Unit introduction
Workers in frame and truss plants know all about the risk of muscle strain from excessive lifting, bending, pushing and pulling, That's why they think very carefully about the work environment, and use mechanical aids wherever they can.
This fellow is able to lift wall frames from his work bench to the nearby stacks without any undue strain on his joints or muscles, because he has an overhead crane installed directly above his work area.
Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) is a very big issue in the timber industry. Traditionally, workers have been exposed to many dangers – from heavy machinery, to different types of saws, to logs and timber in their various forms, not to mention all of the common hazards found in any industry.
There has been a huge effort over the last few decades to improve the industry's safety record, and there have been some major advances in work practices and the technologies used to harvest, process and handle timber.
However, this doesn't mean that everyone can now relax and start to take safety for granted. Because it's only through constant reminders to use 'best practices' that this much improved safety record can be maintained. And with continued effort it should be able to be improved even further.
In this unit, we'll look at your OHS responsibilities as an employee, and some of the things you can do to keep your workplace a safe and incident-free environment.
Working through this unit
There are two sections in the unit Working safely:
- Following procedures.
- Hazards and emergencies.
Each section begins with Your job, which introduces you to the topics covered and gives you a link to the Task you will need to undertake to demonstrate your understanding. Your trainer may ask you to submit the completed Tasks as part of your assessment evidence for the unit.
Now go to the first section for this unit.