Occupational Health and Safety Policy

Purpose. This policy commits the shire to providing a safe workplace for its employees, contractors, volunteers and the public under the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004.

1.Commitment

The Shire of Brightwater will provide and maintain, so far as is reasonably practicable, a working environment that is safe and without risks to health. This commitment covers offices, libraries, depots, the transfer station, vehicles and plant, and every site where shire work is carried out.

2.Principal hazards

The shire's principal hazards are work on and beside roads, mobile plant and vehicles, manual handling, working alone in rural locations, aggressive customers, chainsaw and tree work, confined spaces in drainage, hazardous substances at the transfer station, and psychosocial hazards including workload and exposure to distressing events.

3.Responsibilities

The Chief Executive Officer is accountable for this policy. Managers and supervisors must identify hazards, implement controls and ensure their staff are trained and supervised. Every worker must follow safe work procedures, use the personal protective equipment provided and report hazards, incidents and near misses on the day they occur.

• Complete the daily pre-start before operating plant
• Wear high-visibility clothing on every worksite
• Never enter a confined space without a permit
• Report every incident and near miss in the incident register

4.Consultation

The shire will consult with workers through elected health and safety representatives and the occupational health and safety committee, which must meet at least every two months. Issues raised will be recorded, actioned and reported back to the workforce.

5.Incident management

All incidents, injuries, near misses and hazards must be recorded in the incident and hazard register within 24 hours using the incident and hazard report form. Notifiable incidents must be reported to WorkSafe Victoria immediately by the manager on duty and the scene must be preserved.

6.Review

This policy will be reviewed every two years or after any notifiable incident, change in legislation or significant change in operations.