Procedure: Work health and safety responsibilities

Purpose

This procedure describes how the Australian National University (ANU) manages Work Health and Safety (WHS), rehabilitation and claims management systems responsibilities. It ensures the legal and other obligations in the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (Cth), the Work Health and Safety Regulations 2011 (Cth) and the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1988 (Cth) are defined for managing the health and safety of all workers. The procedure is based on the requirements in Australian Standard /New Zealand Standard (AS/NZS) 4801:2001. This document is linked to the University’s Work Health and Safety Policy and is one of the WHS Management System procedures.

Definitions

Consultation is a two-way process between an organisation and its stakeholders on an issue prior to making a decision or determining a direction on that issue, as defined in the ISO Guide 73:2009.

Delegations of Authority Policy establishes the framework for delegating authority within the University.

Health and Safety Representative (HSR) is the nominated/elected member of the workgroup or local area with voting rights and other obligations as per the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (Cth) and regulations.

Local area is the College, Research School or Service Division.

National Audit Tool (NAT) is the audit criteria for the national self-insurer Work Health and Safety (WHS) audit tool.

Persons conducting a business or undertaking (PCBU) means the University as the “body corporate (company) unincorporated body, or association” as defined by the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 and regulations.

Strategic Leadership Group (SLG) is the Senior Executive Leadership Team (see University Executive organisation chart).

University WHS Committee is the highest level WHS Committee within the University WHS Governance Structure to which all other WHS committees report and are accountable.

Worker is anyone who carries out work for the University. Workers include staff, volunteers, contractors and students gaining work experience at the University.

Procedure

Scope

The responsibilities defined in this procedure support the WHS management system processes as summarised in the Safety Management System Manual.
The WHS responsibilities procedure aligns with the intent of the Delegations of authority policy.
This procedure describes the following matters as required in the National Audit Tool:

overall WHS responsibilities for the Strategic Leadership Group (SLG);
specific WHS responsibilities;
general WHS responsibilities;
WHS responsibilities for contractors; and
monitoring WHS responsibilities.

Overall WHS responsibilities

The Vice-Chancellor has appointed the Chief Operating Officer (COO) with the overall responsibility for the WHS management system.
The COO is responsible for reporting on the performance of the WHS management system to the Council, the Vice-Chancellor and the SLG.
The COO is the Chair of the University WHS Committee and a member of the SLG. The organisational structure of the SLG and the structure of the University WHS Committee demonstrates this role has the responsibility, authority and accountability for the WHS management systems.
Table 1 describes the overall WHS responsibilities of members of the SLG. Those responsibilities are also recorded in their position descriptions.

Table 1 WHS responsibilities of SMG

Position

Overall WHS responsibility and accountability

Delegation of Authority

Strategic Leadership Group (SLG)

Implementation of legal requirements for due diligence training for all levels of management.

Implementation of safe systems of work that comply with all relevant WHS regulations.

Provision of safe working environment.

Provision of safe plant, structures and substances.

Provision of suitable amenities and facilities.

Provision of WHS hazard management process to eliminate or minimise exposure to risks.

Ensure all WHS notifications and incidents are reported.

Ensure processes for complying with any legal duty or obligation.

Ensure adequate training, information, instruction and supervision.

Monitor health of workers and workplace conditions.

May act on all WHS matters concerning the University to best promote the interests of the University.

Chief Operating Officer (COO)

Design, implement, maintain and continuously improve the WHS management systems at the University.

Provide reporting on the WHS management systems performance to all levels of leadership and to the WHS Committees.

Chairperson for the University WHS Committee.

The authority to make decisions and act on any matter of WHS management.

Specific WHS responsibilities

The Deputy Chief People Officer (DCPO), Safety and Wellbeing (S&W) shall ensure specific WHS responsibilities are defined in relevant position descriptions, the WHS training requirements matrix and in the relevant WHS procedures at the University.

Table 2 WHS responsibilities of specific groups and roles

Group/roles	Specific WHS responsibility and accountability	Delegation of Authority
Safety and Wellbeing	Develop and maintain WHS policies, procedures and improvement programs for the University. Monitor and report on the status of the WHS management system implementation. Provide technical WHS advice where appropriate. Record, analyse and report WHS performance metrics to all WHS Committees. Support and provide incident investigation, notifications, workplace and health monitoring, rehabilitation and claims support.	Raise and provide recommendations on WHS matters.
Campus Environment Division	Develop and implement WHS procedures and manuals for the management of plant, equipment, materials, facilities and amenities. Develop and maintain equipment, plant and other asset registers. Develop maintenance management systems for all assets and monitoring equipment. Conduct calibrations on all monitoring equipment. Record keeping of all maintenance, failures, monitoring, certificates of compliance and inspections.	Raise and provide recommendations on WHS matters.
Finance and Business Services Division	Develop and maintain risk management processes used in purchasing. Ensure provision for WHS consideration in the purchase of goods. Ensure clarity on WHS responsibilities is stated in tendering, selection of preferred suppliers and in final contracts.	Raise and provide recommendations on WHS matters.
Human Resources Division	Develop and maintain organisational structures showing WHS responsibilities, communication and authority. Implement WHS considerations in the selection of new employee processes. Implement WHS responsibilities in position descriptions for all workers and performance development reviews (PDRs).	Raise and provide recommendations on WHS matters.
WHS Committee members	Attend meetings at least quarterly and communicate minutes. Review WHS performance, recommend improvement opportunities and ensure actions are progressed. Participate in the consultation of WHS policies, procedures and programs. All members to participate in at least one workplace inspection per year. Review trending patterns of incidents and injuries in order to initiate proactive safety strategies.	WHS Committee Charter, WHS Act, WHS Regulations.
Elected Health and Safety Representatives (HSRs)	Be available to workers in their workgroup for WHS issues. Communicate issues at relevant WHS Committee meetings. Keep up to date with WHS practices. Address workgroup issues (such as follow up on Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) needs, workplace inspections, incident reports, incident investigations, changes and strategies to reduce hazard exposures). Assist with consultation on WHS policies, procedures and programs. Give direction to cease unsafe work in their Workgroup if trained to do so. Participate in at least one workplace inspection per year.	WHS Act and WHS Regulations.
Fire Wardens / Emergency Control Organisations (ECO) and Emergency Planning Committees (EPC) members	Coordinate emergency preparedness. Create and maintain the local area emergency plan.	Local area emergency preparedness plan.
Nominated First Aid Officers	Ensure first aid qualifications and training are up to date. Ensure injuries and administered first aid treatment is recorded, and kits and equipment restocked after use. Notify Employment Services and S&W of changes in their position or contact details.	WHS Act and WHS Regulations.
Local Area Safety Officers	Develop and maintain local WHS procedures and improvement. Monitor and report on the status of the WHS management system implementation. Provision of technical WHS advice where appropriate. Participate in local WHS Committees providing updates and communications to the Chairperson. Record, analyse and report WHS performance metrics to all WHS Committees. Support and provide incident investigation, notifications, workplace and health monitoring, rehabilitation and claims support. Update and maintain the local area hazard register. Update and maintain the local are WHS Notice Board(s).

General WHS responsibilities

Table 3 lists the general WHS responsibilities by position types at the University. Note: The layout of position types in Table 3 reflects the University’s reporting structure.

Table 3 General WHS responsibilities

Position	WHS responsibility and accountability	Delegated Authority
Deans, General Managers, Service Division Directors, Research School Directors	Ensure compliance with all legal and other requirements, policies and procedures. Ensure monitoring and reporting of WHS performance and KPIs. Ensure implementation and maintenance of WHS consultation arrangements such as WHS Committees, HSR representatives. Allocate resources to fulfil WHS requirements, WHS instructions, information, induction, training and supervision to enable work to be carried out safely. Ensure implementation and maintenance of WHS hazard management. Ensure the plant, equipment, facilities and the working environment are suitable and regularly monitored. Ensure all incidents/events and hazards are reported. Ensure actions are identified, recorded and completed. Ensure participation in audits. Ensure emergency preparedness for their respective area.	The authority to make decisions and act on any WHS matter within their local area and as per Delegations of Authority Policy.
Supervisors / managers	Follow all legal and other requirements, policies and procedures. Provide supervision for all workers to ensure competency. Identify all hazards and ensure controls are sufficient. Report all incidents. Provide WHS instructions, information and training for all workers. Ensure workers comply with all requirements for testing, monitoring, inspections and audits.	The authority to make decisions and act on any matter of WHS management within their work area as per the University’s Delegations of Authority Policy.
Other workers (not described above and including visiting fellows and volunteers)	Follow all legal and other requirements, policies and procedures. Identify all hazards and ensure controls are sufficient. Report all incidents. Attend all relevant WHS training.	The authority to make decisions and act on any matter of WHS management within their role as per the University’s Delegations of Authority Policy.

WHS responsibilities for contractors and temporary workers

The Finance and Business Services Division will ensure that all contracts state the WHS responsibilities, such as the control of the working areas, priority for systems of work, plant and equipment suitability, hazardous materials usage and approval, storage and disposal, inductions, supervision, resolution of WHS issues and provision of first aid and emergency services.
The DCPO, S&W is responsible for developing and implementing a WHS Contractor Management process at the University. The WHS Contractor management procedure states the management of contractor selection, provision of WHS information, induction and monitoring processes at the University.

Monitoring WHS Responsibilities

Monitoring of WHS responsibilities is completed with annual individual performance reviews (PDRs) and via WHS audits.
The WHS audit process includes a question to review the WHS responsibilities during the audit of any WHS procedure at the University. The auditor will report this in the final WHS audit report.
The supervisor/manager is responsible for annually assessing the performance of individual workers against their WHS responsibilities and individual key performance indicators (KPIs) from the WHS planning, objectives, targets and programs process. Any deficiency in a worker’s performance shall be captured on the PDR.
The WHS planning, objectives, targets and programs procedure describes how other WHS indicators are measured at the University.

Training

Members of the SLG shall undertake training in their legal obligations and responsibilities for health and safety at least once every three years or as changes are identified. The DCPO, S&W shall ensure this training is supplied by an approved and accredited provider.
All workers shall be introduced to their WHS responsibilities during the on-boarding process.

Sources

Other requirements

AS/NZ 4801:2001 Occupational health and safety management systems

ISO 19011:2002 Guidelines for auditing management systems

Information	Printable version (PDF)
Title	Work health and safety responsibilities
Document Type	Procedure
Document Number	ANUP_015820
Version
Purpose	This procedure describes how the Australian National University (ANU) manages Work Health and Safety (WHS), rehabilitation and claims management systems responsibilities.
Audience	Staff
Category	Administrative
Topic/ SubTopic	Health, Safety & Environment - Occupational Health & Safety

Effective Date	6 Jan 2025
Next Review Date	6 Jan 2026

Responsible Officer:	Chief People Officer
Approved By:	Chief Operating Officer
Contact Area	Safety and Wellbeing
Authority:	Work Health & Safety Act 2011 Work Health and Safety Regulations 2011 Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1988
Delegations	0
Information generated and received by ANU staff in the course of conducting business on behalf of ANU is a record and should be captured by an authorised recordkeeping system. To learn more about University records and recordkeeping practice at ANU, see ANU recordkeeping and Policy: Records and archives management.