Hazard 2020 | Office of the Federal Safety Commissioner

Hazard 2020 Updates

6 July 2022 - Hazard 2020 final report highlights widespread scaffolding safety problems in Australian building and construction

Today, the OFSC published the final results of its 12-month Hazard 2020 safety campaign that ran across 2020 and 2021. The Hazard 2020 Campaign Review showed solid improvements in mobile plant safety on building sites, but painted a bleak picture of scaffolding safety.

28 June 2022 - Watch now: Scheme Accredited builder Paynters prioritises Scaffold safety

Watch our new case study video highlighting the innovative safety practices of Scheme accredited builder Paynters on their upgrade of the Berlasco Court Caring Centre in Indooroopilly, Queensland.

22 June 2022 - New mobile crane ground conditions guidance now available

The Office of the Federal Safety Commissioner (OFSC) has developed new guidance - Considerations for Mobile Crane Ground Conditions - to help principal contractors to safely plan and use mobile cranes.

24 November 2021 - OFSC Webinar - Lift Planning for Crane Risk Management

The Federal Safety Commissioner’s final webinar for 2021 was held on 24 November. The session was hosted by Federal Safety Officer Ralph Willson, with presentations by Brandon Hitch, CEO of the Crane Industry Council of Australia (CICA), and Stuart Edwards, Director at Edwards Heavy Lift and member of the CICA Technical Committee. The webinar attracted approximately 300 attendees from companies, regulators, and industry associations, and featured interactive question and answers throughout.

15 November 2021 - Hazard 2020 - End of Hazard 2020 confirms significant problems with scaffolding but improvements in mobile plant safety

Initial data and analysis for the Hazard 2020 campaign is available now in the Hazard 2020 – Mobile Plant and Scaffolding audit and Incident data analysis. With more than 300 onsite safety audits, Federal Safety Commissioner David Denney said, “I’m encouraged to see improved compliance with the Scheme’s mobile plant requirements. However, the fact that only half of companies audited during Hazard 2020 met safety requirements for the installation of scaffolding or the changing of its design is deeply worrying.”

9 November 2021 - Hazard 2020 - New scaffold checklist now available

The Office of the Federal Safety Commissioner has developed a new Scaffold Checklist to help principal contractors manage risk when commissioning scaffolding work.

25 October 2021 - Hazard 2020 - Thinking of Using a Franna? New Guidance Published

Articulated mobile cranes (colloquially known as Frannas) are the most common form of crane on Australian building sites. Incident and audit data collected from builders accredited under the WHS Accreditation Scheme demonstrates significant improvements must be made when using Frannas.

The OFSC’s new infographic "Thinking of using a Franna?" is an easy to follow workflow to help builders work in a safe and structured way on-site. The guide is intended to be used in conjunction with and in reference to company’s existing WHS management systems, and allow for easy reference when working with subcontracted Franna crews to ensure all correct steps are being taken to ensure the safety of workers onsite.

18 October 2021 - Hazard 2020 - Hazard 2020 safety campaign draws to a close

Today marks the end of the Office of the Federal Safety Commissioner’s (OFSC) Hazard 2020 safety campaign. Twelve months ago the Federal Safety Commissioner, David Denney, launched the safety campaign targeting mobile plant and scaffolding hazards – the most common causes of non-compliance with WHS Accreditation Scheme requirements and onsite safety incidents reported by Scheme accredited companies.

6 October 2021 - Hazard 2020 Webinar – Ground Conditions for Crane Risk Management – Videos and Additional Q&A

The Federal Safety Commissioner’s fourth Hazard 2020 Safety Campaign webinar was held on Thursday 23 September. This webinar focused on assessing and managing ground conditions to mitigate crane risks. Federal Safety Commissioner David Denney hosted the webinar, with over 450 attendees from companies, regulators, and industry associations.

30 September - Hazard 2020 - Early signs of mobile crane improvements, but scaffolding remains a significant concern

With two months left in the Hazard 2020 campaign, data trends are consolidating, highlighting where Scheme accredited companies must take further action on to improve site safety on scaffolding in particular.

16 September - Hazard 2020 - Safety Campaign Update Highlights Ongoing Problems with Scaffolding and Mobile Cranes

The Federal Safety Commissioner’s Hazard 2020 Campaign Update, published today, demonstrates good safety improvements with regard to mobile plant generally, but raises concerns with the way building companies manage scaffolding and mobile cranes. This update reflects interim results from on-site inspections and reported safety incidents from 16 October 2020 to 31 May 2021.

5 August 2021 - Hazard 2020 – One third of incidents placed workers in serious danger

The Federal Safety Commissioner’s year-long Hazard 2020 safety campaign is now three-quarters complete. Trends from previous months remain largely unchanged with improved compliance with most WHS Accreditation Scheme audit criteria for mobile plant, but limited or no improvement in scaffolding related criteria. Safety incidents reported to the Office of the Federal Safety Commissioner related to mobile plant and scaffolding are also showing some concerning trends. Of the 111 reported incidents, more than one-third were rated by accredited companies as severe or life-threatening.

3 August 2021 - Hazard 2020 - Watch: Innovative technology reduces mobile plant strike incidents

Workers being struck by plant has been the second most frequent mobile plant incident reported to the Office of the Federal Safety Commission during the Hazard 2020 safety campaign to date. Scheme accredited company COLAS is aware of this hazard and has implemented halo lighting systems on its large plant so exclusion zones are more clearly identifiable. Since implementing the halo systems, COLAS has had zero workers struck by plant.

28 July 2021 - Hazard 2020 Webinar – Articulated Cranes – Videos and Additional Q&A

The Federal Safety Commissioner’s third Hazard 2020 Safety Campaign webinar was held on Thursday 15 July. This webinar focused on managing the risks associated with articulated mobile cranes. The OFSC holds regular webinars to raise awareness of safety trends emerging through the Office of the Federal Safety Commissioner’s audit and incident data. The webinars feature industry leaders and experts highlighting safety practise that work.

5 July 2021 - Hazard 2020 - Solid mobile plant improvements, but scaffolding concerns linger

Hazard 2020 safety campaign results to the end of June 2021 show continuing improvements in the safe operation of mobile plant. However, mobile cranes and scaffolding continue to show little improvement or declining levels of compliance with Scheme criteria.

7 June 2021 - Hazard 2020 - Signs of Improvement in Scaffolding Audit Results, but Significant Room for Improvement Remains

Throughout May, the Hazard 2020 Safety Campaign has seen a significant improvement in companies meeting some of the WHS Accreditation Scheme requirements regarding scaffolding. This great result has seen the performance of accredited companies exceed the trend over the 2017-19 period in seven of the 10 scaffolding audit criteria that form part of the Campaign.

17 May 2021 - Hazard 2020 Webinar – Scaffolding Risk Management

On Thursday 29 April 2021 the Office of the Federal Safety Commissioner (OFSC) held the second of the Hazard 2020 webinar series, with a focus this month on Scaffolding Risk Management. The Hazard 2020 webinar series aims to educate WHS professionals in the construction industry through shared learnings and open discussion in a collaborative forum.

4 May 2021 - Hazard 2020 – Scaffolding Audit Results Continue to Raise Concern

The latest Hazard 2020 safety campaign data up to the end of April 2021 continues to show that while accredited companies are making solid progress in improving the safety of mobile plant, compliance with scaffolding requirements remains too low.

19 April 2021 - Hazard 2020 – Significant Improvements in Mobile Plant Audit Results

The end of March 2021 saw the 12-month Hazard 2020 campaign pass its half-way point. Over 200 total audits have now been scheduled or undertaken, roughly half of which have had final audit reports completed and issued to companies. The campaign is seeing improvements in the way accredited companies manage mobile plant. Against all mobile plant related WHS Accreditation Scheme audit criteria, the rate of non-compliance is down by almost 5% in comparison to the 2017-2019 trend.

11 March 2021 - Hazard 2020 - Scaffolding Corrective Actions Trending Down

The OFSC continues to monitor scaffolding and mobile plant related on-site incidents, hazard-specific audits and corrective actions, as part of the Hazard 2020 safety campaign. During February 2021, an additional 21 audits were completed on worksites of Scheme Accredited builders focusing on either scaffolding, mobile plant, or both. Mobile plant related incidents are occurring at a rate of almost four times that of scaffolding related incidents, but at the moment, there are no significant trends emerging on the type or cause of these incidents.

25 February 2021 - Hazard 2020 Webinar - Secondary Safety Systems for Elevated Work Platforms

Over 250 construction industry professionals attended the first Federal Safety Commissioner Hazard 2020 Campaign online educative forum on Thursday 18 February, focussed on secondary safety systems for Elevated Work Platforms (EWPs). With feature presentations by Graeme Silvester and Nathan Kiepe of CPB Contractors, Andrew Delahunt of the EWPA and Federal Safety Officer Brett Jones, as well as a concluding Q&A session, this first in a series of webinars planned during the Hazard 2020 campaign was resoundingly well received.

7 February 2021 - Hazard 2020 - What's the data showing?

Throughout the Hazard 2020 Safety Campaign, targeting scaffolding and mobile plant, the OFSC is 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.

Each month, for the rest of the 12-month campaign, the OFSC will publish a data update, tracking the scaffolding and mobile plant related audit and incident data, with more dynamic and detailed reports being produced as trends develop.

Launch information

Hazard 2020 – What is it?

The Federal Safety Commissioner (FSC) and the Work Health and Safety Accreditation Scheme (the Scheme) reflect the highest standards of work health and safety in Australia’s continually growing and changing building and construction industry. 2020 has posed significant and unique health and safety challenges for all Australians, and the building and construction industry has had to quickly adapt its approach and practices to ensure the continued health and safety of workers.

Through the ongoing collection and analysis of trends in both reported incident data and audit results, the Scheme provides an ideal platform for addressing emerging and prevalent health and safety issues facing the building and construction industry.

Hazard 2020 involves a specific educative and audit focus on two prevalent industry hazards - Scaffolding and Mobile Plant. Together with fact sheets, guidance and instructional information published at the commencement of Hazard 2020, the OFSC will be focussing on how these hazards are managed by accredited companies throughout 2020-21. Beyond the immediate health and safety benefits that focussed audits can bring to improving management of these hazards onsite, the information and data collected during the campaign will assist in the development of new educative resources, lessons learnt and data analysis to assist companies in improving outcomes regarding management of Scaffolding and Mobile Plant risks.

Why Mobile Plant and Scaffolding?

Analysis of Scheme data from 2015 to 2019 shows that Mobile Plant and Scaffolding are the most common incident types reported to the OFSC by Scheme accredited companies, and are the most frequently issued hazard related Corrective Action Reports (CARs) at OFSC site audits.

Over 50% of reported incidents that are associated with a high-risk hazard are either Mobile Plant or Falls from Height related;
Almost 60% of CARs issued against hazards are against Mobile Plant or Scaffolding

While our data provides a compelling call to focus on Mobile Plant and Scaffold management, the human cost when these two hazards are poorly managed provides the incentive to improve health and safety outcomes with respect to these known areas of risk.

Hazard 2020 – what to expect

Audits

The Hazard 2020 targeted audit campaign will review one or both of the selected hazards through the existing Accreditation Scheme audit program. Accredited companies will be familiar with elements of the current FSC Audit Criteria which have been re-grouped to focus on Scaffolding and/or Mobile Plant, and will be chosen as the selected hazards when applicable. Detailed information, including example processes for addressing the individual elements of the Hazard 2020 audit criteria is available in the Scaffolding and Mobile Plant fact sheets prepared by the OFSC.

Fact Sheets

The Office of the Federal Safety Commissioner detailed Scaffolding in Construction Fact Sheet and Mobile Plant Fact Sheet provide an overview of each hazard, how the hazard is present in the industry, key risks, and how accredited companies can implement a systems-based approach to ensuring these hazards are effectively managed in accordance with the FSC audit criteria.

Case Studies

Case studies will be produced showcasing innovative risk management solutions to managing Mobile Plant and Scaffolding, identified through audits and biannual reporting.

Data Analysis and Reporting

Throughout the Hazard 2020 campaign, the OFSC will produce periodic updates on CARs and incident trends regarding Scaffolding and Mobile Plant. The ongoing assessment of both these measures will help the OFSC target resources and review the effectiveness of each specific focus area under the campaign. Over time this will assist in refining the way a targeted data-driven campaign should be developed and implemented

Hazard 2020 – outcomes

A range of informative material is expected to be published as a result of the Hazard 2020 campaign. More immediately, site audits focusing on one or both of the targeted hazards will provide accredited companies the opportunity to look beyond compliance, and assess current practices and controls regarding the identification, assessment and management of Scaffolding and Mobile Plant risks on a building and construction site.

It is anticipated this renewed focus on Mobile Plant and Scaffolding will result in an improvement in the number of CARs issued at OFSC audits and importantly incidents involving these hazards. If not, outcomes from the campaign will be analysed to determine what additional measures and support the OFSC can provide beyond Hazard 2020 to improve safety outcomes with respect to these two areas of risk.