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Think Safe, Work Safe, Be Safe

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October is National Safe Work Month where every Australian worker is encouraged to do their part in building safer and healthier workplaces.

Safe Work Month is about everyone’s health and safety and is a reminder that it’s up to all of us to keep our workplaces safe. Australians spend one third of their lives at work and all employers have the responsibility to ensure they are safe, supported and well.

Being healthy and safe means being free from physical and psychological harm. No job should be unsafe and no death or injury is acceptable. A safe and healthy workplace benefits everyone.

The theme for National Safe Work Month this year is Think Safe, Work Safe, Be Safe.

Think safe is the first step to thinking about work health and safety, which covers the planning and forethought that employers must do to identify risks and maintain healthy and safe workplaces.

Work safe is about implementing work health and safety measures to manage risks including the practical steps you can take to reduce risk and avoid workplace incidents.

Be safe considers the ongoing process of managing and monitoring work health and safety risks – it is not a one off.

The mining industry has made significant improvements in health and safety over the last decade, reducing the incidence rates of both fatalities and serious injuries. However, the mining industry still has one of the highest rates of fatalities of any industry.

Inherent risks associated with working in the mining industry include body stressing, manual handling and musculoskeletal disorders, slips trips and falls, being hit by moving objects or machinery and working with high risk plant.

To keep our industry and our workplaces safe, it required everyone to be actively involved in identifying risks to health and safety and to be able to talk openly about health and safety concerns and then working together to find solutions.

A work environment where every person is encouraged to contribute to improving safety will benefit both the employer and worker. Workplaces that encourage a culture where everyone plays a hand in safety have been proven to improve decision-making about health and safety matters, help raise awareness about the risks in the workplace, contribute to positive working relationships, encourage issues to be raised early before things get worse and reduce the incidence of workers getting injured at work.

While National Safe Work Month is a great reminder for you to get active in improving safety at your workplace, never forget that every single day you go to work the most important thing you will do that day is to make sure you go home safe.

Find out more about National Safe Work Month at https://www.safeworkaustralia.gov.au/national-safe-work-month
Speak Up Save Lives
If you see something unsafe in your workplace but are hesitant to tell your boss or employer there is an anonymous way to raise safety concerns. The NSW Government Speak Up Save Lives app lets you report an unsafe work situation, while giving you the choice to remain anonymous. Download the app for free by searching ‘Speak Up Save Lives app’.

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