Volume 6 June 2013

People and Performance Solutions We listen We ask We simplify

Q&A A Change of Season in the Workplace

I arrived in Australia in June over thirty years ago. As I exited the plane I was met with a gush of cold air. I felt as if I had entered a cold storage space. I thought to myself, this is a definite sign that I have left my tropical country of birth and I understood that I had to re orientate my view of the world because of the enormous change I had just embarked on.
A new strain of a viral gastroenteritis spread through the Northern Hemisphere in their recent Winter. Q: What is viral gastroenteritis? A: Viral gastroenteritis is an infection of the stomach and intestines. The main symptoms are vomiting and diarrhoea lasting for between one and three days. It is highly infectious and is spread by the vomit or faeces of an infected person through person-toperson contact, contaminated objects, contaminated food or drink. Outbreaks increase in winter and are common within families and group settings.

Health and Safety News Review

Whether we like it or not or whether we are ready for it or not, change is inevitable. What is also most certain is that the changes that we face can sometimes be challenging. A change in season is something we have no choice in. What we do control is our preconceived ideas of the seasons. If you dread winter, having the preconceived notion of winter as a season of cold bitter weather, then you have put a negative spin on winter. Many people I meet feel a huge burden when I mention Safety. Some people associate negativity around it. They have linked the word Safety to impractical, unproductive and waste of time. Safety is part of any work environment. It is inevitable like a change in season. Furthermore, like the associations we make to each season, we are in control of the connotations we make to the word Safety.

HR Divisions message for a season of change

Winter is here We began 2013 with high hopes for change and improvement. Now, with the changing of the seasons is the time to review and reflect on what weve learnt and our progress towards achieving the goals that we set in January. HR Division will be by your side in exploring where and how you can continue to motivate your staff, suppliers and customers to meet your health and safety targets for the remainder of the year.
PO Box 4060 Balwyn East Victoria 3103 Tel: (03) 9948 2401 Fax: (03) 8677 1863 AC Corp Pry Ltd ATF MFT info@hrdivision.com.au www.hrdivision.com.au

People and Performance Solutions

A guide to renewing your resolutions for Winter

3. Allow failure to encourage you If you have had an insurmountable challenge thrown in your way in obtaining your resolution, make an effort to learn from your mistakes and grow stronger from it. 4. Reward yourself meeting your goal for

If there is a small setback in accomplishing a target, dont permit it to completely collapse your progress towards your goal. People are much more likely to feel discouraged after a setback. Have a positive outlook and reward yourself for a positive move forward to reaching your goal. Change is ongoing If you set New Year resolutions but didnt keep them, use this change in season to review your position in relation to realizing your goal. There is no need to let the end of year be a deadline for achieving all your resolutions. Whether its January, June or October, it is always an opportune time to start a goal. Maintain a good optimism about your ability to achieve your goals regardless of the time of year. With a positive mentality towards keeping your resolution you will be better able to cope with obstacles along the way and to subsequently stick to your goal.

In the awaking of winter and with this season of change, now is the time to bring renewed energy into keeping the resolution that you made at the start of the year. Resolutions are all about improvement, and an improvement from now is better than never. In fact, Winter may be an even better time to make resolutions for change, its a less stressful period, the weather is cooler, we feel more energized. Think about
the following tricks to help you stick to bringing change into your workplace.

1. Reframe your resolution Review your vision of success with the intent of making sure that it is realistic and renew your pledge to it. 2. Make a handful of smaller resolutions Resolve for the next month instead of for a whole year. In this way you can review your strategies on a monthly basis. You can then decide if your resolution needs to be different or needs to be developed further.

Mind the Flu

As the cold days become more frequent, so too do the signs of cold and flu. Plan ahead and start implementing some tactics to help your workplace promote an uncommon cold and flu-free environment. The cold and flu are readily spread when people are indoors because people have greater opportunity to pass their virus from one person to the next. To start, hand paramount. hygiene is

as virus can live on to spread from surface-to-surface. Note, the reference to surface extends to the hands or face of others, including handshakes Once hand washing is over ensure that you maintain the cleanliness of the hands by turning off the faucet with a paper towel to limit exposure to the surface of the faucet Then make sure your hands are dry after washing. Use a paper towel to open the bathroom door and dispose of paper towel in trash bin outside the door Do not share cups or water bottles with others

Ensure that the workplace cleaning is up to scratch with rigorous cleaning of shared items, such as phones, keyboards and door handles. Try as best as possible to maintain a non-stressful environment. Stress can decrease immunity so by ensuring that people are well rested and working in a good environment it can also help to prevent a cold or flu taking hold of the team.

Washing your hands Wash your hands for at least 15 seconds with soap. Or sanitize your hands with an alcohol-gel hand sanitizer. This is especially critical if you are coming in contact or have already come into contact with a potentially contaminated surface

A snapshot of occupational disease

Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Australian Social Trends, June 2011; Safe Work Australia, Occupational Disease Indicators, October 2012. Occupational diseases have been found to be increasing. Additionally, the average cost of a claim related to an occupational disease double the cost of a workplace injury. As such, there is significant pressure to exert effort into prevention. An occupational disease is a disease produced by exposure to a workplace hazardous substance. According to the Safe Work Australia, Occupational Disease Indicators, October 2012, occupational disease can be categorized in eight disease groups, including: Musculoskeletal disorders Mental disorders Noise-induced hearing loss Infectious & parasitic diseases Respiratory diseases Contact dermatitis Cardiovascular diseases Occupational cancers. period of 2000-01 to 2008-09 of the rate of incidence of workers compensation claims involving musculoskeletal disorders caused by body stressing. However, a University of Sydney survey of workers in government departments found that those who spent the most hours daily working with a computer also reported the highest level of musculoskeletal injuries. Therefore with rising job opportunities in office environments, there is a call for increased attention to prevention of musculoskeletal disorder. Mental disorders The incidence rate of workers compensation claims for mental disorders has dropped. This is not to say though that mental disorders do not account for a significant cost of time off work. The Bureau of Statistics, Australian Social Trends, June 2011, suggests that mental health issues have surpassed physical injury as the cause of the longest absences from work. Occupational cancers A fatal occupational cancer is mesothelioma, which occurs in some people that have been exposed to asbestos. The incidence rate of mesothelioma has increased over time, and it is forecast that it will continue to increase in the next 10 to 15 years. Refer to the figure below for new diagnosis of mesothelioma notifications per million of the population.

Of these, musculoskeletal disorders, mental disorders and cancers have been highlighted as priority work-related disorders. Musculoskeletal disorders There was a decrease over the