Injuries by machinery are happening too often

There has been an awful lot of stories in the media lately about people being injured in the workplace when operating unsafe machinery. In many of these cases, the worker suffered significant injuries that left them permanently disfigured, and in some cases even resulted in death. Subsequently, the employer was fined hundreds of thousands of dollars for failing to maintain its machinery to a safe standard.

The reality is, this is all avoidable.

It should go without saying that any machinery and equipment being used on a work site must be maintained regularly and checked properly every time it is used. But this clearly isn’t happening to the level it should be, which to us indicates two things:

• the employer may not be carrying out a robust enough machinery maintenance programme, and
• workers may not be receiving adequate training prior to operating machinery.  

Machinery maintenance is paramount

The number one priority for an employer should always be health and safety over and above meeting production targets. This includes ensuring the machinery workers are using is safe and does not expose them to unnecessary risk. No business wants to see its workers injured, nor have to pay huge fines in reparation. Having a solid maintenance and compliance system in place is critical and should save businesses money by catching faults and problems before they become dangerous and expensive.

Training keeps workers safe

The second critical element is ensuring the people operating machinery are properly trained, not just in how to use the machinery but also how to conduct thorough pre-checks prior to use. The courses run at Axiom Training covers pre-checks, demonstrating the correct procedures for ensuring equipment is compliant and safe to operate.

Verification of compliance/competency

Axiom Training can help with setting up verification of compliance (for machinery) and competency/currency (for workers) systems that ensure machinery standards are maintained properly and workers receive regular, ongoing training.

Speak to an Axiom account manager to discuss in more detail.