University Safety Awards 2002

1. The Awards

The UWA Safety Awards acknowledge the contributions made to occupational safety and health at the University by Faculties, Schools, Sections and also individuals. It also facilitates the sharing of these approaches and achievements between different work areas.

History

This is the fourth year the awards have been presented on behalf of the University Safety Committee. These 2002 awards are for activities and achievements made since 2001.

Sponsorship

The University greatly appreciates the kind sponsorship provided for the UWA Safety Awards by the University Co-operative Bookshop.

Requirements

Written submissions were required. The deadline for both categories was 23rd August 2002.

Selection Panel

A selection panel met and decided on both awards. Members of the selection panel were:

• Dr Allan McKinley, Chair, University Safety Committee
• Mr Bob Farrelly, Director, Human Resources
• Mr Russell Candy, Director, Facilities Management
• Mr Mike Rafferty, Manager, Safety and Health, UWA Safety and Health
• Ms Averil Riley, Senior Occupational Therapist, UWA Safety and Health

Presentations

A presentation function was held in the Prescott Room, Vice-Chancellery on Tuesday 8th October 2002. The master of ceremonies was Dr Allan McKinley, Chair of the University Safety Committee. Professor Alan Robson, Deputy Vice-Chancellor presented the awards.

Winners for both categories received gift vouchers sponsored by the University Cooperative Bookshop. An article on the UWA Safety Awards will also appear in UWA News.

2. Group Safety Award

The Group Safety Award acknowledges best practice approaches and achievements in occupational safety and health management by Faculties, Schools or Sections.

Faculties, Schools and Sections were restricted to 3,000 words (5 page) submissions (attachments permitted) based on criteria used by the WorkSafe Plan from WorkSafe WA. The five elements and standards used were:

Nominations were required by 23rd August 2002. Copies of all submissions were then circulated to all participants and the finalists offered the opportunity to resubmit their submissions by 28th September 2002. Some applicants either resubmitted or provided additional supporting materials.

In considering the nominations the different circumstances of the nominated areas and the extent and significance of the systems approach and safety achievements made were taken into account.

The finalists for the Group Safety Award were:

• Animal Care Unit, Research Services
• Library
• Facilities Management - Workshops
• Soil Science and Plant Nutrition
• Student Guild

The winner of the Group Award was the Student Guild.

Noteworthy aspects of their nomination included:

• Presented with a ‘Special Award of Achievement for best practice approaches and achievements in occupational safety and health’ - UWA Safety Awards 2001
• Has developed its own risk management policy and system in which the Student Guild is committed to manage its ‘operations to ensure that staff, students, customers and members of the public are only exposed to negligible risk to their safety’
• Has an established OSH Committee with terms of reference, membership including the Guild President, Managing Director, Finance Director, Catering Director and Guild Safety and Health Representative. The committee meets monthly and more frequently if required. It is a sub committee of the Guild’s Finance and Planning Committee.
• Risk assessments are incorporated into the Guild’s annual business planning and in items considered at OSH committee
• During 2002 the Student Guild achieved Food Safe accreditation for all of its catering outlets. The Guild has also received unsolicited comments of praise from the City of Subiaco and City of Nedlands. An ongoing Food Safe training program for staff supports this program. The Guild has also invested substantial capital funds towards the purchase of a refrigerated catering vehicle.
• Appointment of an external specialist contractor to ensure first aid supplies are fully stocked at all times. Requirement that other contractors comply with the UWA contractor safety and health policy and procedures, including inductions.
• Proactively resourcing OSH needs such as ergonomic chairs, safety steps, hydraulic trolley, improved safety signage, and safety designed kitchen appliances
• Development of key OSH performance indicators and benchmarking for management and improvement 
• Guild tavern staff trained in the responsible service of liquor and the patron harm minimisation plan (crowd control, service practices, ‘skipper’ program)
• Safety induction training where new staff are introduced to the principles of consultation and encouraged to speak up and be involved in safety and other matters
• Conduct of own root cause analysis after incidents to supplement the UWA Incident / Injury Report Form
• Management of on going concerns in relation to the use of Cameron Hall by student clubs – including tenancy agreements, regular meetings and inspections
• Has a training plan which includes safety inductions for new staff, critical incident response for directors, risk management principles and practices training for staff and students, safety specific training (emergency procedures, personal safety, fire extinguisher, manual handling, knife handling) and evaluation of training to ensure it can be practically applied 

Guild Catering – including Ryan Batchelor (Guild President), Brad McManus (Managing Director), Francois Leunberger (Executive Chef and Functions Co-ordinator, Winner of UWA Individual Safety Award 2002) and Evan Battalis (Catering Director).

A Special Certificate of Achievement was given to the Animal Care Unit, Research Services for its conscientious approach to developing safe work practices.
Noteworthy aspects of their nomination included:

• Finalist - UWA Safety Awards 2001
• Safety issues are a standing agenda item at the following meetings: weekly management, fortnightly Technician in Charge and monthly Animal Care Unit (ACU) staff meetings. Safety related items are raised, allocated and monitored through to completion.
• Extensive planning for new UWA Small Animal facilities, which will contain state of the art workplaces and work procedures to eliminate or reduce safety and health hazards, such as physical, chemical and biological hazards, including reducing the risks from the development of laboratory animal allergies
• Extensive work in 2002 to develop and document for use by staff and facility users ACU Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), which have a significant safety and health component
• Development of disciplinary actions in the event of non compliance with SOPs and safety and health related procedures
• Development of ACU web site with SOPs on at: http://www.acu.uwa.edu.au
• Extensive Animal Care Unit user and safety related training such as: 2 day compulsory Programme in Animal Welfare, Ethics and Science (PAWES) course (attended by 120-150 persons each year) and comprehensive New Staff Starter Pack

Left to right – Cassie Pilgrim, Sally Larder, Geoff Billiewicz

A Special Certificate of Achievement was given to the Library for maintaining and continuously improving high standards of occupational safety and health management.
Noteworthy aspects of their nomination included:

• Presented with a ‘Special Award for Management Commitment’ – UWA Safety Awards 1999
• Has an active OSH Committee which meets every 6 weeks to identify safety issues, assigns responsibilities and monitor follow up actions
• Active management of all reported incidents and injuries and awareness raising of lessons learned to all Library personnel
• All workstations are ergonomically designed and adjusted for all new employees
• Introduction in 2001 of RSI Guard monitors, computer software which enforces rest and exercise breaks of workstation users
• Conclusion in 2002 of a 5 years replacement program for older style trolleys. The new trolleys are much more ergonomically sound and were designed in house with assistance from a professional ergonomist. Total cost of the program was $70,000.
• Creation of a comprehensive Safety and Health Handbook for all new and existing staff, serving as a handy reference guide for safety and health related matters
• Site specific emergency procedures for all libraries and appointment of five First Aid Officers to ensure first aid cover is provided for all of these
• Training of 37 Building and Area Wardens for University Libraries
• Establishment of a training matrix for all staff positions, which includes safety and health related training needs
• Rigorous safety inductions of all new Library staff, with copies of these placed on the new employee’s personnel file

Left to right – Dorothy McIntosh, John Arfield, Peter Brown

Noteworthy aspects of the Facilities Management (FM) nomination included:

• Finalist - UWA Safety Awards 2001
• Responsible to ensure that the University built infrastructure is maintained in a safe and operational manner
• Three layers of safety responsibility: own conduct whether constructing or maintaining facilities, management of contractors on campus and also overseeing the safe operation of buildings and services to protect users and members of the public
• Safety issues raised, incident reports reviewed and action plans monitored for progress at weekly staff meetings
• Safety inductions for new staff and contractors with specialist safety training (fall protection, permit to work, drivers / operators, emergency response) as required
• Regular hazard inspections including monthly inspections, tagging system for all electrical equipment, purchase of manual handling equipment and weekly clean up of work areas to maintain good housekeeping standards
• Safety skills audit being undertaken to identify shortfalls in skills and safety knowledge. All training is recorded.
• Committed to achieving highest possible safety standards and continuously improving

Noteworthy aspects of the Soil Science and Plant Nutrition nomination included:

• Presented with an ‘Outstanding Achievement Award’ - UWA Safety Awards 2000
• Active Safety Committee since 1999 with representatives from each research group and other departmental staff who are actively engaged in the daily running of the laboratories
• Safety Committee meets every three months to raise and action safety issues
• Safety is a standing item on the agenda of the Soils Executive Committee
• Departmental Safety Forums are held twice a year, as part of the regular Departmental Research Seminars programme
• Safety Committee conducts regular safety audits of all work areas within the department, generally within the busiest times of the year
• Requirement that all new staff members, post graduate and third year students complete a UWA Laboratory Safety course
• Active hazardous substances management with electronic register of chemicals, provision of material safety data sheets and annual clean up of unwanted chemicals
• A current focus is to ensure risk assessments for work procedures are carried out and documented
• Emergency procedures on the web at: http://www.earth.uwa.edu.au/

3. Individual Safety Award

The Individual Safety Award is to acknowledge outstanding contributions by individual University and associated employees in establishing and maintaining high standards of occupational safety and health activities and achievements within the University.

The contributions to workplace safety may be at a University, Faculty, School or Section level and have occurred or were maintained since 2001. Evaluation took into account the different circumstances of the work areas.

Submissions were required by 23rd August 2002 and were restricted to 1,500 words (3 pages). The person being nominated or any other University employee (s) could prepare the nominations. In the latter, it was recommended that the person being nominated endorse the submission. The nominees were:

• Mr Jack Kirkness (FM) 
• Mr Francois Leunberger (Student Guild)
• Ms Jo Silver (Research Services)

The winner of the Individual Safety Award was Mr Francois Leunberger (Student Guild). He received a framed certificate and gift voucher sponsored by the University Co-operative Bookshop.

Noteworthy aspects of the nomination for Francois Leunberger included:

• Safety and Health Representative in UWA Student Guild, member of Guild OSH Subcommittee and regular contributor to Safety Personnel meetings, Building Warden for main Guild building
• Active in identifying OSH improvement priority areas, setting targets and securing Guild management support for these, including incorporating the improvement plans within the Guild Business Plan
• Generated safety operation manuals for all Student Guild Catering outlets
• Champion of Food Safe accreditation, which the Student Guild obtained for all six catering outlets in 2002
• Is an accredited Workplace Trainer and has arranged safety related training within the Student Guild – safety inductions, safe manual handling, fire extinguisher training and in generally improving awareness amongst Student Guild staff on OSH matters and responsibilities
• Contributed significantly to the emergence of a safety culture within the Student Guild

Noteworthy aspects of the nomination for Mr Jack Kirkness (FM) included:

• Winner of UWA Individual Safety Award 2001
• Technical Officer, Facilities Management
• Safety and Health Representative in Facilities Management, member of University Safety Committee, regular contributor to Safety Personnel meetings, UWA Safety Seminars and University wide safety issues
• Provides ongoing leadership in Contractor Safety and Health management at the University 
• Complimentary feedback from participants of the Contractor Safety induction sessions as to the clear and concise method with which it was conducted
  Dedicated, professional and authoritative approach to matters of site safety and procedures
• Firm but fair and will not compromise where an issue of safety is evident

Noteworthy aspects of the nomination for Ms Jo Silver (Research Services) included:

• Safety and Health Representative in Research Services, backup SHR on University Safety Committee, regular contributor to Safety Personnel meetings and UWA Safety Seminars, Warden for Central Administrative building
• Active in workplace and University wide safety issues, such as pedestrian safety, safety signage, First Aid, workstation assessments and improvements within the University Grounds
• Keeps up to date with OSH legislation and information, University policies and procedures and communicates these to relevant work areas
• Preparing safety induction manual for administrative staff in own work areas (in progress)

October 2002 (F3005)