employee burnout. 

The Victorian Government reminded everyone on the 1st July that Workplace Manslaughter is now a criminal offence in Victoria with tough new laws. Minister for Workplace Safety Jill Hennessy said “If an employer’s negligence costs someone their life, they will be prosecuted and may go to jail – that’s now the law.”

A Swinburne University survey conducted in May this year shows that three out of four managers believe their staff will do more remote work after the pandemic than before it.  A hybrid model of office and remote work will mean that you’ll need to have in place an effective ‘working from home’ strategy and the associated policies and procedures.

WorkSafe, Emergency Management Victoria and Victoria Police have made it clear that they will crack down hard on businesses flouting the new mask rules. The latest figures show that about 80 per cent of Victoria’s COVID cases since May were the result of workplace transmission, including private-sector aged care. A new Victorian directive, from midnight on Wednesday 22 July, means that people in metropolitan Melbourne and Mitchell Shire will have to wear a mask. Regardless of whether your staff are able to be socially distant from each other, they will need to wear a mask at work if there is more than one person on site. An inspection and enforcement blitz will be carried out in workplaces across the state.

Facemasks: to wear or not to wear, what type, what are their capabilities – here are some facts for you. Firstly, there is great sense in the official policy (as per the ABC Website) that “face masks are not recommended for healthy individuals, but essential for health workers and sick people”.

WorkSafe inspectors in Victoria are checking construction sites to make sure fall risks are being controlled including if scaffolds are safe and fit for purpose. Construction is a known high fall risk sector accounting for 37% of falls-related fatalities however all workplaces where falls are a risk need to consider their controls. Sadly, according to Safe Work Australia, more than one in 10 work-related fatalities are caused by a fall from height and, as recently as the 3rd February this year, a serious accident involving scaffolding was in the news. 

We’ve compiled a list of links that is useful for businesses in fire affected areas to help manage the risks to people and property. Please let us know if there are any other links you think we should add.