What makes a good ohs policy

However, many firms are increasingly turning to cloud-based software, where all documents and files are stored remotely on servers. The third key component of occupational health and safety management systems is that they have a clear, user-friendly interface. It could be through a computer screen or just the layout of a form they need to complete, such as an incident reporting form. Even if you have an entirely paper-based approach to occupational health and safety management, with paper incident report forms, you still need to think about how user-friendly the form is.

With a software-based occupational health and safety management system, the interface needs to be clear, simple and intuitive so that staff members have no problems interacting with it every time they access it.

Whether they access it via a web browser or through an app, the interface should help them do whatever they need to. User-friendly should be a key component of any decent Occupational health and safety management system. The fourth key component of any occupational health and safety management system is training. Poorly trained staff can put an organization at risk; they may miss dangers, fail to report incidents and even act in ways that endanger themselves, their colleague or the general public.

They become an asset to their organization and can help make their workplace safer and more secure. At a basic level, all staff members should be trained to use whichever system their organization has in place. Training helps ensure that all staff members know exactly how to perform basic duties such as creating and submitting incident reports if they witness an accident. Depending on the processes you have in place, this may mean hand-writing a form and submitting it to a supervisor, or it may mean accessing software through a desktop or mobile device and then creating a submitting a form through the software.

However, training is also important for managers and key stakeholders. Senior staff should know how to do things like:. Reports help organizations use data to understand the cause of incidents, their frequency, and their associated costs. This gives key stakeholders the data necessary to reduce the chance of repeat incidents occurring. This helps an organization create a safe workspace for its staff and manage risks with a greater degree of confidence.

The fifth key component of occupational health and safety management systems is risk assessments. Risk assessments entail far more manual work for staff if the organization uses a paper-based OHS system.

For companies that use occupational health and safety management system software, much of this work is automated. Management can view all hazards, risk, incidents and injury reports as they are filed in real-time.

The software then processes this data and creates reports that can be used to create a risk assessment or develop a further course of action. This dramatically reduces the time that staff members need to spend on admin and can increase the accuracy of the reports. The software will then alert management to conduct risk assessments of this area and prompt them to carry out regular safety checks.

The software helps managers to classify and manage incidents across their entire business and apply cost-efficient strategies that help manage and minimize workplace risk. The sixth key component of any occupational health and safety management system is certification. The system should be certified by a trusted third party to ensure that it is fit for purpose. Having a strong occupational health and safety management system helps an organization build confidence among its staff and customers.

Certifications show staff and the public that an organization is committed to workplace safety. It helps prove that you are setting up, or improving, your procedures for managing your occupational health and safety risks. In order to take advantage of full functionality of this site, javascript must be enabled. Please change your browser options.

Every organisation must have systems in place to implement and monitor their obligations under the relevant WHS Laws. Health and safety policies are important because they establish arrangements for protecting the health and safety of workers. A written general health and safety policy demonstrates to management, supervisors and workers that there is a commitment to ensuring high standards of health and safety. Employers are also required to have written risk assessments, which can be included in the overall health and safety policy.

All employees must be made aware of the policy, which should be subject to regular review and revision in the light of experience. Revisions may be in response to changes in the nature of work carried out, new machinery, or any changes in legislation. The employer uses chemical products in their manufacturing process and risk assessments have been conducted on their use and risk control measures are in place to ensure safe systems of work can be followed.

Action plans have been developed to enhance the control measures to assist in reducing the risks. The maintenance team present conducts planned preventative maintenance to ensure the control measures are functioning correctly to reduce the risks and with the aim of reducing the need for breakdown maintenance. Through a management review of the process and in discussions with workers decisions were made to revise the use of some of the chemicals and to replace the extraction system that was in place thereby enhancing the control measures.

The OSH management system cycle recommenced with this announcement to workers.