Congratulations to the ESSO team in Victoria for putting their thinking caps on and coming up with a solution to a potential safety problem. The team, led by Brendan Thorburn, and supported by Tristan Howard, Glen Seddon, James Hamill, Pat Robinson, and Curtis Smith, looked at how to mitigate the risk of dropped scaffold tubes on sites and projects. Their efforts have seen them win a UGL Very Best Award for Safety.
The team started by consulting with site health and safety representatives and scaffolding crews to understand the various ways that hand balling (the process of passing scaffold materials from one person to another) was being undertaken across the onshore and offshore sites. It was discovered this was primarily an onshore issue, as offshore platforms have a dedicated pedestal crane for most jobs. The different onshore teams each had a variation on how to complete handballing.
After looking at both the onshore and the offshore method, the team consolidated it into a proposed solution. This was then trialed with an onshore crew and found to be effective.
A training pack was then put together and rolled out across our sites.
“It is great to see the team at Esso show initiative in trying to minimise the risk of dropped objects to their work teams in piloting new methods when erecting and dismantling scaffold, with the goal of ensuring everyone goes home safely,” says UGL HSE GM Operations – Services, Leisa Brooks who nominated the team.
At UGL, safety underpins everything we do, and the ESSO team is ensuring we’re always evolving to mitigate risks. The team has gone above and beyond to keep their colleagues safe and have been recognised for their efforts.