»Additional Resources Glossary of Terms, Resources, Additional Documents

Additional Resources

Glossary of Terms, Resources, Additional Documents

 

This section of the CD ROM contains;

  • Definitions/Glossary of Terms
  • Related OHS regulatory authorities
  • Related industry organisations/departments
  • Training resources
  • Other resources
  • Additional References

  • Acknowledgement
  • MLA OHS Reference Guide - Complete PDF Version
  • OHS Management Systems Benchmarking Process - Complete PDF Version
  • IM Reference Guide - Complete PDF Version

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Introduction

 

There has been widespread recognition for the past two decades that poor performance in occupational health and safety has been a major barrier to competitiveness within the meat industry, and this not only contributes to unnecessarily high labour costs but also presents a major constraint on the industry’s capacity to innovate. Since the publication of the first edition of this guide, considerable work has been done in the industry to address this and the data presented in Part 1 demonstrates improved performance in some areas. However, there is still work to be done as the industry continues to be one of the worst performing sectors in Australia.

This second edition of the reference guide is intended for use by all persons who are continuing to improve health and safety in the meat industry. As the industry has progressed and additional resources have been developed, the second edition has been modified so that it:

  • refers to these more up-to-date resources
  • provides information and advice on establishing effective systems for managing OHS risks and meeting legislative requirements
  • continues to provide information and practical tools to assist with managing common hazards within the meat processing industry.

The guidance is not a replacement for legislation or standards that are applicable in each State or Territory. Persons using this reference guide should ensure that it is read and applied in conjunction with relevant occupational health and safety (OHS) legislation; ie, Acts, Regulations, Advisory Standards or Codes of Practice within their State or Territory (see OHS Regulatory Authorities below).

 

The guide does not attempt to cover all of the hazards that are likely to be present in the workplace, but aims to provide general guidance on how to deal with many of the major hazards that are generally common in the meat industry. The scope of this document is intended to cover most activities related to meat processing (see definition of meat processing in Definitions section in the Preface).

 

This reference guide is funded by Meat & Livestock Australia (MLA) and the Australian Meat Processors Corporation (AMPC), and is the consolidation of almost two decades of health and safety research within the meat industry, carried out by MLA and various State bodies.

 

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Definitions/Glossary of Terms

 

For the purposes of this guide, the following definitions apply:

 

Action plan

describes the activities of the organisation to achieve the organisation's objectives and includes core elements for attention and/or review, the person responsible for action and the timeframes intended for completion.

 

Audit

a systematic examination against defined criteria to determine whether activities and related results conform to planned arrangements and whether these arrangements are implemented effectively and are suitable to achieve the organisation's policies and objectives.

 

Benchmarking

an on-going systematic process to search for and introduce best practice into an organisation, comparing oneself with organisations recognised as leaders in the industry or with specific best practice business processes.


Best practice

refers to those practices that lead to superior performance in a company or enterprise relative to industry or international leaders.


Competent person

a person who is suitably qualified (whether by experience, training, or both) to carry out the work or function described in the relevant regulation.


Consultation

consultation involves the sharing of information and the exchange of views between employers and the persons or bodies that must be consulted, allowing the genuine opportunity for them to contribute effectively to any decision-making process to eliminate or control risks to health or safety. The extent and nature of the consultation will vary between workplaces and the different situations.


Continuous improvement

a process of enhancing the health, safety and injury management systems, to achieve improvements in overall related performance, in line with the organisation's OHS policies. The process need not take place in all areas simultaneously, but should be ongoing.


Contractor

a contractor is a person over whom the person engaging the contractor has a limited amount of control in relation to how the relevant work is to be performed. Typically, contractors control their own plant and equipment (including its maintenance) and the systems of work that they employ. Contractors are usually in control of the instruction and training of their own employees. Supervision of the work, however, may be shared with the contracting organisation.


Employee

a person who is employed under a contract of service or who works under a contract of service.


Employer

a person or organisation that employs a employee/s under a contract of service or for whom work is done by an employee under a contract of service.


Ergonomic

a situation where steps have been taken to optimise the functioning of plant, or systems of work associated with plant, by adapting them to human capacity or need.


Hazard

a source or a situation with a potential for harm in terms of human injury or ill-health, damage to property, the damage to the environment, or combination of these.


Hazard identification

the process of recognising that a hazard exists and defining its characteristics. This involves consultation with employees, inspection of the workplace and statistical review.


Incident

any unplanned event resulting in, or having a potential for injury, ill health, damage or other loss.


Inspection

an examination of a workplace to identify and record hazards for corrective action and to check how safety features (hazard controls) are operating, paying attention especially to components most likely to develop unsafe or unhealthy conditions because of stress, wear, impact, vibration, heat, corrosion, chemical reaction or misuse, etc.


Labour hire

a labour hire employee is employed by a labour hire agency to provide labour for a client (called the host employer). While the labour hire agency does not undertake the day-to-day control or supervision of the labour hire worker, or provide the plant, equipment or working environment, both the labour hire agency and the host employer are legally culpable to share the responsibility for the occupational health and safety of the labour hire employee.


Legislation

Refers to the acts and regulations in each state or the commonwealth related to OHS. Depending on the jurisdiction, various documents such as Codes of Practice or guides, may also carry the same level of obligation as the act or regulation.


Note: The Australian Safety and Compensation Council can declare national occupational health and safety standards and codes of practice. These are offered as a basis for a nationally consistent regulatory framework, but they are not legally enforceable until State or Territory governments adopt them as regulations or codes of practice under their relevant OHS Act.


Manual handling

Any activity requiring the use of force exerted by a person to lift, lower, push, pull, carry or otherwise move, hold or restrain a person, animal or thing.


Meat processing

this industry consists of organisations mainly engaged in slaughtering animals (except poultry), boning, freezing, preserving or packing meat (except poultry), canning meat (except bacon or ham), manufacturing meals from abattoir by-products (except from products of poultry slaughtering), or rendering lard or tallow.


Occupational health and safety management system (OHSMS)

an orderly arrangement of interdependent activities and related procedures that drives an organisation's OHSW performance.


Occupational health and safety objectives

goals in terms of OHS performance, arising from the occupational health and safety policy that an organisation set itself to achieve, and which are quantified where practicable.


Occupational health and safety policy

statement by the organisation of its intentions and principles in relation to its overall occupational health and safety performance which provides a framework for action and for the setting of its occupational health and safety objectives and targets.


Occupational overuse syndrome (OOS)

a collective group of conditions caused by occupational overuse within the workplace. This may include conditions such as: tenosynovitis (inflammation of the tendon), carpal tunnel syndrome (entrapment of the nerves in the wrist), tennis elbow (painful inflammation of the muscles and soft tissues around the elbow), rotator cuff syndrome (pain in the long tendon of the biceps muscle and difficulty with raising the arm), or other conditions such as bursitis and trigger finger.


Procedure

written, detailed way to action/perform for performance with policy objectives.


Program

a planned component of an organisation's business management system for health, safety and injury management.


Reasonably practicable

the term 'reasonably practicable' is found throughout most OHSW legislation and Codes of Practice. When determining what is reasonably practicable, the Common Law concept of 'duty of care' is enacted, and the following must be considered: severity of the hazard, knowledge of the hazard, availability of suitable control measures and cost of control measures. There are four common-law tests of reasonably practicable that would be applied in a legal setting: foreseeability (was the injury foreseeable?), causation (was the injury caused by an exposure to hazard which could be controlled?), preventable (is there a practical, alternative method to do the job safely?), reasonableness (was it reasonable to do something about the hazard?).


Rehabilitation

a managed process involving early intervention with appropriate, adequate and timely services based on assessed needs, and which are aimed at maintaining injured or ill employees in, or returning them to, suitable employment.


Risk

the combination of the frequency, or probability of occurrence, and consequence of a specified hazardous event.


Risk assessment

the overall process of estimating the magnitude of risk and deciding whether the risk
is tolerable.


Risk management

The process of recognising situations which have potential to cause harm to people or property, and doing something to prevent the hazardous situation occurring or the person being harmed.


Risk control

the overall process of eliminating or reducing the risks associated with hazards. Usually described as the 'hierarchy of hazard control', the preferred method of controlling risks is as follows, in descending order: elimination of the hazard, substitution of the hazard, isolation of the hazard, engineering controls of the hazard, administrative controls of the hazard, and finally personal protective equipment.


Safety

a state in which the risk of harm (to persons) or damage is limited to an acceptable level.


Safety culture

the product of individual and group values, attitudes, perceptions, competencies, and patterns of behaviour that determine the commitment to, and the style and proficiency of, an organisation's health and safety management

 

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OHS Regulatory Authorities

 

Note: The following organisations will be able to provide details of the relevant workers compensation authorities if required.

New South Wales

WorkCover NSW
92-100 Donnison Street
GOSFORD NSW 2250
Phone 13 10 50
(02) 4321 5000
Fax (02) 4325 4145
Toll Free 1800 451 462
http://www.workcover.nsw.gov.au

 

Victoria

Victorian WorkCover Authority
Ground Floor, 222 Exhibition Street
Spencer Streets
MELBOURNE VIC 3000
Phone 1800 136 089 or (03) 9641 1444
Fax (03) 9641 1222
http://www.workcover.vic.gov.au

 

Queensland

Department of Training and Industrial Relations
Neville Bonner Building
75 William Street
BRISBANE QLD 4000
Phone 1300 369 915 or (07) 3247 4711
Fax (07) 3225 1540
http://www.dir.qld.gov.au/workplace/index.htm

 

South Australia

SafeWork SA
Level 3, 1 Richmond Road
KESWICK SA 5034
Phone 1300 365 255 or (08) 8303 0400
Fax (08) 8303 0277
http://www.safework.sa.gov.au

 

Western Australia

WorkSafe Western Australia
1260 Hay Street
WEST PERTH WA 6005
Phone 1300 307 877 or (08) 9327 8777
Fax (08) 9321 8973
http://www.safetyline.wa.gov.au

 

Tasmania

Workplace Standards Authority
30 Gordons Hill Road
ROSNY PARK TAS 7018
Phone 1300 366 322 or (03) 6233 7657
Fax (03) 6233 8338
http://www.workcover.tas.gov.au/

 

Northern Territory

NT WorkSafe
First Floor, Darwin Plaza Building
41 Smith Street
The Mall
Darwin NT 0800
Phone 1800 019 115 or (08) 8999 5010
Fax (08) 8999 5141
http://www.worksafe.nt.gov.au/

 

ACT

ACT WorkCover
Block B, Level 3, Callum Offices
Easty Street
WODEN ACT 2606
Phone (02) 6205 0200
Fax (02) 6205 0797
http://www.workcover.act.gov.au/

 

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National OHS organisations


Australian Safety and Compensation Council (ASCC)

Department of Employment and Workplace Relations
Level 1, 64 Northbourne Avenue
CANBERRA ACT 2601
Phone (02) 6121 5317
Toll Free 1800 252 226
Fax (02) 6121 9138
http://www.ascc.gov.au

 

This body used to be known as the National Occupational Health and Safety Commission (NOHSC). NOHSC published many national standards that are referred to in this publication. These publications are now managed/updated by this organisation. New publications will come out under the ASCC banner. ASCC’s stated role is to: develop national occupational health and safety and workers' compensation policy; encourage policy discussion and research; and promote consistency in legislation developed by states and territories.

 

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Related Industry Organisations/Departments

 

Australasian Meat Industry Employees Union (AMIEU)

Union House
34 Union Street
NEWCASTLE WEST NSW 2302
Phone (02) 4929 5496
Fax (02) 4929 5401
http://newcastle.amieu.asn.au

 

Australian Chamber of Commerce & Industry (ACCI)

Level 3, 486 Albert Street
EAST MELBOURNE VIC 3002
Phone (03) 9668 9950
Fax (03) 9289 5250
http://www.acci.asn.au

 

Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU)

Level 6
365 Queen Street
MELBOURNE VIC 3000
Tel: 1300 362 223 (local call cost only)
Phone (03) 9664 7333
Fax (03) 9600 0050
http://www.actu.asn.au

 

Australian Meat Processor Corporation Ltd (AMPC)

Suite 1406, Level 14
33 Bligh Street
SYDNEY NSW 2000
Phone (02) 9223 6900
Fax (02) 9223 6939
http://www.ampc.com.au

 

Australian Quarantine & Inspection Service (AQIS) (National Office)

Edmund Barton Building
Kings Avenue
BARTON ACT 2600
Phone 1800 020 504 (freecall within Australia)
National Office (02) 6272 3933
Fax (02) 6272 5697
http://www.daff.gov.au/aqis

 

Meat & Livestock Australia (MLA)

Level 1, 165 Walker Street
NORTH SYDNEY NSW 2060
Free call: 1800 023 100
Phone (02) 9463 9333
Fax (02) 9463 9393
http://www.mla.com.au

 

Australian Meat Industry Council (AMIC)

Level 2, 460 Pacific Highway S
St Leonards NSW 2065
Phone (02) 9086 2200
Fax (02) 9086 2201
http://www.amic.org.au

 

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Training Resources

 

Accredited courses for the meat industry

 

The National Meat Industry Training Advisory Council Limited (MINTRAC) is a company owned by the meat industry which represents the industry on training matters. MINTRAC’s role is to improve the skills of workers in the industry through the provision of accredited training. In consultation with the industry, MINTRAC helps manage the national Meat Industry Training Package, and develops resources and courses to support the delivery of qualifications and Units of Competency

 

Part of MINTRAC's role is organising the delivery of qualifications and units, as well as short courses by registered training organisations (RTOs). As well, RTO's regularly provide training in the meat industry independently of MINTRAC. Only RTOs are able to issue qualifications. A company can become a RTO itself or decide to work with an existing RTO. The National Training Information Service (NTIS) website www.ntis.gov.au can provide you with information about RTO’s that can assist meat processors. If you are still unsure which RTO might be able to assist you, you should contact MINTRAC

 

The range of MINTRAC organised courses on offer, as well as a full list of current career and training products can be found on their website, www.mintrac.com.au

 

National Meat Industry Training Advisory Council Limited (MINTRAC)

Suite 2, 150 Victoria Road
Drummoyne, NSW 2047
Toll Free: 1800 817 462
Tel: (02) 9819 6699
Fax: (02) 9819 6099
http://www.mintrac.com.au


Other Training Resources

Meat Industry

Some other general training, including a national OHS Meat Conference, is conducted by the National and State industry bodies. Contacts for these organisations are in the previous section.

 

Apprenticeships

Australian Apprenticeship Centres can provide assistance with all aspects of apprenticeships. For your local centre, search on the National website below.
http://www.australianapprenticeships.gov.au/default.asp

 

Funding for training

National and state training authorities can provide information about funding for training.
Contacts for all authorities can be found at the following web page. http://www.ntis.gov.au/?sta/all

 

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Other Resources

 

(To purchase Australian Standards)

SAI Global Limited

Business Publishing
GPO Box 5420
Sydney NSW 2001
Phone 13 12 42
Fax 1300 654 949
http://www.saiglobal.com/shop/

 

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Additional Resources

 

  • Nery, D (1999) 'Assessment of muscular strain during the performance of red meat
    processing tasks' (Meat & Livestock Australia - draft)
  • Nery, D (1998) 'Ergonomic best practice case studies from meat processing plants in the Australian meat industry - OHS best practice project' (Meat Research Corporation)
  • Nery, D, SA Meat Industry OHS Committee (April 2000) 'Ergonomic hazard management kit for the meat industry in South Australian' SAfer Industries, WorkCover Corporation SA
  • O'Neill, J (December 1997) 'Q fever information kit for the Australian meat industry' (Meat Research Corporation)
  • Venn-Brown, S (August 1998) 'Workplace health and the safety in the meat industry -
    Ergonomics risk management' (Queensland Government Division of Workplace Health and Safety - Department of Employment, Training and Industrial

 

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Acknowledgement

 

© Meat and Livestock Australia Ltd, 2002 - 2nd edition 2008
Published by Meat and Livestock Australia Ltd
ABN 39 081 678 364 (MLA)

Disclaimer: While every attempt has been made to ensure that the information in this publication is correct at the time of printing, no responsibility is taken for errors and/or omissions. The information is provided as general information only. Specific issues relevant to your workplace should be considered in light of this and in the light of relevant OHS legislative requirements. The information provided in this publication should not be construed as legal advice. You should consult with professional advisors familiar with your particular factual situation for advice concerning specific OHS requirements. References to legislation, Australian Standards and other documents in this guide are current at the time of printing. It is the responsibility of the user to check whether these documents are current at the time of reading.

Compiled by: Janice Quarrie, Meat Industry OHS Consultant with the assistance of
Nerina Zakarias, Business Development Consultant (OHS) Workplace Safety Management Division, WorkCover Corporation South Australia.
Photography by Philip Martin Photography Pty Ltd
Graphic design by WorkCover Corporation South Australia
Published June 2001
ISBN 9781741912883Re

The content and material included in this document was overseen by a National Meat Processing OHS Editorial Committee.

 

Meat & Livestock Australia acknowledges the matching funds provided by the Australian Government to support the research and development detailed in this publication.

 

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MLA OHS Reference Guide

 

Download the complete PDF version of this guide here

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OHS Management Systems Benchmarking Process

 

Download the complete PDF version of this guide here

 

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IM Reference Guide

 

Download the complete PDF version of this guide here

 

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