OSH Policy
April 22nd, 2004 at 10:59 pm by David FarrarHaving recently become an employer, I have been spending my nights reading through stacks of government publications ranging from GST Guides, to Payroll regulations and finally got up to the OSH regulations.
I managed to work my way through all 141 pages of the short guide to the Act, and realise that one could not use common sense any more, and I needed to have a written policy on accident and emergency procedures.
Below is the e-mail setting out the policy, as required by law:
Under the Health and Safety in Employment Act 1992, I am required to keep employees informed of five things, being:
1. Emergency procedures
2. Hazards employee may be exposed to
3. Hazards employees may create
4. How to minimize hazards
5. Safety equipment and facilities
EMERGENCY PROCEDURES
If there is an earthquake, hope it is below a 7.5 on the Richter Scale.
If there is a fire, please put it out if you can do so safely. We prefer you do not start fires in the first place.
If it is dangerous to stay in the building, then leave the building and assemble outside.
It is recommended that you do not use the lifts during an emergency. Actually it is recommended that you do not use the lifts at all when possible as they have a nasty habit of closing on body limbs. We have mentioned this to the building owner who recommends one doesn
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April 22nd, 2004 at 11:05 pm
just ignore it, everybody else does.
Vote:April 22nd, 2004 at 11:23 pm
Your nuclear explosion policy is flawed. The standard practice in case of a nuclear explosion is to place your head between your legs and kiss your sweet arse goodbye.
–Peter Metcalfe
Vote:April 24th, 2004 at 1:04 am
Government’s placed between a rock and a hard place on this front. You mad buggars sit around, pointing fingers, and asking questions like “whatever happened to plain old commonsense”.
Nothing happened to it, but commonsense differs between employers, and the government is entrusted with protecting everyone. So, that means standards need to be set and upheld. I’ve a pretty good idea that operating a forklift without a licence is a bloody stupid thing to do, but that doesn’t mean everyone else does. Government’s answer, as its only true power, is to legislate those common-sense practices.
You meet these standards everywhere. I’ve lived (and worked) in Sweden and Holland, and a quick glance reveals they’re universal principles enshrined in law. Part of running a business means you have to steer yourself through all this legislation. It’s not easy, but then who said life was?
The alternative is leaving it up to the employer. Sorry, but that
Vote:April 24th, 2004 at 8:07 am
You can make it illegal to operate a forklift without a licence without incurring such compliance costs on small businesses that it provides a disincentive to actually create jobs.
The problem is the one size fits all approach. A small clerical based office of six staff for example is totally different to running a meat processing works where risks are far more substantial.
I am not arguing aginst there being OSH standards – that is a red herring. I am making the point that expecting small business owners such as a dairy owner with two staff or a clerical based firm with five staff generally do not have the ability and/or time to read 142 pages of regulations themselves, or the money to pay lawyers to do it for them.
I am lucky. I understand legislation. In my nights and evening I can make my way through the literally thousands of pages of laws, regulations and guides I need to know to operate within the law. Just finished the GST Guide. Working out the difference between entertainment tax and fringe benefit tax was not fun.
Having increased the mortgage on my apartment to helpo fund the setup of my venture, I certainly can’t afford to pay lawyers and accountants tens of thousands of dollars to do all this stuff for me.
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