A safe workplace
In Australia and many other countries, no matter the size of your business, as an employer you are obligated to provide a safe workplace and hold the appropriate workers compensation insurance to ensure workplace safety whilst onboarding contractors. This is a requirement by law and is highly regulated to keep you and your employees out of harm’s way.
So how do you know if you have adequate workplace safety? Well, there’s different rules and regulations in each state and across the country. For example, Worksafe Victoria states that each employer must comply with the regulations set out in the Occupational Health and Safety act of 2004. The Act sets out the duties and obligations to provide and maintain a working environment that is safe and free from risks to health.
Now, this may seem to be fairly obvious, however many businesses fail to meet these standards, putting themselves at risk of accidents happening where preventable. The main thing to keep in mind here is that these obligations do not only cover employees, but anyone who is setting foot into the workplace.
Visitors and more importantly contractors who are performing any type of work in your business location becomes a concern, therefore making sure your contractors are compliant and holding the right contractors insurance is going to be required to help you meet your safety obligations.
Keeping track of who and where your contractors are located can be difficult, especially when all you rely on for recording this information is in a physical log book located in your front desk or reception area. Later in the blog we’ll be exploring how you can reduce your reliance on antiquated hand written paper log books by implementing a digital visitor management system (VMS).
A guideline to what’s reasonably practicable
In reality, you won’t be able to cover every single scenario, however to reduce risks the OHS Act and other Acts provide a “what’s reasonably practicable” guideline. Here’s some of the following areas you must consider:
- the likelihood of the hazard or risk occurring
- the harm that would result from the hazard or risk
- what a person knows (or should know) about the hazard or risk, and ways to eliminate or reduce it
- availability and suitability of ways to eliminate or reduce the hazard or risk
- cost of eliminating or reducing the hazard or risk
For more information on what the guidelines contain visit the Worksafe Victoria site here
Are you meeting your safety obligations as an employer?
The challenge in meeting the safety guidelines of any size business both small and large is that they must cater and implement a high level of safety. For smaller businesses this may be easier said than done. There are other employer duties that need to be met which can place strains on efficiently running a business. Let’s explore where your obligations start as set out by Worksafe.
- Monitor your employees’ health – for example, provide hearing tests if they are exposed to high noise levels.
- Monitor conditions at the workplace under your management and control
- Give your employees information about workplace health and safety in appropriate languages.
- Keep information and records relating to health and safety of your employees.
- Employ or engage people suitably qualified in OHS to advise you on employees’ health and safety.
- Consult employees on matters that may directly affect their health, safety and welfare.
- Ensure that the conduct of your business does not endanger other people (including visitors, the public and other workers).
These factors are not only applicable to workplaces that seem to be the obvious ones, such as construction or manufacturing facilities. They apply to all businesses including white collar based offices, and in many cases people who are working from home, such as employees who are hybrid working. Updates to regulations in the Act means that employers who are sanctioning hybrid working practices are obligated to provide adequate occupational health and safety environments across the board.
Let’s explore how you can easily meet your obligations through implementing technology, such as a visitor or contractor management solution.
How can a visitor management solution (VMS) help keep you compliant?
One of the biggest factors that comes into play when reviewing your OHS status is how you’re capturing information of both employees and visitors/contractors. Do you know who’s in your office at any given time? Do you perform the correct identity checks for contractors? How do you notify visitors and contractors in the event of an emergency evacuation?
These are only a few of the critical questions that need to be answered when trying to make your workplace safe. As stated above, the Act requires the employer to keep information and records relating to the health and safety of your employees, therefore by implementing a digital visitor management system (VMS) you’re well on your way to meeting your obligations as an employer and ensuring the safety of everyone involved.
The right type of solution should provide at a minimum an up to date real-time record of all visitors/guests entering and exiting your premises or location, by using either a check in kiosk setup at the front reception area, or a contactless sign-in mobile solution.
Guests would include contractors who are providing a service on site, such as repairs to equipment or contractors who may be performing professional based duties such as legal or accounting services on a contractual basis. As opposed to using a paper based visitor log book, the system should be able to electronically notify guests who are on site of any emergency communications. The VMS should also provide identification badges and visitor passes upon signing in. This helps identify whether they are an employee or a guest incase of an emergency.
Compliance requirements when onboarding contractors
Contractor onboarding is also a factor when implementing a digital based solution. The Act also talks about giving employees and contractors adequate instructions and information if an emergency occurs. Therefore, there’s obvious benefits in meeting workplace compliance by providing the best way to deliver site related instructions through online inductions. Employers should be able to upload either written or video based inductions that are easy to follow. Performing contractor audits is also a must.
The VMS must provide a way to easily accept or reject entry if contractors do not meet compliance requirements or hold the necessary workplace documents such as adequate insurance against workplace accidents. This requirement is a must in some industries and most important when implementing construction site management on building sites, or when hiring contractors when in situations where they are working with children such as schools.
Of course all these features spoken about should be all part of your evaluation of a good VMS solution. After all, it’s helping ensure your business does not endanger other people, visitors, the public and other workers. At Ezy Sign-in we are here to help you navigate your obligations as an employer, and at the same time making it easier, no matter what size business you are.
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