BRR: Today we are joined by Paul Barker who is a senior executive lawyer in the dispute resolution group at AGS and he's joining us from Melbourne. Paul, a warm welcome to BRR.
PB: Thanks very much, Kate.
BRR: Now Paul stressful and demanding work environments often require that many people work copious hours to comply with deadlines and reach targets etc but with the new work health and safety bill to commence on the first of January we could be seeing new risks and obligations in relation to workers fatigue.
PB: Yes, that is right, Kate. Work health and safety risks associated with fatigue is something that many employers would previously have given little thought about. However with the new laws coming into effect, organisations and their officers and workers will really need to give consideration to fatigue and how it may effect worker health and safety. There's a new code of practice on preventing and managing fatigue and that is set to come in with the new laws and this will effectively operate as a benchmark which needs to be met in order to meet duties and obligations relating to fatigue.
BRR: And Paul what happens if that code is not met?
PB: Well if the code is not met it can be an issue of legal proceedings for an offence taken against you under the act. The code can be used as evidence in those proceedings of what is known about a hazard or a risk relating to fatigue. For instance, the code tells us that being awake for 17 hours is the equivalent of having a blood alcohol level of .05. So, if you let say a worker drive home who has been working for say 17 hours, and they had an accident on the way home you might be breaching your duty there and the court could take into account that it was known that the worker was, you know, fatigued at that point and shouldn’t have been driving. So it presents some really serious issues for employers to consider.
BRR: And Paul, I guess what type of things in workplaces lead to worker fatigue? And are there any strategies that agencies should really be implementing to identify whether their staff are at risk?
PB: Yeah, well the code of practice lists many factors that can contribute to fatigue. These include things like work demands, excessive work hours, deadlines and work intensity. But the code also refers to lifestyle factors that can also contribute to fatigue. So it is looking there at things like social life and how that may affect your working life, family responsibilities, second jobs and things like that. So you really need to take into account all these things when you are approaching the issue of fatigue.
BRR: And, well just on that last point, so does that become the responsibility of the employer if their employees are potentially working second jobs or have other life commitments?
PB: Well certainly, if you allow an employee to work a second job, that will have some bearing on your obligation. So you really need to give thought to whether giving permission to working a second job is going to have an effect on the employee's health. And you might even look at revoking permission given to employees to work second jobs if that is going to be a factor that is leading to fatigue and, you know, may cause problems in the workplace and, you know, risk for the worker.
BRR: And Paul just finally in terms of managing these risks, what are your 3 top tips for employers?
PB: Well my first tip would be to identify the hazards in the workplace that can contribute to fatigue. You need to look at things like flex sheets and other time records to identify employees who have been working excessive hours that might be at risk of fatigue. You need to talk to managers and supervisors and health and safety reps about what's going on in the workplace as a way of identifying hazards relating to fatigue. My second tip is you need to then assess the risks of those hazards. There are obviously immediate risks where, you know, machinery is being operated while a worker is fatigued. And if excessive hours have been worked there is also a risk of burn-out, developing anxiety and depression or other long term health effects. Finally, the third tip, you need to put in place risk control measures to manage and prevent fatigue. So you need to try to eliminate the factors that cause fatigue at the source. And if that's not possible, you need to minimise the risks as much as possible – and then you need to also regularly review the effectiveness of the measures you put in place to prevent and manage fatigue.
BRR: Paul some really good tips there and hopefully employers take note and start preparing themselves for 1 January.
PB: That's right, there are alot of challenges for organisations and officers and workers alike with the new laws.
BRR: That was Paul Barker, a senior executive lawyer in the Dispute Resolution group at AGS.