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Understanding the work health and safety responsibilities of managers

Written by Nicolina Holmes

 

Introduction

 

Managers are leaders of a business, employed to delegate responsibility and problem solve, to provide support and protect the health and safety of their workers and employees.

 

Managers also play an important role in modelling behaviours and interactions in the workplace; a crucial component for influencing and creating a safe working environment and culture.

 

The role of managers in workplace health and safety protection is the focus of this article. We explore the health and safety responsibilities of managers, how they differ depending on position, authority and jurisdiction, and how they can be achieved.

 

 

 

The legal definitions of managers

 

In work health and safety (WHS) legislation (enforced in all jurisdictions except for Victoria) and Victoria’s occupational health and safety (OHS) legislation there is no specific reference to the term “manager”, rather depending on the role and influence of the manager type, and the jurisdiction they operate, they are defined as “officers”, “workers” or “employees”.

 

Managers represented as officers

In both pieces of legislation, officers are those who decide or are involved in deciding significant decisions on the entire, or a substantial part, of the business or undertaking or who have the capacity to affect the business or undertaking’s financial condition.

In most organisations, officers are the senior managers or executives, for example Chief Executive Officers (CEO), Chief Financial Officers (CFOs) or directors, and in small businesses, they are usually the owners or operators.

 

Managers represented as workers and employees

Managers who don’t have the same level of power and authority, for example middle and lower-level managers such as department managers, team leaders, WHS managers or supervisors, fall under the definition of worker in WHS legislation and employee in OHS legislation.

 

 

 

 

 

The OHS/WHS responsibilities of officers

 

In the model WHS Act, officers have a primary duty to exercise due diligence in ensuring the person conducting a business of undertaking complies with their work health and safety legal obligations.

 

This includes taking reasonable steps to:

  • Maintain current knowledge of work-related health and safety matters
  • Understand all aspects of the business, its operations and associated hazards and risks
  • Provide systems for hazard identification, risk assessment, control and evaluation
  • Provide reporting process for incidents, new hazards and other health and safety concerns.

 

Officers of Victorian businesses have similar expectations for knowledge, awareness and the development of safe systems of work; however, it is not as explicitly specified.

 

How officers can comply with their duty to exercise due diligence

Senior managers and executives are best placed with this duty of due diligence because of their capability and expectations to make strategic business decisions, develop key business plans and policies, allocate resources and influence direction.

 

Here are some ways officers can use their capabilities to exercise due diligence towards workplace health and safety:

  • Staying up to date with relevant legal obligations, industry standards and safety management principles and strategies and processes for effective risk management
  • Establishing channels for continuous information-sharing and communication to stay abreast of the business’ health and safety landscape
  • Ensuring the appropriate personnel are in place to enact and effect safe work practices
  • Consulting with managers, supervisors, workers etc., to understand day-to-day operations and how hazards and risks affect work activities and working environments
  • Implementing appropriate systems of work and operational procedures to effectively identify hazards, assess and control risks, and perform regular monitoring and evaluation
  • Providing resources and equipment to implement effective control measures and safeguards
  • Implementing easy, clear and immediate reporting processes that encourage worker participation and remove blame.

 

 

 

 

 

OHS/WHS responsibilities of managers, middle and lower level

 

For the purposes of WHS and OHS legislation, middle and lower-level management are recognised as workers or employees, and as such have relevant duties they must comply with, which are:

  • Taking reasonable care of their own health and safety in the workplace
  • Taking reasonable care to protect those who may be affected by their work
  • Complying with health and safety policies, processes and procedures.

 

How managers can comply with their worker duties

Workers, employees and middle and lower-level management can have differing positions, authorities and abilities across different businesses and industries, and may require specific actions to comply with their health and safety duties.

 

In general, however, here are some ways to take reasonable care of one’s own health and safety and that of others and comply with health and safety protocols:

  • Keep your work environment hazard-free
  • Wear personal protective equipment (PPE) when required and as instructed
  • Cease tasks that you feel unconfident or unsafe carrying out
  • Refrain from interfering with, remove or change safeguards and control measures
  • Report unsafe work behaviours, hazards or incidents to your senior
  • Assist in incident investigations and health and safety consultations.

 

 

 

 

Supporting their team to fulfil their OHS/WHS responsibilities

 

These manager types may not be making big business decisions, but they have been given the responsibility by their senior counterparts to manage and support teams, departments, areas and projects in many aspects including health and safety performance.

 

Through their leadership, commitment and modelling of their own safe work practices and behaviours, these managers can influence their workers to be proactive, accountable and dedicated to creating safe and inclusive working environments.

 

Other ways middle and lower-level management can support their workers to achieve health and safety compliance in the workplace includes, but not limited to:

  • Sharing relevant information on physical and mental health and safety responsibilities, expectations and rights in the workplace
  • Providing adequate safety training and induction programs for workers, particularly those who are new or taking on new hazardous tasks
  • Ensuring safety training and inductions have been completed and workers’ competency is adequate for carrying out tasks
  • Facilitating regular safety briefings and tool box talks and encouraging open discussions on health and safety matters
  • Engaging workers and health and safety representatives or committees on health and safety consultations, work design, process changes, among other things
  • Performing workplace inspections and addressing new hazards, risks or areas of improvement
  • Supporting those who request to stop working due to unsafe conditions and providing suitable alternatives to carry out the task in a safe manner
  • Notifying senior management of incidents and assisting with incident investigations.

 

Empowering your safety representatives and workers with SafetyLaw and Compliance Register

 

Whether you’re an officer, in middle or lower-level management or a worker at the coalface – you can gain accurate awareness of your health and safety legal responsibilities, partake in efficient hazard and risk management and identify areas of improvement with our powerful compliance management solution, SafetyLaw and Compliance Register.

 

Offering unlimited and flexible register templates with current and detailed health and safety legal requirements, this dynamic duo assists with a multitude of health and safety tasks such as:

  • Maintaining management system registers with hazards, risks and legal requirements
  • Documenting worker competency against legal requirement awareness
  • Evaluating compliance or performance against legal responsibilities
  • Linking legal requirements with the operational procedures used to manage them
  • Enacting change management processes with updated legal duties.

 

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