WATTLE Range Council has received recognition from the Local Government Association of South Australia Workers Compensation Scheme for innovation in risk management following development of a purpose-built kerb lifting mechanism for use in maintenance operations.
Council chief executive Ben Gower said his organisation was presented with the regional award for best practice in work health and safety for the solution designed and developed to protect workers from injury when a ready-built option could not be found.
“When consulting with our outside workforce, kerbing was identified as one of the higher risk manual handling tasks that was routinely undertaken,” Mr Gower said.
“Extensive discussion ensued with many options and potential solutions being explored.
“Eventually, the concept of a ‘kerb lifter’ attachment evolved after brainstorming with the work group.
“The solution the team has developed is simple, practical, efficient and most importantly lowers the risk of manual handling injury.”
The award, announced at the 2018 LGA Conference dinner in Adelaide, was accepted on behalf of Wattle Range Council by Mr Gower and included a $5000 prize.
