The beginning of a new financial year is a good time to review how your WHS program is going and set timeframes for completing WHS responsibilities in the next 12 months. General guidance is outlined below as to how often specific WHS tasks should be carried out, such as workplace inspections, or checking first aid kits.
Because most timeframes for periodic checks are not prescribed in legislation, employers need practical guidance rather than a review of legislation. These recommendations do not replace legislative requirements, however, and do not include health monitoring requirements or plant inspection/maintenance schedules. Record-keeping timeframe requirements are also not covered here.
WHAT SHOULD BE PERIODICALLY CHECKED?
Whether your business has a person allocated with the responsibility for coordinating work health and safety or not, there are several tasks that should be performed from time to time. Listed below is a discussion of some of these, but this list is not exhaustive.
Timeframes in different businesses may vary from these, due to the nature of work being performed, the type of industry, complexity of the business, number of workers, number of sites, and other factors. This list is provided as a starting point.
1. Review of the company work health and safety policy
It would be reasonable to review the company WHS policy every two years unless there were major changes to the organisation or to legislative requirements.
2. Review of other WHS policies and procedures
WHS policies and procedures, in general, should be reviewed annually to ensure that changes are incorporated, or procedures are modified where required.
3. Responsibility for WHS
The allocation of management responsibility for WHS should be reviewed annually to ensure that it is still current and is being performed. Similarly, at least annually, performance reviews should include WHS responsibility, for example, the number of proactive WHS actions taken in the year.
4. Reporting of all injuries to workers compensation insurance company
Injury notification reporting requirements may differ slightly across Australian states and territories – check with your local WHS regulator or insurer. Procedures, communication, and training should be established to ensure the required notification timeframes are achieved.
5. WHS discussed at management meetings
This should not be restricted to accidents and injuries but should include discussions of the progress of the company’s WHS plan. If management meetings are held weekly, WHS could be included. If they are held monthly, then WHS should definitely be included as an agenda item. This also helps to raise the awareness and culture of WHS within a business and demonstrates a commitment to it at a senior level. WHS performance should also be presented at annual general meetings.
6. Management audit of WHS system performance
An annual management review of WHS performance within the business would be beneficial to many companies, with external auditing every one to two years.
7. Physical WHS inspections
Depending on the workplace, these would be performed weekly or monthly, using a checklist and including a health and safety representative in the process.
8. Consultation with workers on WHS matters
Depending on the business, toolbox talks may occur weekly, while health and safety committee meetings may occur every one, two or three months.
9. Re-election of health and safety representatives and worker representatives on the health and safety committee, if there is one
Every three years.
10. Check the injury register
The injury register should be checked daily so that investigations and preventative actions can be implemented if required and so that return to work processes can be commenced or monitored if required.
11. Training of first aid officers
Many first aid qualifications are valid for three years. However, it may be useful to run a refresher course annually to keep skills up to date.
12. First aid kits check
First aid kits could be checked monthly, and depending on the use, the frequency of injuries and severity of injuries should be checked weekly. The aim is to ensure that sufficient materials are available to treat first aid injuries in a timely and correct manner.
13. Risk controls
After implementation of risk control measures, these should be reviewed periodically, for example, every six to 12 months. Legislation requires them to be reviewed if circumstances or conditions regarding the tasks/hazards change.
For businesses implementing risk controls, a monthly schedule should be prepared for each department setting out responsibilities, timelines for implementation, and dates for review.
14. Check of workstation ergonomics
This should be a regular part of commencement for a new worker with a workstation. In addition, an assessment every one to two years should identify problems and ensure that workstation ergonomic adjustment is corrected periodically. This is particularly important in office environments where people spend large amounts of time working at desks or computers. Senior executives’ ergonomics should also be checked as this tends to be overlooked in many organisations.
15. Review legislation for change
Legislation changes from time to time so it is worthwhile reviewing it for changes at least every six months, especially for businesses operating across state and territory borders.
16. Evacuation drill
An evacuation drill should be held at least annually, and depending on the workplace this could be increased to six monthly. Fire extinguishers should be tested every six months.
17. Work health and safety training
The type and frequency of WHS training will depend on the business’ needs, industry type, and what has been completed to date. However, a training schedule should be reviewed every one to three months to ensure that it is progressing and will meet the company’s WHS training objectives.
18. Supervision
Supervision to ensure employees and contractors are safe and not exposed to risks to their health and safety should be an everyday activity and part of the normal work process.
19. Purchase of personal protective equipment (PPE)
The use of PPE in a business will depend on the industry type, size, complexity, hazard controls in place, and specific legal requirements. Therefore purchase of PPE will be dependent on these factors. The monthly purchase of PPE should be reasonable in most businesses.
20. Checking of PPE
PPE should be inspected every time it is worn to check that it is clean, in good condition, and able to perform the task it is required for.
21. WHS induction for employees and contractors
WHS induction should take place before the commencement of work, for both employees and contractors.
22. Audiometric/hearing assessments for noisy workplaces operating above regulated limits
Following an initial hearing assessment, a test should follow after 12 months and then every one to two years.
Additional checks
There may be additional periodic checks not addressed in this commentary, however many of the items addressed are common and would be expected as part of the WHS management system in a business.
