As an employer, part of your responsibility to your employees is providing a safe work environment, meaning relevant WHS standards are upheld, and potential workplace hazards are minimised.
A hazard as simple as a slippery surface is easily overlooked, however, a single fall can be enough to seriously injure employees, and for that matter – clients or visitors. Slips, trips and falls are the most common cause of workplace injuries.
Safety should always be a priority, and surfaces such as pedestrian crossings, walkways and stairs pose real danger when slippery.
If your site operates with human and vehicle or machinery interaction, having designated areas for vehicle or machinery operation and marked pedestrian walkways reduces the possibility of collision. Designated walkways should have a gripped coating to create a non-slip surface.
All it takes is a slip, slide, or trip in the wrong place and a casualty can occur.
The solution to slippery surfaces is as simple as creating or adding grip to the area. Line marking is a service that, when done right in these areas, provides much needed grip and reduces the hazard of falling.
We provide three types of line marking, thermoplastic, spray, and gritted paint. Using high grip paint, adding our own special mix of aluminium oxide and an anti-slip sealer, our line marking services leave a rough surface, drastically reducing slip hazards.
In situations where a surface becomes slippery when dirty, you can keep that hazard at bay by having it regularly maintained and pressure cleaned or mechanically scrubbed by us.
If you’ve identified a potential slip hazard, get in touch before an injury occurs.
Depending on what you’re looking for, the choice of hardstand material can be a tough one.
Aesthetics, functionality, price, and ongoing maintenance all have a part to play in selecting the best hardstand material.
Some of the most common materials for hardstand areas are concrete, asphalt, compacted road base, gravel, and decorative stone like rhyolite dust. The most common choice for hardstand we see are asphalt and road base, it’s often the best choice for the client’s budget whilst still being highly functional.
Concrete is the best option for hardstand areas used for heavy vehicles and machinery as it requires very little maintenance, if any. While concrete is the most durable option, it’s also expensive, which is why many people opt for asphalt instead.
Asphalt is a more commonly used and more affordable material that holds up well in high traffic areas in an industrial setting. Asphalt has a long lifespan, however, requires ongoing maintenance to fill in holes.
A more budget friendly option is Road base, which requires a lot of maintenance to smooth and replenish lost aggregate. It’s versatile, comes in a variety of sizes, and works well with lighter vehicles like passenger cars so if aesthetics is an important factor, you may want to look into it.
If you’re wanting your hardstand area to look good and be within budget, finer hardstand materials like gravel and decorative stone are more suited to your needs.
Gravel is a great and cheap option, but is more suited to residential driveways, or hospitality and accommodation venues as it doesn’t hold up well with heavy vehicle or machinery use. Gravel is versatile and comes in a range of colours.
If not prepared properly on flat surface with drainage and adequate sub-base, it’s frequent maintenance of smoothing and leveling off high & low areas, as well as replacing crushed gravel, occur more often.
Like gravel, decorative stone and Rhyolite dust is a great choice for aesthetics. It’s best suited to passenger-car carparks, driveways & pathways, and comes in a variety of colours.
Rhyolite dust requires a high level of maintenance and has to be replaced often as it’s easily displaced and will wash away with heavy rain exposure. Drainage can also be an issue with certain decorative stone materials.
We can work with you for the whole process. Deciding what material is best for your hardstand area, clearing and leveling the area, install drainage and retaining walls if required, filling your hardstand in, and performing the necessary maintenance required to keep them functioning & looking good.
Safety hazards in the workplace are not only dangerous for employees, but also for businesses. Employees in Australia that needed time off for injuries sustained in the workplace during the 2012-2017 period approximately matched the hours of 41,000 full time jobs.
Health, safety and a positive environment allow your team to perform at their best every day. Creating an environment where staff are happy to be at work can increase efficiency and productivity in your employees, in turn increasing employee satisfaction and lowering staff turnover rates.
In a recent article published by Bond Univeristy, states that 52% of workers interviewed preferring to work offsite. Gallup’s State of the Global Workplace 2023 report found Australia has the second highest level of workplace stress. Many industries are seeing higher staff turnover rates due to burnout and dissatisfaction than ever before.
Part of achieving a positive work culture at your workplace is providing physical spaces for breaks that are different from the work environment, a space to take 5 and clear your head.
Happy, safe and comfortable workers are productive workers, and this productivity starts from the environment provided to them.
If you have a corner of unused space on your commercial or industrial premise, there’s a good chance that Hunter Civil and Maintenance could help you transform it into a break area for your team.
We can create spaces to enrich and unify your workforce as well as maintain these areas to keep them safe and looking professional.
Stay Safe at Work App
Workplace Injuries 9 News Report
Bond University Study
Slips trips and falls cost Australian businesses a fortune in compensation claims and lost time. They also cost the sufferer greatly, occasionally ending in life-long or even deadly complications.
There are plenty of compliance regulations attempting to make workplaces and public spaces safer by lessening the occurrence of slips, trips and falls. Let’s take a look at your compliance responsibilities for stairs.
If you think stairs are just a simple way of getting people from one level to the next, think again. There are lots of regulations around the construction and maintenance or stairs.
If you identify any risks in stairs at your workplace, we can help. We can demolish existing stairs and help to arrange install of new ones. We also regularly pressure clean stairwells to remove slip hazards, and paint textured, reflective surfaces to your stairs to make them safer.
By keeping on top of the condition of your grounds and buildings you can protect against many avoidable injuries and increase efficiency.
Download our free checklist PDF to help get you started.