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eNews - May 2010
In this edition:
- Weather Watch (May 2010)
- Closing the gap between average and top sheep producers
- Issues Paper released
- Reminder - FarmReady Financial Year Eligibility
- Top 10 useful websites this month
- New OH&S laws for all
- Innovation Corner
Quote of the Month
“Why is it when I hire a pair of hands I get a human being as well?”
Henry Ford, 1947
Welcome
Welcome to another issue of the Bestprac newsletter.
Last week I attended an OH&S conference in Adelaide, the theme of the conference was Challenges and Changes. Appropriately, the title clearly reflects the ongoing challenge of managing OH&S within all businesses. Not only is there a requirement to ensure you and your team is safe at all times; there is also a need to ensure your business is compliant with current OH&S law and aware of changes as they occur.
From January 2012 all states and territories will implement “harmonised” OH&S acts, regulations and codes of practice. This means that there will be changes that you as business owners need to be aware of. This change will be a good outcome for businesses that undertake operations across state borders as there will only be one set of laws to follow. I would recommend keeping “your ear to the ground” on this topic as the changes will happen and you may need to alter your current OH&S system.
After reading this you might be saying to yourself, “but I don’t have an OH&S system in place for my business, where do I start”? It is important to start developing a system that suits your business. Here are a few guiding principles provided by Safe Work SA that would apply to all businesses:
- OH&S Act and Regulations
Managers need to have a base knowledge of the act and its regulations. Managers
need to be making every attempt to adhere to these laws.
- Consultation with whole team
- Management Commitment
Management must be committed to the health, safety and welfare of their workforce.
- Hazard identification, risk assessment and control
- Identification of risks and hazards
- Workplace audits
- Budgeting for the time to do this work. Do not ignore it
- Policies and Procedures
These include:
- Having a company OH&S policy
- Standard operating procedures for all business operations and processes (SOP’s)
- Training and Supervision
Employers should provide relevant and current training in their workplaces. Employers
should consider undertaking a skill recognition process with all employees.
These are six components of a robust OH&S system that all businesses can use as a basis to develop their own tailored OH&S system. There are also plenty of great resources available to assist businesses with OH&S, for example these include:
Some other key messages about OH&S I also gained from the conference came from Dr Bill Griggs, Director of Trauma Services at the Royal Adelaide Hospital. He spoke about how he responds in crisis situations, the example he provided was responding to the Tsunami in Banda Aceh in 2004. Obviously this is an extreme crisis but his key principles are applicable to all businesses; they included:
- “no battle plan will ever survive first enemy contact” so be prepared to review and update plans
- Although we are taught at school to aim for a high distinction, in reality we will rarely achieve 100% every time
- Be able to tolerate uncertainty
- People management is crucial – have the right people, hire for personality and fit within your business
- There are no problems only opportunities
I hope you enjoy this edition of the e-newsletter. If you have any feedback or contributions I would like to hear from you bestprac@ruraldirections.com
Carlyn Sherriff
Bestprac National Coordination Team