Background: A Wake-Up Call for Workplace Safety
Following a safety incident involving a piece of warehouse equipment, a leading multinational retailer in the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) sector took decisive action to reassess machinery safety across its operations in Australia and New Zealand. The event served as a stark reminder that even well-managed sites are not immune to risk — and that machinery safety must be a continuous, proactive priority.
Determined to prevent future incidents and protect its workforce, the client engaged Advitech to conduct a comprehensive assessment of machinery-related hazards across its warehouse network. The goal: to ensure regulatory compliance, improve visibility of risks, and embed a culture where machine safety is non-negotiable.
Challenges: Complex Operations, Critical Risks
The client faced several key challenges:
- Regulatory Compliance: Meeting Work Health and Safety (WHS) obligations across multiple jurisdictions required a consistent, evidence-based approach to identifying and managing machinery hazards.
- Inconsistent Risk Visibility: With a large network of sites, maintaining a clear and unified view of equipment safety risks was difficult — particularly where asset registers were incomplete or outdated.
- Implementation of Controls: Without a structured understanding of where the greatest risks lay, it was challenging to prioritise and implement effective safety controls.
Our Approach: Engineering Insight Meets Practical Action
Advitech’s team of mechanical and electrical engineers conducted detailed audits across the client’s sites, combining technical rigour with practical, site-specific insights. But what truly set our approach apart was the application of professional judgement. Built on decades of pragmatic, hands-on experience our specialist knowledge enabled us to identify which risks required immediate attention. Going beyond listing hazards and instead providing clear and prioritised guidance.
- On-Site Assessments: We reviewed machinery for safety hazards and cross-checked findings against existing asset registers to identify gaps.
- Hazard Categorisation: Hazards were grouped by machine type, enabling a consistent and scalable approach to risk management.
- Digital Integration: All findings were recorded in a digital inspection platform, allowing seamless integration with the client’s asset management systems and ensuring traceability.
- Collaborative Engagement: We worked closely with site teams to ensure findings were understood, actionable, and aligned with operational realities.
Key Outcomes: Safer Systems, Stronger Compliance
Our assessments delivered more than just a list of issues — they provided the client with a clear, prioritised roadmap for action. The client particularly valued our ability to cut through complexity and focus on the most pressing safety issues. This clarity came from our deep industry insight and decades of experience, which allowed us to distinguish between routine risks and those that posed immediate threats.
- Targeted Safety Improvements: By categorising hazards by machine type, the client could focus efforts where they mattered most — from pallet wrappers to compactors.
- Improved Employee Safety: The identification and mitigation of critical risks helped reduce the likelihood of future incidents, reinforcing the company’s duty of care to its workforce.
- Regulatory Assurance: Our audit process aligned with WHS regulations and the AS 4024 suite of standards, giving the client confidence in meeting their compliance obligations.
- Network-Wide Visibility: The structured approach revealed systemic issues across sites, enabling consistent safety improvements at scale.
- Empowered Decision-Making: Clear, data-driven insights supported effective communication with senior leadership and accelerated the implementation of safety controls.
Conclusion: Machine Safety is Mission-Critical
This project underscores a fundamental truth: machine safety is not optional — it’s essential. By partnering with Advitech, the client took meaningful steps to protect its people, meet its legal obligations, and foster a culture of safety that extends across every site.
Whether you’re managing a single facility or a national network, our independent machinery safety audits provide the clarity and confidence you need to act decisively.
Contact Advitech to ensure your equipment meets WHS regulations and AS 4024 standards — and to make machine safety a cornerstone of your operational resilience.
