The Group Training Association of Victoria has unveiled Safety First, an app that will help keep apprentices and trainees safe through the Christmas rush and beyond.
November and December are the deadliest months for workers and manufacturing, construction and transport – trades traditionally affected by the Christmas rush – record the highest incidence of serious claims overall1 .
In these busy months, ensuring safety procedures are quick, effective and easy for apprentices to use is more important than ever. The Group Training Association of Victoria (GTAV) developed the Safety First App to help new entrants to the workforce to improve their understanding of OH&S. Recent history has shown that inexperienced workers under 25 are especially prone to accident and are 18% more likely to sustain a work injury than their older colleagues2 .
Gary Workman, Executive Director of the Group Training Association of Victoria, says “Our members employ 8500 apprentices and trainees across Victoria and are committed to ensuring their staff, particularly those that are on new worksites, or equipment and plant, have handy access to the safety information checklists they need.”
“Now apprentices have the safety questions they should be able to answer right in their pocket.”
“This is especially important for trades like plumbing, electrical and construction where apprentices can find themselves on a different worksite, with different potential hazards, every day,” says Workman.
GTAV’s new safety app will bring technology-enabled features into the traditional OH&S documentation, streamlining it and ensuring it is more site-specific.
The app provides instant feedback to apprentices, with links to further information and a “percentage completed” indicator that will highlight how much information each individual knows for each work site.
From an employer point of view, the app will provide a permanent compliance record for each employee on every worksite they attend, with the ability to produce electronic certificates of OH&S induction completion levels that can be emailed or sent as an SMS.
1 http://www.safeworkaustralia.gov.au/sites/swa/statistics/workers-compensation-data
2 http://www.safeworkaustralia.gov.au/sites/swa/about/publications/pages/work-related-injuries-experienced-by-young-workers-in-australia-2009-10
The app is available for download here:
Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.loftgroup.SafetyFirst
Apple iTunes Store: https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/safetyfirstzz21/id743372910?mt=8&ign-mpt=uo%3D4
A Safety First summary sheet can be viewed here: http://safetyfirst.org.au/resources-s1/mobile-app
Gary Workman, Executive Director of the Group Training Association of Victoria is available for comment.
For media enquiries please contact:
Parnell McGuinness
p. 0412 228 282
e. parnell.mcguinness@thoughtbroker.com.au
*The Group Training Association of Victoria is the peak body representing group training organisations that employ over 8500 apprentices and trainees across all industry sectors each year in Victoria. www.gtavic.asn.au