Federal Safety Commissioner Launches ‘What’s Up?’ Scaffold Safety Collaboration with Ventia Australia
The Federal Safety Commissioner and Ventia have launched new safety training and resources to raise awareness, educate and improve scaffolding safety in the building and construction industry.
Scaffolding safety has been targeted by the Office of the Federal Safety Commissioner (OFSC) over the past two years.
The Office of the Federal Safety Commissioner’s Hazard 2020 Safety Campaign found the rate of compliance with Work Health and Safety Accreditation Scheme requirements had not improved since 2016 and, in many cases, had declined. While some small improvements have been seen by the OFSC since the end of the Hazard 2020 Safety Campaign in October 2021, there remains a long way to go to ensure the safety of scaffolding.
The new ‘What’s Up? resources have been developed by Ventia’s Registered Training Organisation as part of a joint initiative between the OFSC and Ventia. The resources are available free of charge on the OFSC website, as a part of a multi-faceted approach to improving scaffolding safety in the industry.
“Raising awareness of scaffold users and site management of some of the common hazards, and ways to address them, is the first step in improving safety in this critical area,” said David Denney. “I’m pleased to be able to collaborate with Ventia, an OFSC accredited company, on this important work. Such collaborations join the safety knowledge of the OFSC with the practical know-how of industry to help make building sites safer and ensure workers go home safely every day.”
Dean Banks, Managing Director and Group Chief Executive Officer said, “Ventia is proud to work with the Federal Safety Commissioner on our joint What’s Up? campaign which supports our ongoing commitment to elevating safety standards across Ventia and industry. All working from height incidents are preventable. Asking “What's Up?” is being safety aware and curious about what’s happening around us so we can keep ourselves, workmates and communities safe.”
Scaffolding Resources:
Additional scaffolding information and scaffolding resources are also available.
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