This document discusses safety management in dangerous and remote work circumstances. It outlines steps for identifying risks, controlling risks through a hierarchy of controls including elimination, substitution and engineering controls, and ensuring risks are reduced as far as reasonably practicable. It provides examples of cases where public officials faced safety risks in their duties and were assaulted. The document advocates taking a "Take 5" approach to stop and think to stay safe, and provides contact details for a commercial litigation and workplace relations law firm.

1. Working in Dangerous and
Remote Circumstances
By Andrew Douglas and Saide Elcheikh
5 October 2012
Mob: 0488 151 503
Email: andrew.douglas@mk.com.au
http://au.linkedin.com/in/douglasandrew
http://leadingthought.com.au/
http://twitter.com/leading_thought

2. Safety Management System
• DO YOU HAVE A SAFE WORKPLACE?

3. Managing Risks – Hierarchy of Control
1. What are the risks?
2. How can we control them?
In most cases, a combination of the risk control measures should be applied to ensure that
the risk to health and safety is reduced so far as is reasonably practicable...
• IF YOU CANNOT ASCERTAIN THE RISK THE LEVEL OF RISK IS HIGH

4. Reasonably Practicable
1. Likelihood of the hazard or risk occurring.
2. Degree of harm that might result from the hazard or risk.
3. What the person concerned knows, or ought reasonably to know about the
hazard or the risk and way of minimising or eliminating the risk.
4. Availability and suitability of ways to eliminate or minimise the risk.
5. The costs associated with available ways of eliminating or minimising the risk.

5. Take 5 Approach – How to stay safe!
• Stop, think. If there is any doubt, don’t go ahead!

6. Some cases for a bit of context…
Here are the facts of some cases of dangerous situations for public officials:
• R v Rondo (2001) 126 A Crim R 562
– Police requested search of the accused (sprayed someone in the face with a substance)
– Assaulted police - punched them
– Police were rightly undertaking their duty to search and arrest and were put in danger
• Egan Darius Ross v Darren Stephen Mothersole [2010] ACTSC 125
– Accused hit victim in the face with a beer glass
– When caught by police he threatened to ‘smash’ their faces in, had a fighting stance
– This constituted a threat to the safety of the public officials and obstruction
• Ashley Michael Charnock v Simon James Coady et al [2010] ACTSC 26
– Police were doing a routine drive by
– A group of males outside the nightclub threw a bottle at the vehicle
– Police stopped to approach the mean and further altercations occurred
– Police ended up in hospital

7. CONTACT M+K SERVICES
VICTORIA TASMANIA
Dandenong Hobart Commercial
40-42 Scott St Dobson Mitchell & Allport Lawyers Commercial Litigation
Dandenong VIC 3175 59 Harrington St Property
Tel: +61 3 9794 2600 Hobart TAS 7000 Workplace Relations
Tel:+61 3 6210 0000 Private Clients
Melbourne
Level 22, 114 William St
Melbourne VIC 3000 QUEENSLAND
Tel: +61 3 8615 9900
Brisbane
Andrew Douglas Level 14, 324 Queen Street
Dir: +61 (3) 8615 9915 Brisbane QLD 4001
Mob: 0488 151 503 Tel: +61 7 3235 0400
andrew.douglas@mk.com.au
NEW SOUTH WALES info@mk.com.au mk.com.au
Sydney
Level 21, 20 Bond St
Sydney NSW 2000
Tel: +61 2 8298 9533