$40,000 fine after a child got injured at indoor play centre

Foreword

Today, Solve Safety is analysing and reviewing this latest reported WorkSafe Victoria's (workplace safety regulator) News and Safety Alerts. Solve Safety is not identifying the nature of the specific problem of any person or organisation in this commentary but only speculating on what could be happening generally in a situation like this, as described by the regulator’s media press release.

Introduction

Solve Safety is a Triple ISO Certified Professional Services organisation (Safety, Quality and Environmental) that offers specialised support for your workplace safety compliance by providing occupational health and safety advice for workplace's operational task and activities management (workplace safety compliance made easy) to create the safest and most efficient environments possible, protecting both lives and livelihoods.

Topic Elements

As a learning from the topic elements, Solve Safety has both analysed the background and the timeline of both how and why an incident like this could take place, and what judgements or decision reasoning was reached by the workplace safety regulator's published conclusions.

Are You Managing the Risks in Indoor Adventure Activities?

Background

According to WorkSafe Victoria’s news and safety alerts, child patron supervision, advisement on the safety rules and instructional safety briefings on how to use the activities equipment to perform high-risk tasks and the accompaniment of children by a parent or guardian are steps that duty holders should take prior to customers entering a climbing area to manage the inherent risks involved in indoor adventure activities.

Do You Have Safe Systems of Work in Place?

According to this WorkSafe Victoria’s news and safety alerts, workplace employers (duty Holders) should ensure they have:

• Maintained an adequate risk assessment-based supervision ratio between employees to customers.
• Provided employees documented activity plan that sets out the supervision requirements for the activities and tasks.
• Provided a customer safety demonstration video and knowledge test for the correct use of the climbing control system being used to counterbalance the climber in case of a fall.
• Alternative employees, other than wall climbing supervision staff, for fitting of any patron safety harnesses.
• Prevented unaccompanied patron children (under 12 years old) entering the climbing area.
• Controls in place, so those patron children under 12 years old are to be accompanied by a parent or guardian for the safety briefing.

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Solve Safety focuses on comprehensive workplace Duty Holder OHS/WHS Prosecution Mitigation by providing guidance on workplace safety compliance measures that reduce both the hazards and risks (harm minimisation). This is achieved by controlling workplace hazards that Duty Holders are required to consider by law when conducting their organisational operational activities and tasks.

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Workplaces can be dangerous due to many hazards that have the potential to kill, injure or cause ill health or disease, so discover safer workplaces and stress-free assessments by seeking subject matter expert safety advice, prior to any of these serious safety incidents which will impact both a range of internal and external factors. Additionally, this can effect several stakeholders, making it an imperative Duty Holder’s strategy to mitigate the potential likelihood of an occupational health and safety (OHS/WHS) prosecution situation for non-compliant organisational operational activities and tasks.

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There are several different legislated Safety Acts and Regulations that OHS/WHS prosecutions by WorkSafe can institute or conduct legal proceedings against duty holders (person or organisation). This occurs when there are cases of an employee, contractor, customer or visitor who has been either injured or killed whilst in the workplace.

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Our consultants are Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF) certified, qualified and experienced to have expert skills and knowledge over every aspect of Workplace Safety for Duty Holder OHS/WHS Prosecution Mitigation. This gives them the abilities to meticulously review and support your safety planning, so it meets the highest safety standards, minimising risks and enhancing productivity.

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