As the financial year draws to a close, it is timely for organisations to consider the adequacy of WHS resources allocated for the new financial year.

As indicated in previous issues of Insight, the provision of resources for the development of WHS documentation alone leaves an organisation at risk of legislative breaches (refer Issue 20 “Writing the OHSMS is not enough” and Issue 28 “The importance of enforcing the SMS”).

A WHS management system or set of safe work procedures, developed but left sitting on a shelf, is simply not enough to assure the health and safety of workers, nor to provide a defence against prosecution under the current Legislation.

Without regular attention to WHS management and the constant application of appropriate organisational resources to check and update the organisation’s WHS risk controls, it is all too easy for an attitude of complacency to set in, both at management and workface levels.

The assumption that all is well and workers are safe and healthy can readily arise from the fact that work tasks have been undertaken, and repeated, without anything going wrong. However, the absence of an incident does not mean the absence of risk. To have confidence that risks to the safety and wellbeing of workers are adequately managed on an ongoing basis, an organisation needs more than good incident statistics. There also needs to be an active WHS risk management program which includes ongoing consultation, monitoring and improvement processes.

Therefore, in addition to any specific WHS management project that may receive funding in each financial year’s budget, every organisation should ensure that the allocation of WHS resources for each year includes resources for:

  • Consultation with workers to identify unaddressed or emerging WHS risks
  • Confirmation of the implementation status and the ongoing effectiveness of all controls for WHS risks
  • Review and update (as necessary) of all safety procedures and related documentation to ensure currency with any amended Legislation
  • Review results of audits undertaken during the year, as part of a overall review of the effectiveness of the WHS management system
  • Training of workers in WHS risk management.

Undertaking the above activities at least annually, and preferably in an ongoing, continual improvement fashion, will give assurance to the PCBU (and the regulator) that WHS risks are being managed as well as is reasonably practicable.

Please contact QRMC for more information.