OH&S gone mad

[sparksy]

Hows this for health and safety going too far.
Just been told at work that we can no longer wear thongs on our trip from home  to work. we must be wearing closed in shoes until we get changed into our workgear and boots.
As I work in food industry we also cant wear our boots home as it may create a food risk ( never mind I wear same boots in the waste water plant on site).
Anyone know where I can get steel capped Crocs.

[Bad Scott]

that's a policy that has been in force for a long time. why don't you were ya thongs driving to work. change shoes in vehicle.

[BaseCamp]

Whilst this does sound like part of a: "World Gone Mad" - I can see where the OH&S goons are coming from with this one...

Basically the company's WorkCover premiums are exposed whilst the worker poodles his/her way TO - and FROM work.

IE: Someone fumbles and falls on something - on his trip from home to work - and whilst that can hardly be the fault of his employer - the victim (ie: the employer) gets a WorkCover claim raised against it - none the less... 

Put it another way - you are on your way to work wearing thongs as footware.       You trip over the curb.    Somehow you are badly injured...    You are out of pocket $1,000's in medical bills....   You are off work 10 weeks without any sicky pay; (because you have used that all up previously)...

NOW GIVEN THE CHOICE - of somehow in this wonderful country having the legal right to make a

WorkCover claim to recoup your losses;
OR
Not making any claim (because you wantonly chose to wear thongs on that day) - would you make that claim??

#  Of course you would!

#  Then why should the "mugs"; (aka) the company that employees you; pick up the tab through WorkCover insurance premiums - and the risk of claims...

Hence: "appropriate footware to work is required, thank you!"

Hows this for health and safety going too far.
Just been told at work that we can no longer wear thongs on our trip from home  to work. we must be wearing closed in shoes until we get changed into our workgear and boots.
As I work in food industry we also cant wear our boots home as it may create a food risk ( never mind I wear same boots in the waste water plant on site).
Anyone know where I can get steel capped Crocs.

[gronk]

Are you covered for workers comp driving to and from work ?

If not, the only bit they can police is the wearing of shoes on their site....bit hard to change while driving though ..

Where I used to work, they hinted at that rule coming in....their reason was thongs were a slip hazard in and around the bathroom !!

Bloke in the coal mining industry lost his dismissal case because he refused to shave off his beard ..

[D4D]

Are you covered for workers comp driving to and from work ?

I could be wrong but I thought this scenario was removed years ago.

[sparksy]

I could be wrong but I thought this scenario was removed years ago.

You are correct. Cover to and from work was removed about 15 years ago. you are not covered by compo until you clock on.
It only was announced on Friday when I was offsite on a Confined space course with the manager and he didn't know anything about the new policy. General consensus when discussed with others on course is that if its a OH&S requirement then the company has to provide appropriate PPE so they will have to supply shoes.
Funny thing is we have offices on site and it doesn't apply to sales staff.

[Bird]

and they wonder why nobody takes OHS serious apart from the OHS flogs.

[BaseCamp]

re: my post above - sorry about that...   I did not know that the to and from work bit was removed 15 years ago....    (I guess that includes Qld)..

du to me          

[krisandkev]

Work Cover Qld web site still says, 'An injury is 'a personal injury arising out of, or in the course of, employment if the employment is a significant contributing factor to the injury.'

Injuries can happen at work, travelling to and from work or while on a break from work. Injuries can also take place if you are travelling for work, or visiting other workplaces or sites for the purposes of your job.'  Last updated24 December 2014


Kevin

[gronk]

I could be wrong but I thought this scenario was removed years ago.

Not in some industries......namely the coal mines !!

But they are not covered by workcover....they have their own coal mines insurance, and one thing they are trying to stop the govt getting their hands on..

[Streetkid]

I could be wrong but I thought this scenario was removed years ago.

Two blokes at my work were each cleaned up on thier motorbikes going to and home from work and they both had workers comp claim, one a huge payout so I don't think this is the case.

[Garfish]

I could be wrong but I thought this scenario was removed years ago.

Still applies n Qld,.  As a journey claim.

We had issues with slips and trips between car park and factory, from people wearing various shoes. Socks and thongs being common, as we were also in Food industry shoes could not leave site, so you would wear other shoes to and from, every break, you had to remove your boots after going through boot wash. And put own shoes on, so thongs very popular otherwise you are changing shoes always.  To address these injuries we had to implement covered shoes to and from. the Hr mgr wasn't happy when I pointed out to her that included her strappy shoes were no longer suitable.

It is hard., but one of our staff broke her arm really bad walking to the car in thongs in the rain and has permanently lost around 15% use mobility in her hand from it.   

[lino6]

I know in Vic road injuries are covered by TAC and not work cover. Our work cover insurer wants us to register all of our forklifts so that TAC would pay out for an injury instead of them. Who said insurers were dodgy...?

[edz]

Who said insurers were dodgy...?

5 months on and still playing a merry go round of claim / counter claims, Made a bet of a trip to Fraser Island to myself  it will see a year + before I see any settlement of sorts ..

[Dueller]

A rehashed version of what's been kicking around my industry for quite some time now......

[gunna]

 

[Bad Scott]

I was hunting for that exact image

[gronk]

http://www.myswag.org/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=44759.0;attach=110940

Funny that....30 yrs ago we had an engineer who used to live on site, and used to arrive ( out of hours ) in his thongs...so one xmas we presented him with a pair of steel capped thongs....from memory they were red !!

[ATC]

Are you covered for workers comp driving to and from work ?

If not, the only bit they can police is the wearing of shoes on their site....bit hard to change while driving though ..

Where I used to work, they hinted at that rule coming in....their reason was thongs were a slip hazard in and around the bathroom !!

Bloke in the coal mining industry lost his dismissal case because he refused to shave off his beard ..

Did he have to wear a respirator?

OH&S is a 3 way process. (gross simplification)

Your employer will provide a safe workplace to protect you.
You will act safely to protect yourself.
You will act safely to protect your colleagues.

YES there are lots of stupid numpties you walk around with clipboards & don't know sh!t about anything, but as employees we also have to do our bit & not act like numpties, or protest everything.
Sometimes a simple question gets a decent answer.

[Memem284]

I'm a nurse on a colo rectal ward. I'd hate to think what's on the bottom of my shoes. lol

[gronk]

Did he have to wear a respirator?

It was required of him to wear a dust mask if deemed necessary , and I think it was BHP, it was stated in their terms of employment that a dust mask should seal properly and beards were not allowed !

[Robbo]

I'm a nurse on a colo rectal ward. I'd hate to think what's on the bottom of my shoes. lol

I'm guessing you would'nt be brave enough to go bare feet..

[dales133]

I remember  after having my second round of knee surgery and went to the physio and he picked my thongs up off the floor and cut the toe straps.
Aparantly they cause more ankle and knee injuries  that could have been prevented by either wearing bare feet or shoes than anything else combined.
I still wear them though...

[Moggy]

Hows this for health and safety going too far.
Just been told at work that we can no longer wear thongs on our trip from home  to work. we must be wearing closed in shoes until we get changed into our workgear and boots.
As I work in food industry we also cant wear our boots home as it may create a food risk ( never mind I wear same boots in the waste water plant on site).
Anyone know where I can get steel capped Crocs.

What are these things called shoes you speak of ?  Eh?

Sent from my SM-G900I using Tapatalk

[gronk]

I remember  after having my second round of knee surgery and went to the physio and he picked my thongs up off the floor and cut the toe straps.
.

Was he a big bloke....or you haven't got a bad streak in you     That's unforgivable !!!