Three safety and health newsletters were produced in 2009.

Newsletters were not published in 2010.

July

New postgraduate representative

The safety and health committee welcomes the new postgraduate student representative, Amin Rismanchian, to the committee. Amin has recently started with us as a PhD student and we thank him for his commitment.

If you have any concerns or complaints about safety and health issues then please talk to Amin or anyone of the committee members. The committee now comprises of Bart Thompson, John Jiang, Lisa Melvin, Claire Bearman, Monica Mackman and Amin Rismanchian.

Wave tank

There will be a new platform built around the simulated wave tank in room G93. This will make it safer for those staff and students who currently use the wave tank to get up to the platform and move around.

Signs

You may have noticed the new signs for no smoking areas, safety showers and chemical spill kits being put up around the building. They are there to help remind you of where smoking is not allowed and also where the safety showers and chemical spill kits are located in case of an emergency.

O-Tube lab at Shenton Park

The Hydraulics Lab at UWA Field Station in Shenton Park is currently being refurbished for a new flume testing facility, namely the o-tube. The O-Tube is designed to simulate wave/pipeline/seabed interactions under extreme storm conditions. The test section of the O-tube is 19 metres long, 1 meter in width and 1.4 meter in depth. Because the facility is off campus special requirements will need to be put in place for those people using the lab and these will be finalized when the lab is complete.

Safety induction

The next general safety induction will be held Thursday 6th August at 1.15pm. If you have not already attended one please make sure you go to this one. It is a UWA requirement that all staff, students and visitors attend a safety induction. Further details will be sent by email soon.

This is also just a reminder that if you or your students are using any of the labs then a specific safety induction needs to be completed with the lab supervisors.

Office ergonomics

If you are having problems with your desk space or chair then please talk to Lisa or John about it. You do not have to put up with sitting on a broken chair or sitting on a chair that is causing you back pain.

Any other business

If there is anything that you would like the committee to discuss at its next meeting (which will be October) then please contact Monica Mackman or see any of the committee members.

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April

Smoking complaints

There have been some complaints recently about people smoking in areas where they are not supposed to. This is causing a lot of discomfort for other people so please make sure that if you do smoke to follow the University’s policy on smoking. Specifically this relates to our building that smoking is prohibited:

• within 5 metres of any of the entrance doors
• on any part of the pathways leading into the building, including the path where the bike racks are and the path that runs alongside the cooling tower (between the hydraulics lab and the environmental systems lab where the new safety shower has been installed) or within 5 metres of these pathways. These pathways have ducts which some offices/labs on the ground floor get their fresh air from. Anyone who smokes on or near these paths causes smoke to enter into these offices.
• within 5 metres of the driveway into the civil engineering workshop – including the entrance where the cyclone fence is.

These policies have been put in place by the University so that non-smokers shall, as far is practicable, not be subjected to smoke inhalation. It would be appreciated if everyone who smokes follows the rules laid out above for the comfort of everyone who works in the building. No smoking signs will be put up shortly in the areas mentioned to help remind people where they are not allowed to smoke.

New safety shower

The new safety shower has been installed. For those of you who haven’t seen it yet its located just outside the glass doors at the bottom of the stairs in the corridor between the soils labs and the hydraulics lab/electronics lab (on the pathway between the hydraulics lab and environmental systems lab running alongside the cooling tower). We will be putting up signs in the next couple of weeks directing people to it in case of an emergency. Hopefully it will never be needed.

Updated manuals

The updated safety manual will be put in the tea room and on the website shortly. There are no major changes from the previous version, with the main changes being the safety personnel:

• take Bart Thompson off the Fire Wardens list
• add in Aaron Groves to the Fire Wardens list
• add in Sharon Tan to the Senior First Aid Officers list

Safety inductions

This is just a reminder that all staff, students and visitors need to complete a general safety induction. They are held once every 3 months so if you have not completed one then please put your name down for the next session. If you or any of your students (both undergrad and postgrad) or visitors will be using any of the labs please ask them to introduce themselves to the lab staff so they can organize a specific safety induction. Keys will not be issued to students/visitors for the labs unless one of the specific safety inductions have been completed.

Any other business

If there is anything that you would like the committee to discuss at its next meeting (which will be July) then please contact Monica Mackman or see Bart Thompson.

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