Using SafeWork NSW’s Risk Radar to Improve WHS
Last week in our newsletter, Did You See? Issue 71, we recommended that you take a look at the SafeWork NSW resource called Risk Radar on their website. You will find it at; (safework.nsw.gov.au/risk-radar).
You might benefit by using Risk Radar in your workplace. It could complement and fit nicely with other actions you take to comply with WHS legal requirements and eliminate or minimise WHS risks so far as is reasonably practicable. Perhaps integrate it into tool box talks, formal training sessions or workshops.
In Risk Radar you can select each job in your industry and it shows you the top five causes of injuries and disease that occur with each job that you select. Then it shows what you must or should do to handle the risks in that job. You can then compare what Risk Radar says with what actually happens in your workplace and decide if you need to take action about that.
Here is one example of where Risk Radar could be used to improve work health and safety.
Every organization is required to manage health and safety risks in their workplace and the WHS regulation clauses 34 to 38 clearly set out what must be done. The key points of these clauses are that a PCBU must;
identify reasonably foreseeable hazards
eliminate risks to health and safety so far as is reasonably practicable and if that is not possible, minimize those risks so far as is reasonably practicable
apply the hierarchy of risk controls that is detailed in clause 36 to minimize the risks
maintain the risk controls so that risks remain minimized
review and revise those risk controls as necessary to deal with a change in circumstances
This is an ongoing essential process in an organisation’s health and safety management system. Achieving a safe and healthy workplace is very dependent on teamwork in your workplace - Managers, Supervisors, Team Leaders, HSRs, Health & Safety Committee members, workers and others. And of course, the PCBU and its Officers. They all have an important part to play and have a legal duty or role under the WHS Act to play their part.
Enlightenment, more certainty and improvements in health and safety are bound to be realised if these team members are brought together in a workshop or formal training session. They can consider and compare what actually happens in their workplace with what Risk Radar advises must or should be done to manage the risks of each job in their workplace. They can improve their understanding and level of certainty about these matters and be more able to decide what changes they need to make.
10th February 2021