Preventing eye and hand injuries campaign

Campaign focus

Eye and hand injuries make up the highest non-fatal claim rate in the manufacturing industry, representing one in five non-fatal claims. The most common injuries are cuts and lacerations to the hands (13 per cent) and foreign body in the eyes (9 per cent).

The goal of Workplace Health and Safety Queensland’s (WHSQ) Preventing eye and hand injury campaign was to reduce injuries to eyes, hands and fingers in metal manufacturing workplaces in Queensland.

Throughout 2015, WHSQ inspectors visited approximately 200 Queensland manufacturing workplaces, finding:

• 66 per cent of workplaces demonstrated good practice by:
  • regularly consulting and communicating with employees about safety
  • applying the hierarchy of control consistently
  • following safe work procedures.
• 34 per cent of workplaces had some policies and practices in place to manage risks, including:
  • using personal protective equipment that was not 'fit for purpose'
  • irregular consultation about workplace risks and controls
  • inconsistency in applying the hierarchy of controls to manage risks.

Resources

• Report – preventing eye and hand injury campaign report (PDF, 0.48 MB)
• Managing risks – The four step process for managing risks
• How to manage work health and safety risks Code of Practice 2021 (PDF, 0.65 MB)
• Work health and safety consultation, co-operation and co-ordination Code of Practice 2021 (PDF, 0.54 MB)