Safety & Health - Newsletter

UWA Safety Awards 2006

Nominations are invited for the following safety awards: Group (Faculty, School, Section), Individual and Group Rehabilitation. All staff are encouraged to promote these awards within their work areas and to seek suitable nominations. Nomination to Safety and Health close on 22 September 2006 and the awards will be presented in October 2006. Further details can be obtained from: http://www.safety.uwa.edu.au/whats_new (July 2006)

ChemAlert and Chemical Management Training – Wednesday 30 August 2006

ChemAlert training is available on 30 August 2006. The course includes current chemical management issues including waste disposal and risk assessment training as well as training in using ChemAlert at UWA. For further information and to make a booking see:

http://www.safety.uwa.edu.au/courses/chemalert

UV and Transilluminator Safety Workshop – Wednesday 20 September 2006

There have been several recent incidents involving transilluminators. Transilluminators are a source of potentially hazardous ultraviolet (UV) radiation. A Safety Workshop on these will be held on 20 September 2006, 1-2pm in Seminar Room 1 at Love House, OSDS. Please contact Peter Gibbons on 6488 7933 or Peter.Gibbons@uwa.edu.au to make a booking.

Warden Training – Monday 25 September 2006

Essential for those who nominate or are appointed wardens within their workplaces. Both the introductory (3 hours) course and the refresher course (1 hour) are on Monday 25 September 2006. Practice building evacuations will occur in selected buildings during this week. For information and to download the course notes see:

http://www.safety.uwa.edu.au/courses/warden

http://www.safety.uwa.edu.au/courses/warden_refresher

To view the warden structures in University buildings refer:

http://www.safety.uwa.edu.au/people/wardens

Building Alarms and Evacuations

All occupants (staff, students, contractors, visitors) are required to leave buildings promptly upon activation of an evacuation alarm sounding or when instructed to do so by authorised personnel. Re-entry can only be authorised by emergency services personnel. This applies at all times. Failure to comply with directions to leave the building, failure to comply with any other directions or abuse of wardens or other emergency personnel whilst performing their duties can result in disciplinary action.

Specific mention of this is made in Statute 17 as an example of Student Misconduct – refer item 13 under ‘Action likely to cause injury or impair safety on University premises’ at: http://www.uwa.edu.au/students/current/assistance/student_discipline/regulations/examples

Bicycle Helmets

Under the WA Road Traffic Code 2000 bicycle riders face prosecution (1 penalty point = $50) if not wearing an approved and fitted protective helmet on roads and paths. Refer: http://www.dpi.wa.gov.au/cycling/1976.asp University staff who use bicycles for work purposes should be provided with protective helmets and should wear them at all times whilst cycling.

New WorkSafe WA Codes of Practice

WorkSafe WA has issued the following new Codes.

Code of Practice on Working Hours

Refer: http://www.worksafe.wa.gov.au/newsite/worksafe/pages/codegenl0002.html

Code of Practice on Violence, Aggression and Bullying at Work

Refer: http://www.worksafe.wa.gov.au/newsite/worksafe/pages/codeviol0001.html

Work areas are requested to become familiar with these codes and assess whether sufficient controls and practices are currently in place to ensure legal compliance and protection of staff, students and others under their control and care.

A code of practice is defined in the Act as a document prepared for the purpose of providing practical guidance on acceptable ways of achieving compliance with statutory duties and regulatory requirements. Codes of practice should be followed, unless there is another solution which achieves the same or better result; and can be used to support prosecution for non-compliance.

New Changes to Resuscitation Guidelines

In March 2006 the Australian Resuscitation Council (ARC) released updated guidelines, which are expected to be implemented by the end of 2006. The current practices should not be considered to be either ineffective or unsafe.

In general the main guideline changes are:

Any attempt at resuscitation is better than no attempt
Interruptions to compressions should be minimised
Compressions should be delivered faster and push harder
Over ventilation should be avoided
A defibrillator should be attached and used as soon as possible

Changes to Basic Life Support include:

The compression ventilation ratio is now 30:2 (30 compressions to 2 ventilations) for infants, children and adults
The same compression / ventilation ratio applies regardless of the number of rescuers
The term ‘Rescue Breathing’ has replaced the term expired air resuscitation (EAR)
Rescue breathing is no longer a stand alone technique and is part of CPR. As the pulse check is not used to identify the need for chest compressions (this was previously removed in 2000), CPR – rescue breathing and chest compressions – are given to all victims requiring resuscitation
No signs of life equals: unconscious (unresponsive), not breathing normally and not moving. When there are no signs of life present then the rescuer should commence CPR
Methods of finding the lower half of the sternum – the rescuer should visualise the ‘centre of the chest’ and compress at that point. There is no need to measure or remeasure in order to determine the location point for chest compressions
Give two initial breaths instead of five breaths
Compress the chest at the rate of 100 compressions per minute
Ignore the number of compression / ventilation cycles per minute
Increased emphasis on the importance of defibrillation as part of Basic Life Support

The above and similar information for Advanced Life Support, Defibrillation Emergency Levels and Paediatric Life Support can be found on the ARC web site at: http://www.resus.org.au/

Computer workstation ergonomic assessments and supply of equipment

The Occupational Therapists in Safety and Health undertake approximately 450 assessments with staff and PhD students per year. Following assessment, the staff member may require equipment which normally would be supplied by Safety and Health, with the area reimbursing the cost once it is established that the equipment is suitable. Please note that UWA internal mail service no longer deliver bulky equipment such as chairs, footrests and over keyboard shelves (essentially any item that does not fit into an envelope).

Safety and Health engage Facilities Management workshops to deliver and arrange any pick ups on Thursday mornings, charged at $45 per hour. This means that each delivery costs more, approximately $10-15 per delivery (previously the cost was $5 through the UWA Mail Service).
We recommend that if a person who is assessed requires equipment that can be purchased from the University's preferred supplier Corporate Express, it is best to arrange purchase directly. Delivery from Corporate Express is free and ordering can be done on line, refer: https://netxpress.biz/
Staff are encouraged to come to Safety and Health (currently in the Basement, North West wing of the Central Administration building) and pick up light items, such as documents holders.
Difficult to obtain equipment, not available through Corporate Express can still be supplied by Safety and Health but will incur a delivery fee. We are still mindful of obtaining cheaper prices via ordering in bulk e.g. Z rest footrests and over keyboard shelves.
Specific order chairs will be delivered directly to the local area, not delivered initially to Safety and Health by the supplier.

Assistance with accommodations/adjustments and assisting staff return to work after injury/illness

Some areas may not be aware that Safety and Health Occupational Therapists can assist staff with non work related injury or diseases. Some of the things that we get involved in are:-

Providing adjustable leg rests if a staff member needs to keep their leg elevated e.g. following knee surgery or breaking their leg.
Developing agreed and documented working arrangements using sick leave or other leave entitlements flexibly to accommodate a graduated return to work, or manage illness.
Counselling in relation to adjustment to illness or disability.
Making recommendations about fitness to undertake tasks e.g. after a suffering a back injury.
Providing pressure cushions or foam wedge cushions e.g. after hip replacement surgery, fractured coccyx, haemorrhoids.

For further information contact Averil Riley, Senior Occupational Therapist, on 6488 2784 or email averil.riley@uwa.edu.au

Update on the allocation of wheelchairs and the Use of Wheelchairs policy

UWA has seven (7) wheelchairs located across the Crawley campus. These are for non-emergency situations when a person needs to be transported to a car or to the UWA Medical Centre due to illness or injury and being unable to walk. Please read the policy and have a copy of this in your First Aid boxes. Refer: http://www.safety.uwa.edu.au/policies/use_of_wheelchairs

If a School/Area area wishes to have a wheelchair and does not feel that the current location of wheelchairs meets their requirements, please contact Averil Riley. Someone in the area needs to be willing to be the contact person for the chair; be willing to maintain it and there must be room in the area/School to store it securely. The wheelchairs are centrally funded.

Adjustments and accommodations for staff with disabilities

Safety and Health in conjunction with Equity and Diversity (both sections being part of Human Resources) have been successful in obtaining additional funds ($25,000) to assist with providing accommodations and equipment on an individual case basis to areas who employ staff with disabilities. The underpinning principle is that the area should not be expected to fund things over and above what is usually provided to staff. There is no definitive list of what can be provided, but the sorts of things provided to date have been:-

Adjustable height desk for a staff member needing to sit at a higher surface when working due to severe degenerative arthritis.
Specialised seating. (N.B traditional ergonomic seating, fit balls and kneel sit chairs will not be funded - these are generally provided to many staff already).
Specialised pressure cushions.
Subsidy on travel to get to and from work when unable to drive due to sudden and temporary injury.

In the future we expect that the funds will be used fairly innovatively for services such as providing rewards (book vouchers) to students to assist staff with minor chores e.g. carrying equipment if the staff member has a disability or back injury. Situations where it is not feasible to employ someone for a few minutes work, but is vital to assist the staff member manage at work. For further information contact Averil Riley, Senior Occupational Therapist on 6488 2784 or email averil.riley@uwa.edu.au

Access to blue parking bays at UWA

The blue disabled parking bays are available to staff and students who:-

1) have an ACROD parking permit (refer: http://www.acrod.org.au/ ); or

2) have a UWA temporary disability parking permit. (Staff and students have separate permits).

Temporary disability parking permits require a letter of approval from the Student Disability Service Officers in Student Services (for students), or the Senior Occupational Therapist or Manager of Equity and Diversity (for staff). The letter is presented to UniPark. (Normal fees for parking still apply). The intention is that these permits are for short durations and the person does not have an ACROD sticker. (For the longer term, they are expected to arrange to get an ACROD sticker). The issue of permits is for situations in which the person has a mobility problem and is unable to walk the distance that they would usually be required to walk if they were to park in the normal staff or student parking bays. The person must have a disability, which can be temporary or permanent. Written medical evidence of the impairment/disability is required for students; for staff, medical evidence may be requested at the discretion of the Senior Occupational Therapist or Manager of Equity and Diversity. For further information contact Averil Riley, Senior Occupational Therapist.

RMIT

In May 2006 it was widely reported about a potential cancer cluster amongst Royal Melbourne Institute of technology (RMIT) employees working on levels 16 and 17 of Building 108 (in Bourke Street, Melbourne). An OHS assessment of the two floors by Southern Medical Services Pty Ltd (SMS) has found no evidence of a cluster of tumours. The SMS report details the existence of seven malignant tumours (including one brain tumour), but says this is only slightly above the expected number (6.75) produced using Victorian Cancer Registry figures, and so is not statistically significant. Combined with the benign tumours (six, including three brain tumours), the overall number is significant but the report attributes this to under-reporting of benign tumours to the Cancer Registry, which has led to an underestimate of the expected numbers. The report says the existence of 10 different tumour types "argues against a single causative agent".

It also says that while known and potential carcinogens have been identified on levels 16 and 17 of the building, "the levels of these agents were very low and well within accepted published safe levels". Refer: http://mams.rmit.edu.au/qksf6vzgv4hyz.pdf

New Occupational Hygiene Report Guide

The Australian Institute of Occupational Hygienists (AIOH) has released a guide into writing occupational hygiene reports. This guide is useful for hygienists but also shows what clients should expect from such a report. It is available for download at http://www.aioh.org.au/downloads/documents/AIOH_OHReportGuideline.pdf

University Safety Committee

The USC last met on Tuesday 8^{th August.}

Approved minutes from previous meetings are available from the Safety and Health website.

Copies of previous newsletters can be obtained from the following web site: http://www.safety.uwa.edu.au/newsletter

The University of Western Australia
Safety and Health M450
Bus. 08 6488 3938
Fax. 08 6488 1179
Web: www.safety.uwa.edu.au
Email: safety@uwa.edu.au
F1139

Safety and Health Newsletter - August 2006