Operational safety and wellbeing plans
Each faculty and unit is required to develop, implement and monitor their own operational Health and Safety Plan. Each plan is basically a list of practical procedures, as determined by the faculty or unit, to meet legal and policy-driven outcomes at UTS. UTS staff can view their faculty/unit plans via the online management system.
For the duration of the plan, the plans specify the health and safety responsibilities attributed to both:
- groups of staff, and
- individual roles.
The development of this plan is a key health and safety responsibility of Deans and Directors.
Health and Safety Plans are structured around a list of compliance requirements, which are themselves driven by legislative obligations and UTS policy. A number of options are provided as a means of complying with each of the compliance requirements.
Each faculty and unit may choose different options, depending on their size, structure, level of risk or need. The plan provides for agreement to be made on what programs, procedures and processes will be in place to manage specific and high risk hazards, and identifies a position (job role) responsible for each program, procedure or process.
It also provides information on the types of records and documentation that need to be completed and kept to prove compliance, as well as reminding the different staff groups of their responsibilities within the health and safety management system.
Each plan includes a requirement for staff to be consulted on health and safety issues.
Planning workshops
To draft the Health and Safety Plans, the Safety & Wellbeing branch facilitates a planning workshop for faculty or unit staff representatives, including Deans and Directors.
During the planning workshop, the representatives:
- firstly determines those activities and hazards that concern the faculty or unit and the state of health and safety compliance in relation to them, and
- secondly decides the procedures required to maintain or improve compliance.
Current health and safety compliance is assessed against each compliance requirement, based on the same rating scale used by Deans and Directors to perform their mid-cycle compliance assessment.
They then pick from a number of practical procedures.
Each faculty and unit may choose different options, depending on their size, structure, level of risk or need, and in this consultative manner determine which procedures will work best towards the faculty or unit plan.
Service agreement
The Safety & Wellbeing Branch provides faculties and units with support for the implementation of their health and safety plan.
A service agreement is negotiated with each faculty or unit during the planning workshop, so that the Safety & Wellbeing branch can provide specific resources and the support required to maintain or improve compliance.
Service agreement duties can include conducting specialised risk assessments, providing health and safety information publications and performing audits of high-risk facilities at the faculty or units request.
Safety & Wellbeing contacts
A Safety & Wellbeing branch contact is assigned to each faculty and unit within the UTS to ensure that the service agreement tasks that aid compliance are carried out, refer to the listing of Safety & Wellbeing branch liaison for all UTS faculties or units.
