WHS Considerations for 2014 and Beyond

1. WHS Considerations for 2014 and Beyond Christian Frost Head of Workplace Health and Safety John Makris Partner – K&L Gates

2. Agenda The Safety Problem Red pill or blue pill thinking? Legislative Landscape The Changing Safety Paradigm The Red Pill Prescription

3. Transport and manufacturing are two of the top three industries that seriously injure peopleIn fact, driving is the #1 cause of workplace fatalities The Problem 150,000220Incident rates increase with age $60 billionFour weeks absence from work 1,100 Inspectors who issued 45,000 improvement notices and 4,500 prohibition notices320 prosecution cases are finalised each year with about $22 million in fines issued

4. What Do You Answer?

5. The Anatomy of an Incident This isn't the first time this has happened Cost cutting Production Skills shortage Aging workforce Accountability framework doesn’t include WHS Lack of supervision HR systems don’t recognise WHS Procedure not followed Worker was doing overtime Worker was fatigued Operator put hand in machine Purchasing strategy included cost cutting Procurement systems don’t recognise WHS Guard broken and not repaired Guard was removed Lack of governance over maintenance program Maintenance and inspection did not occur as planned

6. Legislative Landscape Who Has Obligations? Primaryduty lies with Persons Conducting A Business or Undertaking (PCBU)to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable: the health and safety of workers engaged by the person, and workers whose activities in carrying out work are influenced or directed by the person “other persons” not be put at risk from the work carried out by the business Your businesses are a PCBU. Your “workers” include employees and contractors. Other persons include visitors, members of the public, contractors, contributors and work experience people.

7. Legislative Landscape What is Reasonably Practicable? That which is or was reasonably able to be done weighing up factors such as:

8. Legislative Landscape Officersof a company must exercise due diligence (at all times) to ensure that the business complies with its WHS responsibilities • Are you an Officer? • The definition of an Officer includes: • a director or secretary of a corporation? or • a person: • who makes, or participates in making decisions that affect a substantial part of the organisation? • who has the capacity to affect significantly the corporation’s financial standing?

9. Legislative Landscape • Due diligence includes: • To acquire and keep up-to-date knowledge of WHS • To gain an understanding of the nature of the operations and associated risks • Provide resources and processes to eliminate or minimise risks • To ensure processes are in place for complying with any duty or obligation • To ensure appropriate processes are established for receiving and considering information regarding incidents, hazards and risks and responding to this information in a timely manner • Verify the resources and processes referred to above are in place and working

10. Penalties

11. The Changing Safety Paradigm

12. The Exciting Role of the HR Professional Your Prescription for the Red Pill

13. Thank you