• Trudi Duncan
    0
    HI All, I am new to using this forum so will say Hello first. I am the Managing Director/Owner of a small plastics manufacturing company (which is 50 years old this year!) in the Manawatu.

    We are trying to "grow up" our health and safety and have made significant steps in our physical H&S on site as well as in our procedural documents but are lacking one big area. All of our staff have been with us for a couple of years now (we moved cities 2 years ago) but we did not have any formal training or procedures for training when they started with us, in the use of hand tools, power tools (battery operated type such as drills), air tools and workshop type tools (such as bandsaws, drill presses, sabre saws, jigsaws etc)... so they learnt by being shown by existing employees or previous experience.

    I am trying to come up with the best way to formalise their training in the use of the tools (essentially a late induction procedure). We do not have a supervisor with the skill to ensure that this formalised training session or similar is done correctly so it is up to me but without the knowledge of how all the tools work myself, I am getting a little unstuck.

    I am really trying to encourage a positive mentality towards H&S and make sure that my actions are not just seen as "box tick" action, so am looking for a solution that is relatively professional.

    Any ideas?
  • Andy White
    1
    Hey Trudi,
    you have a great attitude in making sure the solution you arrive at adds value to both the organisation and the team themselves. From your comments above it sounds like you'll have a mix of regulatory requirements to meet in terms of guarding and machinery for which WorkSafe have a number of guidance documents to get you started (https://worksafe.govt.nz/topic-and-industry/machinery/), there are also a number of professionals that work in this space which you can find on the HASANZ register (https://register.hasanz.org.nz/).
    With regards hand tools, my advice would be to first have a discussion with all of your staff about what they feel is required, the frustrations they may have around the equipment they're provided with, etc. The purpose being to ensure that they are supported with what they feel is the right equipment, training and resources for the tasks they're already engaged with. From there you will be able to determine what the purpose of any training/sign off is, and include them within the design of your scheme; without this you run the risk of non-engagement and the tick box action you alluded to, regardless of how well intentioned it might be.
    Best regards

    Andy
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