NGMW556
Individual / Organisation name: Thomas Mayor
What state/territory: NT
Review of the National Guidance Material for Working Safely on the Waterfront
Public Comment Response Form
Complete and submit this form by 5PM AEST FRIDAY 10 AUGUST 2012 to stevedoring@safeworkaustralia.gov.au
Comments on content of the national guidance material
Section/page no.
Comment
Comments on additional issues identified in section 4.2 of the Discussion Paper
Section/page no.
Comment
Hatchmen
Stevedoring qualifications
Safety Induction skill-set
I was a Crane Operator on the Darwin Wharves for 16 years. A hatch man is vital to the safety of the workers in the hatch who have very few avenues for a quick escape should cargo become fouled or unstable without the crane operators knowledge. You don't drive your car when you cannot see where you are going and without reliable guidance. It is simple common sense that the same should apply in a dangerous workplace.
Should the guidance material refer to the qualifications (Cert II, Cert III and Cert
IV in Stevedoring) that have been developed for the stevedoring industry?
Stevedoring is dangerous work with too many fatalities. Higher levels of training thought Certificate 3 or 4 should be a minimum standard in a high risk workplace with so many varied hazards.
Should the newly developed stevedoring ‘safety skill-set’ be used to underpin safety inductions?
Stevedoring is a high risk job with many various hazards. The inductions should include minimum units to be met prior to a person working on the job. The code should specify what an induction should specifically cover and what units are a part of it.
Use of checklists Should the safety checklists, which set out examples of the types of hazards, and acceptable/unacceptable ways of handling those hazards, be maintained in the guidance material?
A checklist in the code is vital to ensure nothing is missed in achieving a safe work environment. Checklists are used in many other occupations where the worker and others around them are at risk in a hazardous operation. The hazards are so varied best practice would be a checklist; with the many fatalities and incidents on the wharves the checklist should be a minimum standard enshrined in the COP.
Comments on the implementation of the national guidance material in each jurisdiction which may have included launches, information and training sessions, and whether it has

been useful in the workplace as a resource for improving safety practices.
Section/page no.
Comment
Other comments