Top OHS tips for 2011

The global financial crisis is over. Business is getting back to normal and HR is facing similar challenges to pre-2008. So what are the next challenges that Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) professionals can expect to face? Moshe Woods lists his top issues for 2011

1.    Harmonisation of OHS laws

The harmonisation of OHS laws due to begin on 1 January 2012 will have a major impact on any company with operations spanning multiple states.

The aim of harmonisation is to introduce a uniform set of laws and safety standards across all Australian jurisdictions. If it is achieved, harmonisation will reduce the number and complexity of OHS requirements that organisations must deal with and in the process, will remove many of the headaches currently plaguing OHS managers.

At the time of writing, however, some provisions in the proposed laws are being challenged by New South Wales. How it will pan out is impossible to guess but managers will need to keep a close eye on progress with this issue in 2011 in order to prepare for the changes that are now less than 12 months away.

2.    Improving safety culture

In early 2010 the Safety Institute of Australia (SIA) and the Australian Institute of Management (AIM) conducted a survey which in part assessed senior management and board level attitudes towards OHS. What they discovered was that 28% of CEOs and board directors don't believe OHS should be an agenda item for board meetings; 5% can't make up their mind; and approximately 18% don't believe that OHS is an integral part of corporate governance within their organisations.

If HR wants to inculcate a culture of safety it is going to have to start by convincing senior management that a solid safety culture goes hand in hand with operational and production efficiencies, reduced wastage, improved industrial relations and a more motivated workforce.

Max Lloyd-Jones, managing director of Lloyd-Jones Meakin Group, a leader in business safety, agrees. He notes: "Safety integrated into business processes is a powerful way to ensure consistently high performance and business standards. The journey starts with the careful setting of standards and the creation of robust systems. At the same time safety needs to be integrated into all processes and the behavioural approach adopted to engage people."

3.    Recognising and managing risk

In 2009 a new international risk management standard was released. Known as AS/NZS ISO 31000:2009 Risk Management - Principles and Guidelines, it provides practical guidelines relating to the implementation of risk management including how to identify, treat and manage all types of risk - from operational and strategic risk to financial, environmental and even reputation risk. The standard also addresses how to improve an organisation's performance through risk management.

Although similar to the earlier, local Australian and New Zealand standard AS/NZS 4360, there are some important differences in the way risk is characterised, the principles for effective risk management and in its framework for continuous management of risk. These changes will need to be communicated to all managers within the organisation so that the new standard becomes a part of every planning exercise.

4.    Environmental considerations

There are a myriad of state and federal government laws, incentives and suggestions designed to minimise an organisation's impact on the environment. Depending on the nature of the business, monitoring and documenting environmental performance may be critical for regulatory reasons, it may be required by a customer or partner in your supply chain, or it might just be something that is of benefit to the organisation's public image.  

It may be tricky to document now, but if and when Australia sets a price on carbon or introduces carbon credits, the situation is only going to become more complex.

A first step towards understanding environmental performance is to conduct an audit. This will help the organisation to understand where it stands now, how it is performing compared to industry peers and whether it is meeting its legal obligations. An audit also lays the groundwork for the development of future environment targets and strategies.

5.    Injury management

Injury management requires much more than safe work practices or a reduction in the incidence of injuries. It involves a commitment from the organisation to rehabilitation and the return of an employee to suitable work. As anyone involved in HR understands only too well, it also involves a great deal of paperwork.

In the last three years for example, stress claims have emerged as a growing and sometimes controversial problem. Organisations have had to be careful to ensure that each claim is evaluated and managed in a manner consistent with all other stress claims.

A well-documented workplace injury management policy will help to formalise the response to claims, delivering consistency at the same time as demonstrating a commitment to care for employees.

If your organisation is in New South Wales, it may also be worthwhile reconsidering the kind of workers compensation premiums that you commit to. Recent changes introduced by WorkCover mean that some large employers are eligible for an alternative 'burning cost' method of self-insurance which may help to reduce total workers compensation costs.

6.    Contractor management

For the past few years the issue of contractor management has remained high on the list of OHS concerns. Employing a contractor is full of risk. It requires due diligence in advance of the work and exposes the organisation to liability in the case of accident or injury. Recording information about contractor licenses, equipment certification, accreditation and insurance in multiple spreadsheets or PC-based databases is cumbersome and can make it difficult to find the information you need should an incident occur.

A less risky and more efficient approach would be to introduce a contractor management system that stores and aggregates all essential contractor data, and which automatically provides reminders when licence renewals or certification updates are required.

7.    OHS inductions and training

OHS inductions and training is another almost permanent fixture on the HR activity list. It's the foundation for developing a safety culture and for creating an informed workforce. And of course it's essential for compliance.

With so many changes going on in regard to OHS law maintaining accuracy in OHS training has meant frequent updating of course materials - a factor that helped to convince a number of organisations to adopt elearning solutions in 2010. Given the current state of harmonisation laws, it's also a factor that is unlikely to go away any time soon.

Wrapping it all together

In the last few years some of the leading OHS concerns were to do with skills shortages or the need to do more with less. In contrast, 2011 is set to be a year dominated by change, risk, safety, compliance and management.

Documentation and reporting demands have grown to a point where it's almost impossible to efficiently and effectively manage OHS using bits of paper and spreadsheets. If this sounds like a description of your role and your organisation perhaps there's one last challenge that should be added to the 2011 list: find a totally integrated OHS, risk and claims software system that can capture essential data, support organisational workflow and facilitate the reporting essentials for compliance. It will save you time, money and risk in the long run.

About the author

Moshe Woods is director of safety, risk & claims solutions at ComOps