Management meetings

OHS risk management is considered to be an important part of everyday business and planning. It is therefore to be included as a standing item on the agenda of meetings dealing with the management of academic or administrative units. If regular management meetings are not held, then regular workgroup meetings to deal specifically with OHS risk management issues may be appropriate.

An OHS Risk Management Meeting Guide has been developed to assist managers and supervisors to address and continually improve their OHS risk management.

Typical OHS risk management issues addressed at meetings are likely to include:

• review of workplace incidents and injuries that have occurred since the last meeting. An emphasis will be placed on preventing any recurrence, using the ohsrm steps as guidance.
• consideration of OHS issues raised by workers and consulting with the staff concerned to determine an appropriate management plan for these. OHS Risk Management Forms (Parts A, B & C) (download from the OHS Forms page) can be used to document this.
• Organising suitable OHS training, particularly for new staff, eg. as part of orientation, to local risks and their management strategies, emergency procedures or specialist training eg., laboratory safety etc. (download induction checklists from the OHS Forms page)
• setting priorities for hazards to be addressed and allocating responsibility and resources for these where necessary.
• establishing an OHSRM Action Plan and monitoring progress against commitments made over time
• monitoring OHS risk management within different work units via reports from unit managers/supervisors
• reviewing OHS aspects of proposed purchases by and projects to be undertaken within the unit.
• considering specialist OHS advice or assessment, eg. from relevant consultants, where needed.

The meeting minutes or notes will provide a good record of local OHS risk management. The senior managers of large, higher risk areas may also consider introducing a unit based OHS Management Committee as a mechanism to focus attention and achieve action on OHS locally.

This model is used in numerous schools, faculties and larger administrative units. The Head of Department is a member of the committee and retains overall responsibility for OHS risk management in the unit. The committee reports its activities to the department’s management committee/body.