The first Hazard 2020 online educative forum was held on Thursday 18 February 2021. In introducing the session, OFSC Director Cassie Woods highlighted the intent of the webinar series, to bring together speakers from industry, technical experts, regulators and associations so that industry can learn from the experience of its own on issues that impact the health and safety of workers. The webinars are not an endorsement of companies, products or methods, but an opportunity to share the experiences of industry in dealing with WHS challenges.

The 12-month Hazard 2020 campaign, launched in October 2020, targets scaffolding and mobile plant, with the OFSC closely tracking on-site incidents, hazard-specific audits and undertaking detailed corrective action analysis to better understand the key reasons for non-compliance with the WHS Accreditation Scheme audit criteria. The OFSC have recently published the initial Hazard 2020 – Monthly Data Report, which shows the audits conducted, corrective actions issued, and incidents reported in relation to mobile plant and scaffolding.

This first webinar session, focussed on secondary safety systems for EWPs, featured presentations by Graeme Silvester and Nathan Kiepe of CPB Contractors, Andrew Delahunt of the EWPA and Federal Safety Officer Brett Jones and was concluded with a panel Q&A. Each section of the webinar is provided below to view.