The South Australian Wine industry Association (SAWIA) has launched new safety resources for winery cellar workers, focused on moving pumps, pulling hoses and handling chemicals and additions.

Part of the free Fit4Work series and complementing the safety resources previously developed for vineyard workers, the cellar work series includes illustrated guides and videos.

“The wine industry is a labour intensive industry where there is risk of musculoskeletal injury due to lifting and twisting,” said Henrik Wallgren, SAWIA business services manager.

“In addition to managing the trauma of an injury, there are significant costs for businesses in relation to workplace health and safety incidents.

“In fact, the average cost of a musculoskeletal injury claim is more than $39,000. Then there’s the cost of downtime, lost productivity, increased ReturnToWork premiums, the risk of SafeWork SA investigations and the business reputational damage associated with workplace injuries.”

Wallgren said the Fit4Work resources were a good addition to winery induction program and Standard Operating Procedures.

“Supervisors could play the videos during induction and training sessions and include PDFs of the illustrated guides in their SOPs,” Wallgren said.

To view the new cellar Fit4Work resources click here.

To view the vineyard Fit4Work resources click here.

In addition, SAWIA offers a WHS consultancy and can help wine businesses identify risks and areas for improvement across a broad range of operational areas.

Phone SAWIA on (08) 8222 9277 or email [email protected].

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