Guidance on occuPaTionaL HeaLTH and SaFeTY in GoVeRnMenT

APPENDIX 2
OHS risk management
An OHS risk assessment that the agency undertakes during the planning stage of the procurement
process will help identify OHS risks early and select the best option for managing those risks. Each
procurement will require its own risk assessment that is within its own context.
Hazard identification (What can go wrong?)
The essence of identifying hazards is to find potential problems. Hazards can be identified in a number of
ways, including:
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Consultation – engage with workers, users or others who will be affected or have been affected in the
past. Ask them what goes wrong and what problems occur.
Hazard checklists/brainstorming – list the workplace hazards.
Records – what injuries, diseases or incidents have previously been connected to this kind of
procurement?
Risk assessment (How likely is it that something will go wrong?)
Having identified the risks involved, the next step is to assess the risks these hazards pose. An important
part of risk assessment is to learn about the hazards, their effects and who is affected by the hazards.
Risk can be thought of in relation to an entire project or a particular hazard. Risk is sometimes seen as
comprising both the likelihood and consequences of an event. Some ways of assessing risk are through:
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Consultation – what do workers/users think are the most serious problems?
Measurement and comparison to a guideline – risks can sometimes be measured against a known
standard. For instance manual handling risk factors, noise, vibration, atmospheric contaminants
and many other hazards can be compared to widely known guidelines, prescribed limits or exposure
standards.
Records – what has been the history of injury and disease associated with similar procurement or with
similar activities conducted by others?
Categorising and ranking – sometimes risks can be categorised and ranked. This is sometimes done
by estimating the likelihood and harmful consequence of a possible event.
Risk control (How can the risk of something going wrong be minimised or eliminated?)
Risk control should be achieved using the most effective practicable solution. Sources of practicable
solutions can be:
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Consultation – what do workers/users think about solutions for the problem. What solutions do they
know have been used before?
Good practice – good practices normally put in place with a procurement of this type/or within the
applicable or comparable industry should be observed as a minimum. These might be outlined in
guidelines, codes of practices, or industry standards (such as Australian Standards). Alternatively the
good practices might not be documented but may be known and used. Broadly this means applying
the ‘state of knowledge’ about solutions for this kind of risk.
22 <strong>Guidance</strong> on OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY IN GOVERNMENT PROCUREMENT