Laundry cleans up as WHS overhaul brings drop in compo claims
A Gold Coast laundry service has seen its workers’ compensation premium fall by more than 25 per cent after reviewing its safety procedures, focusing on training, and communicating more with its workers.
Princes Fabricare Pty Ltd carried out the review and improvement with the help of the Queensland Government’s Injury Prevention and Management Program to see how working smarter can mean working safer and more profitably.
The company was referred to IPaM because its premium was above the industry average rate.
Working with IPaM, a detailed action plan was introduced, which included developing position descriptions for all roles that included specific WHS responsibilities, a program to reward positive safety behaviours, engaging staff with toolbox talks and a safety climate survey. A hazard inspection checklist was drawn up and daily pre-start checklists for plant and machinery, with risk assessments conducted for hazardous manual tasks.
Safe work procedures were reviewed, a traffic management plan documented and supervisors and leading hands trained on their responsibilities. An injured worker pack was developed to ease the transition back to work for injured workers.
Group Operations Manager Jaspinder Singh said the benefits of the transformation had impressed everyone.
“With regards to claims and costs, our average claim cost prior to 2018 was $13,000,” he said.
“Our work with IPaM has seen a significant drop in claims and costs over the last two years to two claims a year - and an average cost below $700 - thanks in part to a big drop in our manual handling injuries.
“The level of service and support we received from IPaM was invaluable – it helped us streamline and improve our health and safety processes to better suit the business needs. This in turn has seen a positive change within our workforce on how it views and actively participates in WHS.”
IPaM is a joint initiative of WorkCover Queensland and Workplace Health and Safety Queensland. It is free to participate and available to any Queensland employer with a WorkCover Queensland policy, regardless of size or business maturity.
Further information
Read more about the Injury Prevention and Management program