Earthquake Safety

Do You Know What Your Earthquake Health and Safety Considerations Should Be?

Do you know what your Earthquake Health and Safety obligations are?

 
All Employers need to ensure that employees are returning to a safe workplace and that you have taken all practicable steps to ensure their safety.

Questions to ask yourself even if you are an office based employer are:

  • Do you have an emergency response plan in place?
  • Have you identified an earthquake as a potential emergency situation?
  • Have you identified your office based hazards?
  • Do you have a Health and Safety Policy?
  • Do you have a Health and Safety Manual?
  • Do you have a Health and Safety System that has been externally audited? 

If you have answered "No" to any of the above call us today to come out to your workplace because we can assist you to get compliant and protect all your people

A full hazard identification should be made of your workplace and plans created to eliminate, isolate and minimise hazards where practical.

What do you need to consider after an earthquake?

After an earthquake and before you re-enter the building ensure that:

  • a structural engineer has deemed your worksite safe to re-enter.
  • ensure you have an emergency exit route and sufficient cover at hand should another aftershock hit
  • you check for live electrical cables or gas leaks,
  • you check the integrity of the water or sewage lines,
  • you check for unstable equipment,
  • you check for chemical spills,
  • you check for damage to the structure of the building and any security issues,
  • you assess any other hazards or hazards that may have changed

What type of health and safety help and assistance do you need?

  • Do you need assistance re-entering your worksite to ensure the safety of yoru team?
  • Do you need help creating method statements or task analysis for the safe clearing up of your worksite?
  • Do you need help reviewing or documenting your emergency response plans?
  • Do you know what you should be doing first?

Safety measures during an Earthquake

Civil Defence director John Hamilton has stated when an earthquake starts, the best advice was to "drop, cover and hold".

With the continuing aftershocks in the Canterbury region it is especially important the 'drop cover and hold' advice continues to be followed. Drop, cover and hold was based on international best practice.

In a severe earthquake it is absolutely vital that people respond immediately.  Confusion about what to do can result in people getting seriously injured or killed.

Our advice is to identify safe places in your home, office or school before an earthquake so that when the shaking starts you can respond quickly.

 

Call the experts today on 0800 487 439 to get your earthquake safety systems reviewed or created.

Let TriEx ensure you have a robust emergency response plan to safe guard the wellness of your team and ensure you comply fully with the law..