Safety Ideas That Work I originally started this blog to share some of the good stuff I had put together, collected or stolen over the years, with the good people out there on the ground, who work for a living, and are charged with actually making safety work! For whatever reason, the direction has changed a little but I would like to return to grass roots. At the suggestion of a reader, I’ve set up this “SAFETY IDEAS THAT WORK PAGE” and hope that all of you readers can prove that you really are as clever as you say you are and contribute to the cause. You can post them in the comments at the bottom or email them to me: admin@safetyrisk.com.au SUBMISSIONS: OHS Change Project – by George Robotham from www.ohschange.com.au The ABC project was a major, multi-million dollar organisational change project designed to revolutionise management of OHS in XYZ. I was one of 12 OHS Managers appointed to run specific elements of the project, I had only little contact with the other OHS Project Managers and have no recollection of what they were working on. I think I was with XYZ for about 5 months. My main task was to lead a team of electrical workers and OHS Professionals developing what were referred to as “Control plans” for 21 identified high risk activities. XYZ were pretty good with their electrical safety but not managing their non-core risks as well. The identified high risks I can remember were-Electrical work, fatigue, driving, noise, access to premises, use of personal protective equipment, manual handling, office based ergonomics, animal control, power poles, traffic control, access to safety information, use of compressed gas equipment and so on. Tasks were divided between myself and the team according to expertise with the aim of providing written information on how to manage particular risks. The electrical workers required some assistance from me in their tasks as it was different from their normal occupation. Some of the things my team did were- Look at what documentation already existed. In the electrical area a wealth of good information that had been developed was discovered that had been buried in the system and not routinely used. Examine how the risks were currently managed Liaise with Quality staff in incorporating our work into the Quality system Research reliable sources of information such as standards, legislation, published guidelines Tap into research by universities and other bodies Speak to similar organisations about how they managed all their risks Speak to non-electrical multi nationals about how they managed their non-electrical risks Networking with personal contacts Circulated initial drafts widely for comment and input When finalised the control plans were incorporated in the company strategic and operational OHS plans XYZ management were very pleased with the work of the team and hosted a celebration for us. When the team phase was over I worked with commercial trainers developing training programs to implement the control plans. I had to report on project progress …
