A common management practice used throughout industry sectors and business units is the “gap analysis”. It’s conducted to ascertain and address the overlooked or mishandled aspects of a job or system in the workplace: from operational (i.e. workflow processes) to strategic business aspects (i.e. ensuring the legal integrity of a business’ Intellectual Property).
With regard to OHS, there a two standard assessment methods utilised by OHS professionals which equates to the standard business “gap analysis”, they include:
- An occupational risk assessment
- An OHS audit
In both cases, these methods are devised to help OHS professionals find risks, hazards, operational difficulties, compliance breaches and legal “gaps” within occupations, facilities/ general workplaces and OHS systems.
With ongoing developments in legislation and occupational restructuring, a “gap analysis” within the OHS field requires specific expertise and training. Therefore, it’s highly recommended that managers and business owners seek expert assistance to ensure their risk assessments and OHS auditing practices are performed correctly and by a qualified professional. OHS is a highly specialised area which requires training to discern what hazards and accidents could possibly occur within a workplace: this important role requires insight and knowledge beyond “common sense”.
In the interim, your workplace can make a preliminary risk assessment by noting:
A) If there’s been an increase in workplace accidents, low performance or absenteeism. If so, a further “culture of risk” assessment would be reasonable to conduct (i.e. to assess the causes, such as drug and alcohol misuse/ abuse)
B) Whether your industry (or occupation within an organisation) is considered ‘high risk’ and requires rigorous OHS systems. For example, your workplace would most likely be recommended to use an onsite drug and alcohol testing program (according to the recent 2009 Caltex ruling by the Australian Industrial Relations Commission).
For more information and advice, call Mediscreen’s professional team today on 1300 79 70 40.
