TCC GROUP 'ONSITE SAFE': February 2006

TCC GROUP 'ONSITE SAFE': February 2006


What are we really talking about when we are talking about keeping ourselves safe at work.?On one level we are talking about avoiding industrial hazards which our workplaces and situations our employers or there employees create .Usually we are looking at physical,biological,chemical or some such types of hazard.How often though do we look at the psychological hazards.What are they and what could this mean?A lot of hazards have a psychological impact or aspect to them.This could mean the fear of them.Such as the fear of a chemical spill happening.A fire happening in an oil refinery etc.The fear of such happening can help or hinder.What happens when such fears are excessive.How much strain does this put on the worker.How do differing workers react?In my own experience workers either react with greater caution,perhaps some proportionate fear(depending on the extent of realistic knowledge of the potential risk and hazard being considered ,...or alternatively a type of foolhardy denial of such potentials for disaster and hazard.This last group are some of the hardest to deal with because their disproportionate ignoring of hazards make them less observant and cautious about the overall environment and perhaps ignorant of warnings by workmates ,putting whole teams at risk because of bravado.

Another aspect to safety that I think gets ignored is the aspect that refers to being and feeling safe from bullying,intimidation and coercion and other forms of heavy handed behaviour.In some industries this type of 'safety' is perhaps a little blurred and not an often raised area of concern .None the less when looking at safety concerns the ability to create and manage a conducive and fair environment where workers feel'safe' to bring up concerns ,participate in decisionmaking and raise concerns free of such 'hazards' is essential.How both these areas of safety concerns articulate and impact on each other concerns me a lot... as how we treat each other in the workplace affects how much we care about th work team when exposed to other hazards and risk factors in the field.Communication and trust are some of the keys in this arena.

http://unionsafe.labor.net.au/safety_reps/10950430702082.html
Duty of Care info.
http://www.safetyline.wa.gov.au/pagebin/guidwswa0002.pdf