While we all expect to be safe when we are at work on building on the Sunshine Coast, there are some employers who try to cut corners to save some money. This is why laws are now in place to protect employees, with safety compliance expected from every company that does business in the Sunshine Coast and beyond. Companies who fail to meet the regulations that are in place can be subjected to hefty fines and even jail time if an employee ends up being injured or killed in a workplace accident that could have been easily avoided had the company taken the time to be compliant.
The good news here is that the majority of businesses, particularly those in dangerous industries like construction, are more than willing to do what it takes the ensure the safety of their employees. The construction industry is lucrative, but also highly competitive, and it is the companies who have a track record of delivering a safe working environment that get the bigger projects. Working safe does not mean working slow, which is why the companies that toe the line tend to get the work done on time with no major incidents to report.
Many companies in the construction or building business will actually go above and beyond when it comes to health and safety on the job. They will very often have a consulting firm come in and create a safe work method statement for each and every project that they take on. No two jobs are exactly the same, and there may be some potential safety issues that were not present in the previous project. Having an individual method statement for each makes it easier for workers to know how to act on the job to stay safe at all times.
While there are some who believe that the laws are in place to only protect the employees, the fact of the matter is that they are also there for the protection of the employer. There are, unfortunately, some unscrupulous people out there who try to take advantage of the protections afforded them by pretending to have had an injury at work. In most cases, this leads to them claiming worker’s compensation, but there have been instances when these people take the claim to court in hopes of landing a large settlement that they really do not deserve. Companies who end up having to pay these settlements can be forced out of business, which hurts everyone that they employ.
This is just one of the reasons why employers call in consulting firms to help them formulate a good health and safety program. It’s also worth remembering that the laws as they are now will not always be the same. There are amendments and changes continually being made to the rules and regulations, with these changes used to make conditions even better for the company and its employees. If your business is not on top of these changes, you could have your people adhering to a set of rules that are now totally outdated.
