Forklift Safety for Venues and Events

According to the National Occupational Health & Safety Commission, 200 deaths and 70,000 compensation claims involve workplace machinery, tools, appliances and equipment each year in Australia. Mobile equipment includes forklifts, cranes, and elevated work platforms. They require special licensing for operators, registration as mobile plant, and stringent operating procedures when in use. Public venue and event organisers regularly use forklifts for materials handling. This short video helps explain why a high level of safety awareness is important.

Educational Institutions and Reputational Risk

The Australian newspaper recently reported that the Indian student market is showing early signs of collapse, with the recruitment body IDP Education Australia reporting an 80 per cent fall in appointments by students at its 14 Indian offices. A severe fall in applications from Indian students for training diplomas and certificates would lead to widespread closures in the vocational sector of the type seen in Sydney and Melbourne over the past fortnight. IDP chief executive Tony Pollock yesterday conceded that a “head-count” survey conducted late last month had revealed an 80 per cent decline in visits from prospective students to the organisation’s Indian offices. The Indian market is the sector’s biggest growth area but is under threat amid the fall-out from a spate of assaults on Indian students and revelations that students are being exploited by unscrupulous private colleges and fraudulent agents.

These recent revelations demonstrate the implications of reputational risks that can affect educational institutions. Although some areas cannot be mitigated; an appropriate Risk Management approach to their reputational risk can assist a University or College in continuing to attract and retain overseas students.

Council Specific Risk Assessment Approach

As reported by the Age newspaper; a father who drowned trying to save his two young sons from drowning after they fell from a NSW south coast wharf has been recommended for a posthumous bravery award. In addition, the coroner investigating the deaths recommended the local council improve safety at Tathra Wharf, near Bega, in light of community fears another tragedy could occur.

A nearby fisherman, Robert George Brown, risked his life by also jumping into the water after the trio. In a statement tendered to the inquest, Mr Brown said he jumped in because there were no life-saving devices on the wharf. The magistrate’s at the inquest recommendation was that Bega Valley Shire Council be given copies of Mr Brown’s statement, police statements and Surf Life Saving NSW statements and a letters from Mr O’Neill’s family, which all addressed the safety issues on the wharf.

Bega MP Andrew Constance noted that he backed the bravery award recommendation and requested the NSW government to work with Bega Council to ensure a safety upgrade at the wharf. “Given the fact it’s now promoted as a regional tourist icon, all recommendations must be considered … be that railings, be that additional ladders … so that we can avoid any similar tragedy in the future,” he told reporters in Sydney.

As identified by Mr Constance the council owned area is a tourist attraction and should be risk assessed accordingly. Public areas require a risk assessment approach which specifically considers the unique challenges faced by councils.

To Mosh or Not to Mosh? : That is the Question

The risk of injury from moshing and crowd surfing at music festivals and concerts is well documented. Moshing involves close physical contact in the front of house area in front of a band: “the mosh pit.” Participants in the mosh pit push, pull, shove, slam and bounce off one another to the music. Crowd surfing involves passing audience members above the heads of other moshers toward the stage. Since 2000 moshing has been becoming increasingly less popular amongst public venues and music festivals because of its high risk of injury, and not without due cause. A study in 2000 conducted at a 4 day music festival, attended by over 60,000 people found that over 1,500 medical incidents were reported during the festival. The festival encountered numerous incidents resulting from moshing, crowd surfing and stage diving. 37 % of all incidents related directly to moshing. 2.5% of all treatments required hospital transporting, and of those, 74% were mosh pit related. (American Journal of Emergency Medicine 2000;18:62-63).

These statistics demonstrate the importance of strictly enforced risk management plans relating to the event and stage floor layout, and close consideration of the type of acts who are performing. It also highlights the importance of carefully planned medical care that is commensurate on the expected injury types and numbers.

Teenager Shot with Nail Gun

As reported by the The Age newspaper today, a teenager attending a trade school in Melbourne was accidentally shot in the back with a nail gun. Paramedics found the 18-year-old youth with a 4.5cm nail lodged into the centre of his back. Apparently, the accident happened as another student was firing the nail gun into a wall in a construction industries class. It was reported by paramedics at the scene that the nail inadvertently went through the wall then all the way into the youths back, at the middle around his spine. The student was taken to The Alfred hospital in a stable condition about 9.30am with the nail still in his back.

This incident raises the question of what Safety Management Systems are appropriate to implement in school venues? There are many precautions and safety procedures required for using powered equipment on construction sites. Given the age and relative inexperience of students, there are arguably even more risks that arise in a school learning venue when using similar equipment. While it is unclear as to the causes of this particular incident, safety procedures of the school should exist for all construction and maintenance equipment, particularly those that are powered. These should address the appropriate level of qualifications and experience of instructing teachers, site awareness, use of personal protective equipment, pre-start checks, instructions on loading and operating the equipment and relevant risks.

Published by Reliance Risk - the Risk Management Consultants

Children at Zoo Taken to Hospital After Chemical Incident

An incident on the 9th June involving school children on excursion to Dubbo’s Western Plains Zoo, highlights the importance of chemical safety and risk assessment for public venues and school excursions. The incident involved over 130 Sydney school children being taken to hospital for treatment after it was alleged rainwater mixed with disinfectants used to clean the students bicycle helmets, washed into their eyes. A spokesperson from the zoo was reported in today’s Sydney Morning Herald website as saying “we’ve used that agent for four years without incident … and we had other groups of children out in the rain this week.” The incident continues to be investigated by the zoo.

All chemicals should be used strictly in accordance with directions provided in the product’s Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS). Risk assessments for school excursions should consider all foreseeable safety risks and medical response procedures.

Pigs and Crisis Management II

As reported by Department of Health and Aging on 4th June 2009, the total number of confirmed H1N1 09 (Human Swine Flu) cases in Australia has now increased to 633. The state of Victoria has over three-quarters of these confirmed cases and have subsequently raised its pandemic alert level from “contain” to a “modified sustain” phase.

Federal Health Minister Nicola Roxon is reported in the media to have stated that “Victoria is moving to a new level of risk”. Technically, this upgraded alert would enable government bans on public gatherings; such as sports events, entertainment venues, and community programs. However, the good news for the Venues and Events Industry is that the minister is also reported to have stated that the “modified sustain phase will not yet impact on public events and gatherings” She defended the decision not to cancel events, including the recent State of Origin game, confirming that she been advised that mass outdoor public events did not pose any particular risk.

Instead of the ban of events and public gatherings, Victorian authorities identified methods to manage risks appropriately. They have demonstrated this by targeting those people at highest risk such as children and elderly. Media have reported that hundreds of children and teachers who attended the recent State of Origin game in Victoria have been requested to stay home in quarantine for a week. Similar restrictions have already been in place for students and teachers returning from South America, North America and Japan.

To the delight of fans, the State of Origin game continued with appropriate controls which identified high risk patrons. This serves as a timely reminder that the events and venues industry is looking into the face of a crisis situation of a pending pandemic, however until then there are operational controls including provision of information, isolation of high risk groups and appropriately resourced medical response teams.

More information can be found at the following linked sites:

Work Cover link:
http://www.workcover.nsw.gov.au/OHS/WorkCoversRoleinOHS/OHSResponsibilities/Pages/influenza_pandemic.aspx

Office of Industrial Relations link:
http://www.industrialrelations.nsw.gov.au/Employers/Employer_responsibilities/Swine_flu_be_ready_to_deal_with_workplace_impacts.html

Department of Health link:
http://www.health.wa.gov.au/swine_flu/home/