Workplace health, safety, risk and emergency training · In person and online1800 231 173
Orana Skills Centre
Home / Training packages / Toolbox Talks / Dropped Objects Awareness
Toolbox Talks
Available now

Dropped Objects Awareness

For workers at height and the people below them: how objects fall, and the controls that stop them falling or hitting someone.

  • SeriesToolbox Talks
  • AudienceWorkers who work at height or below it
  • Duration20–30 minutes
  • CodeHAZ-DRP
  • Version1.0 · 868 KB ZIP

About this package

A small tool dropped from height can kill. Dropped objects include tools, materials and fixtures that fall from where they were, and objects knocked or pulled loose by equipment, loads or weather.

This talk covers static and dynamic dropped objects, securing tools and materials, exclusion zones, and checking fixtures and fittings at height before they fail.

Learning outcomes

After the session, participants will be able to:

  • Explain how even a small object dropped from height can cause serious injury or death
  • Tell the difference between a static dropped object (one that falls from where it was) and a dynamic one (knocked or pulled loose)
  • Secure tools and materials at height, using tethers, containers and toe boards
  • Set up and respect exclusion zones below work at height and lifting
  • Check fixtures and fittings at height, such as lights, signs and covers, for corrosion and loose fastenings
  • Keep work areas at height tidy, and report anything loose or damaged

Training outline

MODULE 1

How objects fall

  • Static and dynamic dropped objects
  • Why height and mass matter
  • Common scenarios
MODULE 2

Preventing the fall

  • Tethering tools
  • Containers, toe boards and mesh
  • Housekeeping at height
  • Inspecting fixtures
MODULE 3

Protecting people below

  • Exclusion zones and barricades
  • Lifting operations
  • Head protection as a last line

What is in the package

Training

  • Editable PowerPoint presentation with speaker notes, plus PDF
  • Facilitator guide with a running sheet, discussion prompts and model answers
  • Participant handout with the key points to take away

Records and assessment

  • Attendance record form, to capture who attended, when, and who facilitated
  • Excel attendance register
  • Multiple-choice theory assessment, to record understanding if your business wants to
  • Answer key for the assessment
  • Certificate template

Start here

  • Read Me First guide
  • Product overview
  • Permitted use terms
  • Version information

Practical activities

  • Loose items hunt: workers list what could fall in a photo or description of an elevated work area, and how to secure each
  • Drop zone: workers mark the exclusion zone needed for three scenarios

Delivery requirements

  • A facilitator such as a supervisor, leading hand or WHS adviser who has read the facilitator guide and knows your site's arrangements for the topic
  • A screen or projector, or printed slides or handouts: it works in a crib room, site office or on a video call
  • Your own site procedures for the topic, to point to during the session

File formats

  • PowerPoint (.pptx), editable, with speaker notes
  • Word (.docx), editable
  • Excel (.xlsx) attendance register
  • PDF copies of the slides, guide, handout and forms
  • Delivered as a single ZIP download

Questions about this package

Can we add our own site procedures and photos?

Yes. The slides, handout and guide are editable, and the facilitator guide marks the places to add your own procedures, contacts and photos of your workplace.

Do we have to use the assessment?

No. It is there if your business wants a record that each worker understood the key points. The attendance record on its own shows who attended and when.

Can we edit the documents?

Yes. Presentations, guides, workbooks and templates are supplied in editable formats so you can adapt them to your workplace. The copyright notice must stay.

Can we use the packages outside Australia?

Yes. The hazards and the controls in each toolbox talk apply in any workplace. The duties slide and the facilitator guide's "check before you deliver" table refer to Australian WHS and OHS laws, licences and standards, so a business elsewhere should swap those for its own country's rules. Everything is editable.

Do participants get a certificate?

Yes. The package includes an editable certificate template, an attendance record (Word, plus an Excel register) and an optional 10-question multiple-choice assessment with an answer key, so you can record who attended and, if you choose, that each worker understood the key points. It is a certificate of completion issued by your business, not a nationally recognised qualification.

Can we deliver it face to face and online?

Yes. The packages are designed for face-to-face sessions and work over a video meeting platform. The facilitator guide notes where an activity needs adjusting for online delivery.

Can we run it more than once?

Yes, as many times as you like, for your own organisation's workers.

What is your refund policy?

Your rights under the Australian Consumer Law are not affected. See the Refund Policy for how we handle a package that is faulty, not as described, or not what you ordered.

Do we get future updates?

You keep the version you bought for as long as you use it, and corrections to that version are made available to you. A new edition, for example following a significant change in the law, may be sold separately.

More answers on the home page, or contact us.

Related packages

Available now

Working at Heights Awareness

For: All workersDuration: 20–30 minutes

For workers who use ladders, platforms, roofs or anything off the ground: why falls kill, and the order of controls that prevents them.

  • Editable slides with speaker notes, plus PDF
  • Facilitator guide and participant handout
  • Multiple-choice assessment with answer key
  • Attendance record form and certificate template
Available now

Cranes and Lifting Awareness

For: Workers on sites where cranes, hoists or lifting gear are usedDuration: 20–30 minutes

For workers on sites where loads are lifted: the lift plan, exclusion zones, checking lifting gear, and the rule that nobody goes under a suspended load.

  • Editable slides with speaker notes, plus PDF
  • Facilitator guide and participant handout
  • Multiple-choice assessment with answer key
  • Attendance record form and certificate template
Available now

Personal Protective Equipment Awareness

For: All workersDuration: 20–30 minutes

For every worker who wears PPE: where it sits in the hierarchy of control, and how to choose, fit, wear, look after and replace it so it actually protects.

  • Editable slides with speaker notes, plus PDF
  • Facilitator guide and participant handout
  • Multiple-choice assessment with answer key
  • Attendance record form and certificate template
Available now

Toolbox Talk Complete Library

For: Businesses that run regular toolbox talks or team safety meetings

All 28 toolbox talk awareness packages in one purchase: a year of toolbox talks and more.

  • All 28 toolbox talk packages
  • Editable slides, guides and handouts for every topic
  • Assessments, answer keys and attendance records
  • Certificate templates for every topic