Heat Illness In Australia Essay

Heat illness and members suffering from it resulted in multiple deaths of Australian Defence Force personnel. As such multiple measures were introduced to prevent and/or limit the number of casualties caused by heat illness. As working outside constitutes the majority of the work done by these personnel it is deemed an environmental hazard.

Heat is a naturally occurring event within Australia. It is not something that can be controlled by human interference. Sometimes it is unavoidable and we must work under these hot conditions. This being said we will not subject workers to dangerous conditions. Heat is something we will work with and around, but, where possible, we will implement procedures to minimise exposure to the heat hazard. In studies of mineworkers working in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, Dr. Veronica Miller, a lecturer in the school of Public Health from at the Curtin University of Technology in Perth, found that up to 50% of miners were starting their shifts severely

Regular medical training is to be conducted in order, not only to treat, but more importantly, prevent heat illness occurring in the first place. We all know prevention is better than cure. Safework Australia’s publication of 2011 is the main source of guidance we have drawn upon and the health and safety committee will monitor any updates to this and any other relevant legislation when it convenes at its’ quarterly meeting. We will monitor the weather forecast before the start of each shift and in the event of extreme changes workers will be informed prior to commencement of their work. If there are any heat illness incidents I will call another talk to discuss the details and will allow for discussion as to what happened and how to prevent it from happening