Improving safety and wellbeing at ACU

ACU’s inaugural WHS Action Plan 2020-2021 will drive improvements to safety and wellbeing of our working and learning spaces across our campuses. The plan specifies objectives, targets and actions for improving staff and student wellbeing, reducing musculoskeletal injuries from falls and manual handling, and applying our new Work Health and Safety Management System (WHSMS or framework) to work and learning activities – to improve the management of risk across the university.

It cascades from ACU’s Strategic Plan 2020-2023 and is also informed by our mission.

The WHS Action Plan 2020-2021 and the WHSMS Roles and Responsibilities Procedure provides guidance about the actions you can take to improve safety and wellbeing on our campuses, and contribute to our Work Health and Safety Management System (WHSMS).

How can I contribute?

There are simple steps all staff can take to help drive improvements to safety and wellbeing. For example, staff should:

• ensure they are working safely and efficiently by completing the ergonomic checklist for their workstation
• actively participate in WHS discussions during staff meetings
• log and manage reports of incidents and associated injuries and illnesses via riskware
• participate in or lead WHS risk assessments (ie addressing threats such as falls, manual handling tasks and excessive workload pressures) and WHS inspections.

Senior managers and nominated supervisors are encouraged to speak with their teams about the WHS Action Plan 2020-2021 and how all members of the ACU community can contribute to its success.

ACU will regularly report on and review the plan to ensure that it is relevant and consistently implemented, and helps us continuously improve the safety and wellbeing of our campuses.