September Updates

Axento Safety: Providing you with expert health and safety management solutions to enhance your business success.

 

Axento Safety’s focus

Axento Safety’s focus is to help create safe, healthy, innovative AND PRODUCTIVE workplaces. 

By working with Axento Safety, you can refocus on your productive activities, achieve them more safely and with greater peace of mind.

 

Take advantage of Safe Work Month – free events this October

This October Safe Work Australia is running the inaugural Virtual Seminar Series (VSS)—a free online event run throughout Safe Work Australia Month. This site also provides access to the free Safe Work Month activities being run by each state based regulator.

 

No wonder we find Risk Management confusing

Having a robust means to evaluate business risk is critical for Director and Executive management Due Diligence and good management.

I have recently seen detailed presentation materials for Director training on business Risk Management.  There was confusion in basic principles and terminology and a lack of adequate definitions for consequence categories and the quantification of likelihood.

This confusion can easily lead to the poor evaluation of business risks (not just OHS/WHS) and poor understandings of the difference between significant risks and those that we may be prepared to accept.

 *  Jons Comment: If your risk management system is at all confusing, please call me for assistance

 

Federal OHS Scheme review – Building Industry

The federal Department of Employment has put up a discussion paper for a review of the Office of the Federal Safety Commissioner and the Australian Government Building and Construction OHS Accreditation Scheme.

The Australian Government Building and Construction OHS Accreditation Scheme has been in operation since 2006, after it was set up in response to the Cole Royal Commission into the Building and Construction Industry.

According to the new discussion paper; the review will look to improve accessibility, reduce red tape, harmonise processes, eliminate duplication, increase effectiveness and consistency, implement risk-based approaches and better leverage educational benefits of the scheme.

The complete discussion paper is available in PDF form, here.

 

Enhancing safety performance

We all benefit when we recognise and acknowledge good safety performance:

• It reinforces the concept that safety and productivity are inextricably linked;
• it lets our employees know that their commitment to safety is valued;
• our workers as individuals and work groups are encouraged by our recognition and appreciation;
• our appreciation sends an important message to other employees and associated organisations.
• it improves productivity, as workers are motivated to maintain or improve their safe way of working and keeping themselves and their work colleagues safe.

 

Some suggestions for recognising safe practices in your workplace

Provide immediate acknowledgement (formal or informal) of individual or group behaviours that support safety related expectations, goals and values.

Some practical ways to acknowledge good health and safety practices in the workplace include:

• train your managers (and other workers) to observe and identify opportunities to praise a worker for good safety performance on the job;
• introduce specific safety management goals as part of employee KPI’s, think about including some sort of bonus for innovation and productivity gains that also lead to enhanced safety outcomes;
• participate in external safety awards programs (Check Safe Work month – see above); and
• implement a safety awards program to reward workers for safety initiatives, commitment and performance.

It is important to continually monitor the effectiveness of safety performance recognition programs to ensure that they are assisting you to achieve the longer term outcomes you intend.

All programs should be clearly understood, fair, consistently applied and accessible to all groups within the organisation.

 

 

P.S. Please dont keep the Axento Safety UPDATE a secret: pass it on to your colleagues and business associates – and we really appreciate your referrals.

Note: This communication provides a brief Health and Safety update; it does not constitute legal advice. 

  Share Tweet