Everyone has a role to play when managing risk in the workplace. Understanding your role will help you to recognise your duty throughout the risk management process.
While organisations are legally required to provide a safe work environment, maintaining that environment depends on the active involvement of all workers. Every person in the workplace has a role to play in identifying hazards, reporting concerns, and following safety procedures.
Staff
Staff should actively participate in risk management by being alert to potential hazards, using controls correctly, and communicating openly about safety issues. Following legal obligations, workplace policy and procedures, and completing any required training will help with staff to be informed and know best practice.
Where staff feel they are lacking information, speaking with their manager or leadership team can help to direct them to the right area or identify missing processes. Effective communication is a key component to risk management and creating a safer workplace, it keeps everyone informed, engaged, and allows for everyone involved to be proactive. Team meetings, emails, posters, incident reports, or safety briefings are all ways to communicate and learn.
Managers
Creating a safe working environment is part of a manager’s duty of care. If a risk is present, management needs to take action to remove or eliminate it for the safety of all staff.
Applying risk management processes in any organisation is an integral part of any manager’s role. Managers need to be able to identify risks, hazards and other situations that can cause harm to people or the business. Managers and supervisors have additional responsibilities, including leading risk assessments, implementing and reviewing control measures, and ensuring staff are trained and informed. They play a key role in promoting a positive safety culture and making sure organisational policies and legislative requirements are followed.
Remember under the WHS Act, employers have a duty to ensure as far as practicable, the health and safety of workers is maintained. This includes workers:
- Currently engaged
- you plan to engage
- completing work influenced or directed by others in your workplace
Occupational Health and Safety
Occupation Health and Safety (OHS) is concerned with the management of safety in the workplace. Managers also have a legal responsibility to make sure risks and hazards are removed, managed, controlled or eliminated.
OHS is concerned with preventing incidents with a focus on:
- Identifying hazards and risks
- eliminating and controlling hazards and risks
- assessing risks.
There are several regulations throughout Australia to protect employees from risks and hazards that can occur within the workplace. These regulations cover:
- control of hazards in a work environment
- control of hazardous substances
- control of activities relating to the use of hazardous substances
- obligations of management and staff to keep a safe workplace
- administration of licensing and permits.
Introduction to risk management
Gain an introductory understanding of risk management including key terms, why it’s important and review an overview of the process.
Documentation and information sources
Gain an introductory understanding of the different types of documentation and key sources that are important in risk management.
Return to overview
Return to the Fundamentals of Risk Management overview page.