Safety Risk Culture

A positive safety culture leads to both improved health, safety and event risk outcomes. Studies have identified nine broad staff behaviours (referred to as culture actions) as vital to the development of a positive safety culture. As a consequence, safety competency is characterised as an ability to undertake the nine identified culture actions as part of the effective completion of relevant safety and risk management tasks.

The culture actions that foster strong safety culture should be demonstrated by senior managers and the Executive. These include:

1. Communicating your organisation’s values
2. Demonstrating leadership
3. Clarifying required and expected behaviours amongst staff as it relates to risk and safety
4. Personalise safety outcomes so that people see the human cost
5. Developing positive safety attitudes so it is seen as adding value rather than as a burden
6. Engaging and owning safety responsibilities and accountabilities and linking to performance management
7. Increasing hazard/risk awareness and preventive behaviours
8. Improving team member’s understanding and effective implementation of safety management systems
9. Monitor, review and reflect on personal effectiveness of senior managers

Without leading by example and walking the talk, safety and risk management will not get embedded into normal business.

For more information on Risk Management Pracitces please click Here

Victorian Bushfires Highlights Emergency Services Duty of Care

As the Victorian Government announces a Royal Commission into the bushfires that have devastated large areas across Victoria, a 2006 NSW Workcover prosecution of that state’s police handling of the Redfern riots, serves as a reminder of the level of care expected under OH&S laws for emergency services in hazardous environments. In that case, of the 217 police that attended the disturbance, 42 police sustained injuries ranging from psychological trauma to various levels of musculoskeletal injury.

The Industrial Court of NSW found that the NSW Police Service had failed in its duty of care to make the workplace that they controlled, safe and without risk. This is undoubtedly a difficult condition to achieve during civil disorder but still a responsibility under OH&S laws. The Court found that the risk of injury (not just resulting from injuries but the risk of injury), was great. It found that the personal protective equipment provided to some police was inadequate and the level of training provided in use of that equipment varied and was in some cases insufficient. The Court did not however find an absence of relevant policies and procedures for dealing with civil disturbances but rather that those policies and procedures were in some cases inadequate. The Service was fined $100,000 for its breach and poor risk assessment.

While the proposed Royal Commission in Victoria will undoubtedly look at all relevant preventative and preparedness measures taken by emergency services relating to the Victorian bushfires, given that this natural disaster is unprecedented in Australia’s history, it has stretched many of the human resources available to emergency services across the state. It will be with interest we watch the response of the Victorian Worksafe Authority in the disaster’s aftermath, given the precedent that was set from the Redfern riots in NSW.

Visit the Reliance Risk website for updates on risk management and assessment in Australia.

Evenst risk management - Reliance Risk

Major events are unlike any other business. They attract considerable media attention; draw sizeable investment from Government and/or the private sector; involve a mass gathering of participants; contain a non-negotiable start date; and are one-off, without the benefit of continuous improvement.

All this means that major events are exposed to a unique set of risks involving safety, security, legal, financial, environmental, project-based and, most importantly, reputational risk.
Preparation is essential

Risk management for major events must start early. This ensures that all essential event risk management criteria are set in place. Considerations include budget allocation, contract details, management systems, governance, risk, compliance and accountability structures.
Reliance Risk provides event specific services to assist major event organisers:

* Event Risk Management Plans - covering event context, risk registers, roles and responsibilities and insurance certificates.
* Event Safety Plans - including risk assessments, contractor safety and emergency management.
* Event Operating Plans - including detailing venue relationships, event team organisational structures, functional area suppliers, and event delivery plans.
* Event Risk Officers - provision of an event safety and risk on-site auditor and post incident loss investigator for events.
* Operational readiness - scenario planning, readiness inspections, desk-top exercises and simulations.
* Verification - audit of event risk management or crowd management plans.
* Crowd capacity estimates - we work with venues to establish appropriate crowd capacity estimates.

Reliance Risk Projects

Reliance Risk has a wealth of experience in major event planning in both risk, safety, security and operations, providing the right skills set to suit each client’s needs.

* Ocean Swims - Event Risk Assessment for the 2008 Cole Classic at Manly.
* Public Arts Exhibitions - Event Risk Management Framework and Operational Readiness Inspections; Sculpture by the Sea Bondi (2007) and Cottesloe (2008).
* Australian Tennis Open (2008) - Verification audits of Event Risk Management Plans.