Strategic Occupational Health & Safety Plan

Introductory statement-The management of ? is fully committed to ensuring excellent standards of

health & safety for staff and anyone who interacts with the organisation.

Objective of the strategic Safety & Health Plan

To establish policies and practices that lead to best-practice safety

To experience zero permanently disabling injuries

To create a culture of zero tolerance to injury and inappropriate safety behaviours

To ensure staff take responsibility for their safety and the safety of others

To provide management example and support by the implementation of appropriate management

systems

To ensure compliance with safety legislation

Vision

Suggest- ? has a vision of “ Zero Harm” to all persons we deal with

Goal

Suggest-Our goal is zero disabling injuries and aggressive reduction of other types of personal

damage.

Management responsibility

Senior management is ultimately responsible for health & safety at both common and statute law.

Management accepts this responsibility and works diligently to fulfil this responsibility. Persons in

supervisory positions have a responsibility to ensure those they are supervising work in a healthy &

safe manner. Finally all of us have a responsibility to look after our own health & safety and that of

our workmates and associates.

Nothing has a higher priority for management than the health & safety of all persons we interact

with. Management has developed a Health & Safety Management System that is regularly reviewed

to ensure we are achieving our goals.

OHS Principles

These principles define the requirements that apply in ?

Safety & Health Principles

Intent To ensure that ? managers and supervisors, by means of their actions, attitude, consistency and

energy, provide a visible, pro-active and demonstrated commitment to safety., so as to sustain a

culture where safety is prime value that cannot be compromised.

Performance Requirements Visible and pro-active commitment to safety shall be demonstrated by all ? managers and

supervisors. This shall include:

Encouragement and leadership in the development of safety improvement initiatives.

Personal initiative and pro-active involvement in the workplace in support of improved

safety performance.

Principal 1 Leadership and Commitment

Encouragement of the involvement of employees in the improvement of safety performance.

Arrangements shall be established for the recognition and reward of outstanding contribution to

safety or of good safety performance, as appropriate.

All managers shall ensure that sufficient human, material and financial resources are provided,

in their area of responsibility, for the effective development, operation, review and maintenance

of safety systems.).

Intent To ensure that the responsibility and authority of all ? personnel, as they relate to safety, is defined,

documented and understood

Performance Requirements The CEO of ? is ultimately responsible for the safety performance implementation of the ?

OH&S Policy and these Safety Management Principles, by means of safety management

systems appropriate to their operations

Line Managers shall be responsible for the safety performance of the operations reporting to

them, and for ensuring the operations meet the requirements of the ? OH&S Policy and these

Safety Management Principles (refer Principle 1 – Leadership and Commitment).

Safety personnel shall provide line management with advice on meeting their safety

responsibilities, and provide expertise and assistance as required.

The responsibility and authority of all ? personnel, as they relate to safety, shall be identified,

clearly defined, documented, kept up-to-date and understood by the personnel to whom they

apply.

All ? personnel have the responsibility to ensure their own safety and the safety of others, by

carrying out their work in a safe, skilful and competent manner and with reasonable care in

respect of other employees, the Company and the workplace and by complying with legislative

requirements.

Measurable safety performance goals shall form an important part of personal action plans and

performance appraisals of all ? managers and supervisors (refer Principle 4 – Performance

Measurement Reporting).

Principal 2 Responsibility and Authority

Intent To ensure that a planned, systematic, measurable and achievable approach to managing safety is

adopted across ?

Performance Requirements Business Planning activities across ? shall include safety considerations. Measurable safety

objectives and targets shall be developed, documented and implemented for all ?’s operations.

Specific safety objectives and targets that are consistent with, and related to, these Safety

Management Principles and the ? Safety Strategic Plan, shall be developed, documented and

implemented.

Systems shall be established and maintained to monitor achievement of safety objectives and

targets (refer Principle 4 – Performance Measurement and Reporting).

Principal 3 Planning and Objectives

Intent To ensure that a clear understanding of safety performance and trends, and their significance and

implications, exists at all levels in the Company; and that performance measurement is utilised in

the identification of adverse trends or situations, and in the development of continuous

improvement and corrective action measures, as appropriate.

Performance Requirements Key performance indicators (KPI’s) shall be defined and utilised at all levels of operations at ?;

in addition, specific safety performance criteria and measures shall be defined for individual

operations, as appropriate.

Reporting systems shall be developed and implemented to ensure that relevant, reliable and

timely information is readily available to people inside and outside ? who have the

responsibility to act on such information, and as required by legislation (refer Principle 14 –

Legislative Compliance)

Systems shall be established and maintained for the analysis of incident/accident data, for the

purpose of monitoring trends, applying corrective action and facilitating continuous

improvement (refer Principle 11 – Incident/Accident Management)

Relevant safety performance information shall be communicated by management to all

employees (refer Principle 10 – Communication)

Principal 4 Performance Measurement and Reporting

Intent To ensure that hazards to people are identified, risks are assessed and the appropriate control

measures, in accordance with the risk management Hierarchy of Controls, are implemented.

Performance Requirements Systems shall be established and maintained to identify and document hazards (i.e. any situation

which has the potential to adversely affect the safety or health of people or to cause damage).

Procedures shall be established and maintained for all personnel to identify and report hazards,

incidents or any situation prejudicial to safety (refer Principle 10 – communication).

The risks associated with all identified hazards shall be assessed, with regard to the likelihood

and magnitude of the potential consequences.

Control measures for effectively managing identified risk shall be prioritised and actions shall

be selected and applied in accordance with the risk management Hierarchy of Controls (i.e.

eliminate, reduce, isolate, protect). Control measures shall be such, so as to ensure that final risk

levels are low as is reasonable practicable.

Significant risks shall be evaluated and appropriately addressed, including actions, systems and

arrangements for effectively managing these risks. Regular reviews of the status of registered

risks and the effectiveness of control measures shall be conducted.

Appropriate levels of residual risk transfer (i.e. insurance) shall be in place and monitored

regularly for adequacy and coverage.

Principal 5 Hazard and Risk Management

Intent To ensure that all ? facilities, plant and equipment are designed, constructed, commissioned,

operated and maintained so as to ensure the inherent safety and technical integrity of the facility.

Performance Requirements Comprehensive design data of all processes shall be documented, understood and shall be

available to all operating facilities (refer Principle 7 – Design and Construction). This shall

include, as applicable, information on:

o Process materials

o Process design bases

o Equipment design bases and parameters

o Operational parameters, including software.

Systems shall be in place to ensure that operations are carried out within operating design

parameters and capabilities of the plant equipment.

Systems shall be established and maintained to ensure the on-going integrity of plant and

equipment which have the potential to affect safety. This shall include maintenance, inspection,

testing and calibration of equipment.

The frequency of scheduled maintenance, inspections tests and calibration shall be appropriate

for the level of risk associated with the equipment (refer Principle 5 – Hazard and Risk

Management).

Systems shall be established and maintained to control the quality of maintenance consumables

and replacement parts.

For requirements related to changes which may affect the technical integrity of plant and

equipment (refer Principle 19 – Management of Change).

Principal 6 Plant and Equipment Integrity

Intent To ensure that the identification and control of risks forms an integral part of the design process of

all ? facilities and equipment; and that construction and decommissioning activities are conducted

in accordance with the relevant requirements of these Principles.

Performance Requirements The safety risks of projects shall be assessed and the risks managed in accordance with these

Principles, at various points during the design (including project identification, conceptual

design and detailed design), construction, commissioning (including hand-over) and

decommissioning stages of the project (refer Principle 5 - Hazard and Risk Management).

Procedures shall be established and maintained for design review and verification, and for the

control of design inputs, outputs and changes (refer Principle 19 – Management of Change).

Technical standards of design shall be consistent with international good practice.

Construction, demolition and decommissioning work shall be carried out in accordance with the

relevant requirements of these Principles.

Principal 7 Design and Construction

Intent To ensure that ? personnel are appropriately trained and competent, so as to be able to carry out

their work in a safe, competent and skilful manner.

Performance Requirements The safe working competencies required for each function shall be identified, documented and

periodically reviewed.

Recruitment and selection criteria shall include consideration of personal competencies and

capabilities required to carry out the function safely.

Safety inductions shall be conducted on the commencement of employment with ?, for job

transfers and for contractors (refer Principle 15 – Contractors, Suppliers and Visitors).

Systems shall be established and maintained to identify the specific safety training needs of

personnel (i.e. TNA), prioritise these needs and provide the appropriate training. Refresher

training shall be provided as required.

Procedures shall be established and maintained to identify and provide safety training required

by local legislation (refer Principle 14 – Legislative Compliance).

Principal 8 Training and Competency

Intent To ensure that all ? personnel consistently practice, and are committed to, safe working behaviour,

and work practices; and that ?’s managers actively pursue and support the involvement and

motivation of employees in the development, execution and review of safety initiatives

Performance Requirements Formal systems shall be established and maintained for the on-going involvement of all

personnel in workplace safety issues. These initiatives may include safety meetings, safety

committees, toolbox meetings and other arrangements, as appropriate (refer Principle 10 –

Communication).

Management shall actively pursue, encourage and support the involvement and participation of

personnel in the development, implementation and review of safety initiatives and programmes,

particularly as they relate to meeting the requirements of these Principles.

Initiatives shall be implemented and maintained to promote safe behaviour by all ? personnel,

through the understanding of the importance of safety, and of the relevance of human factors,

motivation and behaviour in relation to safety.

Mechanisms shall be in place which provide an opportunity for employees to report safety

concerns. Such mechanisms shall be communicated to all ? personnel.

Appropriate corrective action shall be taken in the event of unsafe behaviour by employees,

contractors or other personnel involved in ? operations.

For recognition of contribution to safety by employees (refer Principle 1 – Leadership and

Commitment).

Principal 9 Employee Participation and Behaviour

Intent To ensure that safety matters are adequately communicated to all ? personnel that opportunities are

regularly provided for effective two-way communication, that effective cross-communication exists

throughout the Company, and that systems are in place for the communication of safety matters to

and from parties.

Performance Requirements The intent of ? OH&S Policy and these Safety Management Principles shall be adequately

communicated to all ? and steps shall be taken to ensure the scope, objectives, application and

relevance of these documents are understood (refer sections 2.2 and 4 of this Standard).

Relevant information on safety issues and safety performance shall be communicated to all ?

personnel on a regular basis, in a form appropriate to the situation and local culture.

All internal and external complaints related to safety aspects of ?’s operations shall be recorded,

acknowledged in writing and investigated as incidents (refer Principle 11 – Incident/Accident

Management).

Arrangements shall be established and maintained for the sharing of safety information,

experience and best practices across ?’s sites, Divisions and Businesses. Active interaction with

external companies and organisations, for the purpose of exploring best safety practices, shall be

encouraged.

Links with relevant governments, authorities and other organisations shall be maintained, in

order to monitor, and be able to effectively respond to, likely changes in safety legislation,

standards or initiatives which may affect ?’s operations.

Mechanisms shall be established for communication with, and if appropriate the involvement of,

local communities with regard to community-related safety issues.

Principal 10 Communication

Intent To ensure that all accidents and incidents are identified, reported and investigated, and that the

appropriate corrective action, aimed at preventing recurrence, is taken.

Performance Requirements Procedures shall be established and maintained for the identification, reporting and investigation

of accidents and incidents.

The investigation of accidents and incidents shall include a process for identifying all the

contributing factors of the accident or incident. The depth of detail of these investigations shall

be appropriate to the actual or potential seriousness of the event.

Prioritised corrective or preventative action, aimed at preventing recurrence of similar events,

shall be implemented. Procedures shall be established and maintained to ensure the follow up

and completion of corrective actions.

Systems shall be established and maintained for ensuring full compliance with the applicable

legislative requirements related to accidents or incidents, including reporting to authorities,

keeping of records, investigation and other actions as required in each jurisdiction.

Serious accidents and incidents and their details shall be reported to ? management in

accordance with relevant procedures, as applicable for Group Centre and each Business,

Division or site.

For internal and external complaints (refer Principle 10 – Communication).

For accidents and incidents which constitute an emergency (refer Principle 17 Emergency

Preparedness and Response).

For the analysis of Incident/Accident data (refer Principle 4 – Performance Measurement and

Reporting).

Principal 11 Incident/Accident Management

Intent To ensure that all work activities and working environment conditions which have the potential to

cause harm to people or damage to equipment, within the Company’s operations or surrounding

community, are carried out in a safe manner

Performance Requirements All work activities and working environment conditions which have the potential to cause harm

to people or damage to equipment, shall be identified, evaluated and appropriately addressed

(refer Principle 5 – Hazard and Risk Management).

Procedures shall be established and maintained to ensure that, as far as is practicable, all such

activities are carried out in a safe manner and all risks associated with working environments

are safely managed.

Appropriate document control arrangements shall be established and maintained for the

identification, issue, distribution and revision of safe work procedures.

Arrangements shall be in place to ensure all personnel are familiar with, and understand, the

safe work procedures and equipment they need to use.

Systems shall be in place to ensure all personnel comply with the applicable safe work

procedures (refer Principle 16 – Reviews, Audits and Inspections).

Regular reviews of safe work procedures shall be carried out to ensure their suitability,

effectiveness, applicability and relevance (refer Principle 16 – Reviews, Audits and

Inspections).

Principal 12 Safe Work Procedures

Intent To ensure that adequate occupation health, hygiene, security and workplace facilities are provided

to all ? personnel and that the general health improvement of employees is encouraged.

Performance Requirements First aid arrangements and access to adequate medical services, occupational hygiene and

workplace facilities shall be available to all ? personnel, as appropriate to the location and

nature of operations.

Where appropriate. ? personnel shall undergo medical assessment to ensure their fitness for

work. Any medical records shall be kept confidential.

Arrangements shall be put in place to ensure the health, safety and security of all ? personnel on

site and during work-related travel.

Where appropriate, preventative and corrective measures shall be taken to control alcohol and

drug abuse and to manage the risk of communicable diseases.

Arrangements shall be established and maintained to protect the health of ? personnel from

health hazards associated with their working environment. This shall include systems to ensure

that chemical, physical and biological hazards in the working environment are identified,

controlled and monitored, and that exposure to such hazards is within accepted regulatory or

industry standards.

Appropriate initiatives shall be in place to promote and encourage a healthy lifestyle. These may

include health promotion and employee assistance programs (refer Principle 10 –

Communication).

Appropriate systems shall be in place for rehabilitation of employees following a work related

injury, illness or other adverse health effects.

Where required, arrangements shall be established to monitor the impact of workplace hazards

on employee’s health and wellness.

Principal 13 Occupational Health and Hygiene

Intent To ensure that all ? businesses comply with all laws, regulations, standards, codes, statutory licenses

and other legislative requirements which apply to their operations, and exercise a duty of care with

respect to personnel and the communities in which they operate.

Performance Requirements All safety-related acts, regulations, by-laws, licences and other legislative and regulatory

requirements applicable to ?’s operations shall be identified and their implications assessed.

Plans shall be formulated, documented and implemented to achieve compliance with all relevant

legislative and regulatory requirements by all operations.

Arrangements shall be put in place to ensure that all amendments and changes (including new

requirements) are identified; that all personnel who need to be aware of these changes are

advised; and that the appropriate action is taken.

Systems shall be established and maintained to ensure compliance with requirements related to

regulatory reporting and record keeping.

Where possible, ? shall endeavour to contribute to the development of legislation which has the

potential to affect ?’s operations.

Systems shall be in place to ensure the exercise of the appropriate Duty of Care, in relation to

health and safety, owed to ? employees, contractors and visitors (refer Principle 15 –

Contractors, Suppliers and Visitors) and to the local community.

.

Principal 14 Legislative Compliance

Intent To ensure that the contracting of services, and the purchase, hire or lease of equipment and

materials does not cause harm to personnel, the public or to property; and that arrangements are in

place to ensure the safety of visitors to ? sites.

Performance Requirements In addition to other considerations (eg. Quality, cost, availability, etc.) the criteria for the

selection and retention of contractors shall also include considerations related to contractors’

demonstrated commitment to safety and ability to carry out their work in a manner that, as far as

is reasonably practicable, does not cause harm to themselves, ?’s employees, to the public or to

property.

Contracts shall include specific safety obligations which contractors must comply with, and the

contractors shall be advised of the obligations. This shall include the requirement to advice ? of

any hazardous materials brought onto ? sites, and the requirements for the reporting and

investigation of incidents and accidents (refer Principle 11 – Incident/Accident Management).

The safety performance of contractors and their compliance with the safety obligations specified

in the contract shall be monitored (refer Principle 16 – Reviews, Audits and Inspections). All

identified deficiencies shall be documented and the appropriate corrective action applied.

Where appropriate, contractors shall report safety performance measures to the manager within

? who is responsible for the administration of their contract (refer Principle 4 – Performance

Measurement and Reporting).

The safety requirements of equipment and materials which have the potential to affect the health

and safety of people, shall be specified prior to purchase, hire or lease (also refer Principle 22 –

Hazardous Materials Management). Compliance with these specifications shall be verified

(refer Principle 16 – Reviews, Audits and inspections).

Visitors to ? sites shall receive a safety induction appropriate to the nature of their visit and the

site hazards they may be exposed to. Compliance with the safety requirements included in the

induction shall be pre-condition of entering or remaining on ? property.

Procedures shall be established and maintained to ensure the protection of visitors from hazards

they may be exposed to while visiting ? sites.

Principal 15 Contractors, Suppliers and Visitors

Intent To ensure the effective monitoring of ?’s safety management systems and safety performance, at all

levels, by means of reviews, audits and inspections; and the application of corrective and

preventative action to all identified deficiencies and non-compliances.

Performance Requirements Reviews of safety management systems, at all levels, shall be conducted at appropriate intervals,

to determine the systems’ continued suitability and effectiveness

Audits to verify compliance with all applicable safety requirements shall be conducted at all

levels of ?, at appropriate intervals. This shall include verifying compliance with the following

requirements:

o The ? OH&S Policy

o The ? Safety Management Principles

o Legislative requirements

o Any other applicable safety requirement (eg. Business requirements).

Regular inspections of all workplace aspects which have the potential to affect safety, shall be

conducted at all ? This shall include inspection of plant and equipment (refer Principle 6 – Plant

and Equipment Integrity), safe behaviour (refer Principle 9 – Employee Participation and Safe

Behaviour), and the working environment (refer Principle 13 – Occupational Health and

Workplace Facilities, and Principle 22 – Hazardous Materials Management).

All ? operations shall conduct an annual self-assessment of the extent of their compliance with

the requirements of these Safety Management Principles. These reports shall include:

o The extent of compliance, by the business operations, with the requirements of each Safety

Management Principles

o Corrective action plans to address any instances of non-compliance

For performance reporting (refer Principle 4 – Performance Measurement and Reporting).

Audits to verify compliance with these Principles shall be conducted by ? Group Centre, at

intervals of no more than two years, of ?’s Businesses, including sample audits at Division and

facility level.

Effective corrective actions, and where appropriate preventative actions, shall be applied to all

deficiencies and non-compliances identified during reviews, audits and inspections. Corrective

and preventative action shall be aimed at preventing recurrences and facilitating continuous

improvement (refer to General Performance Requirements in Section 4 of this Standard).

Principal 16 Reviews, Audits and Inspections

Intent To ensure that in the event of an emergency, plans and capabilities are in place for dealing with

such situations in a manner which has the priority to preserve the health and safety of people,

protection of the environment and preservation of the Company’s capability and reputation.

Performance Requirements The nature and scale of reasonably foreseeable crises and emergencies shall be identified and

formal response plans shall be established.

Systems for emergency preparedness and response plans, shall be developed with due regard to

the nature of the potential emergency and personnel shall be trained to the appropriate level of

competency (refer Principle 8 – Training and Competency).

Procedures and arrangements for the management of incidents of crisis proportions shall be in

place and effectively linked to other relevant emergency and health services management

systems.

Emergency plans and capabilities shall be periodically audited, and exercised where

appropriate, to verify the appropriateness of such plans and the competencies to carry them out

(refer Principle 8 – Training and Competency and Principle 16 – Reviews, Audits and

inspections).

Intent To ensure that changes are assess for any potential safety risks, and that the appropriate action is

taken to ensure existing safety performance levels are not compromised.

Performance Requirements Procedures shall be in place to identify changes which may impact of safety, assess their

potential risk to personnel, plant and equipment, and take the appropriate action to manage those

risks.

This shall include changes to:

Plant and equipment (refer Principle 6 – Plant and Equipment Integrity)

Modifications to processes

Operating procedures (refer Principle 12 – Safe Work Procedures)

Design and construction (refer Principle 7 – Design and Construction)

Maintenance procedures (refer Principle 6 – Plant and Equipment Integrity)

Principal 17 Emergency Preparedness and Response

Principal 18 Management of Change

Materials used, their composition or properties (refer Principle 22 – Hazardous Materials

Management)

Organisation structures and responsibilities (refer Principle 2 – Responsibility and Authority)

Personnel training or competency requirements (refer Principle 8 – Training and Competency).

Where required, changes shall be reported to the appropriate authority and carried out in

accordance with the applicable statutory requirements.

Intent To ensure that purchasing, transport, storage, handling, use and disposal of hazardous materials in

carried out in a safe manner and that actions are taken to minimise, as far as is practicable, the

exposure of ? personnel to such materials.

Performance Requirements

The types and quantities of all materials, intermediates, products and consumables which have

the potential to affect health and safety shall be identified; the chemical, physical and biological

hazards associated with each material shall be identified and documented; and the risks

associated with such hazards shall be appropriately managed (refer Principle – Hazard and Risk

Management).

All suppliers of hazardous materials shall be required to provide, on or before delivery, Material

Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) or similar guidelines.

MSDS or similar guidelines shall include up-to-date information related to the toxicity, safe

storage and handling, personal protective equipment required, adverse health effects, treatment

for exposure, response to an emergency (refer Principle 17 – Emergency Preparedness and

Response) and appropriate training (refer Principle 8 – Training and Competency).

MSDS or similar guidelines covering all hazardous materials, shall be easily accessible to all

personnel who may be exposed to these materials (refer Principle 4 – Communication).

Principal 19 Hazardous Materials Management

Initiatives shall be implemented with the aim of progressively reducing, as far as is practicable,

the quantities of hazardous materials; and moving towards the use of less hazardous materials.

INITIATING CHANGE

• When initiating change remember “People

support what they create”

Development and implementation of the Strategic Occupational Health & Safety Plan requires

widespread consultation with the various stakeholders. It is suggested force-field analysis be the

starting point for this consultation.

Force-Field Analysis

Purpose To clear the air and define the nature of the beast you are working with when

starting a new project or reviewing an existing project

Recommended Participants

Mix of stakeholders, too big a group gets awkward to facilitate

Facilitator

Experienced facilitator makes life much easier if you have a recording white-board or

butchers paper to record discussion

Process

1. Revise the brain-storming rules

2. Brain-storm an objective for the ? Safety Management System. Some objectives could

include Zero Disabling Injuries, x% decrease in the number of Lost-time Injuries, y decrease

in your workers compensation premium, a target of ? Lost Time Injuries for the year. Some

people simply say they have a “Zero Harm” objective.

3. Brain-storm the Facilitating / Promoting forces acting for the objective and the

Restraining / Constraining forces acting against the objective.

4. Develop an action plan to boost the Facilitating / Promoting forces and negate the

Restraining / Constraining forces.

Timing

Allow2-2.5 hours for the initial meeting

One of the outcomes of this process is that you will identify and define a number of the things you

are already doing in safety, in itself this is not a bad thing to do. Findings from the force-field

analysis will be incorporated in the design of the Strategic Occupational Health & Safety Plan.

.

Means of implementing the Strategic Safety Plan(in no particular order)

1 Senior Management / Management / Supervision workshops-Discuss Common Law, Statute Law,

Management / Supervisor Responsibilities in Safety, Input into development of the Strategic Safety

Plan.

2 Develop a Safety survey instrument and give to all employees. Results must be acted upon and

feedback to employees.

3 Train health & safety reps-I am informed that whilst reps have been appointed they have not been

trained in their duties and role.

4 Fire / emergency procedures audit-Recent events have identified some issues in relation to fire /

emergency ,an audit of this area is recommended.

5 Develop a safety slogan/ to name the safety management system-Foster a competition ( including

employees families) to develop a safety slogan / name the Safety Management System. A small

prize would be appropriate.

6 Tool box meetings. Guidelines for conduct and frequency of these meetings need to be developed

as does a central register of the minutes of the meetings.

7 Induction training. The general corporate induction as well as the site-specific inductions need to

be reviewed.

8 Risk management-It is suggested the current risk assessment process undertaken prior to

commencement of work does not meet the requirements of the Code of Practice for Risk

Management under the Workplace Health & Safety Act. A new approach needs to be developed.

9 Safety responsibilities-Detailed safety responsibilities / accountabilities need to be written into

position descriptions and used in the performance appraisal process.

10 Safety training needs analysis must be undertaken and personnel trained according to results of

the analysis. Supervisors and employees must be trained and held accountable for safety. Subjects

such as compliance with statute law, compliance with common law principles, hazard identification,

risk management, hazard control, accident investigation, and job safety analysis should be regarded

as the basic skills and the knowledge for supervisors (their “tool-kit” of safety skills).

11 Audits. Organisations that are successful at Occupational Health and Safety have regular

comprehensive internal and external audits, without audits you do not have a picture of how you are

performing in the safety area. An annual external audit by an accreditation body backed up by a 6

monthly internal audit is recommended.

12 Safety reporting-A monthly safety report with meaningful safety statistics is recommended.

13 Safety leadership-Managers and supervisors need to be trained in safety leadership.

14 Pre-employment medicals-There is a need to introduce these medicals.

15 Incident investigation-There needs to be a separate form for investigation of minor injuries and

Lost Time Injuries, training in accident investigation is required for supervisors.

16 Safety committees-It is considered the current committee structure is quite effective.

17 Contractors-Safety specifications need to be developed for contract documentation and the safety

requirements enforced.

18 Compliance with statute law. Safety staff need to review legislation and provide advice on

compliance.

19 Safety Benchmarking-Benchmarking both inside and outside local government is recommended.

20 Highly visible demonstrated commitment to health and safety on behalf of Senior Management

It is not unusual in companies with high profile safety management systems for senior and middle

management personnel to spend over 30% of their time directly on OHS issues. They have safety as

a first high-profile agenda item of every meeting they conduct and they make it clear that they

expect those below them to place a high priority on safety. It is not enough for top management to

be committed to safety; it must be a clear and high profile demonstration of commitment - you get

the performance you demonstrate you expect. This is one area where positive action by

management can have an overwhelming influence on the culture of the organisation. The senior

management team should meet quarterly to discuss safety.

21 Safe plan Evaluate the L.G.A.Q. Safe plan system with the view of implementation.

22 Safety statistics / reporting

Meaningful safety statistics need to be reported and distributed

23 Co-operation with other councils Establish a centralized, standardised accident reporting system

through L.G.A.Q. so that accident experience can be shared throughout all Qld. Councils. An

industry Significant Incident Report is also recommended.

24 Safety Resourcing

Consideration should be given to appointing Workplace Health & Safety Officers to x & y in a

similar manner as z has a safety person. The departmental safety personnel should report to a

department senior officer, have a dotted reporting line through to the Corporate Workplace Health

& Safety Co-ordinator and be part of a co-ordinated safety team.

25 Drug & alcohol policy

This is a contentious area that must be addressed.

26 Hazardous Substances

Proper management of hazardous substances is a time consuming task that is in need of work

The plan will be reviewed & approved by management, the Management Safety Committee and

area safety committees. Progress on implementing the plan will be reviewed at the Management

Safety Committee meeting.