Further to improvements in our hazard management systems in the winery, all campus users – including co-located partners – should be informed of the protocols for which all staff, students and contractors are obliged to observe when entering the winery. Please ensure these protocols are shared and discussed with your staff and students.
- The staff who supervise the winery have requested the Technical Services office assist to improve how these protocols are managed
- Given the increased sizes of student cohorts, business levels of our research groups and co-located partners, winery safety is an increasingly complex and difficult task for the staff of the area to manage
- Staff, students and contractors who do not comply with current safety standards, unnecessarily add to the complexity and pressure for the local supervisors
- The Head of School and School Manager endorse the measure outlined below
To assist the local staff manage safety more effectively, the following definitions and protocols are effective immediately and apply to all persons requiring access to the winery (course work, teaching and research and contractors) and surrounding infrastructure (e.g. Dry Ice, shipping containers)
- All ground floors areas from the Hartley Grove and back stairs entrances to the cellar door, delivery points, external storage and plant areas and all areas within the winery cellar floor are identified as a High Risk Work area (see image, defined ground floor areas bounded in yellow).
- At this point in time engineering solutions, exclusion or other hierarchical protocols are impractical, therefore we must rely on training and Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) – which has been prescribed for mandatory use at all times.
- These are: Hi-viz clothing or vests and safety boots ( e.g. Hard toe/steel cap etc.) which must meet Australian Safety Standards and shall be worn at all times, when entering the high risk areas of the winery regardless of the reason for access and/or the type of work to be undertaken
- The mezzanine level (laboratories, offices and eastern entrance etc.) are not identified as high risk and can be used for safe access to the winery if PPE is not being worn. Hi-viz vests can be collected from this area for use on the cellar floor assuming safety boots are being worn
- A delineation point at the winery Hartley Grove and backstairs entrances with appropriate signs, clearly indicate the point from which PPE must be worn
- Reminder signs around the complex are also in place
- Winery staff reserve the right to refuse entry to any person not wearing appropriate PPE and may direct extra PPE (hardhats etc.) to be worn within the winery if required
- Students who habitually fail to wear PPE will face Head of School directed exclusion from the winery, which may also be extended to staff
- While there might be occasions where PPE is not necessary, such as the biennial wine sales or where a tour group has been organised, this will only occur following discussions with the winery staff