Achieving the vision for health, safety and injury management in public sector workplaces

The Australian Work Health and Safety Strategy 2012-2022 sets three national targets to be achieved by 2022:

• A reduction in the number of worker fatalities due to injury of at least 20%.
• A reduction in the incidence rate of claims resulting in one or more weeks off work of at least 30%.
• A reduction in the incidence rate of claims for musculoskeletal disorders resulting in one or more weeks off work of at least 30%.

Public sector agencies that improve their workplace health, safety and injury management performance benefit from:

• higher employee retention rates
• enhanced organisational profile
• increased employee morale
• improved health and wellness
• decreased absenteeism
• reduced expenditure on and prevention of the further escalation of workers' compensation costs.

The Advisory Committee includes representation from the key public sector agencies and UnionsWA, and is chaired by the Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety.

Membership

As at July 2022, the Advisory Committee comprises the leaders of the key agencies involved in workplace health, safety and injury management, and three UnionsWA representatives:

• Richard Sellers – Director General, Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety (Chair)
• Sue Martins – Public Sector Commission
• Chris White – WorkCover WA
• Janice Gardner – Insurance Commission of WA
• Andrea Manly – Mental Health Commission
• Antony Pearson – State School Teachers Union of WA
• Debbie Larson – Community and Public Sector Union, Civil Service Association
• Adrian Barratt – Health Services Union

Focus of activities

The Advisory Committee identified the following key areas for attention in the WA public sector:

• provide support to agencies to achieve compliance with new legislation
• provide direction to agencies to finalise and publish their workplace health and safety commitment statements
• consider the future of the existing code of practice for occupational safety and health in the Western Australian public sector
• preventative measures to reduce psychological injuries; strategies to reduce lost time off work; and mechanisms to prevent musculoskeletal injuries in the workplace
• measures to identify, record and reduce prevalence of workplace assault and violence
• approaches to capture relevant and richer data by improving sector-wide procedures for reporting hazards and incidents/accidents, including ways to bring uniformity in the nature of data capture 

Agencies must comply with the Work Health and Safety Act 2020 and Workers’ Compensation and Injury Management Act 1981, and other related legislation.

A committed leadership is key to promoting workplace health and safety matters, and achieving improvements in performance and injury management.

Leaders play a critical role in positively influencing workplace culture, management practices, and the experiences of their workforce. They should encourage and support effective consultation to improve health and safety outcomes in their workplaces. Visible involvement by the leadership signals the importance of being safe and healthy at work, and encourages workers to engage in positive practices.

All public sector leaders are expected to make a public commitment by outlining the actions their agency is taking to promote and support workplace health and safety.

Key dates such as World Day for Health and Safety at Work and Workers’ Memorial Day in April, and National Safe Work Month in October, can be used to reiterate the agency’s commitment and promote workplace health and safety activities.

A sample statement of commitment is available to assist agencies creating or reviewing their commitment statements.

Listed below are some useful resources on the importance of leadership to an agency's workplace culture:

• Leadership and Culture - Safe Work Australia
• Safety Leadership at Work - WorkCover Queensland
• CEO/Agency Head - Leadership, health and safety culture – Comcare
• Government leaders, safety leaders - Safe Work Australia and Comcare
• Leading the way- Improving health, safety and return to work in government workplaces - WorkSafe, Victoria
• Leading Health and Safety at Work - Health and Safety Executive, United Kingdom

Agencies are encouraged to share their commitment statement with the sector by emailing it to publicsectorWHS@lgirs.wa.gov.au.

ChemCentre

Commissioner for Children and Young People (CCYP) Western Australia - Statement of commitment

Corruption and Crime Commission - Chief Executive (CE) Commitment to a Safe and Healthy Workplace

Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions

Department of Communities 

Department of Education 

Department of Finance 

Department of Fire and Emergency Services 

Department of Health 

Department of Health Support Services - WHS and wellbeing commitment statement 2023

Department of Justice - Statement of commitment

Department of Local Government, Industry Regulation and Safety

Department of Planning, Lands and Heritage - Statement of commitment

Department of the Premier and Cabinet 

Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development 

Department of Training and Workforce Development - Statement of commitment

Department of Treasury 

Department of Water and Environmental Regulation

Economic Regulation Authority 

Forest Products Commission 

Goldfields-Esperance Development Commission 

Insurance Commission of Western Australia

Lotterywest 

Mental Health Commission - Statement of commitment

MyLeave 

North Metropolitan TAFE 

Office of the Inspector of Custodial services 

South Metropolitan TAFE 

State Library of Western Australia 

Transport Portfolio (Department of Transport, Main Roads, Public Transport Authority) 

VenuesWest - VenuesWest commitment statement

WA Public Sector Commission 

Western Australia Police Force 

Western Australian Meat Industry Authority 

WorkCover WA