DHF Annual Report 2009 - NT Health Digital Library - Northern ...

Agreement 2008-10 will expire, and discussions towards a new agreement have commencedOccupational Health and SafetyTwo additional full time positions have been created within the Occupational Health andSafety Unit (OH&S) to provide a dedicated service to Royal Darwin, Alice Springs, Katherine,Gove District and Tennant Creek Hospitals. These additional positions will play a key role inpreparing for accreditation checks.Successful recruitment to the two Central Region OH&S positions has strengthened theDepartment’s capacity to maintain injury prevention strategies in line with the Top End andaligned with the Department’s Occupational Health and Safety Management System.The OH&S Steering Committee’s membership represents a Union-Department partnership,to which a robust OH&S committee structure across the Department provides regularreporting on OH&S performance.Under Section 34 of the Territory’s Workplace Health and Safety Act (2007) the Departmentor its workers, may at any time, start negotiations for the formation of a workgroup. Thepurpose of establishing a workgroup is to progress to the election and introduction of aHealth and Safety Representative (HSR). To further strengthen consultation and participationarrangements between the Department and staff, negotiations to establish workgroupshave commenced and are ongoing.251TrainedmanualhandlingresourcestaffWork continues on developing new and reviewing existing OH&S related Departmentaldocuments aligned with the Territory’s Workplace Health and Safety Act 2007 andRegulations 2008 and nationally recognised best practice.OH&S training forms part of the Department’s Orientation Program and is provided on aregular basis through the Departmental Corporate Training Calendar and on an ad-hoc basisas required. Due to the nature of our business, body stress incidents continue to account forthe highest number of injuries to health staff. A major training focus for this reporting periodhas been on the provision of manual handling training for resource personnel. Manualhandling resource staff within the work areas provide on-site in-service for existing staffin addition to induction training for new staff, including the correct use of mechanical aids.There are a total of 251 trained resource staff throughout the Department, with 210 locatedin Acute Care Services.The provision of training and general OH&S worksite inspections has been undertaken inWorkers’ CompensationA total of 159 new claims were lodged, resulting in a total cost of $3 362 862 comparedto the previous year’s cost of $3 666 986 representing an 8.3% reduction. The averagelost time due to all injuries was 12 days, compared to 18 days for 2008-09. Claims lodgedby nurses accounted for 86 of the new claims at a cost of $2 820 607. Whilst there is anincrease in claims lodged by nurses in comparison with previous years, the claims weremanaged expediently and averaged a time loss of 11 days compared to 30 days lost timeaverage in the previous year.72Department Health and Families