CONFIDENTIAL© Xchanging 2011, No part of this document may be circulated, quoted or reproduced without prior approval of Xchanging.STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL© Xchanging 2011, No part of this document may be circulated, quoted or reproduced without prior approval of Xchanging. Update on National OHS Laws Action now For BROSH John Knowles 29 July 2011

3 CONFIDENTIAL© Xchanging 2011, No part of this document may be circulated, quoted or reproduced without prior approval of Xchanging. Topics Briefing your Board Changing your OHS policies and procedures Consulting with staff on the changes Consultation, Co-operation, Co-ordination between duty holders Summary – things to do NOW!

4 CONFIDENTIAL© Xchanging 2011, No part of this document may be circulated, quoted or reproduced without prior approval of Xchanging. Briefing your Board Advise them of their due diligence duty CEO, CFO, Board members Anyone else making decisions over a substantial part of the business

5 CONFIDENTIAL© Xchanging 2011, No part of this document may be circulated, quoted or reproduced without prior approval of Xchanging. Duty of Officer – sect 27 Must individually exercise due diligence to ensure the PCBU complies with a duty or obligation under this Act Due diligence means to take reasonable steps: to acquire and keep up to date knowledge of work health and safety matters to gain understanding of nature of operations of business / undertaking and generally of operational hazards and risks ensure resources and processes available to identify and risks and to eliminate or minimise risks to health and safety ensure there is an appropriate information flow process about incidents, hazards and risks and timely responses

6 CONFIDENTIAL© Xchanging 2011, No part of this document may be circulated, quoted or reproduced without prior approval of Xchanging. Due diligence, continued Ensure the Person Conducting the Business or Undertaking (PCBU) implements processes to comply with the WHS Act: – Notifiable incidents – Consultation with workers – Compliance with Inspectors’ notices – Provision of training and instruction – Training for employee Health and Safety Representatives (HSRs) - if you have them

7 CONFIDENTIAL© Xchanging 2011, No part of this document may be circulated, quoted or reproduced without prior approval of Xchanging. Acquire up to date knowledge WHS Familiar with Work Health and Safety Act (same as familiar with taxation and Corporations Acts) Member of the Board with portfolio of WHS Senior manager with day to day WHS responsibilities OHS trained professional to provide expert advice Trained HSRs – if you have them

8 CONFIDENTIAL© Xchanging 2011, No part of this document may be circulated, quoted or reproduced without prior approval of Xchanging. Understand nature of business Regular reports (eg quarterly) to senior executive team and summary to Board of: hazards, incidents, WorkSafe Notices, near misses Minutes of these meetings to include action taken, directive given (not just received and noted) If common hazards known in the industry and not reflected in reports – why aren’t they? (eg Office hotspots – 20% psychological injury, 17% manual handling injuries) How quick is the response to hazards, incidents? Provide lists of lag and lead indicators Match performance against OHS objectives, targets, KPIs

9 CONFIDENTIAL© Xchanging 2011, No part of this document may be circulated, quoted or reproduced without prior approval of Xchanging. Examples of lead indicators  Time between hazards / incidents reported and controls in place  OHS related training sessions and who trained  Number of OHS matters consulted with workers and outcomes  OHS procedures developed and implemented  OHS projects initiated and completed eg manual handling risk assessments and control implementation  Number meetings between HSRs and their Work Groups  Number of internal and external awards for OHS performance  Progress on annual OHS targets approved / set by Board (based on OHS objectives set for the company)  OHS information distributed and who distributed to  Number procedures reviewed during staff meetings

10 CONFIDENTIAL© Xchanging 2011, No part of this document may be circulated, quoted or reproduced without prior approval of Xchanging. Resources to minimise risk Money Time for managers to pay attention and report OHS issues Time for HSRs to consult with their Work Groups OHS professional and other specialists available, as required

11 CONFIDENTIAL© Xchanging 2011, No part of this document may be circulated, quoted or reproduced without prior approval of Xchanging. Processes to minimise risks OHS risks on risk register – with action plans OHS and psychosocial policies and procedures Safe Operating Procedures – backed up with risk assessments OHS objectives set by Board – with operational annual targets related to the objectives Training matrix Consultation, issue resolution, dispute resolution procedures in place Emergency procedures in case of injury or illness

12 CONFIDENTIAL© Xchanging 2011, No part of this document may be circulated, quoted or reproduced without prior approval of Xchanging. Ensure there is appropriate information flow Are workers, supervisors and managers actually reporting all hazards, incidents, concerns, emerging issues, observations? Is there an appropriate escalation process? Do you conduct an internal audit to ensure your OHS management system is working, reviewed and tested? (eg annually or once every 3 years) Are you of a size, or strive for quality, that warrants external OHS management system and hazards auditing?

13 CONFIDENTIAL© Xchanging 2011, No part of this document may be circulated, quoted or reproduced without prior approval of Xchanging. Sherriff and Tooma 2010 – court example NSW – teacher’s aide left alone in charge of 10 physically and intellectually impaired students – 3 known to be violent, 1 an absconder Teacher’s aide attacked by one of the students NSW Dept Education and Training convicted (2003) on employer’s failure to in their duty of care – in particular failure to provide enough staff to supervise the students Sherriff and Tooma comment: ‘Officers are required to ensure the right people, with the right experience and skills, are in the right places, with adequate resources, enable health and safety risks to be identified and eliminated or minimised’ (p.38)

14 CONFIDENTIAL© Xchanging 2011, No part of this document may be circulated, quoted or reproduced without prior approval of Xchanging. Changing your OHS policies and procedures Does your OHS policy speak about the employer (PCBU) protecting all workers? Does it have a definition of ‘workers’? Are there some policies and procedures that should have the word ‘worker’ in them, rather than ‘employees / staff’ ? (eg manual handling policy and procedure)

15 CONFIDENTIAL© Xchanging 2011, No part of this document may be circulated, quoted or reproduced without prior approval of Xchanging. Consulting with staff on changes Who will brief the Board and senior executive members and consult with them on changes to policies and procedures? Who is going to attend staff meetings to consult with staff on these changes? Who is going to consult with the HSRs and OHS committee – if you have them?

16 CONFIDENTIAL© Xchanging 2011, No part of this document may be circulated, quoted or reproduced without prior approval of Xchanging. Consultation, Co-operation, Co-ordination Discussion – how do we make this ‘real’? Make sure these words are in all contracts

17 CONFIDENTIAL© Xchanging 2011, No part of this document may be circulated, quoted or reproduced without prior approval of Xchanging. Summary What needs to be done NOW? 1. Brief your Board and senior management team on their new proactive, individual duty to apply due diligence to OHS. 2. Make sure your policies and procedures relate to 'workers', not 'employees'. 3. Ensure your contracts include the phrase 'consult, co-operate and co-ordinate on OHS matters'.

18 CONFIDENTIAL© Xchanging 2011, No part of this document may be circulated, quoted or reproduced without prior approval of Xchanging. 4. Tell your staff about the changes that effect them - especially Health and Safety Representatives (only trained HSRs can serve a PIN and, after consultation with the Person Conducting the Business and Undertaking, stop work). 5. Prepare reports for your senior management team and Boards summarising hazards, incidents, WorkSafe reports and Notices (with recommended controls)- so they can fulfill their due diligence obligations.