1. University Safety Committee
2. Th!nkSafe Magazine - October is Safe Work Month
3. UWA Safety and Health Online Modules on LMS
4. Manager/Supervisor Risk Assessment Toolkit
5. Safety Awareness - Slips, Trips and Falls
6. UWA S&H Risk Register
7. Chemical Corner - DON'T just breathe! - Dr Laurton McGurk
8. UWA COVID-19 Posters and Templates
9. Events at UWA
10. RiskWare - Online Hazard and Incident Reporting - Training
11. Previous Safety and Health Newsletters

University Safety Committee

The University Safety Committee last met on Wednesday 14th July 2021. The next meeting is to be held on Wednesday 19th October 2021.
Approved minutes from previous meetings are available from the Safety, Health and Wellbeing website. https://www.safety.uwa.edu.au/management/committees/usc/usc  

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Th!nkSafe Magazine - October is Safe Work Month

WorkSafe Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety have an online resource - Th!nkSafe Magazine.

Of particular interest is the chapter on ‘Progress on WA’s new Work Health and Safety Laws’ on pages 8-9 of the September issue:
https://issuu.com/dmirs_wa/docs/211108_nl_thinksafe_sep21  
Please take the time to read this article and acquaint yourself with the changes.

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Online Safety online modules now available on LMS

All UWA staff members have been designated one of four S&H Training modules reflective of their role at UWA i.e. Staff member, Manager/Supervisor, Senior Leader e.g. Head of School, Executive, Director etc.
More information is on the following web page:
https://www.safety.uwa.edu.au/induction-and-training/new-uwa-s-and-h-lms-online-training-modules-july-2021  

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Manager/Supervisor Risk Assessment Toolkit

A list of templates have been developed to assist all Managers/Supervisors and Staff across UWA in being able to consistently undertake risk assessment and investigations; and to document local safe systems of work.
https://www.safety.uwa.edu.au/management/managersupervisor-risk-assessment-toolkit

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Safety Awareness - Slips, Trips and Falls

[email protected]

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UWA S&H Risk Register

A new S&H Risk register has been developed to identify and control risks.
A local area risk register template is also available for population by all UWA Schools, Research Groups and Business Units.
https://www.safety.uwa.edu.au/management/risk-register  

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Chemical Corner - DON'T just breathe! - Dr Laurton McGurk

RPE or respiratory protective equipment has a long and strange history.
In Roman times you’d slap an animal bladder on your face in the hope it would filter out nasties as you breathed through it.
Leonardo da Vinci favoured a wet cloth; perhaps he was out of animal bladders.
Crude respirators appeared in the 1880s, but their use was voluntary even when working in dangerously polluted sites.
WWI chemical weapons forced the improvement of respiratory protection. Fit testing was developed along with an awareness that one size (or shape) does NOT fit all.
Technology improved for the battlefield found peacetime uses in mining, firefighting, chemical and allied industries. In WW2 gasmasks were supplied for everyone, even babies.
Unfortunately many WW2-era masks used asbestos but they worked against many gases.
Advances in RPE added drinking tubes, voice transmitters, and a short-lived resuscitation tube. More sizes and shapes became available. Filters, speakers, pumps, lights, and whistles are all options you can choose today. Respirators still aren’t super comfy though some are strangely stylish.
When needed slap one on your face….unless you’d rather use an animal bladder!

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UWA COVID-19 Posters and Templates

Useful posters and template below:

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Events at UWA

With activities on Campus returning to standard operations there are requests for how to run events in the current climate.

The latest version of the UWA Covid-19 Events Checklist:

Event notifications must be made at least 10 working days BEFORE the scheduled event to ensure they can be properly reviewed. Event Notification Form

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RiskWare - Online Hazard and Incident Reporting - Training

Training at your location is available by request - contact Alex Scholz

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Previous Safety, Health and Wellbeing Newsletters

For those who have missed out on our earlier editions, copies of previous newsletters can be obtained from the following web site: https://www.safety.uwa.edu.au/news/newsletters . All are encouraged to distribute relevant safety information in your workplaces.

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