Risk management strategies

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Risk Management has become an integral part of OHS Management.  This has been driven by the need to meet legislative requirements and the recognition that risk management is good practice. An effective OHS Management program is an integral part of any successful organisation. It ensures that the health and safety needs of your employees are properly addressed and can provide a range of benefits including:

  • Reduced injuries and illnesses,
  • Compliance with OHS legislation,
  • Reduced workers compensation costs,
  • Reduced employee turnover and improved morale,
  • Improved operational efficiency,
  • Better corporate governance,
  • Increased stakeholder confidence

OHS risks within the Disability Sector are common with some other sectors such as aged care, HACC programs and a range of industrial sectors depending on the Disability Enterprise activities.  What is unique for the Disability Sector is the potential need for a particular organisation to be able to address OHS obligations across such a range of industry types which often include uncontrolled environments whilst working with service users who may have unforeseen or unpredictable functional restrictions or behaviours.  The Disability Sector also has to address the potential mismatch between risk minimisation and the disabled person’s desire to take risks.

Risk can be defined as the chance of something happening that will impact upon objectives.  Risk is inherent in life.  Everything we do involves risk.  Risk may have positive or negative outcomes, resulting in either an opportunity or a loss for a business.

Risk management is the way in which adverse effects from risk are managed and potential opportunities are realised.  The potential cascade effect of a failure to address a safety issue may affect the level or type of risk experienced in all areas of the organisation. It is essential that all your risk management processes and systems compliment one another, fit within your organisation’s culture and work in synergy towards the same goals.  See attached risk management policy for a basis for your risk management manual.

Good risk management means ensuring that you have a good match between an applicant or worker and the job they will undertake.  A Job Dictionary has been developed for the Sector.  The Job Dictionary breaks down key generic roles into the physical demands whilst considering key environmental and psychological issues.  It can be modified to suit your organisational roles and sent to applicants, doctors undertaking pre-employment medicals and doctors treating workers with work related injuries.

Risk is the likelihood that a hazard will cause harm.

If, as an employer, you have identified a hazard you must assess how dangerous it is. You ask yourself: how likely is it that an injury or illness will occur and how seriously could someone be affected? This is risk assessment.

The level of significance of the risk will determine the priority assigned to activities required to eliminate the risk, or, if that is not practicable, control the risk of harm occurring.

Hazard Identification

There are many types of hazards and the methods for assessing them will differ.

Some of the ways it can be done by:

  • reviewing all available health and safety information relevant to the hazard (for example, information from the supplier of plant, material safety data sheets, labels, registers of installed asbestos, referring bodies, carers etc for information on client behaviour and abilities/restrictions, previous incident, injury or illness reports);
  • identifying factors that contribute to the risk (for example, layout and condition of working environment; capability, skill, experience and age of people ordinarily doing the work as well as the client receiving assistance; systems of work being used and reasonably foreseeable abnormal conditions);
  • identifying actions necessary to eliminate or control the risk; and
  • identifying any records necessary to be kept to ensure that risks are eliminated or controlled (including how long they should be kept).

The types of hazard identification and risk assessment methods commonly utilised in the disability sector include:

Risk Assessment Based on the above information for each hazard identified you should:
  1. judge the severity of any harm. Consider if it could cause:
  • permanent disability, ill health or death;
  • long term illness or serious injury;
  • require medical attention with someone off work for several days; or
  • someone to require first aid.
  • very likely - (could happen any time)
  • likely - (could happen sometime)
  • unlikely - (could happen but very rarely)
  • very unlikely - (could happen but probably never will)

2.judge the likelihood of the harm occurring:

The Hazpak Matrix developed by WorkCover is one means of rating the risk so that the lower the number, the higher the risk and the more important it is to implement controls.  There are other rating systems in existence and you should choose the one that your employees are most likely to understand.

Eliminate or control the level of risk

It is not enough to identify hazards. Action must be taken to do something to fix (ie eliminate or control) the hazard before it has the chance to cause injury and illness. This is risk control and the following hierarchy helps us to determine the control strategies most suitable based on the risk ranking calculated.

The first priority of the employer is to try to eliminate the risk altogether. (Clause 11(1) of the Regulation). If this is not reasonably practical, the employer must take action to control the risk. (Clause 11(2).

An employer must also make sure that all measures taken to eliminate or control risks to health and safety are properly used and maintained. (Clause 11(3).

The Regulation ranks control strategies from the most effective to the least effective strategy – known as the hierarchy of control. The employer must consider actions (Clause 5(1) in the order specified to minimise the risk to the lowest possible level.

Lets consider a report of toxic fumes from an oven cleaner

(Remember that the employer should only be using this list if they have not been able to eliminate the hazard): so you should first consider if you should be cleaning the oven in the first place but if it is not practicable to not clean the oven you need to look at the hierarchy to find a suitable control

  • substitute the hazard with a hazard that poses a lower risk of harm eg less hazardous chemical
  • isolate the hazard from the person put at risk eg. Self cleaning oven
  • minimise the risk by engineering means eg. Use a pump system for handling the chemical or ventilation hood to capture fumes
  • use administrative means to minimise the risk eg. safe work methods, training,
  • use personal protective equipment (PPE) eg gloves, mask and overalls.

If one of these measures is not enough to minimise the risk to the lowest possible level a combination is required. (Clause 104(2)).

There are a number of risk control practices which a Disability Sector employer should have in place and these include:

  • Recruitment practices including the conduct of Pre-employment Functional Assessments to ensure the suitability of the applicant to the job;
  • Access to counselling services for staff exposed to traumatic events or having difficulty with the demands of the job in conjunction with their personal lives
  • Training and development including induction and task specific training
  • Competency assessments
  • Emergency procedures including handling of medical emergencies
  • Safe use of chemicals
  • Safe use of plant and equipment including the development and training of staff in safe work procedures.  Safe work procedures (known as safe work method statements also) are a common administrative control where the hazard cannot be eliminated and the task etc creating the hazard must be undertaken e.g. manual handling of a client, home care activities.  Guidelines for writing statements and a sample template and sample completed statement are attached.  Generic safe work procedures for kitchen and laundry tasks are available.
  • Electrical tagging or inspections
  • Asbestos registers if appropriate

Many of the above points have information available under the OHS Management System or Hazards/risks buttons on this website.

 

Monitor and review

Under Clause 12 of the Regulation, an employer must review a risk assessment, including any measures adopted to control the risk, whenever:

  • there is evidence that the risk assessment is no longer valid; or
  • injury or illness results from exposure to the particular hazard; or
  • a significant change is proposed in the place of work or in work practices or procedures to which the assessment relates.

To ensure that the review and monitoring phase are implemented any risks which are not eliminated should be placed in a risk register which can include a review date for specific risks.

There are a number of tools employers can use to ensure good risk management practices including:

  1. Incident report form
  2. Hazard report form
  3. Regular workplace inspections - both internal and external
  4. Venue inspections
  5. Host employer workplace inspections
  6. Home inspections
  7. Group Home inspection checklist
  8. Host employer assessment checklist

Note that significant incidents must be notified to WorkCover as well.  See guidelines and report form.

An important risk management activity is an accident investigation.  Investigations should be undertaken whenever an accident results in physical harm or property damage though the extent of the investigation may vary depending on your organisation and known hazards within your service.  Details on the acccident investigation process are attached.

Some basic management systems can also reduce the risk of workplace injury e.g. emergency procedures and first aid.  Where workers are working outdoors either on community participation or grounds maintenance crews a sun protection policy is required.

For children's services the same risk management principles apply with some specific hazards related to working with children.  Known hazards include lifting and moving children and equipment, storing equipment, materials and toys, bending, kneeling and squatting, working in the kitchen, fire emergencies, intruders, excursions, chemicals, infectious diseases, working in the kitchen and bullying, harassment and stress.  The attached poster and toolbox talk discuss some solutions to some of these hazards.  Organisations need to review their service to identify other hazards and/or possible solutions.  You should also review the WorkSafe Victoria document "Children's services - occupational health and safety compliance kit: How to control the risks from the most common hazardous tasks in the children's services sector".

Macarthur Disability Services have provided copies of their risk management policy and procedure as well as a venue assessment checklist.

 

Resources:

Macarthur Disability Services Hazard Report Form