One of the key activities of any Occupational Health & Safety (OHSMS), Environmental (EMS) or Integrated Management System (IMS) is developing a risk profile of the organisation. By doing this, management can focus their attention on strategies to minimise risk to the business and their people. A Risk Register (the typical output of this risk profiling exercise) is also a valuable tool to communicate risk to employees, contractors and visitors through their inductions, Safety Committee Meetings and the development of task specific risk assessments (such as a SWMS or JSA / JSEA).

Previously, OSHEM Solutions was contacted by an industrial cleaning company who were seeking additional State Government work and had received feedback that their Safety & Environmental Management System required upgrading for them to be more successful. One of our environmental and safety consultants was hired to undertake this upgrade, including a review of the organisation’s risk profile and the development of a risk register for the various activities they conduct. The outputs of the project included a complete risk register (all OH&S and environmental risk), a review and alignment of their Job Safety & Environmental Analysis (JSEA) and a Management System which was subsequently accredited by the NSW Department of Commerce.

Another example is a recent risk assessment workshop we facilitated for a manufacturing client. One of our environmental and safety consultants had been providing on-going support to the National Sustainability Manager in developing their Environment, Quality Health and Safety Management System. Part of this support included the development of a standardised risk register to be used throughout the organisation. It was therefore a natural progression to call us in when a specific site required professional facilitation to populate their register. To achieve this we facilitated a workshop consisting of employee, supervisors and management representatives. Our consultant lead the team through a range of risk categories including confined spaces, health hazards, manual handling and emergency scenarios. As planned, the result is a list of specific higher risk tasks / situations which require additional investigation and assessment by in-business resources. They now have the foundations of a site risk register and a way forward.

Safe Work Method Statements are a task-based risk assessment used throughout the construction industry within Australia. They consist of a step-by-step break down of the task and the subsequent hazard identification, risk assessment and documentation of controls. Unlike similar tools such as the Job Safety Analysis (JSA) or Job Safety & Environmental Analysis (JSEA), SWMS also have several additional requirements which are mandated by the relevant jurisdictional regulator. OSHEM Solutions can provide a range of services related to SWMS including the development of SWMS templates, consulting with employees & contractors to develop content and review of SWMS to ensure they meet requirements.

As an example of SWMS review, one of our construction clients engaged us to undertake a review of their SWMS to ensure they contained all of the regulators requirements and provide a written report on their quality; steps clearly defined, relevant hazards identified, risk assessments correct and controls documented and sufficient.

The same client was so impressed with our reviews undertaken by our environmental and safety consultant, they engaged us prior to their next major project to undertake a review of their contractor’s SWMS. OSHEM Solutions undertook this review and provided written feedback to our client to pass on to the contractors, who were then required to make adjustments, retrain their people in the new SWMS etc, before they were able to commence work on the project.

OSHEM Solutions has developed, documented and reviewed SWMS for clients ranging from single independent contractors to large government owned corporation / major infrastructure providers.

Similar to a Safe Work Method Statements a Job Safety Analysis (JSA) is a task-based risk assessment which looks at the steps of each job for hazards, assesses the associated risk and documents the controls necessary for the work to proceed.

The advantage of having consultants who are qualified and experienced in both Safety and Environment means OSHEM Solutions can develop Job Safety & Environmental Analysis (JSEA) for our clients. These risk assessments not only pick up the OH&S hazards but also the environmental aspects and impacts.

One of our clients, a major engineering and construction project management company, engaged OSHEM Solutions to assist them in developing their HSE Integrated Management System. One component of this was a review of the various JSA and JSEA templates used throughout the organisation and, in consultation with their nominated stakeholders, develop a tool which would bring about consistency and enable them to reach best practice.

All jurisdictions within Australia require that owners of plant and equipment undertake a risk assessment and put in place the controls necessary to ensure that people can use it (for its intended purpose) without being harmed. There is also a requirement under environmental legislation to ensure that plant and equipment is fit for use and without risk of causing pollution or other environmental harm.

OSHEM Solutions has undertaken plant and equipment risk assessments in a variety of situations, most often for our heavy manufacturing clients. However, another example is where we undertook plant and equipment risk assessments for an auction company. This organisation realised that the legal obligations to risk assess extended to suppliers. The risk assessments we undertook for this organisation provided it with the necessary information to determine if the equipment was safe for sale and also resulted in a written report which it could provide to the new owners as part of the sale.

These are only a sample of the risk assessments we can conduct. Contact us for more information. For a more comprehensive list of services we provide, click Services.