Defence Occupational Health and Safety Strategy 2007-1 - Comcare

STRATEGIC OBJECTIVE 7:Improve, consolidate and embed the capabilityto identify, eliminate and manage hazards inthe design and planning stagesA general principle of effective OHS managementis the source of risks are proactively identifi edand eliminated. This requires OHS aspects tobe considered early in capability development,acquisition, support and change managementprocesses to allow the elimination of potentialhazards. Consequently, OHS considerationsneed to be fully integrated into the capabilitydevelopment life cycle.The responsibility for identifying and eliminatinghazards extends beyond the design of equipmentand materiel to encompass the design ofwork processes and organisational change.Consequently, it falls on a wide range of partiesincluding policy makers, capability staff, engineers,designers, manufacturers, operators, contractors,suppliers and maintainers.Objective 7 focuses on the continuing requirementto improve safety in design.The Key Strategies for Objective 7 are:>>>Policies and processes will be developed andimplemented to ensure that OHS is adequatelyand consistently addressed in all Defencecapability and infrastructure acquisitions fromconception to disposal.Having identifi ed, assessed and eliminatedor controlled hazards during the design andacquisition phase this information will then beused throughout service life to ensure proactive,effective and informed hazard management.Processes in place to ensure refi ts andmodifi cations include reviews of OHS hazardsto identify and manage hazards, and whererequired action plans are developed.15