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RISK MANAGEMENT

Australian Workcover Authorities currently use a RISK MANAGEMENT approach in developing their legislative controls. This means that:

  • they expect a company to identify its hazards (using standard methods),
  • they expect a company to manage those risks under "controlled, monitored processes", and finally,
  • they expect companies to use this approach to meet all necessary regulatory requirements.

Employers must identify current and foreseeable hazards arising from workplace activities and processes. They must assess the risk of the hazards to determine the level of risk. If not reasonably practicable to eliminate the risk then the task is to control the risk. It requires an employer to consult with employees to enable them to contribute to the making of decisions affecting their health, safety and welfare at work.

Particular emphasis must be paid to the hazards associated with:

  • plant and equipment use
  • hazardous substances and dangerous goods
  • manual handling tasks
  • workplace noise
  • general hazardous processes
  • hazardous working environments

Codes of Practice for Risk Management and Process Control outlines clear requirements for the management of this process. A structured approach is crucial to an effective outcome.

Risk management, or risk assessments, are general terms used to describe the process of:

  • identifying hazards, problems or likely risks (HAZARD IDENTIFICATION)
  • identifying the issues, the history, statistics and opinions relating to the problem
  • making a decision as to whether the problem is able to be solved, worth solving and the repercussions if the issue/problem remains unsolved (RISK ASSESSMENT)
  • deciding on the options available and most appropriate actions to be taken
  • estimating the likely effectiveness of the actions to estimate whether the problem will be improved or solved
  • implementing the control measures to improve the risks (RISK CONTROL)
  • monitoring the new initiatives to determine their success
  • long term monitoring to make sure problems do not reappear.

It has become a requirement to tackle problems using this risk assessment approach.

It is a requirement to use a structured method for manual handling, plant and equipment safety, chemicals/hazardous substances, and also an expectation for areas such as new processes and new sites, noise, dust, occupational violence and other risk related areas.

It is important to make sure that persons involved in using the methods are consulted as part of the risk assessment process, otherwise you are not meeting regulatory requirements.

What you need to do...

  • You need to read the learning notes on risk management in this website and any other information you may have.
  • You will need to train key employees and employers in the risk management process.
  • You will need to work with your health and safety team to identify the workplace hazards.
  • List them on a Site Register.
  • You will need to undertake risk assessments of all hazards identified, including all plant and equipment, all hazardous substances and dangerous goods (on a separate Register), all manual handling tasks and also a noise risk assessment (if appropriate). This must be a consultative process.
  • The controls must be put in place (follow hierarchy of controls) to ensure workplace safety is improved.
  • Responsibilities and accountabilities must be well documented to include responsibilities for monitoring and measuring the performance of the controls for effectiveness. The Risk Assessments must be periodically reviewed.
  • Consultation in the process is critical.
  • Communication to disseminate the controls is also critical.
  • Identify any additional training or competencies required as a result of the controls being implemented and initiate the training.
  • You will need to conduct internal audits to verify that the Risk Management System is in fact working.

ACTION PLAN

1. Read the following attachments (procedures and policies)

  • Risk Assessment in the Workplace
  • Criteria for a Hazard Checklist
  • Roles and Responsibilities
  • Hazard Register
  • Forms: Plant, Manual Handling, General, Hazardous Substances, Hazardous Substances Register

2. Disseminate this information to your health and safety personnel.

3. Undertake risk assessments in consultation with employee representatives.

4. Generic risk assessments may be used as a starting point only. This website provides many generic risk assessments to use as a starting point ONLY. They MUST be consulted and considered by employees and signed off once altered/adapted according to the employee consultative process.

5. Implement RISK CONTROLS.

6. Monitor to ensure they are effective and that they continue to work.

COMMUNICATE & CONSULT THE RISK MNGT PROCESS

1. Introduce the risk management process to sufficient employees on sites/across the company to ensure sufficient consultation in the process. Inform EVERY employee of the existence of a HAZARD REGISTER, it's whereabouts, and what they should do to fill it in if they see a hazard.

2. IMPORTANT NOTE:
Generic risk assessments are not acceptable without workplace consultation. They are designed to assist you in the risk assessment process and not replace it. Therefore, do not download generic risk assessments and disseminate in the workplace. This is a dangerous practice. Generic Risk Assessments MUST go through an effective, fair and reasonable consultative process.

USING GENERIC RISK ASSESSMENTS

  1. The Health and Safety team/group in consulting with a cross section of employees, should be involved in undertaking the actual risk assessment process using the generic risk assessments as a guide if appropriate. Remember, these can and should be changed to meet specific needs.
  2. At the time the risk assessment is being undertaken, risk controls should be considered by the group. Remember to follow the hierarchy of control rules: eliminate/substitute/engineering controls/administrative controls/protective equipment/training. These MUST be documented on the risk assessment form (Report).
  3. Each person involved in the risk assessment must sign and date the assessment report (form).
  4. Finally, refer back to the HAZARD REGISTER. Make sure the risk assessment number matches the number on the hazard register. The group must agree to allocate a person responsible for follow-up monitoring and review of performance (stating the frequency).
  5. A copy of the HAZARD REGISTER accompanied by the relevant risk assessments should be easily accessible to staff, particularly operational staff.
  6. The ongoing review of the register and monitoring controls should be allocated to a site/dept/regional safety person and brought to safety meetings as a performance report.

IMPLEMENTING CONTROLS

Once all the risk controls have been identified, there now needs to be a plan to implement the controls.

This will involve:

  • Elimination/Substitution: Resource implications, looking at alternative methods
  • Engineering Controls: Advice on equipment guarding (check Aust. Stds), signage and other options and their resource implications
  • Administrative Controls: Changing and updating or developing procedures or other documents
  • Personal Protective Equipment (PPE): Requirements, options, check the Aust Stds requirement. Resource implications.
  • Training & Competency: In-house re new equipment, new methods, ergonomics, safer practices, use of PPE, etc.

Procedures, posters, checklists or any other option needs to be in place to make sure the 'controls' identified in the risk assessment are now put in place.

Email us with your requirements as we probably have what you are looking for or can point you in the right direction.

There will be training requirements needed as a result of the changes. Identify these (probably all able to be done in-house) and initiate the training, keeping a record of the training needs analysis as well as the completed training. Make sure consultation occurs when deciding on training needs.

Procedures (or other alternatives) will need to be periodically reviewed. When these documents are created, add them into the OHS&IM Manual and mark on the Control Sheet at the front of the manual the 'review date' and 'review responsibility'.

Internal Audits will need to be undertaken to verify the Risk Management System is in fact operational. Decide, in a safety meeting (consultation), who and how often these audits will occur. Use a checklist to conduct audits.