WorkSafe has announced a blitz on the takeaway food industry this financial year.
Inspectors will randomly target workplaces in metropolitan and regional WA, to ensure they meet workplace health and safety standards.
Where workplaces don’t comply, they may be given verbal directions or improvement or prohibition notices.
We run through the things you can do to ensure you comply.
Your responsibilities
Under workplace health and safety laws, you have a duty to ensure a safe environment for your workers.
This includes regularly maintaining equipment so it works safely and efficiently, rectifying any defects and taking precautions to minimise the risk of accidents occurring.
WorkSafe’s role is to reduce workplace injuries and fatalities by assessing the risks in workplaces and working to eliminate hazards.
CCIWA Senior Workplace Health and Safety Practitioner Rachael Lincoln says the takeaway food industry employed a large proportion of new and young workers.
"These workers are more likely to be injured on the job so need a higher level of supervision,” she explains.
“Ensure your onboarding process provides a thorough induction into workplace safety, and communicates the health and safety knowledge they need.”
What are the risks?
If risks associated with takeaway food aren’t managed, it can result in serious injuries and harm to health.
WorkSafe will focus on areas where workplace injuries can occur, including:
- Manual tasks;
- Slips;
- Trips;
- Falls;
- Electricity;
- Working at heights;
- Mobile plant;
- Vehicles;
- Machine guarding; and
- Hazardous substances.
How to mitigate the risks
WorkSafe has compiled a checklist to help you inspect your own workplace, which covers the priorities identified for their inspections.
As you go through the checklist, you should add any other hazards you spot.
The items where you tick ‘no’ need to be addressed.
If a hazard falls into the high or extreme risk category, based on your view of how likely the hazard is to cause an injury, you need to fix it straight away.
What next?
More information about the WorkSafe blitz can be found via its newsletter.
CCIWA’s workplace health and safety experts deliver training, including the Introduction to Safety course, which covers many of the topics above.
Register for our training courses here.
CCIWA is here to help your business.
For advice and guidance on workplace issues contact the Employee Relations Advice Centre on (08) 9365 7660 or [email protected].
WorkSafe has announced a blitz on the takeaway food industry this financial year.
Inspectors will randomly target workplaces in metropolitan and regional WA, to ensure they meet workplace health and safety standards.
Where workplaces don’t comply, they may be given verbal directions or improvement or prohibition notices.
We run through the things you can do to ensure you comply.
Your responsibilities
Under workplace health and safety laws, you have a duty to ensure a safe environment for your workers.
This includes regularly maintaining equipment so it works safely and efficiently, rectifying any defects and taking precautions to minimise the risk of accidents occurring.
WorkSafe’s role is to reduce workplace injuries and fatalities by assessing the risks in workplaces and working to eliminate hazards.
