The Australian Safety and Compensation Council (ASCC) Chairman, Bill Scales AO, has released the National Hazard Exposure Worker Surveillance (NHEWS) survey – 2008 Results and the accompanying National Hazard Exposure Worker Surveillance (NHEWS) survey – Survey Handbook.
“The NHEWS survey is the first national survey on exposure to occupational disease causing hazards in Australia,” Scales said.
“The more effective prevention of occupational diseases is a priority area in the National OHS Strategy 2002-2012.
“The ASCC has recognised that for a range of reasons, national data on occupational diseases is not adequate to inform prevention activities.
“The NHEWS data will provide information on the current nature and extent of Australian workers’ e xposure to selected occupational disease causing hazards as well as the controls used to manage these.
“This will help the ASCC and others decide priorities for prevention and measure the success of these programs to help reduce the hazards to which Australian workers are exposed at work.
“Over time, these programs will reduce the health and economic burden of occupational diseases to Australian workers, their families, the community and business.
“I am pleased to report the NHEWS survey shows that most workers in Australia who are exposed to an occupational disease causing hazard are provided with some form of control to reduce risk.
“This is a very encouraging finding and shows we are making progress to reduce work-related illness, disease and death.
“Further to this, findings showed workers surveyed were able to report a variety of controls were being provided by employers to reduce risk on the job.
“Although these are positive findings, it is concerning that some workers who are exposed to hazards are reporting that no controls for risks are provided at all.
“For example, around one in every five workers reported that their employer did nothing to prevent health problems caused by exposure to direct sunlight or sunburn.
“Around the same number of employees reported that their employer did nothing to prevent their hearing from being damaged or to prevent problems caused by using a range of vibrating tools.
“This is not acceptable. It is everybody’s right to be safe and healthy at work and all employers need to review their approach to these important issues,” Scales said.
Participants in the NHEWS survey were engaged through telephone interviews. A sample of 1900 workers were surveyed for the first part of the study, which targeted workers from the five priority industries as identified under the National OHS Strategy 2002-2012. These are transport and storage, health and community services, construction, manufacturing, and agriculture, forestry and fishing.
A second sample of 2600 workers was drawn from both priority and non-priority industries.
Some key findings of the NHEWS survey include: Most of the 1538 respondents who worked in direct sunlight were provided with sunscreen, hats or protective clothing to prevent problems caused by exposure to direct sunlight or sunburn.
One in five (21 per cent) who worked in direct sunlight undertook their work outside of peak UV hours to reduce sun exposure.
Close to 17 per cent of workers reported that they or their employer did nothing to prevent health problems caused by exposure to direct sunlight or sunburn.
Of the 1437 respondents who worked with loud noise, around two thirds were provided with ear plugs or ear muffs (60 per cent) to prevent hearing from being damaged.
One in five (22 per cent) said noisy equipment was placed in an isolated room, while 36 per cent said quieter machinery was purchased whenever possible.
Almost one in five (17 per cent) reported they or their employer had done nothing to prevent hearing from being damaged by loud noise.
Two thirds (65 per cent) of the 1348 respondents who worked with tools, equipment or in vehicles that vibrate were provided with gloves to prevent any related health problems.
A third of respondents said they had been provided with vibration absorbing seats and 31 per cent said they were provided with products with less vibration.
One in five (22 per cent) reported that they or their employer had done nothing to prevent problems caused by working with vibrating tools and equipment or in vehicles that vibrate.
“I am pleased to release the NHEWS survey and accompanying handbook to the public and I encourage industry, employees, employers, OHS representatives and practitioners to make use of this resource,” Scales said.
The NHEWS survey handbook describes the purpose of the NHEWS survey, the sources of individual questions in the survey, the rationale behind the questions and the sampling and analysis strategies for the data collected.
The NHEWS survey was produced in collaboration with state and territory WorkSafe and WorkCover authorities and a panel of research experts. Further analysis of the NHEWS survey data is planned for 2009.
The National Hazard Exposure Worker Surveillance (NHEWS) survey – 2008 Results and National Hazard Exposure Worker Surveillance (NHEWS) survey – Survey Handbook are available for free download from the ASCC website at ascc.gov.au.