2. Each organisation will have its own
procedures, processes and systems in
place to ensure they are consulting with
staff members on issues that relate
directly to their safety and well being, and
to ensure they are meeting the required
legislative expectations to do so. With this
being said, Intellitrain understands how
important it is to discuss such OHS
issues. This is the one of their many
lectures being offered in Certificate IV
3. Management need to make sure they
collaborate with team members to
resolve any grievances or issues that
staff members are unhappy with in
the workplace that relate to OHS and
safety.
4. If a change is made to any of the
processes or procedures, these
changes need to be
communicated accordingly so
team members can understand
and be aware of these changes.
5. Health and safety risks are not just
those obvious risks that can create
physical harm. There are a number
of additional risks that can also be
considered health risks such as
bullying in the workplace, working
shifts and long
hours, harassment, discrimination
and other forms of emotional risks.
6. Management can be held liable for
any of the above issues taking place
if they do not take reasonable steps
to prevent the above from happening.
There have been a number of cases
over the years where employers have
been held liable to negligence.
7. They have known of bullying or
harassment taking place in a
working environment but have not
intervened and done something
to stop the situation from
repeating or reoccurring.
8. The processes to assist in the
resolution of these matters should
be clearly identified, well
documented, constantly improved
and communicated to all relevant
staff members appropriately.
9. Therefore, accurate and succinct
OHS Plans and OHS Programs
will have very clear guidelines
and procedures that relate to how
they are going to be
implemented, what grievance
procedures there are in place and
how they are going to be followed
through.
10. It is important to monitor how
OHS issues are being tracked
and evaluated. This can be done
in a number of ways to keep
everyone informed.
11. Some ways in which to do this
include;
Regular face to face meetings
Telephone meetings
Emails and other written communication
Newsletters
Internal company memos
Posters in kitchen areas, common rooms
etc
12. One of the most popular ways of
doing this is to hold regular meetings
with relevant staff and between OHS
Committee members to facilitate the
implementation of new processes
and procedures.
Meetings can be formal or
informal, structured or unstructured.
13. Formal Meetings
Formal meetings can be highly structured
and will usually have legal or regulatory
issues that need to be addressed. They
are usually held on pre-determined dates
and will have a few representatives in
attendance. They often require formal
documentation to be accompanied with
the meeting, someone may need to take
notes and there is usually a purpose to the
meeting.
14. Informal Meetings
Informal meetings are less structured
and can be ad hoc, last minute or just
a casual talk between OHS
Committee members and team
members. They are usually held to
come up with
ideas, brainstorm, catch-up, promote
discussion or share information.
15. Regardless of the type of meeting
that is held, there will often be a
legal requirement for notes to be
kept on the discussions held at
the meeting, in terms of what was
discussed and what was resolved
as a result of the meeting for
legislative reasons.
16. The arrangements that need to
be made to hold a meeting are
relatively simple.
17. Coordinating the arrangements
involves;
Planning the meeting – determine
what needs to happen. Why is the
meeting being held? What are the
objectives of the meeting?
Determine the tasks involved –
who will be responsible for the tasks
that need to be undertaken for the
meeting to take place?
18. Organise to inform the attendees
of the meeting - Advise them of the
schedule and determine the
resources needed for the meeting.
Monitor the meeting and the
learning arrangements that need to
take place.
19. Effective and efficient meetings
are usually meetings that;
Have a clear and accurate agenda
Have been planned in advance
Allow everyone to get involved and participate
Provide clear responsibility for follow up
actions
Stay on track
Have clear objectives
20. An agenda forms the basis or
blueprint for the meeting and is
effectively the plan for the
meeting. A team member should
be responsible for sending out an
agenda to all required attendees.
21. During the meeting, someone should take
notes and ensure the meeting stays on
track (this is usually the Chairperson).
The responsibility to distribute all notes
taken after the meeting to all attendees
and to those that could not attend should
also be allocated during the meeting.
These are known as ‘minutes’.
22. Minutes should be taken
accurately and recorded
according to organisational
procedures. They should be filed
in a safe place with access
available to staff that are allowed
access.
23. They should be distributed as soon
as possible after the meeting so that
attendees can check and agree that
the minutes are a true and accurate
reflection of the meeting.
A sample meeting agenda template
can be found on the next page.
