OHS Responsibility and Resources

In a perfect world, your store would have unlimited funds to spend on OHS initiatives. As this is unlikely, it is important that you make the most of the funds that are available. All OHS initiatives must be evaluated on their ability to address the safety issue(s) involved.

Due to the limited resources that can be allocated to address OHS issues, it is essential that they be given to the people with the best chance of achieving an acceptable compromise between the optimum level of safety in the store and what is necessary to observe the law.

Under OHS legislation persons in a workplace have a 'Duty of Care'. This duty of care requires all people in a workplace to do everything 'reasonably practicable' to protect the health and safety of others in the workplace. This duty applies to:

all employers
their employees
any people that may influence hazards in a workplace

Reasonably practicable implies that the law may vary based on the level of risk associated with a particular activity or work environment. This risk must be balanced against the time, effort and cost of implementing risk control measures. The performance based nature of OHS law allows the responsible party to select the most efficient means of controlling a risk from the range of options based on the 'hierarchy of control'.

Joint Consultation

Overall, OHS legislation is designed to establish a process of consultation between employers and employees on safety related issues. The aim of this consultation is to develop an effective OHS management system that works and is acceptable to both employees and employers.

In addition to providing staff with access to the store's OHS policies and procedures, the consultation process also provides an opportunity to involve staff in reviewing the effectiveness of the policies and procedures.

Involving staff in a joint consultation process can benefit both employers and employees because:

there is an improved understanding of problems by both employers and employees.
staff develop expertise and knowledge of health and safety in the workplace.
it provides the opportunity to develop more, and possibly better, solutions to problems because of the wider range of views involved
the process provides an opportunity to transfer ownership of OHS solutions to the people most affected by them. This reduces any problems created by any potential to resist change.
there are opportunities to reach a co-operative resolution to OHS issues.
employees from different areas of the organisation are represented

While the joint consultation process is generally successful, sometimes an agreement may not be reached. This may result if the problem is complex and needs the advice of an expert or due to an industrial relations issue.

If agreement cannot be reached, the legislation allows an OHS inspector to assess the problem and make recommendations. If the issue is serious, the inspector is empowered to force the employer to fix the problem and can prosecute if they don't comply.

OHS issues raised during the consultation processes must be actioned in some manner to:

prevent accidents
demonstrate a commitment to staff for OHS issues.

If an issue is not resolved, someone may be injured and your team may lose confidence in you as a manager. Either way, the results can be serious.
When a OHS issue is raised, the follow up action should be seen to be carried out quickly and effectively.

Safety Committees

OHS legislation provides two areas of consultation:

OHS committees
Health and safety representatives or officers.

Most state and territory legislation have either one or both mechanisms. While there are some differences between the states, territories and commonwealth, safety committees are generally made up of both nominated employer representatives and elected employees.

Health and safety representatives and workplace safety committees work to:

conduct regular workplace inspections
investigate after an accident or dangerous event has occurred
provide OHS advice and training
accompany the OHS inspector during any inspection by a government authority
review OHS information such as Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS's) and injury or illness statistics
provide input into developing OHS policies