ACU staff have more opportunities to contribute to the safety and wellbeing of our campuses and the university’s Work Health and Safety Management System (WHSMS or framework). New and revised policies, procedures and forms are informing these improvements.
The release of new and revised WHSMS policies, procedures and forms provides:
• more guidance to staff about our roles and responsibilities in relation to work health and safety and the WHSMS.
• enhanced opportunities for improving the safety and efficiency of working and learning spaces.
• more visibility of the specialist WHSMS roles that are available to staff, e.g., first aid officer and floor warden.
ACU’s WHSMS supports us to manage safety and wellbeing risks. It encompasses WHS policies, procedures, improvement plans, systems, standards and records.
The WHSMS enables staff members to identify and manage significant risks, log reports (via riskware) of incidents and hazards, access current WHSMS policies, procedures and forms, understand how they contribute to the WHSMS and ACU’s goals for reducing injuries and improving wellbeing, access WHS training opportunities, and engage with consultations. The university monitors the performance of the WHSMS, reports on successes and improvements, and develops improvement plans.
The following new WHSMS policies, procedures and forms underwent significant consultation through the Work Health and Safety Management Committee, Campus WHS Committees, Health and Safety Representatives and the ACU Staff Consultative Committee (ACUSCC) during 2019.
WHSMS policy, procedure or form |
What is new? |
WHSMS Roles and Responsibilities Procedure |
The new procedure:
- guides staff on how we contribute to the safety of our working and learning spaces and the WHSMS
- details how staff can confidently apply safe systems of work, engage in consultations about health and safety issues, identify and resolve WHS issues, log reports of incidents and hazards (via riskware), and participate in risk management and emergency planning activities
- highlights opportunities for staff to perform specialist roles such as first aid officer, floor warden or WHS committee member.
- enables nominated supervisors and managers to support staff to improve the safety of working and learning spaces and facilitate risk management processes.
|
WHSMS Training and Competency Procedure |
The new procedure:
- supports staff and nominated supervisors to apply safe systems of work and access WHS professional development opportunities
- guides and supports nominated supervisors and managers to provide WHS inductions to staff, students, visitors, contractors and others
- details how members of the executive must ensure that gaps in competencies are identified and staff are provided with opportunities to develop their WHS competencies and participate in WHS specialist roles such as floor wardens and health and safety representatives (HSR).
|
WHSMS Records and Document Management Procedure |
The new procedure:
- supports staff to apply WHSMS records and document management processes and access and share information about WHS risk assessments, issues of concern and safe systems of work
- requires senior managers and members of the executive to influence their work areas to ensure that authorised business systems, such as SharePoint and HPE Content Management System (Trim), are widely used to maintain WHSMS records
- provides guidance on the categories of records that should be listed in organisational unit and central WHSMS records registers.
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WHSMS Implementation Procedure |
The new procedure:
- provides staff members, students and others with access to current WHSMS policies, procedures and tools, and provides guidance on when to use specific WHSMS procedures, forms and tools
- creates awareness about the WHSMS, which is informed by our mission, and how each part interacts and contributes to the safety of our working and learning spaces
- supports staff to apply the WHSMS to working and learning activities the University manages or influences (on or off-site).
|
WHSMS Planning Procedure |
The new procedure:
- informs improvements to working and learning spaces and the WHSMS
- details the planning processes that inform WHS objectives and targets and the release of the WHS Action Plan 2020-2021, which engages organisational units about reducing injuries, improving wellbeing and applying the WHSMS
- informs the guidance the university provides to organisational units about the types of wellbeing and safety issues that are likely to be associated with working and learning activities and how they should be managed.
|
WHSMS Health and Air Monitoring Procedure |
The new procedure:
- documents the university’s processes for initiating health and air monitoring to confirm that treatments to manage WHS risks are effective
- provides guidance to staff about how to effectively respond to cases of communicable diseases that may impact staff, students and others.
|
WHSMS Performance Measurement, Evaluation and Reporting Procedure |
The new procedure:
- informs ongoing improvements to the quarterly WHS reports that are published, on the staff website.
- informs how ACU supports members of the executive, senior staff and others to allocate resources to reducing injuries and strengthening the wellbeing of our campuses.
|
WHSMS Procurement Procedure |
The new procedure:
- requires staff and nominated supervisors to assess and manage risks prior to introducing new goods and services into working and learning spaces
- supports staff, members of the executive and senior managers to ensure that safety considerations inform their purchasing decisions.
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WHSMS Auditing Procedure |
The new procedure:
- assures staff and stakeholders that the university applies its WHSMS to its working and learning activities.
- requires members of the executive to engage with the audit recommendations that impact upon their organisational unit, and agree on the timelines for completing corrective actions
- explains how organisational units will be supported to complete WHSMS audit self-assessments, which will prepare them for WHSMS audits and support their work area to manage their significant risks.
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Updated WHS documents
Several WHSMS policies, procedures and forms have also been revised. These underwent significant consultation through the Work Health and Safety Management Committee, Campus WHS Committees, Health and Safety Representatives and the ACUSCC during 2019.
View a summary of the changes to the policies, procedures and forms.
The revised policies, procedures and forms are:
• Work Health and Safety and Wellbeing Policy
• Driver Safety Procedure (replaces Driver Safety Policy)
• WHS Risk Management Procedure
• Injury Management and Rehabilitation Policy (revised)
The Vice-Chancellor and President Professor Greg Craven has endorsed and approved the new and revised WHSMS policies, procedures and forms. Any previous versions are revoked and should no longer be used.
The updated documents are available on the Policies & Procedures pages of the ACU website under HR and may also be accessed via the links above.