OHS Compliance From Workplace Safety To Effective Risk Management

Posted by Steven Main on August 19th, 2015

Today organizations have become proactive as a result of regulatory and legislative requirements to create safer work environments. The businesses are recognizing the necessity of workplace safety as an effective means of risk management, resulting not only in a better work environment, but a more profitable one too. OHS Australia regulations require that all employers covered under the act provide safe and hazard-free workplace and employment that is well complying with the standards set out in the act. In addition during inspections there are penalties proposed for the violation of the act.

Well defined by regulatory OHS compliance presently workplace safety is developing into one of the foremost areas of risk management for companies. Business organizations specifically the ones operating on a global scale - are identifying the financially viable and management benefits of deviating from site-specific solutions, and embracing organization-wide OHS management system. With Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OHSA) regulations, businesses respond to these regulations by implementing systems on a department-by-department basis.

OHS compliance necessitates that these systems basically designed to keep records and report relevant incidents, thereby ensuring appropriate compliance with the Act's provisions. In addition, the systems are department-specific, focusing on precise areas and therefore they address the Act such as Waste Management, Incident Tracking, and Air Emissions Management and more.

In addition to its global initiative, companies are intent progressively to embrace environmental health and safety issues beyond mere compliance requirements. Presently it is increasingly seen as a risk-management issue and consequently systems are being developed and implemented on a enterprise-wide basis. OHS auditing is designed for incident prevention rather than mere reporting and information gathering. Furthermore, it requires the application and integration of fundamental safety modules, such as Inspection and Audit; Incident Management; Document Management; Training & Personnel Management; and Corrective Action.

Since every workplace is potential ground for hazardous incidents flexibility and accessibility is essential to ensure enterprise-wide reporting by the key personnel. Employers have a responsibility to provide a safe place to work assuring that with an effective Occupational Health and Safety system there is a reduction in deaths and workplace injuries.

OHS auditing is a process that comprises of range of assessments that are undertaken to determine the effectiveness of management systems within a business, and this audit identifies the strengths and weaknesses of a safety system. An audit effectively highlights the areas where there are opportunities for improvements.