October is National Safe Work Month

October is National Safe Work Month, and this year’s message from Safe Work Australia is “know safety, work safely”. We have compiled five health, safety, and wellbeing activities for you to implement at your organisation during October and beyond.

Floor Walk with OH Provider

To fully understand your workplace, your OH providers need to observe the actual work. One way to do this is through floor walks. A floor walk involves an onsite healthcare provider being taken around the workplace to see the different tasks in each department line.

Warm-up sessions

When engaging in any physical activity it’s important to prepare your muscles, joints, and neurological system for the task at hand. Stretching and warm up activities benefit manual handlers as well as office workers. Why not schedule a stretching and warm up session prior to the start of a shift

Make mental health a priority in the workplace

Every year 1 in 5 Australians will experience a common mental illness. That means that every day, millions of Australians go to work while experiencing a mental health problem; the impact of this is enormous, affecting workplace productivity, performance, and employee well-being.

Given that the average Australian worker will spend close to one third of their lives at work, the workplace is an ideal place for early intervention for mental illness.

Encourage staff wellbeing

Well-planned wellbeing programs (smoke cessation, healthy eating, physical activity) combined with onsite injury management can contribute to reduced Work Cover claims and absenteeism. Your staff wellbeing activities could include health talks, information on quit smoking programs, EAP counselling, an onsite mini gym, and any others applicable to your workers and industry sector.