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OSH Principles

Essential OSH PRINCIPLES

Despite what many believe, Occupational safety and health (OSH) is fundamentally concerned with reducing the occurrence of harm in the workplace. Almost without exception whenever legislation has been implemented in this context the incidences of harm in the workplace have reduced significantly.
 

The HSW Act (2015) has a very similar fundamental objective to that of the Health and Safety in Employment (HSE) Act (1992), namely to stop people being hurt in the workplace. One of the striking differences between the two Acts is the manner in which the HSW Act (2015) contains explicit guidance relating to levels of safety obligations that exist within the higher levels of organisations.

Boards of Trustees and principals, are effectively in a position of being a Person Conducting a Business or Undertaking (PCBU) or an Officer of a PCBU, and as a result are explicitly required to take due diligence to ensure that no one is harmed whilst working for their organisation or on their organisation’s premises.

At SafeSchools we have a clear belief that due diligence is something that every caring board member and principal should aim to achieve, not be fearful of. In the context of safety, due diligence simply means taking all reasonable steps to ensure that harm is avoided.

The Health and Safety at Work Act

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The HSW Act (2015) is not the only legislation that impacts on school safety others include:

It would be hoped that the individual with responsibility for health and safety in schools has a basic knowledge of the relevant sections of these Acts.

Developing a working knowledge is a significant challenge if this role makes up only a portion of the person responsible portfolio.

This is where Safeschools can assist we possess a working knowledge of all the relevant legislation and have studied how best practice in schools and other organisations can be applied successfully in the education sector.


How we can assist?

Audits – We offer a range of audits, that we will tailor to your specific needs.

EOTC – A range of services detailed on the EOTC page.

Mentoring – We offer both formal and informal mentoring programmes for managers, health and safety and EOTC coordinators.
With a focus on developing effective policies, systems and procedures.

Training – we offer training in all aspects of health and safety, risk and hazard management.

Please contact us for further information or enquiries.