How Will You Be Affected By The New Workplace Safety Laws? Post 5 in the series

We’re still stuck on Officers and their requirement to ensure the health and safety of all associated with, or potentially affected by, their organisation.

Here are some questions you could ask about you, your fellow Officers, your PCBUs and your workers. Do you have and does everyone:

• Ensure all levels of management are aware of WHS?
• Participate in the nomination of executives with responsibilities for safety?
• Show proactive leadership in health and safety?
• Use hazard and incident reporting systems?
• Understand and follow hazard and risk management procedures?
• Use established systems for consultation and communication with workers?
• Monitor and review systems of doing work?
• Show effective WHS accountability?
• Maintain a positive Safety Culture?
• Participate in established WHS programs?
• Maintain WHS Management Systems that meet or, preferably, exceed the Standard AS/NZS4801:2001 and comply with all WHS legislative requirements?
• Employ the requirements of any Regulation, Standard, Code of Practice, Guidance Notes, industry or system guidelines as a normal way of doing work?
• Consider WHS when it comes to the issuing of contracts or the purchase of workplace equipment?
• Ensure confidentiality of any personal WHS issues?
• Support the responsible management of any issue to the full extent of reaching a satisfactory outcome that meets the needs of all parties involved?
• Ensure the open communication of WHS issues?
• Participate in the development of effective WHS Policy?
• Set safety as a prominent agenda item at meetings?
• Ensuring that workers are trained and actually competent in the roles they perform?
• Provide and participate in ongoing training that is generally competency based?
• Provide and ensure sufficient allocation of resources?

It seems a lot to ask doesn’t it? At the end of the day though, these are probably the questions you will be asked if ever something does go wrong.

The answers you and everyone in your organisation give will determine any outcome that comes with those answers.

Good health and keep safe out there.

Colin

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