NSW Strategy Aims to Target Transport Industry Injury
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The NSW government has launched a new strategy to address serious injuries and fatalities in the transport industry. We recently heard that road freight transport is the most high risk industry in the country.
According to state minister for better regulation Matt Kean, its crucial to ensure the health and safety of the road freight industry’s workforce because it’s a sector that is so important to the state’s economy.
In light of this, the state has launched the transport industry injury reduction initiative.
The strategy aims to address serious injuries and fatalities in the industry.
Mr Kean said the industry employs almost 160,000 road freight workers and these workers are crucial to “keeping NSW moving”.
He said the Transport Work Health and Safety Sector Plan would help keep NSW moving while getting workers home safely each day.
According to government data, hazardous manual tasks make up more than 40 per cent of all claims, followed by falls, being hit by objects or vehicle accidents.
Mr Kean said although there has been an overall reduction in major claims for injuries in recent years, serious injuries and fatality rates remain fairly consistent. And Kean says the incidents aren’t only occurring on the road, they are happening during routine maintenance, loading and unloading.
The Transport Work Health and Safety Sector Plan addresses the following,
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improve standards for working from the ground when loading and unloading vehicles
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ensure businesses develop a traffic management plan
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promote the principles of ‘three points of contact’ when getting in and out of vehicles.
Mr Kean highlighted that the plan also included mental health,
“I want to say – this isn’t just about physical health. We know mental health is increasingly important, and that’s why another priority in our plan is creating mentally healthy workplaces,” Kean says.
A mental and physical health awareness and compliance program will be implemented as part of the plan, with inspectors visiting workplaces across NSW.
For more information about the plan visit https://www.safework.nsw.gov.au/