Making sure your business is fit for the future when it comes to managing the occupational health challenges faced by the workforce throughout our industry was the focus for the Health Vitals session hosted by the Safer Together Health Working Group at June’s Industry Safety Forum (ISF) in Brisbane.
On the morning of the Industry Safety Forum, the Qld Health Working Group hosted participants from more than 20 Member Companies at the ‘Health Vitals: Collaborating for a Better Future’ session that was aimed at improving awareness and capturing feedback on the Fitness to Work: Medical Assessment Guideline (FTW MAG) and Heat Stress Guideline, including practical implementation tips from companies who have adopted them; as well as collating ideas for potential areas of focus for the Health Working Group into the future.
Event host Gillian Cagney (President – Australia & New Zealand (inc. PNG & Mongolia), Worley) warmly welcomed delegates before handing over to the rest of the day’s presentations:
- ‘Heat Stress Review’ – Andrew Bruce (General Manager HSE, Global Engineering and Construction)
- ‘Fitness to Work Medical Assessment Guideline’ – Dr Nhlanhla Mpofu (Health Manager East, Shell)
- ‘Safety Share – RACQ LifeFlight’ – Dr Allan MacKillop (Chief Medical Officer, LifeFlight) and Carlie Manson (Clinical Governance & Patient Safety Officer/Flight Nurse, LifeFlight)
- ‘Camp Guideline’ – Melissa Day (Senior HSE Advisor – Safety Leadership & Programs, Arrow Energy) and Norm Nelligan (Manager Safety & Health, Arrow Energy)
- ‘2023-2024: Future Topics for Consideration’ – Norm Nelligan (Manager Safety & Health, Arrow Energy)
To reinforce the importance of health in the workforce, delegates heard a very insightful presentation by LifeFlight's Allan MacKillop (Group Chief Medical Officer, LifeFlight) and Carlie Manson (Clinical Governance and Patient Safety Officer/Flight Nurse, LifeFlight) on the “Characteristics of patient presentations to the Surat Gas Aeromedical Service” (SGAS) - shining a light on some sobering real-life data from the field, further emphasising the importance of the work of the Health Working Group.
In response to a growing industry focus on the psychosocial aspects of worker safety in camp environments the delegates were given an update on the development of a new Camp Guideline that will be a key area of focus for the Health Working Group for the remainder of 2023.
Time was also taken to listen to the delegates and collate their ideas on future focus topics for the Health Working Group over 2023-24.
We encourage all Members to provide their feedback & recommendations for improvement for the Heat Stress Guideline to [email protected] by the 28th July 2023.
Find out more about the full suite of Safer Together Health Initiatives on our website.