Procedures

 Accident / Incident Procedure

  1. Incident Report / Near Miss Form to be completed by employee

  2. Supervisor to complete and follow up form

  3. Copy of documents to be forwarded to head office for scanning & filing

  4. Head Office – Incident (& action if applicable) to be entered into register

  5. Incident action/outcome result - successful - incident closed in register

  6. Incident action/outcome result - unsuccessful - incident followed up with further action until point 5 completed

Working near Power Lines Procedures

  • Vehicles, service truck or fuel trailers are to be parked up no less than two tree lengths (50 metres) away from power lines.

  • The area is to remain clear at all times for loading not storage.

  • Crossing under power lines must be made at designated crossing areas only.

  • Area is to be kept clear at all times with the exception of loaders and forwarders accessing trucks.

  • No servicing of machinery is to be conducted within two tree lengths (50metres) of the power lines.

  • The logs must be stacked within the stump line to keep the area clear for loading & forwarding.

 New Machine Procedure

New Machine Induction Form to be completed for every new machine

Albany

Monthly

  • Safety Meeting record to be completed and forwarded to office for scanning & filing

  • Supervisor Safety Audit Summary (Duplicate book) to be completed and forwarded to office for scanning & filing

When Moving Plantations

  • Wash Down Record to be completed and forwarded M Jones (APEC) & office (for scanning & filing)

When starting new Plantation

Pre-start Form

  • Complete plantation & site details

  • To be signed by Supervisor

  • Completed form to be emailed to APEC

  • Completed form to be forwarded to office for scanning & filing

Pre-Site Hazard ID Form (Duplicate Book):

  • Complete hazard details & plan

  • To be signed by all Operators

  • Completed form to be emailed to APEC

  • Completed form to be forwarded to office for scanning & filing

Six Monthly

  • All First Aid Kits to be audited & refreshed (machines and motor vehicles)

  • All fire Extinguishers to be inspected

Annually

  • All fire Extinguishers to be serviced

Bunbury

Monthly

  • Safety Meeting record to be completed and forwarded to office for scanning & filing

  • Supervisor Safety Audit Summary (Duplicate book) to be completed and forwarded to office for scanning & filing

Six Monthly

  • All First Aid Kits to be audited & refreshed (machines and motor vehicles)

  • All fire Extinguishers to be inspected

Annually

  • All fire Extinguishers to be serviced

Other Procedures

fatigue management procedure

This procedure must be read in conjunction with the Fatigue Management Policy.
Purpose:- To explain the how the risk management process is used to manage fatigue in the workplace.
Procedure (as required under the Occupational Health and Safety Regulation, 2001)

 Step 1 – Identifying fatigue hazards

 The key ways to identify fatigue are

i) understanding work and non-work factors that contribute to fatigue;

ii) recognising physical and behavioural signs; and

iii) applying hazard identification processes.

Causes of fatigue

  • Inadequate amount or lack of quality sleep

  • Extended mental or physical effort

  • Environmental stresses eg light, heat, noise

  • Medications such as those causing drowsiness

  • Sleep disorders such as sleep apnoea

  • Poor dietary habits • Shift work, especially night shift

  • Family, social, study and sporting commitments

  • Personal problems eg financial worries

 Signs of fatigue

  • Inability to concentrate and reduced alertness

  • Slower response and reaction times

  • Impaired judgement and decision-making ability

  • Extreme tiredness or drowsiness

  • Sore, red or watering eyes

  • Wandering or disconnected thoughts

  • Excessive yawning

  • Feeling irritable or restless

  • Micro sleeps

Methods of identifying fatigue

  • Observing the signs of fatigue such as levels of alertness, reaction times, excessive yawning etc

  • Inspecting workplace rosters to identify shift arrangements that could potentially cause fatigue (see below)

  • Consulting with employees to find out if they feel regularly fatigued and what might be causing this

  • Analysing incidents especially those occurring at the end of a shift or between 0200 – 0600 hour

Common workplace situations that may contribute to fatigue, if not properly managed, include:

  • Shift work, especially night shift, which means that employees are trying to sleep during the day when they would normally be awake, potentially disrupting the body’s internal timing system;

  • Long duration shifts which may result in a lack of concentration and reduce alertness;

  • Insufficient breaks within and between shifts which reduces the time for rest and recuperation;

  • High intensity work which may place excessive physical and mental burdens on employees;

  • Unpredictable rostering which may not allow employees to adapt to shifts, thereby causing disruption to the body’s internal timing system; and

  • On-call arrangements which may mean that employees are woken during a deep sleep cycle, causing temporary grogginess, known as sleep inertia.

Step 2 – Guide to assessing fatigue-related risks

Assessing the risks of fatigue can be difficult because people respond differently to situations that may contribute to fatigue. It is well established, however, that there are some factors that will contribute to fatigue in most individuals either because normal body rhythms that regulate sleep are disrupted or because there is inadequate time for rest and recovery. There are potentially many work factors contributing to fatigue, but the main ones are:

  • Total number of hours worked;

  • Length of shifts;

  • Length of the break between shifts;

  • Number of breaks within a shift;

  • Number of days free from work;

  • Number of night shifts worked, especially consecutive night shifts; and

  • Number of times on call.

Step 3 – Controlling fatigue-related risks

According to the hierarchy of control contained in the Occupational Health and Safety Regulation (NSW), 2001, the best solution when managing fatigue is to eliminate the factors that contribute to fatigue, such as shift work. The nature of theTotal Harvesting's operations, however, means that some work can only be undertaken outside ordinary hours. This requires the implementation of various control measures to manage the impact of fatigue.

Control measures to manage fatigue

Restrict shift work, especially night shift, to essential tasks and projects.

Avoid tasks that require sustained vigilance and concentration, especially during night shifts.

Schedule low risk work during high fatigue periods, eg end of shift and between 0200 – 0600 hours.

Ensure adequate supervision during shift work especially when high risk work is undertaken.

Develop contingency plans in case employees become fatigued, especially where employees are operating heavy machinery or plant. This might include rotating employees through job tasks so that fatigued employees working with heavy machinery or plant are replaced regularly.

Enforce strict controls and procedures when performing hazardous work during high fatigue periods.

Rotate employees through different tasks to prevent mental fatigue from performing repetitive work.

Develop and implement rosters that reduce the risk of excessive sleep deprivation and fatigue. Rosters should be predictable, limit the number of night shifts and provide adequate breaks between shifts.

Limit the duration of shifts and eliminate or reduce the need to work overtime or be on-call.

Ensure breaks between shifts allow for sufficient rest and recovery as well as commuting between work and home.

Check that secondary employment does not affect the ability to obtain adequate rest and restorative sleep.

Provide information to employees on how they can manage both work and non-work related fatigue. Refer to Appendix A – Tips for helping shift workers reduce fatigue.

Step 4 – Reviewing and monitoring fatigue-related risks

The final step in managing the risks from fatigue is to monitor and review risk assessments and the effectiveness of control measures. In doing this, consider whether:

  • There have been any changes that may change risk assessments (eg introduction of new rosters);

  • Control measures have been implemented as planned;

  • Control measures are understood and are working as intended; and

  • Any new problems have occurred as a result of implementing control measures.

Ways of reviewing and monitoring risk assessments and control measures include:

  • Consulting with employees;

  • Monitoring sick leave and other work absences that may indicate fatigue; and

  • Considering whether fatigue is a contributing factor in incident reports, especially incidents that occur late in a shift and between 0200 and 0600 hours.

Staff Training / Reviewing

To review Operator's performance, complete the Behavioural Audit Sheet

New operation

 JSA's are to be completed for all new operations or procedures to ensure each job is conducted safely.

All Operators are to be consulted about a new operation/procedure and given a copy of a new JSA. All Operators to sign JSA Sign Off Record to agree to perform the work in the manner detailed on the JSA.

Emergency Exit Plan

Office

Procedures

Safely Removing Plantation Trees Near Powerlines Procedure