WorkSafe Victoria has completed its ‘Safe Towns’ workplace blitz in the state, issuing over 85 improvement notices to Shepparton small businesses.

 

WorkSafe Group Leader for Shepparton, Simon Brown, said it was good to see quite a few businesses had prepared for the inspections, but there was still room for improvement in some workplaces.

 

“It was pleasing that a number of employers took a proactive approach to the inspections, however we still saw a significant number of safety issues in some workplaces,” Mr Brown said.

 

“We’ll be conducting follow up visits in the coming weeks to ensure businesses have fixed the identified safety breaches and are providing a safe working environment for their workers.”

 

Common safety issues identified during the visits included inappropriate storage of dangerous goods and failing to have up-to-date material safety data sheets - documents that provide important information about hazardous substances onsite.

 

Other problems inspectors found in businesses included electrical issues on construction sites, inadequate systems in place to ensure separation of pedestrians from mobile plant, forklift hazards, issues with pallet racking and slip/trip hazards.