Page 803 - Xmo Strata - Bulletin Archive

Health, Safety & Environmental Bulletin No 295

29 March 2012

Job Preparation

Statistical analysis indicates that we need to refocus our minds on the health a safety basics and as
previously referred to in Health & Safety Bulletin No 292, we have adopted ‘Job Preparation’ as a
focus topic throughout April.

Most accidents are a result of being “asleep at the wheel” or of unplanned change, therefore preparation
and consideration of any changes are critical to doing a job safely and without incident.

During April, we will be visiting sites and asking about how you prepare for a job, gathering feedback
and analyzing what we do well and what we do less well; from those findings, we will try to adapt our
field based training processes to suit.

Questions that you are likely to be asked, and should ask yourself are:

a) Did you charge your camera batteries before starting work today/this week?

b) Did you charge your drill battery before starting work today?

c) Did you clean and tidy your van before starting work this week? – is the van is tidy and
everything easily accessible?

d) Did you actually check the oil, water, tyre pressures etc, or did you just tick the boxes on the
form?

e) Did you plan your journey and allow plenty of time to get there without speeding?

f) Do you know the Golden Rules and/or Lifesaving rules that apply to the site you are on?

g) Did you read the site pack, containing the site specific scope of works and safety guidelines?

h) Did you actually read the JSA before starting work and follow every step – or did you just do it
on autopilot? It is a widely accepted fact that human beings can typically only remember 7 steps
(a range of 5-9) and JSA’s typically have 15 steps, so it is very easy to miss one.

i) Did you actually use the LMRA checklist before you started this job? – are there any other site
specific hazards by using the 6 hazard categories? – the unknown ones are the ones most likely
to hurt you, or someone else!

j) What other steps did you take to prepare, prior to starting work?