It is important for Company Officers to regularly remind themselves of their duties, under WHS Legislation, to fulfil their due diligence requirements and ensure effective WHS governance when overseeing the governance of health and safety for their organisation. Whilst not dismissing operational details, a ‘big picture’ overview is essential to keep organisational health and safety activities on the right track over time and as the organisation changes or matures.
An easy four-step reminder can assist Officers to ensure their oversight activities are appropriate:
- Structure and vision – determine organisational policy and structure for WHS leadership across the organisation. This includes high-level strategy and forward planning, including the setting of WHS targets and objectives.
- Implementation – provide sufficient resources to enable the management of WHS to reflect industry best practice, and then ensure it is being implemented, not only documented.
- Monitoring – develop brief and open reporting requirements to monitor the organisation’s WHS performance against the vision and targets set in step 1. Check from time to time that information is being reported accurately and not white-washed as it moves up the command chain.
- Continuous improvement – regular reviews and updates of the WHS management system are required to achieve continuous improvement of the system, and should include occasional external reviewers to provide objectivity and new ideas.
Company Officers can benefit from taking a step back from day-to-day and operational activities to assess their undertakings against this list and refresh their vision for the organisation’s WHS management.
Please contact QRMC for more information.
