When it comes to WH&S beware of aiming low
When it comes to WH&S beware of aiming low. The desire to just ‘do the bare minimum’ or ‘comply with legislation’ in order to avoid penalties is understandable. Resources are scarce; demands on those resources are plentiful. The difficulty of setting your standards low in my experience is that this kind of focus (or lack of) generally means that the organization is missing sufficient internal drive from the top for their workplace health and safety programs to succeed. When true understanding of the business, personal and societal risks and costs of workplace injury are absent everything related to WH&S becomes a struggle as it is viewed as a box to be ticked for the minimum effort and cost possible.
When officers of a Person Conducting a Business or Undertaking (PCBU) truly understand their WH&S Due diligence responsibilities it drives a safety first culture rather than a legislative compliance culture. The officers and personnel in these businesses understand that in order to truly discharge a businesses legal duties it must set its sights on properly ensuring the health and safety and wellbeing of its employees e.g. Zero harm, rather than just ‘having a go’. This clarity of focus provides a driving force for change and makes the difference between organizations which try to improve safety in the workplace and those which actually do.
You may think that a half-hearted or ‘good enough’ approach will tick the boxes but the truth is that it rarely does. An off the shelf workplace health and safety management system that you have not implemented or do not follow is about as useful to a business as not having one at all.
So how do you succeed in meeting WH&S compliance requirements? Firstly it requires commitment from the top and goal setting. This will assist you to drive change towards a safety first culture. In addition to this a methodological process of implementing your plan will assist where the sheer volume of the project seems overwhelming. Thirdly making sure you get your WH&S advice from a trusted professional, someone you can trust to provide you with correct information be they internal or external is vital.
At HR Business Direction we can assist with can assist with complying with WH&S legislation and understanding the benefits to be gained in doing so. Contact us here.
Christina Willcox MHSc; PostGradDip OHS; BBus(HRM)
Workplace Health & Safety Specialist
christina.willcox@hrbd.com.au
07 3890 2066
www.hrbd.com.au