Monday, September 10, 2012

Occupational Health and Safety Code Re the Sat Phone

By John Whitley


According to the Occupational and Safety code in Australia, all employers are required by the law to provide effective comms paths to their workers if they work under conditions that don't permit them to have regular mobile telephone conversation. For most employees, this generally means the use of satellite phones although the law doesn't outline the sat phone as the sole way they can substitute regular fone talks.

This code is specially meant to apply to workers under the OHS Act and this excludes people that are employed by the central government, who work in farms or ranches or those that are self-employed. This is generally because for self-employed people, they'll ensure that they have efficient communication means because they need to communicate with their providers. The law was thus made to make certain that employees don't go for days without having a way to talk with other folks.

The law was also implemented to ensure that if an employer has hired security guards to offer protecting services to either property or folk, they are going to be well equipped to make a response to emergency calls or threats without much of a delay. This not is only sensible but is now a requirement before any employer hires a security guard.

Most bosses prefer employing a sat phone because it is more reliable in case of an emergency and communication may not be discouraged by earthly connections that are mainly used for mobile telephones. Additionally, these connections are known to fail on some occasions and this is going to be a serious threat when a security guard can't make a response to the emergency just because they cannot communicate or call for back up. The occupational health and safety code mainly focuses on an employees safety and wellbeing but also doubles up as an extra security measure for the employer.

According to the code, companies are required to have the effective communication system especially when a worker is working alone. The law will allow the employer to conduct a hazard assessment in order to determine the proper communication system. This assessment is only conducted once and it will only change if the work conditions also change. Therefore , if the assessment shows that employing a sat phone is the most appropriate communication path, then this will remain the same unless a more suitable system comes up with time.

The law also doesn't confirm that an employer is required to provide satellite phones or any other means of communication to their workers if they make regular call ins at pre-arranged intervals to guarantee the safety of their employees. The call in intervals will be based totally on the jeopardy assessment and will then be different for individual work eventualities. This might be at the beginning and end of a shift or every hour or two if the work scenario carries more risks. This law works best in remote work places where there's a higher chance of injury and little method of communication implying employees may be unable to call in for help in case of an emergency.




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