OSHEM Solutions | Choosing a Health & Safety Consultant

Choosing a Health & Safety Consultant

Choosing a Health & Safety Consultant

Who and What

As we discussed in a previous article, WorkCover SA, have published How to Select an OHS Consultant: A Guide for Managers to provide guidance to managers on how to select a health & safety (often referred to as OHS or WHS) Consultant.

Additionally, WorkSafe Victoria have published a guideline to assist organisations comply with their legal obligation to “employ or engage persons who are suitably qualified in relation to occupational health and safety to provide advice to the employer concerning the health and safety of employees of the employer”.

Who is the Best OHS Consultancy for my organisation?

The following is sourced from WorkSafe Victoria’s guideline Employing or engaging suitably qualified persons to provide health and safety advice.

Reputation

Requirement: Is the person(s) reputable and able to provide referees who can attest to the quality of their health and safety work?

Response: OSHEM Solutions is proud of our reputation and our clients are happy to provide references. Some of examples can be found on our website, here. Our consultants have personal references on their LinkedIn pages. We are also happy to provide specific references at time of proposal. Contact us for more information.

Professional Association

Requirement: Is the person(s) a member of a professional health & safety association that require the attainment of and continuing development of certain knowledge, skills and experience to gain and maintain membership.

Response: All OSHEM Solutions WHS Consultants are members of the Safety Institute of Australia (SIA). This is the professional body for Health & Safety Professionals. They are also Registered Safety Professionals (Aust) through the SIA. Furthermore, all OSHEM Solutions WHS Consultants are registered as Occupational Health & Safety Auditors through the RABQSA, which is an independent organisation for the certification of auditors.

Professional Activity

Requirement: Is the person actively engaged in the field of OHS? Have the experienced the area for which they are going to provide advice? How long has the person been professionally involved in health & safety?

Response: Our Health & Safety Consultants have many years experience with a broad range of clients. However, we are most proud of their background in Senior Health & Safety Management roles where they have been responsible for teams of professionals and working with senior management, just like yours, to implement OHS solutions.

Who and What

According to WorkSafe Victoria, the following are matters which should be taken into account when assessing whether a person has the skills, knowledge and experience to be ‘suitably qualified’ under the legal obligation. We encourage you to challenge us and any other OHS Consultancies, to demonstrate that the consultant provided will meet these requirements.

Knowledge

Can the person demonstrate they have relevant knowledge in Occupational Health & Safety or a related field through the completion of education? If no formal qualifications, can the person otherwise establish they understand the current state of knowledge on the issue and OHS principles and legislation?

Industry experience

Has the person carried out health & safety work in the industry, or with employers of like size and structure, or dealt with similar plant or equipment, have they addressed OHS issues and developed controls or improvements?

Communication Skills

Is the person able to verbally explain and communicate in writing to clearly state what needs to be done, such as the requirements for managing the hazard or controlling the risk, the information that should be contained in the OHS audit report, etc?

WHS Legislative Understanding

Is the person familiar with the Work Health & Safety legislation?

Next Steps?

Whenever you consider engaging a Health & Safety Consultant, consider the things you expect. As part of scoping the assignment, consider what qualifications, experience, organisational culture and approach you want to partner with.

For an obligation free discussion with one of our Environmental, Health & Safety Consultants, contact us on 1300 657 279 or leave us a message via our email form.

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