A discussion into the evolution of the WHSO in Businesses and the reasons to have one.
In Paisley, Scotland there is a park bench in front of a memorial on the corner of Lady Lane and High Street. Directly across High Street in the eyeline of any person who sits on this bench is a statue of Mary Donoghue holding her twin granddaughters. The statue is titled ‘Dear Duty’. A statue whose inscription reads “to those who need care and those who provide it.”
This is the location of where the Wellmeadow Cafe once stood and an incident that sparked the changes needed in WHS legislation and enforcement, for employers to protect its workers and ‘neighbours’. These changes were needed as England like the remainder of the Commonwealth colonies had versions of the Shops and Factories legislation in place but did little to actually protect workers as shown by the investigations completed under Lord Aitkin.
The outcome of the ensuing court case assisted in laying the foundations of the concept in Common Law and WHS Legislation to ensure that employers protect its workers and ‘neighbours’.
Once completed this legislation came to Australia from England (being part of the Commonwealth) and was quickly taken on by each state and territory. Political advisers slowly moulded each of the states and territories model of the WHS Legislation, though sometimes with an agenda but espousing the same intent for employers to work with their workers to reduce risk.
Businesses struggled (or pushed back) with the implementation of this new legislation placed on them. Businesses required further guidance in ‘How’ to implement these new laws, so Compliance Standards were developed to guide the process. Four compliance Standards were produced in this initial format being,
- Noise,
- Hazardous Substances,
- Asbestos, and
- Confined Space.
Inspectors visited workplaces and issues advice and where necessary directives (improvement notices) or in the more serious instances penalties. Still workplaces struggled and generally only highlighted their shortcomings when an injury occurred, and the Regulator was required to investigate and prosecute.
There were limited Inspectors employed in this role to assist in the monitoring and enforcement of the WHS Legislation and Queensland is a very large state with many businesses.
The concept of the Workplace Health and Safety Officer (WHSO) was born through the tripartite consultation outlined in the legislation. Businesses in Queensland of a specific type and having workers over a specific number (30 FTE) were required to have a worker trained and appointed as their WHSO.
The Regulator set a course structure and training companies developed training courses to suit. Workers attended the 5 day ‘Core’ training completed assessments set by the Regulator then would complete their training by attending Administrative, Construction or Manufacturing electives to hone specific knowledge on the topics. Once all the necessary assessments were completed the Regulator would issue a certificate of completion.
Businesses now had a worker trained in the regulators vision of what good looks like aided by Advisory Standards the set of guides that grew to what we have today called Codes of Practice.
The WHSO would need to complete refresher training and assessment every 5 years to ensure that they remained competent. Businesses now had a person who was training in what the legislation required businesses to ensure the protection of workers and ‘neighbours’.
Years later the legislation changed across Australia creating a more standard (Harmonised) model. Unfortunately, the WHSO was not included in this new model.
Sadly, most businesses removed support for the WHSO position even though the training was still being provided and now included all the information in the newly introduced legislation. ‘Safety is just common sense.’ Some opting for a person to complete the Cert IV in WHS online, over a 12-month period and in their own time or opting to employ workers with this qualification and making them ‘responsible’ for safety.
Some businesses have a safety position imbedded into a position of an administrator for them to ‘look after safety’ for a small percentage of their time.
It is only when a serious incident occurs at these businesses when management see how insufficient this dedication to workers and ‘neighbours’ safety is. Usually then demanding that an audit be completed but often fail to follow through on the audit recommendations once they see how much work is required to bring them up to the compliance requirements.
Instead crossing their fingers and hoping that (with the belief that the incident that put them in this predicament took years to eventuate that it will be years till anything go wrong again. Maybe complete a shop floor training session to tell workers to be more careful in the future and with additional heavy discipline processes will be put in place.
There are ‘Safety’ jobs currently advertised calling for WHSO’s, Advisers, Coordinators Managers and even Directors requiring no more than the Cert IV, advisable but not required. Often with must have a working knowledge of workers compensation and rehabilitation processes. Businesses more interested in parking the ambulance at the bottom of the cliff.
Then there are the companies who state that ‘if we were to do all things you recommend in the report we might as well just shut the doors and go home.’ Safety is just common sense. Now today the words of the OceanGate CEO Titanic Expedition resonate,
“At some point, safety is just pure waste. I mean, if you just want to be safe, don’t get out of bed, don’t get in your car, don’t do anything. At some point, you’re going to take some risk, and it really is a risk-reward question.” (https://www.lbc.co.uk/news/safety-is-just-pure-waste-titanic-sub-creator-stockton-rush/)
Seeking the services of a trained and Certified Safety Professional (Safety Consultant) to assist with building safety systems in a business has many benefits. They can assist the WHSO in the Business with programs and safety projects developed for the safety management. Though the Safety Consultant may not fully understand the internal workings of a Business they are experienced in the legislative processes.
- Was the design approved through a rigorous and bench marked approved testing process?
- Is there a system of scheduled maintenance that meets with the testing process?
- Have all (SFARP) hazards been identified with appropriate controls put in place?
- Is there a system of reviewing all systems on a scheduled basis?
You want the person doing your tax return to be a qualified and accredited Accountant,
You want the person who designs the building you live in to be a certified Engineer.
You want the person dispensing medication for you to be a qualified Chemist.
So why engage a person to look after safety in your Business with little or no qualifications and no certification?
If you are after more information on training a worker to be your Work Health and Safety Officer (WHSO) WorkSafe Qld has more information on the topic.
If you are interested in training a worker to be a WHSO or any of 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 in your business and offer a range of WHS consulting services along with general and specific health and safety training courses.
Contact us today for an obligation free quote on any of our services.