LESSON 4: ESTABLISH AND MAINTAIN A QUALITY OHS MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

LEGISLATION PREAMBLE

Note: The terms Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) and

Work(place) Health and Safety (WHS) are equivalent and generally

either can be used and referred to in the workplace.

After the Work Health and Safety Act was passed in 2011, WHS is the

term that is generally used by states that have adopted the

harmonised laws, that reflects the title of this legislation.

The terms OHS and WHS are used interchangeably in this

presentation and other resource materials for this unit.

DEVELOP AND PROVIDE A WHS INDUCTION AND TRAINING PROGRAM

As with any type of training, program design should follow

accepted principles of adult education, taking into

consideration four general components:

• motivation,

• transfer of information,

• opportunities to practice new skills, and

• demonstration of competence.

CONDUCTING A TRAINING NEEDS ANALYSIS (TNA)A training needs analysis will address the following types of questions:

1) What are the needs of the business?

2) Who needs to be trained / inducted?

3) What gaps exist between what the organisation needs and

has?

4) What instructional content should be covered?

5) What training methods will be most effective?

6) How will understanding and competence be evaluated?

7) How long will the training / induction sessions take?

8) How will training / inductions be scheduled and administered?

TYPES OF TRAINING

Enterprise based delivery

Provider based delivery Combination

Usually performed in-house by a trainer with the experience to deliver the required training.

One form of outsourced training includes sending trainees to a registered training organisation or placing the trainee on an apprenticeship/ traineeship. It might also be possible to bring a trainer/consultant into the workplace to conduct training.

An effective training course may require the use of both internal and external experts and trainers. It is common for internal trainers to have experience and knowledge on how tasks/processes are done within the organisation, and external trainers could provide government accredited training that provides more formal and generic knowledge and theory that can be used across a range of organisations.

• Various Acts and regulations specify requirements for collecting, keeping and providing certain types of work health and safety information and records.

• The Work health and Safety Act and the Regulations requires PCBU’s, workers, contractors and other duty holders to maintain records and other such information for specified periods of time and the required information relating to a specific hazard i.e. hazardous substances.

• There are also legal requirements for other ‘duty holders’ such as manufacturers and importers to provide information on their products to the end user.

WHS RECORD KEEPING REQUIREMENTS

• Adequate recording of the work health and safety risk management

process will help you to demonstrate that you have been actively

working to ensure work health and safety, should you need to prove

this.

• Keeping records will also help you keep track of what you have done

and are planning to do. This is likely to maximize the effective of the

process.

• Your records should show that the process has been conducted

properly and include information about the hazards and associated

risks at your workplace.

• The detail and extent of recording will depend on the size of your

workplace and the potential for major work health and safety issues.

WHS RECORD KEEPING REQUIREMENTS

WHS RECORD KEEPING REQUIREMENTSTypes of WHS Records

Sickness absence records

Workers’ individual histories of exposure (to certain substances)

Rehabilitation information

Workers compensation records

Performance appraisal and training records

Audit and inspection reports to identify faulty equipment

Workplace environmental monitoring records to identify increases in emissions, variances in exposure or changes that impact on the organisations operations.

Safety Data Sheets (SDS)

Consultation e.g. Meetings of health & safety committees, work group meeting agendas including WHS items and actions

Induction, instruction and training

Manufacturers' and suppliers' information including dangerous goods storage lists

Hazardous substance registers

Plant and equipment maintenance and testing reports

Workers compensation and rehabilitation records

First aid/medical post records

WHS records should include information on:

• how the hazards at your workplace were identified,• how the risks associated with workplace hazards were

assessed,• how control measures to manage exposure to the risks

were decided,• how control measures were implemented,• how the effectiveness of the measures were

monitored and reviewed, and• what checklists and worksheets were used when

working through the WHS risk management process.

WHS RECORD KEEPING REQUIREMENTS

HSR’S INFORMATION ACCESS

HSRs are permitted to have access to information the employer may possess on:• actual or potential hazards at the workplace:• the conduct or the undertaking of the employer;• the plant or substances used for the purpose of

that undertaking.

WHSMS SOFTWARE

Software packages that assist with managing and maintaining an

effective WHSMS include:

• EasyOHS

• Qudos

• Figtree

• Maus HSS bundle

• InControl

• Head Start OHS Monitoring Software

Attributes of these software packages include, reporting, incident

recording, record keeping, trend analysis, LTIFR or classifications of

injury, budgeting, signage and printing and much more.

MONITORING AND REVIEWING WHSMS PROCEDURES

There are many methods that can be used to monitor and review

procedures and these should be considered part of your management

plan. You can complete:

• Self-assessments

• Physical inspections

• Checking and monitoring success of actions

• Audit and reassessment of risk to achieving objectives; and

• Key dates, time frames and deadlines should be set for

communicating, monitoring, reporting and review.

• The use of key performance indicators (KPIs) aligned with

operational goals work to ensure that the performance of

the organisation’s processes are measured.

• Key performance indicators must be quantifiable and

agreed upon to reflect the success of the organisation.

• They are used to provide performance goals to staff, and to

set realistic improvement targets.

USING KPIS TO MEASURE WHSMS PERFORMANCE

USING KPIS TO IMPROVE WHSMS PERFORMANCE

Quality improvement and key performance indicators aimed at

improving an WHS system should address ways in which:

• To improve productivity without putting employees at risk• To define area(s) in which an organisation needs to improve• To minimise risk• Improve training and the attendance of training• Reducing time lost due to incidents. i.e. improving rehabilitation

There are 5 main elements within a WHSMS that can be focussed on

for improvement:

1. Policy - Make sure that your system is aimed at WHS

improvement and ensuring that your organisation complies with

legislative policy.

2. Planning - The effective management of WHS requires that the

roles, responsibilities, accountabilities and authority of all staff

are defined in the organisations policy and procedures and job

descriptions. These responsibilities may require:

3. WHS legal and other obligations - Hazard identification, risk

assessment and control, WHS Policies aimed at the continuous

improvement of WHS processes.

IMPROVING ELEMENTS OF A WHSMS

4. Implementation - WHS policies, procedures, objectives, targets, roles and responsibilities should be implemented through rigorous document and data control, including:

• Version control• Staff referencing • WHS policies and procedure manuals • Managing hazards• Defining requirements for contractors and suppliers; and• Developing an appropriate emergency response capability.

5. Measurements and evaluation - Procedures relating to Inspection, testing

and monitoring including:

• Performance measurement• Both internal and external auditing• Incident investigation and external reporting• Records demonstrating compliance• Management review and implementation • Corrective actions used to ensure that the same WHS issue does not

arise.

IMPROVING ELEMENTS OF A WHSMS

Employers have a “duty of care” to provide a safe work place and

systems of work in consultation with their team and to keep their

team informed about changes in WHS legislation.

The objective of the WHS Act (2011) is to ensure that a safe

workplace is created free form risk or illness or injury. For that end,

compliance must be demonstrated in regards to:

• A Safety Management System• Responsibilities and Accountabilities• Consultation• Risk Management• Information, instructions and training• Managing injuries• Record-keeping• Monitoring, review and improvement• Resource management• Corporate risk

ENSURING COMPLIANCE