> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.whsbrief.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # One Hazard, One Fix: Making Safe Work Month Week 2 Count - URL: https://www.whsbrief.com/one-hazard-one-fix-making-safe-work-month-week-2-count/ - Published: 2026-10-12T22:30:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-15T05:35:42.000Z - Description: Safe Work Month Week 2 asks you to map one hazard and find one improvement. WorkSafe ACT's claims data shows where most small businesses should start. - Author: WHS Brief - Tags: blog Week 2 of National Safe Work Month runs from 12 to 18 October under the theme "For health: What WHS protects". Safe Work Australia's ask is deliberately small. Pick one physical or psychosocial hazard. Talk through how it could affect workers' health. Then use the 2026 activity kit to map that hazard, review the existing controls against the hierarchy of controls and find one improvement. Not ten improvements. One. I like that framing more than I expected to. Most of us don't fail at safety because we lack a list of hazards. We fail because the list is so long that nothing on it ever gets looked at properly. ### Start With Your Own Data If you're not sure which hazard to pick, WorkSafe ACT has done some of the thinking for you. Its first Safe Work Month alert showed 1,386 accepted workers' compensation claims in ACT small businesses across 2023-24 and 2024-25\. Of those, 389 were for body stressing and 323 were for falls, trips and slips. That is more than half of all claims from two hazard types. Construction alone accounted for 35% of claims, the most of any industry. Those numbers are from Canberra, but I'd be surprised if your own injury register looked very different. Ask yourself: - What were the last five injuries or near misses recorded in your workplace? - Do two or three of them share the same hazard, like lifting, a wet floor or a poorly lit stairwell? - Is that hazard already in your risk register? When was the control last checked? - Would your workers pick the same hazard if you asked them or a different one? ### Map It Honestly Mapping a hazard sounds like a paperwork task. It isn't, if you do it on the floor with the people who face it. Walk to where the hazard lives. Watch the task. Then list every control you think is in place and check whether each one is actually working today. WorkSafe ACT's suggested controls for its two big claim drivers are refreshingly plain: clear walkways, prompt spill clean-up, fixing uneven floors, better lighting, mechanical aids, task rotation and suitable work heights. None of those are clever. Most are cheap. The question is whether they are happening or just assumed. When you hold your controls against the hierarchy, be honest about where they sit. If every control on your list is a procedure, a sign or a pair of gloves, you've found your improvement. It probably sits higher up. ### Don't Forget the Psychosocial Side The Week 2 theme deliberately includes psychosocial hazards and WorkSafe ACT's Week 2 alert turns to exactly that: how the design and management of work causes psychological harm. If your team is carrying high job demands, unclear roles or a recent restructure, that is a legitimate choice for your one hazard. The same mapping method works. Who is exposed? How often? What controls exist and do they change the work itself or only offer support after the harm? ### Turn It Into a Toolbox Talk The simplest way to do this week's activity is as a toolbox talk. Fifteen minutes, one hazard, one whiteboard. Ask the crew to name the hazard, list the controls and vote on the weakest one. Then commit to one fix with a name and a date beside it. Weeks 3 and 4 of Safe Work Month cover the future (19 to 25 October) and safety for all (26 to 31 October). If you start now, you'll have something to report back on before the month ends. If you could fix only one hazard in your workplace before the end of October, do you already know which one it would be?