Safety professionals will soon have new opportunities for partnerships with regulators and agencies to tackle major emerging and existing WHS issues, according to Safe Work Australia's CEO.
Marie Boland told the Australian Institute of Health and Safety's 2024 National Health and Safety Conference in Melbourne yesterday that SWA's members have a"strong desire to work more closely with what they refer to as the work health and safety ecosystem", of which safety professionals "are a key part".
"[This] could include providing you with support to undertake your own research, consulting more closely with you, and/or developing partnerships around key work health and safety issues," she told delegates.
"Within this context, Safe Work Australia members will be considering a new decision-making process, which will allow for broader working groups and technical groups to collaborate and work together to explore policy solutions for emerging and existing work health and safety challenges."
Boland, who conducted the 2018-19 independent review of the national model WHS laws (see related article), was appointed SWA CEO in October last year (see related article) and commenced in the role in November, replacing Michelle Baxter.
Boland told the conference that another focal area emerging from recent consultation with members, agency staff and external stakeholders was for SWA to "reactivate" its role in supporting research and the evaluation of safety laws.
"It's part of our legislative functions that we are responsible for research and data, so we'll be reenergising in the research space," she said.
"It was emphasised [during consultation] that partnering with and supporting research is a key avenue for realising a better future together.
"We will be re-establishing a research team and that team will look at options for how we support research and evaluation into the future."
Another area SWA will focus on is evaluating how new psychosocial regulations are being embedded into safety systems.
A key question here will be how HR and IR professionals are working together with WHS practitioners to bring a holistic approach to workplace relations, Boland said.
Her agency will also look at whether: Australia has successfully applied the WHS framework to modern working arrangements; enough is being done to prevent occupational diseases; and the International Labour Organisation's declaration that WHS is a fundamental workplace right (see related article) can be harnessed to drive improvement.
Is WHS progress in Australia plateauing?
Boland said that while data suggest WHS in Australia has improved significantly over the years, she feared that progress "may be plateauing, and particularly in the context of workplace deaths".
"Findings from our research show that in the absence of work-related injuries and illnesses, on average each year, Australia's economy will be $28.6 billion larger," she said.
In this context, a key challenge will be revisiting current approaches to WHS and considering if it is time to "try new things".
Boland noted the bold targets in the current 10-year Australian Work Health and Safety Strategy to reduce worker fatalities caused by traumatic injuries by 30 per cent and the serious injury claims rate by 20 per cent (see related article).
Key strategies in this area will revolve around: making "often complex legislative language accessible to those who must apply the laws practically in their workplaces"; focusing on vulnerable workers at an increased risk of injury or illness; and ensuring safety messaging does not take a "one-size-fits-all" approach, she said.
