Managers at all levels play a key role in workplace health and safety (WHS) by creating an organizational culture where WHS is a priority. Effective strategic planning for WHS should deliver a safe physical environment, suitable equipment, work procedures, and trained workers. The senior managers' approach to strategic planning, goals, measurements, and evaluations impacts the culture and WHS effectiveness. A learning culture is also important, where the organization is willing to identify and address WHS issues. WHS risks are part of all business activities and should be integrated into strategic planning. Research shows that companies with good WHS performance tend to outperform others in share price growth over the long term.

1. THE ROLE OF
MANAGERS IN WHS
Occupational Health and Safety Training

2. The first criteria that you need to satisfy in
order for you to complete the first element of
the competency unit and to get your
Certificate IV in Occupational Health and
Safety is to take steps to ensure that
managers at all levels are aware of their WHS
responsibilities and the role of WHS in the
overall management approach.

3. The Introduction to this learning guide stated that a
systematic and systemic approach to managing WHS should
deliver:
 an appropriate organisational and management
environment;
 a well-designed physical environment;
 equipment that is sufficient and fit for purpose;
 suitable rules and procedures; and
 competent and knowledgeable workers. (Borys, 2001)

4. Therefore strategic planning for the
organisation, and for WHS, should ensure that
these objectives are kept in mind. The
Introduction also discussed what an appropriate
organisational and management environment
might look like.

5. The organisational culture [what is important, how things
work, and the way we do things around here
(Reason, 1997)] is important in making the systematic
approach to managing WHS work. Managers create
culture by what they systematically pay attention to and
what they measure, control, reward and in other ways
deal with (Schein in Hopkins, 2004).
Thus the way the senior managers conduct the strategic
planning process, the goals and objectives, the
measurement and the evaluation process will impact on
the organisational culture and so the effectiveness of the
management of WHS.

6. The concept of a learning culture, as discussed in the
Introduction, is also important in how managers approach
strategic planning. When an organisation has, or aims for a
learning culture, they will be willing and have the
competence to draw the right conclusions from its WHS
information system, and the will to implement major reforms
when the need is indicated.
Thus the existence of a learning culture will impact on the
approach to strategic planning and so the management of
WHS.

7. The Role of WHS in the Overall Management Process
The WHS practitioner wanting to discuss with managers the
role of WHS in the overall management processes can find
useful reference in the work of Andrew Hopkins, particularly
Lessons from Longford (2000), Safety, Culture and Risk
(2004) and Failure to Learn (2008). Not only do these case
studies show the business interruption and financial impact
of disasters but they highlight how approaches to overall
management contributed to the disaster.

8. The following examples are extracted from the Hopkins
references:
Longford gas plant explosion: (Hopkins, 2000)
 Control failure by parent company;
 Cost cutting;
 Resourcing decisions;
 Management and prioritisation of maintenance;
 Management of and response to auditing;
 Selection of performance measures; and
 Location of expertise.

9. Glenbrook rail disaster: (Hopkins, 2004)
 Culture of on-time running;
 Rule-focused culture;
 Culture of silos; and
 Risk blind culture;
 Texas City oil refinery explosion (Hopkins, 2008)
 Cost cutting;
 Reward structure;
 Decentralisation;
 Leadership; and
 Risk management approach.

10. There does not have to be a disaster for the link between
WHS and management to be made clear.
It should be remembered that WHS risks are a part of
everything a business does, and WHS does not stand
outside of the normal business activities. Thus WHS should
be included as an integral part of an organisation’s strategic
planning.

11. While it has been said around the world for many years that
good safety makes for good business, research conducted in
Australia in the early 2000s (Mather & Finkel, 2003) provided
evidence by exploring the relationship between the WHS
performance and share price performance of large
companies.
Westpac surveyed the companies on the Australian stock
market to try to find companies in each industrial sector that
had good arrangements for WHS (good policies and
procedures for managing their safety, purchasing new
equipment and for selecting sub-contractors for example).
They then set up a portfolio of these companies and
compared the performance of the ‘good WHS performers’
with the rest of the Australian stock exchange (ASX) over the
previous ten years.

12. The ‘good WHS performers’ appear to have outperformed
the share price growth of the ASX over the ten years.
Westpac also compared the performance with a subset of
companies on the ASX to make an even more cautious
comparison (the ‘surveyed universe’ in Figure 3) but still the
good WHS performers appeared to be growing their share
price faster than the poorer WHS performers.

13. Line Management Institute of
Training delivers the Occupational and
Healthy Safety Training via our online
learning portal. Get your Diploma in
OHS today!