Safe Work Australia reports that 308 workers have been killed at work since 2017, and it has been indicated that 2019 may be the year that Western Australia adopts the new Work Health & Safety laws.
The Work, Health and Safety of workers and their clients is a vital cornerstone of any business operation. That’s why members of the public in retail environments may now be considered ‘Persons Conducting Business’ under new federal law.
The retail industry had been identified by WorkSafe WA as an industry with a high number of work related injuries. As a result WorkSafe WA inspectors undertook a broad scope audit of retail outlets in Perth and other regional areas of Western Australia, uncovering an alarming number of concerns relating to safety breaches in the areas of safety and emergency management. Out of 111 workplaces audited, a total of 254 improvement notices were issued with 28 verbal directions ordered. With a total of 60, the largest number of notices issued were regarding the lack of emergency precautions, such as evacuation diagrams not being developed, not clearly displayed or simply out of date.
Therefore, ensuring your emergency plan procedures are up to date and that your evacuation diagrams are valid and clearly displayed, is not only good business practice, it’s a necessity.
The new WHS laws now include the term “Persons Conducting Undertakings or Business [PCBU’s], this means that a business MUST ensure the Health and Safety of their customers whilst on their premises.
The Australian Standard for Occupational Health & Safety Management Systems is AS/NZS 4801. AS/NZS 4801 is traditionally the Australian Standard used to benchmark business operations or work premises in audits or following any incident relating in a breach of the OSH/ WHS Act. Under AS/ NZS 4801 any business or undertaking MUST identify any potential emergency situations and develop, implement and practice emergency preparedness and response procedures.
AS/NZS 3745-2010 “Planning for emergencies in facilities” then proceeds to outline in further detail how a business is expected to fulfil this requirement in more specific detail and this is where PRENSA EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT SERVICES can assist with ensuring business operations are compliant with the law and a safe working environment.
Should you have any questions regarding emergency plan procedures, evacuation diagrams or how changing legislation affects your business, please contact Prensa Emergency Management Services via Jeremy.barrett@prensa.com.au, Regional Manager Prensa Emergency Management Services or 0405 061 101.
PRENSA Emergency Management Services specialise in the audit, development and training of emergency management issues and is the chosen specialist for many federal government agencies and large retail outlets. They are able to develop, assist implementation and practice emergency management for any type of business undertaking no matter how large or small. Providing services in all States and Territories in Australia they can deliver specialised training sessions that are contextualised to individual requirements.
