Your employment with Golden West, whether as an Apprentice or Trainee can be an exciting and demanding experience as new responsibilities and expectations are placed on you in a working environment. It is important for you to understand that not only do employers have responsibilities towards you, you also have responsibilities towards your employer. Health and safety work is everyone's responsibility. It is important that you have a general understanding of health and safety requirements for the industry in which you will be working. While you are at a workplace your host employer is responsible for ensuring that the workplace is safe, including:

• Providing safe work areas, machinery and equipment.
• Providing information, instruction and supervision.
• Providing personal protective equipment.

• Following safety instructions.
• Using equipment carefully.
• Reporting hazards and injuries.

There are common hazards that exist in the Building and Construction Industry. It is important to learn about these hazards and how to work safely in these environments. Within this industry you will be involved in a range of work activities such as:

• Setting up simple working platforms.
• Temporary power sources.
• Safe operation and maintenance of equipment including hand tools and portable power tools.
• Taking measurements and site levels and performing site calculations.
• Preparing sites for concrete pads.
• Pouring and finishing concrete pads.
• Working with internal partitioning.

Hazard identification is a key step in preventing injury and disease in the workplace. Where there's a risk, you need to stop and think. You need to think about what you are about to do, the potential risks and the likely effects on yourself and other people. Be alert at work! Notice potential hazards and work out what the problem is. Talk to your supervisor about the hazard and work out a way to solve the problem. Follow through. Carry out the agreed actions in order to solve the problem.

Every building and construction worker should ensure that they always use approved safety equipment in the workplace. Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and clothing for employees should be used when hazards in the workplace cannot be eliminated. After receiving training, employees are required to use the PPE supplied by the employer and follow all safety instructions. PPE used in the Building and Construction Industry can include such things as:

• Safety boots.
• Safety caps and hats.
• Hearing protection.
• Protective gloves.
• Safety harnesses.
• Respirators.
• Safety glasses as appropriate.

Employees should be instructed and trained in the correct use of PPE provided by the host employer.

Falls in the workplace cause a large number of occupational injuries in the Building and Construction Industry. A fall can cause injury to the arms, legs, back, neck or head. Neck and head injuries can cause damage to the spinal cord and nervous system. Many workers have suffered permanent disabling injuries or death as a result of a fall. Falls occur in many different workplaces and can be grouped into the following three categories:

• Falls from a height, (a fall from one level to another)
• Falls into a depth, (falling into a hole)
• Slips, trips and falls, (falls on the same level)

Accident reports show that a fall from height often occurs when a person is working on:

• Roofs and support beams.
• Climbing equipment that is incorrectly set up or erected (ladders or stairs)
• Supporting equipment that is incorrectly set up or erected (scaffolds, ramps)
• Trucks.
• Cherry pickers.

Safe systems of work which reduce the risk of falls from height in the workplace include:

• The use of building maintenance units.
• The use of correctly erected scaffolding or another type of safe working platform.
• The use of correctly erected and secured ladders.
• The use of anti-fall equipment (such as safety harnesses) which complies with Australian Standards.

Some materials used on roofs can become fragile or brittle after exposure to weather. Serious injuries and fatalities have occurred when workers have fallen through roofs made of brittle materials. Examples of these materials include asbestos cement sheets, translucent plastic sheets and glass sky lights. Work on fragile material must be carried out from a scaffold or other working platform. This must be done even if mesh has been installed. To ensure people are aware of the hazard the following notice should be displayed: Steel mesh, harnesses, nets and guard rails will restrain a fall. Erectors and installers of scaffolds have legal responsibilities under the Workplace Health and Safety Act and Regulations. They are required to ensure that it is safe and therefore not a risk if it is used according to safety instructions. Mobile scaffolds are often hired and used by finishing trades people such as painters and plasterers who may have limited knowledge of scaffolds. Mobile scaffolds are easy to erect, use and dismantle, but are safe only if erected by a competent person.

• There is a lack of training or supervision and safety instructions in erecting or using a scaffold.
• Riding on a mobile scaffold while it is being moved.
• Wheels are not locked when the scaffold is stationary .
• Access ladders are not placed on the inside of the scaffold.

Instructions on the safe assembly of a mobile scaffold are freely available from the supplier. These instructions are also displayed on most mobile scaffolds as a sticker. It is very important that these instructions are followed. Construction and excavation sites often have trenches or holes which are hazards if left unprotected. Falls into lift shafts, sewers, wells, tanks, and stairwells are examples of falls into a depth. Signs should be used to warn anyone on the site that there is a hole underneath and that the cover should not be removed. Covers should be securely fixed and marked in clear lettering. Slippery and uneven floors in the workplace are a serious hazard and can result in far more serious accidents than simply tripping or falling. Factors that can increase the risk of slips and trips in the Building Construction industry are:

• Uneven floor surfaces.
• Slippery services.
• Type of floor, eg wood, concrete, ceramic, vinyl or other.
• Surface texture of the floor.

Where there is a risk of an employee falling, employers are required to provide protection by

• A safe system of work such as anti-fall equipment and devices.
• A safe means of entering and leaving the area in which employees are required to work, such as a roof space.
• Guard rails, covers, fender boards or other forms of safeguarding.
• Personal protective equipment.

Safe work procedures will vary between workplaces and should be provided by the host employer.

The most common causes of electrocution in the workplace is contact with overhead wires. This is because people can misjudge heights and distances between the ground and overhead wires when carrying equipment like poles and ladders, or operating equipment with height extension such as cranes. Accidents and deaths can also result from equipment becoming "live" because of electrical faults, lack of maintenance or short circuit. Electrical accidents are most often caused by a combination of factors such as:

• A lack of training.
• A lack of supervision.
• Inadequate work practices.
• Poorly maintained equipment or installations.
• Unauthorised electrical repairs.
• A hazardous workplace environment.

This is one way of preventing machinery or electrical current becoming operational during maintenance. A lock is attached to the machine switch so that can not be turned on. The person working with the machine should hold the only key to the lock. A lock must only be removed by the person who attached it to the equipment or machinery. Procedures must be in place for the removal of the lock should the person not be available, for example, if there has been a change of shift workers.

Risk assessment (RA) is a method of identifying hazards and developing ways to manage them. Basically, RA means taking the time before doing a job to plan for safety rather than starting work assuming that all those involved know what to do and how to do it in a safe manner.

Manual handling is not just about lifting heavy objects, but includes any activity requiring the use of force exerted by a person to lift, lower, push, pull, hold or restrain any person, animal or thing. In the Construction industry you may be required to set up working platforms and work using repetitive actions such as loading and unloading equipment and building products. Manual Handling injuries include:

• Strains and sprains.
• Neck and back injury.
• Slips, falls and crush incidents.
• Cuts, bruises and broken bones.
• Hernia.
• Strained heart muscles.
• Occupational overuse syndrome (OOS).

If you are a young worker you are more likely to be injured through manual handling work than an older worker as your body is still developing and is less able to cope with strain. This however, does not change the responsibility and awareness of workplace health and safety between younger and older workers. You should be informed and trained in:

• Safe manual handling methods.
• Specific manual handling hazards.
• Safe work procedures.
• Use of manual handling aids.
• The right to ask for assistance.

Manual handling injuries to workers can be prevented by instruction, training and supervision. Safe work procedures should be prepared by employers, in conjunction with employees, to care for the special needs of inexperienced workers. Even though you are a worker new to the job you have the responsibility to speak up if you feel your job is too heavy, too difficult, too tiring or puts you at risk of injury.

• Lighten loads (break loads into smaller quantities)
• Reduce bending, twisting, reaching movements.
• Prevent muscle strain and fatigue, including warming up before working, allocating time for rest breaks, and allowing time to gradually get used to a new job.

Construction sites have many sources of potentially excessive noise and those sources are often used simultaneously with others. Recent studies by the Queensland Government have shown that most construction site workers are exposed to excessive noise levels if they are not wearing suitable hearing protection. Employers in the construction industry should conduct assessments to identify workers whose hearing may be at risk. Where possible noise levels should be reduced at their sources to legally allowable limits. Where this is not possible, suitable hearing protection must be provided to those workers whose hearing may be at risk and the wearing of it enforced. The employer must then also provide appropriate training and instruction so that hearing protection can be worn effectively. Likely exposure sources of excessive noise are:

• Nail guns, circular saws, angle grinders, jackhammers, and rock breakers.
• Diesel engines from tower cranes, concrete vibrators, Dogman's whistles, hammer drills.
• Ramset guns and drop saws, wack plates and several kinds of vehicles used on building sites, eg dump trucks, concrete trucks etc.

The operation of jackhammers and concrete vibrators can when used regularly for long periods cause a phenomenon called "vibration white finger". This is basically a dying off of nerve endings in the fingers and hands due to vibration interference with the blood flow to those extremities where you may have to use these items of equipment for lengthy periods. You should be wearing so called, "anti-vibration gloves" which are thick padded gloves to absorb the vibration. You should also be trained on how to operate these items of equipment so that you apply minimum grip with maximum efficiency. In addition, a system of regular job-sharing should also be implemented.

Hazardous Substances are dangerous. How dangerous depends on the type of substance, what it is made of, the way it enters the body, and the amount of substance that enters the body. Some hazardous substances in the Building and Construction Industry include:

• Silica dust.
• Asbestos.
• Synthetic mineral fibres (such as fibreglass).
• Cement dust.

Your workplace may use a lot of different hazardous substances. Some may be things you see every day such as glue, paint or cleaning solvents. A Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) provides detailed information on a hazardous substance. It gives more details than a label. MSDS are provided for your Host Employer, by the manufacturers and suppliers of hazardous substances to the workplace. Where you are to work with certain hazardous substances the appropriate MSDS should be available near the work area for consultation when required. Read the MSDS before you use the product. Always consult with your supervisor before commencing work with any substance you might be exposed to and ensure you get proper training in its use. It is important that hazardous substances in workplaces are used in accordance with:

• The manufacturer or supplier's written instructions (the MSDS)
• agreed safe work procedures.

• Follow safe work procedures.
• Always correctly wear the appropriate safety equipment provided by your Host Employer.
• Do not eat, drink or smoke while working with a hazardous substance.
• Do not keep food or drink near the substance.
• Wash your hands and face and other exposed areas with soap and water before going to the toilet or eating and drinking.
• Read the MSDS.