Health, safety and wellbeing policy

Leadership commitment and worker participation

• A shared vision for health, safety and wellbeing demonstrated through positive and proactive leadership
• Health, safety and wellbeing as a key consideration in all decision making and change management processes
• Investment to support contemporary approaches to managing health, safety and wellbeing

Best practice systems and governance

• An integrated approach to health, safety and wellbeing activities across the department
• Strong systems and processes to improve efficiency and effectiveness of our health, safety and wellbeing process and practices
• Ensuring our health, safety and wellbeing obligations are met through oversight and collaboration at all levels

Engagement, participation and capability development

• Genuine and transparent consultation with our people to achieve a common understanding and resolution of health, safety and wellbeing matters
• Recognising and encouraging everyone to be a proactive health, safety and wellbeing leader in their workplace
• Building the confidence and capability of our people through training and supervision aligned to clearly defined roles at all levels

Proactive health, safety and wellbeing risk management

• Identifying and prioritising key health, safety and wellbeing risks
• Enhancing a contemporary risk management framework to inform decision making, resources and investment
• Utilising evidence-informed approaches to preventing harm, intervening early, and supporting recovery

Measurement, accountability and continuous improvement

• Proactively monitoring, reviewing and acting on health, safety and wellbeing performance at all levels
• Contemporary assurance programs to support positive health, safety and wellbeing outcomes
• Holding ourselves accountable to health, safety and wellbeing outcomes and striving for continuous improvement
• The department's actions and decisions consider, and are compatible with human rights.

Risk management

The department will manage its HSW risks in accordance with the Enterprise Risk Management Framework and the approach provided in How to manage work health and safety risks code of practice 2021. Specific risks will be identified and reasonably managed in accordance with the relevant codes of practice, such as those addressing hazardous materials and chemicals, heights and psychosocial hazards.

Incident management

In the event of an incident or near miss, the department commits to doing all that is reasonably practicable to ensure its workers report, respond, provide practical and psychological first aid, investigate and review the circumstances of the incident.

Engagement and support 

The department will give its people who are, or are likely to be, directly affected by a matter relating to HSW, a reasonable opportunity to express their views or raise issues. It is recognised worker input and participation improve decision-making about health, safety and wellbeing matters and assists in reducing work-related injuries and illness.

HSW training is a vital part of the department's HSWMS, ensuring that all employees possess the knowledge and skills necessary to maintain a safe and healthy work environment.

Health and staff rehabilitation

The department is committed to supporting the health and wellbeing of staff through prevention, early intervention and ongoing support. This includes providing a system of workplace rehabilitation and ensuring suitable duties for staff while they are recovering from injury or illness.

Performance and improvement

HSW performance will be regularly monitored and reviewed to ensure the HSWMS is operating as planned and enabling the department to meet its primary duty of care.

Consultation

The Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (Qld) requires officers to consult, cooperate and coordinate activities with others who have a duty in relation to the same matter; and to consult with workers who carry out work for the business or undertaking. This is achieved through the effective and coordinated efforts of persons conducting a business or undertaking (PCBUs), work health and safety officers (WHSOs), health and safety representatives (HSRs), health and safety committees (HSCs).

Consultation needs to occur with workers to:

• provide them with relevant safety information
• raise WHS matters
• get their input on:
  • identifying hazards and assessing risks
  • making decisions about ways to eliminate risks
  • decisions regarding adequacy of facilities
  • proposed changes that may affect health and safety
  • decisions on health and safety procedures.

Hazard

An object or situation that has the potential to harm a person, the environment or cause damage to property. Hazards at work may include: noisy machinery, a moving vehicle, chemicals, electricity, working at heights, a repetitive job and violence at the workplace.

Health

Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social wellbeing and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.

Incident

An unplanned event which resulted in harm to people, damage to property or loss to a process. This includes electrical incidents.

Near miss

An unplanned event that did not result in an injury or illness to people, danger to health and/or damage to property but had the potential to do so.

Officer

An officer is generally someone who:

• makes, or participates in making, significant decisions that affect the whole, or a substantial part, of the business, or
• has the capacity to significantly affect the business' financial standing.

PCBU

The term ‘person conducting a business or undertaking’ (PCBU) captures all types of working arrangements or structures. A PCBU can be a company, an unincorporated body or association, a sole trader or self-employed person.

The term PCBU relates to an organisation or person who is more commonly known as ‘the employer’. A person who is engaged solely as a worker or an officer in a business or undertaking is not a PCBU.

In some cases, there will be multiple PCBUs involved in work at the same workplace who will share duties under work health and safety laws in relation to the same matter. For example, a principal contractor and sub-contractors at a construction site.

People

The staff, contractors, visitors, students, volunteers and others who may be impacted by the department's operation.

Psychosocial hazards

Psychosocial hazards are factors in the design or management of work that increase the risk of work-related stress and can lead to psychological or physical harm. Examples of psychosocial hazards might include poor supervisor support or high job demands.

Primary duty of care

Primary duty of care refers to an employer and/or a PCBU, having the main responsibility for the health and safety of workers and other persons in the workplace/s. The primary duty is not limited to workers and other persons presence at a particular workplace. Instead, the duty relates to the physical and psychological health and safety of workers and other persons when they are ‘at work’.

Risk

HSW risk is the chance that exposure or contact with a hazard (likelihood), may result in physical or psychological harm (consequence). For example, risk of an electric shock (event) from exposure to an electrical hazard (cause), resulting in harm (consequence).

Reasonably practicable

Reasonably practicable as defined in the act, means that which is, or was at a particular time, reasonably able to be done in relation to ensuring health and safety, taking into account and weighing up all relevant matters including:

• the likelihood of the hazard or risk occurring
• the degree of harm that might result from the hazard or the risk
• what the Department (through its officers and workers) knows, or ought to reasonably know, about the hazard or risk and the ways of eliminating or minimising the risk
• the availability and suitability of ways to eliminate or minimise the risk after assessing the extent of the risk and the available ways of eliminating or minimising the risk, the cost associated with available ways of eliminating or minimising the risk, including whether the cost is grossly disproportionate to the risk.

Rehabilitation

Rehabilitation is the process of getting a worker back to work. Rehabilitation may involve receiving treatment from a registered person (eg physiotherapist, podiatrist, dentist) or aids or equipment approved by WorkCover.

Wellbeing

Wellbeing is a positive state experienced by individuals and societies. Similar to health, it is a resource for daily life and is determined by social, economic and environmental conditions.

Worker

A person is a worker if the person carries out work in any capacity for the PCBU.