Provide a safe working environment

Introduction

Occupational Health & Safety Legislation

Hazard Management Plans

Risk Management

Maintaining & Improving OHS Policies

OHS Administration

Maintaining & Improving OHS Policies

Maintaining and improving the OHS policies and procedures of an organisation should be seen as an ongoing process. As OHS legislation changes, so must the existing OHS policies. Also, if the OHS policies and procedures are not consistently and frequently reinforced staff may become indifferent and even apathetic.

To counter this, there is a six step process that you use to ensure the success of your OHS initiatives. These steps are:

Step 1; Develop OHS policy and associated procedures/programs

Step 2; Consult with all parties

Step 3; Provide OHS information and training

Step 4; Implement a hazard identification and assessment process

Step 5; Use risk control strategies

Step 6; Promote, maintain and continuously improve the system

1. Develop an OHS Policy & Associated Procedures/Programs

Your workplace health and safety policy must be initiated and supported by the highest levels of management if it is to be successful. Each manager and supervisor must then accept their share of the responsibility for ensuring that the requirements of the store's OHS policy are met. In addition, all employees must co-operate and not endanger their own safety or anyone else in the workplace.

To achieve this you need everyone's commitment to supporting the stores OHS policy.
An effective OHS policy should:

show commitment to occupational health and safety
encourage the co-operation of all employees
allocate accountability for occupational health and safety at all levels
be easily understood by all employees

When you have developed the OHS policy you will need to develop the necessary policies and programs to meet the objectives of the policy.

While some organisations manage OHS by reacting on a crisis by crisis basis, it is more effective to manage OHS with a comprehensive OHS strategy. To do this, your OHS program should:

be based on OHS legislation
be suitable for the workplace
be focused on solutions and improvements
have a systematic approach to OHS
be part of the overall management process
be regularly reviewed and evaluated.

The OHS program should include:

the main hazards in the workplace
strategies to identify, assess and control the hazards
descriptions of all standard work methods
the workplace safety rules and associated penalties
OHS information and training that will be provided
procedures for conducting workplace inspections
procedures for reporting and investigating incidents
equipment, facilities and resources that will be provided

2. Consult with all Parties

An OHS program needs the full co-operation of everybody in the workplace if it is to succeed. As everyone has a role to play, each person must act as a team. Consulting with all parties in the workplace helps to foster cooperation.
The consultation process should include:

establishing a workplace OHS committee and appointing OHS representatives
regular meetings to let employees know what is happening
providing OHS information
involving employees through suggestion boxes and/or surveys
making sure that the contributions of all employees is valued and acted on where appropriate and viable

Consultation helps to avoid resistance to change that can happen when people feel that they are somehow losing control when existing practices are altered. By involving staff in the change process they are more comfortable and likely to take ownership of the new system.

3. Provide OHS Information & Training

OHS legislation requires employers to provide training, information, instruction and supervision to all employees. Also from a managerial perspective, training is essential if the OHS program is to be effective and overall costs reduced.
OHS training needs to cover all aspects of the company's activities with the aim of ensuring that all work will be carried out in a safe and effective manner.

Key areas of OHS training include:

A new employee safety induction
workplace committee training
first-aid training
safe manual handling
operating workplace equipment.

Providing OHS information also comes under the heading of training. Under OHS legislation all employees are entitled to the information about any work processes or substances being used in the store.
Information should be given to staff before they are asked to work with or handle potentially hazardous substances or equipment. It is your responsibility to ensure that the employee fully understands the potential risks.

In addition to printed material like MSDS, safety information can also be in the form of warning signs in appropriate places. The signs may be in picture form to ensure that every employee is aware of the potential hazard.

4. Implement a Hazard Identification & Assessment Process

Hazards are the main cause of OHS problems. Preventing and/or managing them presents the greatest opportunity to reduce injury and illness in the workplace. Identifying hazards and then assessing the level of the risk they present are essential steps in eliminating and controlling workplace hazards.

Every organisation has its own potential hazards depending on its activities. The nature of its hazards will influence the process that is used to identify and assess hazards.

Processes that can be used to identify hazards are:

Safety Audits

This is a regular, systematic inspection of the workplace to evaluate the organisation's health and safety systems. The audit is generally conducted by someone with OHS training. The findings of the audit become a written report to management which is referred to the OHS committee for consideration and action.

Workplace Inspections

As a manager you should make regular, systematic inspections of the work area to identify any hazards. This inspection generally involves observing the staff as they go through their usual daily activities and then reporting back to the safety committee.

Incident Investigations

Investigating incidents can produce important information that can be used to identify the hazards that contributed to the incident. Your store should have a set of procedures for investigating and reporting accidents and near hits.

Consultation

The OHS committee and you as the supervisor should seek out the opinions and ideas of the floor staff. They are in a good position to identify workplace hazards if they are safety conscious.

Complaints and Observation

Identifying workplace hazards can happen outside of the routine investigating and reporting systems through complaints from employees. They should be encouraged to bring a hazard to the attention of a supervisor or manager as soon as it is noticed.

Assessing Hazards

Once a hazard has been identified, it must be assessed on its likelihood to cause injury or illness and the severity of the injury or illness that would result.

The results of this assessment will determine what needs to be done to eliminate or control it. There are many types of and methods for assessing them.

When assessing a hazard consider:

Exposure

The level of exposure affects the degree of risk. The hazard posed by lifting increases by the number of times an employee carries out the lifting task each day and the number of employees who are involved in this task.
An exposure assessment should consider:

how often employees are exposed to the hazard (frequency)
the level of exposure (intensity)
the length of each exposure (duration).

Severity

The hazard should also be evaluated on the extent of the injury that it could cause. Severe exposure would include death, permanent disability or an illness such as cancer or hepatitis.

5. Use Risk Control Strategies

When a hazard has been identified and assessed, the next step is to remove it or minimise the risk using a control strategy. An important part of this process is consulting with your team. Their skills, background and expertise should be used to suggest ways of controlling the hazard. An additional benefit to this consultation is that you will encourage a sense of participation in the store's OHS program.
Hazards can be controlled in several ways and some are better than others. The different hazard control methods are listed from best to least effective. Usually, several options will be used together to control the hazard. The options are:

Design: Hazards are designed out of or eliminated from the workplace (eg new processes and equipment are designed with OHS in mind).
Remove or substitute: Remove the hazard or substitute it with less hazardous materials, equipment or substances.
Substitution: Use a safer product or adopt a new process (eg alterations to tools or equipment).
Enclose or isolation: Using guards on machines, enclosing noisy machines or using remote handling devices.
Work organisation: Use administrative controls such as supervision and job rotation, routine maintenance and housekeeping procedures, and training in correct work procedures.
Personal protective equipment (PPE): This is usually a last resort. It is used when all other controls are not feasible or as an interim measure.

6. Promote, Maintain & Continuously Improve the System

Ongoing promotion and evaluation programs are essential to ensure the long term effectiveness of your store's OHS strategy. Initiatives for maintaining the OHS program could include:

promoting OHS activities across the store including successful control strategies, good news stories, newsletter articles
integrating the OHS policy into all management procedures
evaluating the success of the control strategies by comparing the injury, accident and near-miss reports and records, and/or the number of complaints to pre-control implementation records
evaluating and reviewing the effectiveness of training programs