WorkSafe targets Melbourne retailers

WorkSafe's inspectors are targeting retail and hospitality outlets in
Melbourne's central business district this month.

Retail businesses and restaurants, cafes and bars will be inspected to
check that employers are meeting their return to work obligations for
injured workers. The visits in Melbourne will run over two weeks, from
January 19 to 30. Over the past five years, a total of 12,013 workers
were injured in the City of Melbourne, with treatment and rehabilitation
costs exceeding $170 million.

The retail and hospitality industries accounted for more than 1,400 of these
injuries and nearly $22 million in treatment and rehabilitation.
Musculoskeletal injuries, also known as sprains and strains, were the most
common injuries experienced.

WorkSafe's Len Boehm said the management of return to work obligations
was often juggled among a range of business needs. "Helping injured workers
return to work in a safe and sustainable way can be a complex process,
" Boehm said. "However, while it's currently peak time for retail and
hospitality trading, an employer cannot ignore their responsibilities.

Getting on top of these obligations now should mean there are fewer problems
for the inspectors to deal with." Boehm said that with many businesses having
hired additional workers for the summer trading period, young workers were
often at risk as they are less experienced and less likely to ask questions about
returning to work and about their safety. More than 1,000 young workers
have been hurt at work in the City of Melbourne in the past five years.

Inspectors will be checking on a range of matters including the existence of:
an injury register, an occupational rehabilitation program if the employer has
an injured worker, a risk management program, and a Return to Work
Coordinator, whose role is to assist an injured worker to remain at or return
to work as soon as possible after injury. Inspectors will also be checking that
information about what to do if a worker is injured is clearly displayed in the
workplace. "The inspectors' primary role is to help business operators, but
where they are not addressing return to work issues and meeting their
obligations, they will suffer the consequences, including the potential for
prosecution," Boehm said. WorkSafe has previously conducted similar
campaigns in Ringwood, Geelong and Werribee.

Ref: Inside Retailers online: Thursday, January 08, 2009