Clax Trolley Blog

How to keep your staff Xmas Party in the spirit
With the silly season upon us, Christmas parties are either underway or imminent. As an employer the concept of a Christmas party is both a blessing and a burden. On the one hand it’s an opportunity to punctuate the end of the year with a festive full stop, build morale and solidify relationships. On the other it’s an equally large opportunity to turn the end of the year into a legal and HR nightmare. So how do you walk the tinsel tightrope without getting a red nose?

Balancing revelry with risk
Any event involving alcohol is, in a word, unpredictable. The key to minimising the unpredictability and its resultant risk is to do a complete risk assessment of the event in much the same way you’d assess safety on your factory floor. Analyse all the possible outcomes – drunkenness, unruly behaviour, bullying, fights, breakages, sexual harassment, drunk driving and so on and so on – and formulate a plan of action for each

Open bar versus subsidised drinks
Even if you can afford it, consider the implications of an open bar. Human nature being what it is, anything with ‘All you can eat’ or ‘free’ attached to it is an irresistible invitation to consume your own bodyweight. Likewise, an open bar with a mid-evening cut off time only encourages the equivalent of a ‘six o’clock swill,’ whereas a generous subsidy per drink might at least instil some financially-based constraint.

Dancing with the demographics
People will be coming from all corners; some will be socially savvy; others won’t. Some will be from the executive office, others from the factory or warehouse floor. Some will be seasoned drinkers, others won’t. You have a diverse range of people and personalities to negotiate through the event and if there are any interdepartmental conflicts, chances are they’ll spill over faster than a badly poured pint. Segregation is obviously out of the question, so either employ security or engage a select group of staff to act as ‘happy heavies.’

Hire transport
As an employee your responsibilities don’t stop at the venue; you are also tasked with ensuring your staff get safely home at the silly end of your Xmas event.

If you’re a small company, hire a van or small bus. If you’re a large company, hire ten buses. If practical, pick everyone up from their homes. If not select taxi ranks across town as assembly and drop off points to ensure everyone has an easy, inexpensive option for the last part of their homeward journey. If your event is due to finish at midnight, start staggered departures from 11pm. If some staff wish to continue on into the night at another venue, assign someone to oversee their transit needs.

 

Good luck and best wishes for the festive season from Sitecraft

 

With many businesses facing tough economic conditions at the moment, it might not be surprising to hear that many of them are looking to make cutbacks wherever possible.

However, one expert has urged managers not to cut corners when it comes to health and safety, as the implications could quite literally be lethal.

Speaking to HC Online on May 5, Group Manager of OHS at Chandler Macleod Quentin Hearn said minimising safety isn’t an option for firms of any size. He revealed that staffing reductions can often mean people are left completing more tasks than they are supposed to.

It is not uncommon for employees to be tempted into rushing through their work or completing it to a less than appropriate standard, which can cause problems across all areas of an organisation.

Workplace injuries remain a reality for Australian companies. Data from Safe Work Australia shows that in 2010-11, there was an incidence rate of 13.1 serious workers’ compensation claims per 1,000 employees.

Labourers and related workers had the highest number of claims. Around a quarter of total claims resulted in employees taking 12 weeks or more sick leave.

Mr Hearn pointed out that employees are often failing to understand why they are being tasked with new health and safety duties. It is therefore the job of managers to explain why the changes are being made, as well as what their responsibilities will be.

Ultimately, the focus should be on making sure the wellbeing of staff is given top priority. This should be given precedence over saving money, which is understandably on many bosses’ agendas at present.

Staff have a legal right to be protected in the workplace, and employers need to put whatever measures necessary in place to ensure this is the case.

Workplace safety failings are never too far from the headlines, which is why organisations of all sizes need to play their part in improving standards to protect staff.

In recent days, World Day for Safety and Health at Work 2015 took place. This gave businesses the ideal opportunity to take a step back and make sure their processes protect workers in whatever way possible.

Counting the cost of workplace incidents

Director-General of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) Guy Ryder explained that cutting corners in workplace safety will not lead to the cost savings that many companies imagine.

Figures from Safe Work Australia show the economic cost of work-related incidents has risen over recent years. In 2000-01, the estimated cost totalled $34.3 billion, with around 3 per cent of this footed by employers. By 2008-09, this had grown to $60.6 billion and 5 per cent of this was paid for by employers.

The report identified that workplace accidents lead to both short- and long-term productivity shortfalls. In some cases, workers are able to return to their job relatively quickly, meaning employers do not need to replace them on a permanent basis.

However, more serious incidents lead to employees taking extended periods of absence, which can create the need for compensation or, in severe cases, their complete replacement.

Taking action at every level

Mr Ryder emphasised the need for safety to become a key element of workplace culture. This means respecting the need and right for a healthy working environment, while adopting a comprehensive prevention principle.

Employees at all levels also need to play an active role in minimising the likelihood of incidents occurring. This can be established by creating a system of rights, duties and responsibilities that are clearly defined from the outset.

Health and safety should not be an afterthought in any business, but rather something that is inherent to everyday tasks and processes.