Work health and safety in the Riverina

What it means

What that means for safety

Seasonal peaks mean crews who are new to the site, often working long hours, sometimes at night, frequently through labour hire or contract arrangements. That is the single biggest pattern I deal with here, and it is why induction and contractor control comes up in nearly every job.

Confined spaces are everywhere once you apply the definition rather than the mental picture: silos and field bins, fermentation tanks and vats, product and cleaning tanks, effluent pits, tankers.

Ammonia refrigeration runs under a lot of the processing and cold storage in the district. Mobile plant works in orchards, yards and sheds alongside people on foot. Heat is a real control problem from late spring onward.

And distance matters. Emergency response times out here are not what they are in a city, which changes what a rescue plan has to be capable of on its own.

Working locally

How I work here

Being based in the district changes the shape of a job. A two hour site walk does not need to be padded out to justify the travel. If something needs a second look, I can come back. If a question comes up mid vintage or mid harvest, I am close enough to be useful that week rather than next month.

I work to the model WHS laws here in New South Wales, and to Victoria's OHS Act 2004 across the border, which matters if your operation runs on both sides of it.