Safety doesn't happen by chance or guesswork
All workplaces have risks, not just the obvious locations.
Today’s discussion on Monitoring Moments illustrated examples of a proactive workforce taking steps to ensure office safety and a senior manager establishing a strong safety protocol for workers on external sites. Safety doesn't happen by chance or guesswork. It requires risk management, understanding the requirements and delivering work health and safety fundamentals across the business.
Key Points
Workers in an office were concerned about the management of work health & safety risk in their workplace. Issues ranging from the location of electrical equipment, the positioning of desks and chairs and the quality of lighting were raised with a senior manager.
The senior manager’s pro-active response was to engage Business Monitor to work with the team to look at policies, hazards and risk. The team worked together to create a risk register from the information gathered and set a timetable for review and actions.
The manager’s pro-active response to the staff concerns, the consultation and the training and support has resulted in a highly engaged team focussed on monitoring and supporting a safe, healthy workplace while having some fun working with Business Monitor.
A contractor manager in a new business contacted us to review whether they were meeting their work health and safety compliance responsibilities for workers on external sites and those working from home. They wanted a process that demonstrated they were monitoring the risks, consulting with their workforce and establishing controls as required to protect the workforce and reduce exposure to hazards.
A matrix was developed with worker roles, risk levels of worker locations and duration of roles.
The matrix provided a model for setting up a site and system assessment strategy that the company could opt to manage. After evaluating the time and skills required, the manager determined that participating in the iSafe program, delivered by our sister company Certex International, was a more efficient outcome, using recognised safety auditors.
Work health and safety risk management is not a tick and flick exercise or a set and forget process. Proactively managing WHS involves everyone in an organisation thinking about what could happen if someone was exposed to a risk or a hazard and how likely it is to happen. Strong leadership makes this a much easier process.
Readings/Resources