24 March 2020 / COVID-19

National Cabinet Meeting - New Restrictions

The Prime Minister just made the following announcements after tonight’s national cabinet meeting:

  • States and Territories are keen to be as consistent as possible and will be trying to be uniform in their approach nationally to avoid confusion
  • From midnight tomorrow night these activities will no longer stay open / take place (these are in addition to the activities announced on Sunday) – all retail premises must display how many people can be insider under 4sqm rule:
    • Food courts (takeaway only)
    • Auction houses, open house inspections
    • Outdoor and indoor markets (unless considered an essential food supply – states / territories will define shortly)
    • Large gatherings brought together for particular organised events – states / territories again will specify local effects
    • Personal services (beauty, therapy, waxing, tanning, nail salons, tattoo parlours) - excl physio and allied health, hair dressers and barbers with strict social distancing measures)
    • Amusement parks and arcades
    • Play centres indoor and outdoor
    • Community and recreation centres, yoga, health centres
    • Bootcamps and personal training limited to maximum 10 people with strict social distancing
    • Social based sporting activities (large groups ie team sports)
    • Swimming pools
    • Galleries, museums, libraries, historic centres
    • Community facilities, clubs etc
    • Places of worship now extends to weddings (no more than 5 people) and funerals (no more than 10 people)
  • Further rules we must follow as part of social distancing measures (states and territories will police):
    • Stay at home unless it’s absolutely necessary to go out
    • Going out for the basics and exercise in a small group in your house is ok
    • Providing care or support for others is ok
    • Going to work is ok – where you cannot work from home (strongly encouraged to do this though)
    • Visits of others to our houses should be kept to a minimum and with a very small number of guests (use common sense)
    • No more family gatherings or house parties
    • Do not go outdoors and gather in groups
  • School advice has not changed – it is still safe to send kids to school
  • Will meet with relevant teacher bodies tomorrow to work through issues
  • Schools will open after the term break
  • All jobs are essential – hence schools must stay open for kids to go to school to help job stability for parents
  • Ban on international travel (previously was a ‘Do Not Travel’) – comes into effect
  • New penalties for profiteering of large quantities of things being sold / taken overseas
  • Next National Cabinet Meeting tomorrow night to discuss other measures (including leases). Will provide another update then.

Other Recent Activities

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9 April / Quality Alert

Engineered stone ban effective 1 July 2024

ALL engineered stone, regardless of the silica content percentage, is banned.


Alternative products must be considered and implemented on all projects.

In October last year Hutchies noted that the industry was shifting away from engineered stone due to the risks of respirable crystalline silica, which can cause silicosis and other silica related diseases.

On this basis, Hutchies proactively took a position to ban all engineered stone on our projects, regardless of silica content percentages, from 1 July 2024.

In December last year, we then had confirmation that following an Industrial Relations Ministers meeting, State and Commonwealth Leaders had agreed to ban engineered stone products.

Some at Hutchies have noted that the State and Federal communications concerning the ban have included transition periods as well as exemptions for some engineered stone with low (under 1%) silica content.

For clarity, there has been no change to Hutchies' position following these communications – Hutchies will not be using engineered stone that contains any percentage of silica on our projects from 1 July 2024.

Actions

To mitigate the impact of potential delays and variations, the best approach is to inform clients of the pending ban and to propose and seek approval for an alternative product.

Similarly, ensure all future estimates have the stone specification qualified and priced accordingly.

Refer to Hutchies' Stone Product & Suitability for Use List on the Document Library.


More information

If you need additional support, please contact:

Design — Michael Lawlor / Ogi Latinovic
Work Health & Safety — Jimmy Andersen
Industrial Relations — Ben Young
Other — Russell Fryer

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HB-CO-Events-2020-02-HutchiesTrainingAwards-Nominations-Header-01-LowRes-01.jpg
3 - 13 April / General

Calling all nominations for stand out apprentices and cadets across Hutchies.

Help us by nominating an apprentice or cadet that you think is a true representation of Hutchies' way.

We also want to celebrate other significant training achievements by anyone else across company over the last 12 months.

Make your vote by COB 12 April 2024

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4 March / Meetings

Thanks for participating in Hutchies' All Company Update.

A copy of the presentation slides is available to download below.

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