Good Morning, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen, My Name Is Jeff Roberts, Chairman

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SAFETY

Good morning, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen, My name is Jeff Roberts, Chairman of the Toodyay Men’s Shed and a Member of the Board of Management of the Western Australian Men’s Shed Association.

It is my role at this Conference to deliver a vital component of the modern day, the Subject of Safety as in “Think Safe Be Safe” and the implications of “Duty of Care”

My background has been referred to in the kind introduction. I guess it is fair to say that my experience reaching from outside projects to having control of factory management does come with hard and sharp edged Safety and Duty of Care issues. As a consequence I have had to remain ahead of the subject matter to survive. Therefore it is my fond hope that I can provide the best presentation for your understanding.

Together we are going to examine what it is about this subject that is so important in this day and age.

To a large extent our lives are so regulated, and in the Men’s Shed movement it is imperative to understand where we stand, especially at a Management Level. More importantly what must we do in our environment so as to maintain a comfortable place for men to meet and fraternise for their well being.

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The two essential elements are:

SAFETY and

DUTY OF CARE

What we need to do is to define both these subjects.

What is Safety??? The Oxford Dictionary, would have us believe that it is defined as

“BEING SAFE” or “Freedom from Danger or Risk”

What is Duty of Care???? Wikipedia describes, “Duty of Care may be considered a formalisation of the social contract, the implicit responsibilities held by individuals towards others within society. It is not a requirement that a Duty of Care be defined by law, though it will often develop through the jurisprudence of common law.

“OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH and SAFETY”

These are emotive words often tossed around when Safety is mentioned, but in normal circumstances it refers to the work place.

Ladies and Gentlemen we can attempt to discover the best way for Men’s Sheds to deal with this quite vexed question;

We, that is the Western Australian Men’s Shed Association have spent some time and energy investigating, what it means, and what does it mean to our Members.

We took this question to the Department of Commerce/Worksafe Branch to establish what information we needed to covey to our Membership for theirs and our best Duty of Care.

Firstly, what is a work place, and can a therapeutic/passive workshop contained within a Men’s Shed be considered a work place?

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Worksafe WA responded and I quote in part;

“The key issue in relation to the operation of the Occupational Safety and Health Act 1984 (OSH ACT) is the existence of a workplace through the presence of an employee. In many instances you describe the operation of a Men’s Shed is in the nature of a group of individuals coming together to share a common pastime. In those situations where there is no employed person the OSH Act does not create any obligations.

However, in cases where the specific Men’s Shed does have an employee, such as a paid leader, then the Men’s Shed is a workplace for that person and the OSH Act would impose obligations on the Men’s Shed as the employing body.

For example;

“that if a workshop is being supervised by a paid employee, and, is producing product on a commercial level, most jurisdictions in Australia do consider that it is a “Work Place” for the sake of a “Work Safe” regime. Therefore in almost all instances, our Men’s Sheds would not be classified as a “Work Place” as defined in the “Act” “.

From this we learn that there is two basic tenants to this definition:

One is a Workplace because it has a paid employee;

The other is an Activity place with no paid staff. Much like a local sporting club.

Is there an imperative for Men’s Sheds to maintain a safe environment within their Workshops or Activity places?

Of course there is an absolute necessity for Management to provide for a SAFE environment both in the workshops, and any other amenities in the buildings they occupy to provide for the utmost in “Duty of Care.”

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We will agree, that to achieve the very best outcome for our Men’s Sheds, is to promote the proposition that whilst common sense plays a big role in this question, it is also essential to put systems in place to avoid any form of litigation as the result of an accident, or worse still, a fatality. Later we can explore a carefully formulated way of achieving that aim, as it is obvious that for starters, we require a form of reporting.

After all, if an organisation can demonstrate that all possible steps have been taken to “Protect Life and Limb” it is difficult for those aggrieved to pursue matters further with litigation. After all WHO is to blame.

Let us examine the need for a form of reporting!

Insurers require some form of reporting in the case of an accident, therefore the conclusion is easily reached that a Report Form be adopted as a matter of policy, so as to facilitate not only the details but also the procedures followed, we must identify the following:

Who was injured?

Who was in charge?

Any witnesses?

What was the accident?

Action taken?

Risks identified?

Remedies actioned?

In the event of a fatal accident it is not only the Insurer who is requiring details, but the Coroner, Police, Health Authorities and Work Safe WA also need documentation, immediately.

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Again Toodyay Men’s Shed has addressed this issue and has adopted an “Accident/Incident Report’ document. The reason for this format is to address two elements of management rather than just the one.

The event of an Incident or Dispute that may occur, often has implications pertaining to a “Grievance Procedure.” (This should be provided for within most “Constitutions” or “Rules of Association”) and the details of an incident/dispute is to be presented at a later time to a Panel or a Moderator is accommodated within the documentation by way of “Witness Statements”.

Likewise the same applies to an Accident, containing all the same information so that nothing is left to the recollection of those involved at a later date, and it must be said that all of this helps with corroboration of the evidence as and when required.

This documentation will be available later, to those who access “Shed in a Box.”

Next let us deal with the Governance or Controls within this environment!

It is obvious that in today’s world, we have so much in the way of power tools and machinery available for use by the average man in the street, therefore it stands to reason that to “Police” the use of those tools or machines in the average Men’s Shed is difficult enough. However Toodyay Men’s Shed has overcome this dilemma in the most part, with the appointment of an Activities Coordinator orTeam Leader from within its ranks and together with a carefully crafted “Roles and Responsibilities” formula, this seems to address this issue. It is fair to suggest the appointment of an Activity Coordinator or Team Leader, relies on that person being a Tradesman (or fully trained person) who is familiar, at the very least, with basic uses and SAFETY requirements of the equipment in use.

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What does that persons’ role amount to?

Definition: Activities Coordinator or Team Leader :

To be responsible for the conduct and management of activities at the Shed and elsewhere, in accordance with Policies and Procedures as adopted. Also responsible for the Shed Order Book and the material purchases required for projects as he or the Committee directs.

However having said all that, should we not firstly “Check and Cleanup” our environment??

Too easy!! It is contained within the word S A F E

S = SPOT THE HAZARD

A = ASSESS THE RISK

F = FIX THE PROBLEM

E = EVALUATE THE CHANGE

How easy and simple is that. A tried and tested basic method of getting it right and resulting in a safe place provided this is ongoing and becomes Work in Progress. It should be a part of the MANTRA of Men’s Shed’s.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I prescribe to the notion of the “Kiss Principle”:

Is training a composite part of this whole question of Safety?

The answer in short, of course it is.

It could be said that “Training” is “putting peoples mind into a way of thinking so as to achieve a level of skill”, or at least that is what I was taught way back then, but before you get too excited, lets us, for the sake of respecting the average age in a Men’s Shed use the word “Coaching”.

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To so many of those in the Sheds who come from a trade background this is so much “COCKY POOH” however not everyone were or are Carpenters, Joiners, Electricians or Mechanics, therefore we must allow for those vagaries.

Even I went back to “School” as it were, in the middle of my career aged 46years and 51years old to enhance my skills and prepare for Bigger and Better things. It surely is a very brave man that claims to know it all.

How many of us have done a “First Aid Course” in more recent years, yes there are some who do, so it stands to reason Training or Coaching is not an curse or something to be fearful of. So, can we agree that coaching of those in a Shed is something we must do and be aware of?

I am the first to concede that we could make this coaching a DEAL BREAKER for those in the Shed, frightening them away from participation because of the implied restriction it imposes, so it stands to reason that a great deal of sensitivity needs to be employed.

A softer approach could, as a good friend of mine (who is in this audience) suggests, be employed to make this more workable and that is to foster the ethos that each of us adopt the practice of “Watching out for a Mate”. Emphasis upon not just your own safety but those around you, in other Words “Think Safe Be Safe”

Why not commence any session in a Shed with “Look at the signs in the Shed before you start your project” but that is a subject for another day.

I would recommend a Short Course on Safety, could be a service developed by the Western Australian Men’s Shed Association and delivered by way of a DVD as an adjunct to the DVD we already have, that is called “Safety Awareness” and is available to be loaned to the Member Sheds.

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On a lighter note

I failed part of a Health and Safety course at work some years ago.
One of the questions was:
"In the event of a fire, what steps would you take?"
"Very large ones" was apparently the wrong answer.

Lastly but by no means the least is a short version of “Duty of Care”.

As I defined earlier, Duty of Care is in reality both yours, and your organisation’s “Social Contract” with, and for those involved with your day to day function and operation.

Some of that reflects in the need and the very existence of Committees of Management and the job they are charged with. Some do it very well indeed. Some not so good, mainly because they do not address the important issues and remain relevant to today for the sake of their Membership.

Briefly Duty of Care is a responsibility that we are all charged with both individually and collectively.

Ladies and Gentlemen, my role today has been one of presenting words regarding Safety and Duty of Care within the Men’s Sheds, I believe that each and everyone here today realises how important these subjects are, so now is the time for all Men’s Sheds to take on the role of knowing that their Members are safe with the knowledge imparted to them by their Committees. I thank you for your attention.

JR 2.10.2012