• Section 1 - Purpose
• Section 2 - Glossary
• Section 3 - Policy
• Section 4 - Procedures
• Section 5 - Guidelines

Section 1 - Purpose

Statutory Requirements

(1) Section 19 (Primary Duty of Care) of the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 requires that:

1. A person conducting a business or undertaking must ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health and safety of:
   1. workers engaged, or caused to be engaged by the person, and
   2. workers whose activities in carrying out work are influenced or directed by the person,
   while the workers are at work in the business or undertaking.
2. A person conducting a business or undertaking must ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that the health and safety of other persons is not put at risk from work carried out as part of the conduct of the business or undertaking.

Section 2 - Glossary

(2) Nil.

Section 3 - Policy

(3) All persons in charge of workplaces are to produce a Work Health and Safety Action Plan (WH&S Action Plan) at the commencement of May each year. This plan will detail all planned WH&S activities for the upcoming financial period. Longer term planning should also be incorporated into Triennial Plans.

(4) The timing of producing these plans allows those items that have significant costs associated with them to be incorporated into budget submissions for the following year, or years.

(5) WH&S Action Plans may include information on the provision of health and safety information, e.g. Material Safety Data Sheets, the need for training courses, e.g. Manual Handling, and the need for specialist or 'On The Job' (OJT) training. Plans may include details on those actions required as a result of Workplace Inspections, or required by job, task or facilities changes. Upgrading of facilities to meet applicable safety standards should be included, as would the need for equipment or furniture to meet ergonomic and/ or safety requirements.

(6) WH&S Action Plans should contain achievable goals for that period, and not just be a wish list, otherwise little will be achieved. It is better to have fewer items that focus attention on what needs to be done, than to have too many items that cannot possibly receive attention, and distract from the essential problems that require rectification. To assist in this regard, it is prudent to list all items, prioritise these items, then cull the less important items from the Plan if necessary.

(7) The WH&S Action Plan should identify target dates and who should carry out the required actions. The Plan should also distinguish those items that have been rolled over from previous plans, from new items.

(8) WH&S Action Plans form an essential part of the Safety System at each workplace and active records of these plans needs to be kept for the current plan, and the previous four plans. Archived records to cover a span not exceeding 5 years, need also to be kept. Copies of WH&S Action Plans do not have to be sent to any other agency, unless specifically requested by the Manager, Work Health and Safety . However, to enable the campus OH&S Committee to develop policies and programs, it is prudent to send a copy of your WH&S Action Plan to them.

Section 4 - Procedures

(9) Nil.

Section 5 - Guidelines

(10) Nil.