How can a Safety Consultant assist Schools and Colleges with Health and Safety regulatory compliance?

Health and safety compliance is of utmost importance in all workplaces. This includes Private and Public schools and colleges no matter the size. The Model Health and Safety legislation managed by Safe Work Australia was formed to assist all states and territories implement legislation to ensure all workers and others are in a safe and secure environment. Should a school or college fail to comply with this WHS legislation they may face serious consequences that result in costly fines/penalties. More importantly in the case of schools and colleges, damage to the reputation from public outcry should an incident occur.

It is essential for the schools and colleges to understand how to ensure health and safety regulatory compliance in their workplace. States and Territories support the public education system to varying degrees), on how to manage safety in the education environment. What is often lacking is the process on how to implement these systems effectively.

The Safety Consultant is an essential partner in assisting the education space to meet their health and safety regulatory compliance requirements. The Safety Consultant can provide a comprehensive range of services to ensure that they meet the applicable safety regulations and mitigate the risk of injuries and illnesses in the workplace.

Development of the Health and Safety Management System (SMS) and Safe Operating Procedures.

The Safety Consultant can assist with reviewing the current health and safety management system to ensure it is comprehensive and covers all risks in the education space. Any SMS should include rules and procedures regarding the use of all equipment (plant), the storage of hazardous materials, the disposal of waste, and any other legislative requirements that apply to your workplace. The documents in the safety management system should be communicated to all workers and interested parties including contractors. Any changes should also be communicated as part of a structured change management process.

Once the SMS is in place, the school or college must ensure that all employees are adequately trained in health and safety procedures. Contractors may be part of this training in the form of an induction that covers the specific aspects of the risk. Ensuring that the contractor is not instructed in who to perform the task but to ensure that its workers are not affected my and works completed by the contractor. This training may include the use of equipment, proper waste disposal, and the storage of hazardous materials.

The safety consultant can provide guidance on the development of this health and safety management system and specific safe operating procedures. Organisations should have a SMS to assist in ensuring risks such as these to not eventuate or are kept low. We have more information on our Safety Management System that is currently used across the education environment and the various function it can perform for your organisation.

Understanding that any Safety Consultant being utilised to develop/manage a SMS should be at least certified by the Australian Institute of Health and Safety (AIHS).

The levels for a certified Health and Safety consultant are,

Practitioner (COHSPrac) – Implement strategies and actions usually designed by an OHS Professional. They support a safe working environment by maintaining OHS administrative processes, conducting basic training and using a range of state-of-the-art tools, processes and standard practice solutions to OHS risks and their management, particularly aimed at routine and well-known processes and work.

Professional (COHSProf) – Design strategies relating to the organisation and management of OHS / WHS within the wider context of business processes and the external regulatory, market and societal influences. They are influential and involved in problem solving and organisational review and change as advisers and consultants.

Chartered Professional (ChOHSP) – Building on the role of the OHS Profession, the Chartered Professional is a person with high level specialist skills in a specific area and/or high-level strategic skills. They are likely to be a designer of strategy and influential with senior management and/or policy makers.

Note: Additional information on the roles is available at AIHS

This guidance can also include recommendations on the design of safety training programs, identification of potential hazards and how to mitigate them, and how to properly document safety incidents and respond to them in an effective manner.

Training related to the SMS should be scheduled to be conducted regularly to ensure that workers remain up to date so as to better assist in the compliance requirements. The retraining is more of a competency check that workers have retained the knowledge of the training and are able to apply that knowledge. Management at the school or college should also conduct regular health and safety inspections. Inspections as opposed to health and safety audits focus on the actual preidentified hazards in the workplace to ensure that they remain well controlled.

If a safety consultant is used to perform the Health and Safety Audit, there should be a process to ensure that the consultant is recognised through the peek auditing body in Australia Exemplar Global. This company is a certification body that is internationally considered the recognised leader in certification for Auditors. Formerly known as RABQSA, Exemplar Global has over 30 years of building certification programs. One of the few certification bodies to have gained international accreditation under ISO/IEC 17024:2012 Conformity Assessment – General Requirements for Bodies Operating Certifications of Persons.

They have a proven history developing auditors through their internationally recognised training programs and support. A safety consultant with at least an external Auditor certification would be essential for simple audits where a Lead Auditor Certification is essential for whole of SMS audits across a school or college.

These health and safety inspections should cover all areas of the workplace and ensure that all applicable WHS Legislation are being complied with. If any health and safety issues are found; this should be recorded and communicated to senior management. There should be a system in place to ensure that appropriate action is taken to resolve the issue to ensure compliance.

Senior Management should also ensure that any contractors or suppliers they use, comply with health and safety requirements. There should be a review of contracts or agreements on a scheduled basis (at least annually) to ensure that all health and safety regulations are being complied with. Any health and safety incident should be reported through a structured process to be reported and investigated promptly. Even incidents where there is no injury, usually called a near miss. All incidents that are notifiable to the ‘Regulator’ are reported by the fastest possible means and thoroughly investigated and documented. This will help to ensure that any issues are addressed quickly and that employees are kept safe.

Role of the Safety Consultant in Health and Safety regulatory compliance

Overall, engaging a safety consultant at your school or college can play a key role in helping meeting WHS Legislative requirements and reduce the risk of workplace injuries and illnesses. The comprehensive assessment of the safety culture and the development of a SMS including safe operating procedures can help to ensure compliance with the applicable safety regulations. The review process built into the SMS will also provide for programmed milestones through the implementation process to WHS compliance.

The safety consultant can also help to identify weaknesses in the safety management system and provide guidance on the proper documentation of safety incidents and investigations. Finally, the safety consultant can provide guidance on the development of corrective action plans to ensure compliance with the applicable safety regulations.

By following these steps, schools and colleges can ensure that their workplace is in compliance with the WHS Legislative requirements. This will help to protect both the workers and others. This in turn will help to avoid costly fines/penalties or damage to the reputation or business brand.

Following are some posts with added information for this topic that may assist in you deciding on using a Safety Consultant to assist your business,

If you are interested in our WHS Consultancy services, you can contact David, Andrew or Mark to discuss your Health and Safety Issues.

We have qualified and certified Safety Consultants that can assist you and offer a range of WHS consulting services along with general and specific health and safety training courses.

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How can a Safety Consultant assist Schools and Colleges with Health and Safety regulatory compliance?