The Departments Occupational Health and Safety Planning Process - Report Example

Table of contents Table of contents 1 Occupational health and safety systems 1 Strategic planning 1 Purchasing, procurement and contracting 3 Logistics 4 Human resources and personnel management 4 Engineering and maintenance 5 Maintenance and repairs of machines 7 Information and records 8 Finance and auditing 9 Environmental management 10 Quality management 11 Reference list 12 Occupational health and safety systems Strategic planning Strategic planning forms core component of managing our organization’s occupational health and safety program and therefore demands every department and sub-department to identify workplace policies and goals that conform to occupational health and safety legislation. The departments and their sub-departments are required to measure their scope of performance with respect to the goals that they set with regard to policies that govern efficient occupational health and safety system. The goals that every sub-department and departments set are measurable goals in terms of ability to be attained either in the short term or long term. The goals are realistic and a time frame is set to indicate how fast the department or sub-department implements the set goals. Every department develops an occupational health and safety plan that provides the following relevant information. First, the department’s occupational health and safety goals are specific goals that are measurable entities. Second, the department’s occupational health and safety plan outlines specific action that provides guideline on how every target is achieved. Third, the department’s occupational health and safety plan show designated responsibilities that are meant to make the goals and targets set are by the departments achievable. Fourth, the department’s occupational health and safety plan indicates measures that are in place to evaluate progress of achieving the aims and targets that are set by the department and its sub-departments. Fifth, the department’s occupational health and safety plan indicates the time frame required for the department’s goals to be implemented. The department’s occupational health and safety planning process is made up of the following components. Purchasing, procurement and contracting Purchasing and procurement Our organization purchasing and procurement procedures conform to the guidelines that are laid down by Commonwealth Procurement Guidelines and are issued by the Department of Finance and Administration. Commonwealth Procurement Guidelines cover a wide domain of procurement and their flexibility gives managers and their assistant freedom to exercise and practice their procurement decisions. Our purchasing also complies with Commonwealth’s core procurement principle of value for money. Contracting of services Our organization requires and uses consultant services when there is need to assess skills and expertise that is not available in the department or entire organization. For instance, our organization sources staff of corporate personnel services and Healthquest when there is training for the staff. Logistics Our organization recognizes sharing of information about risks to health and safety and measures that need to be put into place to control, eliminate and reduce chances of occurrence of the risks. Employees and other persons at the workplace are given highest level of protection against workplace hazards that are risk to health and safety. Human resources and personnel management Every department and sub-department has enough staff to ensure there is no work overload for employees. Records of the staff who are hired and those who leave the organisation are kept. There are records of employees who have gone on retirement. The record of current staff provides details of staffs that are permanently employed and are in the organisation’s pension scheme, employees who are employed on part time basis. It also provides number of employees based on gender like number of females or males and their qualifications. Salaries of the employees meet specifications of labour on minimum hourly rates based on qualification and type of work involved. Training needs The staff of our organization undergo training depending on training need analysis. All staff is subject to induction training that is offered by staff from corporate personnel services. Induction program on occupational health and safety covers occupational health and safety policies and procedures, responsibilities of staff and management, details on occupational health and safety committees and methodologies of reporting hazards and first aid administration. This course on occupational health and safety is compulsory for all employees and new staff that are recruited into the organization. Ergonomic training is offered and this is made possible through adoption of consultant services with HealthQuest and covers setting up workstations as well as necessary ergonomic equipments that need be used. Other training that are relevant to particular personnel in the organization are occupational health and safety training for managers, occupational health and safety for committee chair person and occupational health and safety committee members. There is also annual training on handling manuals for selected few members of staff or employees. Engineering and maintenance The departmental manager ensures machines are installed with respect to manufacturer’s instructions. The installation process is carried out by a competent professional. The site where the machine is set has enough space around it. If there are many machines in one room, the distance between one machine and another is enough to enable access by persons. The minimum distance is 4-9 metres depending on the size of the machines. Erection and commission the machines is done by a registered engineer. The same person also ensures interim safeguards are adhered to while testing the machines for operational efficiency. The manager also ensures that the staff that is hired to operate the machines has experience in handling similar or equivalent machines. The machine operators are also supervised. Evaluation of risk assessments is carried out routinely in order to check and inspect the machines for compliance with safety legislation and minimize risks to health and safety. In case, presence of risks is presented following health and safety risk assessment, the machine is not operated until necessary repairs are done. Repairs are timely done because they upgrade the machinery’s health and safety standards while in operation. Machines are used for the purpose for which they have been designed for by the designer of the machine or the manufacturer. In case an operational change of the machine is recommended, assessment of compatibility with the designated tasks is done by a competent person so that the change of the machine’s operation does lead into increased risks to health and safety. In some instances, our organization purchases second hand machinery from other organizations. In the event our organization is planning to do so, the seller of the machinery is supposed to furnish our organization with any relevant records that they have kept with respect to requirement of legislation OHS, clause 122. Our organization is also furnished with all information concerning health and safety of the machine from the designer or the manufacturer. The seller of the machine advises our organization of any faults that the machinery has or has suffered while in operation. It is the duty of the manager or supervisor to ensure that the machine is not used until the faults are rectified and interim safeguards are done by a certified competent professional. It is the duty of the machine operator through the manager to ensure that any risk of entanglement is controlled. Maintenance and repairs of machines All maintenance and repair of machines conform to and satisfy health and safety legislations as underlined by the policies that govern our organization occupational health and safety systems. Maintenance and repair of machines falls under particular risk control measures and any machinery repair is performed and tested by a competent engineer. The engineer also tests if the repairs that have been carried out in line with health and safety legislation. All machine repair procedures are documented so that any future date repair for the machines is known and planned for. A timely repair of machinery ensures the machines work within design limits of manufacturers expected efficiency limits. It is the duty of machine operators through their managers to ensure that any damaged machinery with impaired operation condition and that is a risk to health and safety is assessed competently by a certified engineer or competent professional. After the engineer has carried assessment, he or she is entitled to provide an insight into the type and nature of damage on the machinery, whether the damage on the machinery could be repaired and nature of machinery repair that need to be carried out. The engineer also provides insight on whether the repaired machine will be able to work within the designer’s limits. Information and records Our organization’s occupational health and safety system has up-to-date information on policies that satisfy the occupational health and safety legislation. Our organization works towards recognizing the importance of consultations on matters of health and safety between the organization’s occupational health and safety management and the members of staff. Our organization has risk and assessment control measures information that is passed to all employees either through their induction training program or through posters in the respective departments and sub-departments. Our organization has measures in place to ensure hazardous substances are handled with regard to safety regulation that are contained in their handling manuals. Our organization has hazard identification information database that provides information on carcinogenic substances that are mostly handled in the workplace. There is periodic carcinogenic substance risk assessment in order to have up-to-date record on current health and safety as far as carcinogenic substances are concerned. There is also a carcinogenic substance register so that employees could understand what substances are carcinogenic and which ones are not. There are manuals for handling different carcinogenic substances as well as manual for different equipments that are used in the different departments in the organization. Our organization has material safety data sheets available for all employees working in different departments of the organization in order not to compromise health and safety standards. At the same time, the organization has inspector data sheets that show position of health and safety of the organization. Our organization has a worker’s welfare information in our database that is also stored in removable media like compact disks or flash disks as well as in our organization’s website. The database of employees has guidelines for reporting incidents in the place of work, procedures of reporting and processing claims following injuries of employees in the place of work. There is information that outlines employee return to work formula. The employee welfare information meets occupational health and safety legislation. Our organization has information on policies that govern efficient implementation, review, monitoring and improvement of our occupational health and safety. The information provides details on occupational health and safety induction rules that should be followed, occupational health and safety responsibilities, environmental policies that should be adopted maintenance and repair of machines information. Finance and auditing Our auditing procedures conform to ASX (Australian Stock Exchange). The auditing process satisfies principles of good corporate governance as well as meets the requirements specific of the financial management accountability act 1997. The organisation has an audit committee that advises finance director and management on our organisation’s compliance with external reporting requirements. The internal audit committee also advise the occupational health and safety systems director on effectiveness and efficiency of internal financial control and financial risk management mechanisms. The audit committee determines frequency of carrying out financial auditing. The financial auditing is in line with quarterly financial reporting of the organisation. Our organization has fraud risk assessment to help in cultivating ethics of good financial governance and instill development of good financial management practices. The financial risk assessment is backed by financial fraud control plan. The financial fraud control plan provides procedures that are helpful in preventing development of fraud and prevention of fraud. The financial fraud control plan has investigative guidelines in place to ensure proper financial practices are undertaken in the organization. The financial reporting processes rhymes with the financial reporting procedures dictated by the commonwealth fraud control guidelines. The financial fraud control plan is available for review to all employees in every department. Environmental management Our organization recognizes that environmental management is important area in controlling diseases and maintaining high standards of safe workplaces. Diseases contribute to sick-offs by employees if the environment is not maintained properly. Our organization works towards ensuring the environment is safe and free from pathogens and disease vectors that can cause diseases to workers, visitors or families. Our organisation embraces use of renewable energy sources in order to help in reduction of global warming. Our organisation has initiated resource recycling procedures like recycling of waste papers, printer cartridges and cardboard. Quality management Our quality management policies are a function of how well we manage health and safety risks. Our organization has up-to-date assessment of the workplace hazards that have potential to cause harm. The department does all within its powers and abilities to eliminate and control occupational health and safety hazards that are identified in the department following hazard risk assessment. It is the duty of the department to prioritize hazards depending on their potential to cause harm and have a corrective action plan in place in case the proposed hazard happens. Risk assessment and management practices are carried out routinely in the department whenever there is change of workplace or when there is subdivision of the workplace to accommodate different sub-departments. Risk assessment is also be carried out before any changes are implemented in the workplace to determine potential of a hazard occurring. This ensures the proposed change in the workplace conforms to occupational health and safety policies. Other instances when risk assessment is carried out arise when new additional information on occupational health and safety is received by the department or whenever it is published in journals or newspapers. The three core steps towards risk assessment and management will be The department has adopted three key techniques for identifying hazards. These methods are inspections and monitoring, task analysis and reports on hazards. Any hazard that is likely to occur is reported to the responsible person or occupational health and safety representatives and a hazard report form is completed describing the nature of the hazard and potential danger that is associated with the hazard. An employee or any other person who identifies something to be a hazard and feels is not competently sure is supposed to discuss the same with any occupational health and safety representative in the department or manager or supervisor. Reference list Australian Safety and Compensation Council 2007, Are People with Disability at Risk at Work? A Review of the Evidence, Australian Safety and Compensation Council, Canberra. Graffam, J, Shinkfield, A, Smith, K, and Polzin, U 2002, ‘Employer benefits and costs of employing a person with a disability’, Journal of Vocational Rehabilitation, vol. 17, pp. 251-263. John Lin and Anthony Mills 2001. Measuring the occupational health and safety performance of construction companies in Australia. Facilities journal. Vol.19, issue no. 3 pp.131-139. Read More