Australian Work Health and Safety Strategy 20122022:

Healthy, Safe and Productive Working Lives

Statement of Endorsement
[Suggested text around endorsement and support is to be inserted here]
















Overview of the
Australian Work Health and Safety Strategy 20122022


Above is an overview of the Vision, 2022 Outcomes and seven action areas of the Strategy.
On the following page is a table which lists the strategic outcomes under each action area. These
collective outcomes are expected to help improve Australian work health and safety over the next
decade.



Action Area Strategic Outcomes
Healthy and Safe
by Design
Hazards are eliminated or
minimised by design
1. Structures, plant, equipment and substances are designed to eliminate or minimise hazards or risks before
they are introduced into the workplace.
2. Work and work processes and systems of work are designed and managed to eliminate or minimise hazards
or risks.
Supply Chains
and Networks
Improved work health and
safety through supply chains
and networks
1. All links along a supply chain understand their cumulative impact and actively improve the health and safety of
the supply chain.
2. Commercial relationships within supply chains and networks are used to improve work health and safety.
3. Industry leaders champion health and safety in supply chains and networks.
Work Health and
Safety
Capabilities
Improved work health and
safety capabilities
1. Everyone in a workplace has the work health and safety capabilities ie knowledge and skills they require.
2. Those providing work health and safety education, training and advice have the appropriate capabilities, i.e.
knowledge, experience and skills.
3. Inspectors and other staff of work health and safety regulators have work health and safety capabilities, i.e.
knowledge, experiences, skills and resources to effectively perform their role.
4. Work health and safety skills development is appropriately integrated effectively into relevant education and
training programs.
Culture and
Leadership
Community and organisational
culture and leadership leading
to improved work health and
safety
1. Proactive communities and their leaders drive improved work health and safety.
2. Organisational leaders foster a culture of consultation and collaboration which actively improves work health
and safety.
3. Health and safety is given priority in all work processes and decisions.
Research and
Evaluation
Evidenceinformed policy,
programs and practice
1. Research and evaluation are targeted to provide the evidence to prioritise and progress areas of national
interest.
2. Australia has an effective research infrastructure and capacity.
3. Translating evidence to assist practical application.
4. The results of research are disseminated and implemented.
Government
Governments improve work
health and safety
1. Work health and safety is actively considered in the development, implementation and evaluation of
government policy.
2. Governments use their investment and purchasing power to improve work health and safety.
3. Governments exemplify good work health and safety.
Responsive
Regulatory
Framework
The regulatory framework
responds and adapts to
changing circumstances to
maintain effectiveness
1. Legislation, policies and regulatory practice are reviewed and monitored to ensure they are responsive and
effective.
2. Relationships between regulators and all who have a stake in work health and safety are effective,
constructive, transparent and accountable.


Introduction
In 2002 the Workplace Relations Ministers Council, the Australian Council of Trade Unions and
the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry endorsed the National Occupational Health
and Safety Strategy 20022012. This document provided a framework for a wide range of
national activities which collectively resulted in improved work health and safety for Australian
workers.
The need for a nationally-coordinated approach to work health and safety remains. In 200910,
216 Australians died from an injury sustained at work and 640 000 Australians reported
experiencing a work-related illness or injury. In the same year 303 000 Australian workers were
compensated for a work-related injury or illness. It is estimated that over 2000 Australians die
from a work-related illness each year.
In 2012 Safe Work Australia estimated that the total cost of workplace injury and illness to the
Australian economy for the 20089 financial year was $60.6 billion. This represented 4.8 per
cent of the Australian Gross Domestic Product.
Over the next decade, the nature of Australian businesses, and how, where and by whom work
is undertaken will continue to change in response to economic pressures, technological
changes and demographic shifts. These changes will bring both new risks and new
opportunities for improving work health and safety.
While there are costs inherent in providing healthy and safe workplaces, the costs both
financial and human of not doing so are even greater. It has been shown that good work
health and safety actually improves productivity.
Around half of all Australian workers are employed in small businesses. It will be important that
national strategic activities support improvements which are relevant to them. Balanced against
this is the need to reduce unnecessary red tape around work health and safety issues and
compliance costs for all businesses.
The Australian Work Health and Safety Strategy 201222 (the Strategy) builds on the National
OHS Strategy 20022012. It has been designed to respond to these changes and to drive key
national activities that will improve the health and safety of all Australian workers and support
organisations to better prevent and manage workplace risks.
The Commonwealth and all state and territory governments and major peak employer and
worker representative groups develop strategic plans to support the improved work health and
safety of their constituents. It is expected that actions undertaken in these plans will be
consistent with the strategic outcomes of the Strategy.
Compliance with obligations relating to the health and safety of workers is monitored by
regulators including those responsible for work health and safety, mining and minerals, health,
electricity and transport. The Strategy recognises that to achieve the Vision will require these
regulators and related government agencies to work collaboratively.
Professional associations, interest groups and even individual workplaces are encouraged to
undertake supporting strategic activities relevant to them.


Vision and 2022 Outcomes
The Vision for the Strategy is:

Healthy, safe and productive working lives.

The Strategy is underpinned by the principle that all workers, regardless of their occupation or
how they are engaged, have the fundamental right to be free from the risk of work-related
death, injury and illness, and the belief that healthy and safe work will allow Australians to have
more productive working lives.
This is consistent with the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights and is
reflected in duties of care established in all Australian work health and safety legislation.
These duties flow from the philosophy that workers should be given the highest level of
protection against harm to their health, safety and welfare from hazards and risks arising from
work as is reasonably practicable.
The Strategy acknowledges that healthy and safe work is good for business. Good health,
safety and risk management which are integrated into day-to-day organisational operations
contribute to productivity by:
reducing injuries and illnesses and associated costs
improving worker morale
fostering innovation and improving quality and efficiency, and
enhancing corporate reputation and improving staff recruitment and retention.
Improving Australias health and safety performance will contribute to overall national
productivity by reducing the significant economic costs of work-related injuries, illnesses and
deaths currently borne by employers, workers, their families and the broader community.
The Strategy aims to support Australian organisations and workers to improve work health and
safety. This will best be achieved through collaborative partnerships between government,
organisations, workers, industry, business and worker representatives, researchers, educators
and health and safety professionals.
Throughout the life of the Strategy evidence on work health and safety issues will be needed to
inform and evaluate national and organisational policies, programs and practice.



2022 Outcomes for Work Heath and Safety
Four high-level outcomes underpin the Vision to be achieved by 2022:
reduced incidence of work-related death, injury and illness achieved through:
reduced exposure to hazards or risks causing work-related injury and illness
improved quality of workplace controls, and
improved work health and safety infrastructure.
The first outcome will be achieved through the other three. Reducing exposure to hazards, and
improving the quality of workplace controls, will lead to a reduction in the incidence of work-
related death, injury and illness.
An improved work health and safety infrastructure is integral to achieving the Vision and the
other three outcomes. Three action areas within the Strategy will achieve this:
a responsive regulatory framework
improved work health and safety capabilities i.e. skills, experience and knowledge, and
a robust evidence-base.
We can only achieve the Vision and the 2022 Outcomes of the Strategy if improvements
happen at the workplace level. This will need concerted action by duty holders supported by
regulators, policy makers, worker and business groups and work health and safety
professionals.
The Strategy has seven national action areas which will jointly deliver these outcomes:
1. Healthy and safe by design
2. Supply chains and networks
3. Work health and safety capabilities
4. Culture and leadership
5. Research and evaluation
6. Government, and
7. Responsive regulatory framework.
These are based on the following:
Work health and safety improvements are best achieved when health and safety are
embedded into the organisational culture and their procedures and processes.
Prevention activities should be directed to where there is the greatest potential for
reducing harm to workers and the public.
Hazards and risks are most effectively eliminated at the source. If elimination is not
practical, risks must be minimised according to the hierarchy of control to achieve the
highest level of protection that is reasonably practicable.
Where a hazard exists but the level of risk is not certain, the hierarchy of control should be
applied at the highest practicable level until the actual level of risk is known.
Work health and safety policy, programs and practice should be informed by evidence
about the potential level of harm and the likely effectiveness of particular interventions.


Australian and international evidence should be sought on known and emerging hazards,
risks and effective prevention management.
Workers have the right to be genuinely consulted in all matters relating to their work health
and safety. There is clear evidence that effective workplace consultation is essential to
effective hazard identification and risk control.
Continued improvement in work health and safety will require ongoing collaboration and
cooperation between all parties. This can be augmented by evidence provided via
international collaboration, cooperation and information exchange.
Governments have the capacity to strongly influence work health and safety through their
leadership as policy makers and regulators, through their procurement practices and good
management of their workers.
The community and their leaders can influence community attitudes and cultural norms
towards work health and safety.
Organisation leaders are able to exert a similar influence on work health and safety
through their management, education, employment and procurement practices.
Creating healthy and safe work will require that jobs and tasks be designed to
accommodate the abilities, diversity and vulnerabilities of Australian workers, including
those returning to work following illness or injury.
The regulatory system must be flexible, responsive and adaptive to the changing nature of
work and work circumstances.
Work health and safety regulators should form part of a responsive infrastructure with a
consistent regulatory approach that uses an appropriate mixture of information and
education initiatives as well as enforcement and compliance activities.
Relationships between regulators and those with a stake in work health and safety should
be transparent and accountable.
National Targets, Industries and Priority Work-Related Injuries,
Diseases and Disorders
An underpinning principle of the Strategy is that prevention efforts should focus on eliminating
or minimising exposure to injury and disease-causing hazards and progressively improving the
quality of controls which are used.
The Strategy includes national targets and performance indicators which will be used to monitor
the success of national actions to meet the 2022 Outcomes.
Targets will be developed and implemented by 2015.
The targets are:
1. Work-related fatalities targets: a 20 per cent reduction in the number of injury fatalities.
2. Work-related injuries targets: a 30 per cent reduction in incidence rates of all claims
resulting in one or more weeks off work.
3. Body stressing injuries
1
targets: a 30 per cent reduction in the incidence rate
2
of claims
due to body stressing.

1
Body stressing injuries are ones which place stress on muscles, tendons, ligaments and bones which
can lead to musculoskeletal diseases and conditions.
2
The incidence rate is calculated as the number of accepted workers compensation claims resulting in
one or more weeks off work per 1000 employees.



National Industry Priorities
The national industry priorities will focus activities and attention on preventing exposure to
hazards which contribute to the highest burden of death, injury and illness to workers and the
community.
The following industries have been identified as priorities using analysis of injury and fatalities
data and input from the work health and safety authorities.
Broad industry groups identified as priorities for the reduction of the incidence of traumatic
fatalities, injuries and illnesses by 2015 are:
Agriculture
Transport
Manufacturing
Construction, and
Health
In order to focus attention on areas that require the greatest improvement, sub sectors will be
chosen from within these industries for three year periods during the life of the Strategy. This
will be done during the development of the implementation plans.
National Work-Related Disease and Disorder Targets
To focus national prevention efforts, the following work-related disease or disorder categories
are identified as national priorities in the first five years of the Strategy. They have been chosen
based on their severity, the number of workers estimated to be affected, and the existence of
known prevention options.
The priority work related diseases or disorders are:
musculoskeletal disorders
mental disorders
cancers (including skin cancer)
asthma
contact dermatitis, and
noise induced hearing loss.

There is currently limited reliable national data on short latency work-related diseases and
disorders and a lack of reliable national data on work-related long latency diseases and
disorders. Establishing numeric targets on the incidence of these diseases is therefore not
possible in 2012.
In the first five years of the Strategy:
National targets will be established to reduce the incidence of short latency diseases, and
National targets will be established for the prevention of exposure to the hazards which
cause both short and long latency diseases.



National Action Areas
Seven national action areas have been agreed as the most important in helping Australia
achieve the Vision and 2022 Outcomes. Collectively these will contribute to reducing exposure
to hazards and risks, improving the quality of risk controls and building an improved work health
and safety infrastructure and the overarching goal of reduced incidence of work-related death,
injury and illness.
Healthy and Safe by Design
For Australian workers to be healthier and safer at work, hazards need to be eliminated or
minimised at all stages of the structure, plant, product and substance life cycle, from conception
to disposal. Work health and safety laws in Australian place duties on designers,
manufacturers, importers and suppliers to eliminate or minimise risks so far is reasonably
practical for them to do so..
It is more effective if potential hazards and risks are identified and eliminated during the design
of new plant, structures, substances used for work and new jobs, work processes or systems.
Good design will mean that the major biomechanical, psychosocial and physical hazards will be
considered and eliminated or minimised.
Getting back to work after illness or injury is an important part of the recovery process which will
benefit the person and the organisation. Managers have an obligation to make reasonable
adjustments to the design of the work and work processes to accommodate differing individuals
capabilities. Good design can encourage sustainable return to work or remaining at work while
recovering from illness or injury.
Workers general health and wellbeing are separate from but are strongly influenced by their
health and safety at work. Activities under the Strategy will build appropriate linkages with
healthy worker programs to support improved general worker wellbeing as well as health and
safety.
The overarching strategic outcome for this action area is that hazards are eliminated or
minimised by design. National activities in this action area will support the following outcomes:
Structures, plant, equipment and substances are designed to eliminate or minimise
hazards or risks before they are introduced into the workplace.
Work and work processes and systems of work are designed and managed to eliminate or
minimise hazards or risks.
~~~~~


Supply Chains and Networks
The supply chain refers to a networked succession of commercial or business relationships
designed to provide goods or services. These may occur for example through the life cycle
during the provision of agricultural produce to a supermarket chain, the design and construction
of buildings, or through labour hire.
When people within a supply chain act in a coordinated way they can exert greater influence on
health and safety than when acting individually. National activities will aim to encourage people
throughout a supply chain or across a network to understand their cumulative impact and
encourage collaborations to support improvements.
Relationships between parties within a supply chain and a network can exert positive or
negative pressure on work health and safety practices. This is especially the case for micro and
small businesses who may have limited resources or bargaining power. There is potential for
people to use their commercial relationships and networks to support others health and safety.
Industry leaders within supply chains and networks and among their peers need to be
champions of health and safety. Safety practices will often improve when one respected
member of a group adopts new practices, influencing others perceptions and actions.
There is also a role for the community, shareholders and purchasers to influence by expecting
that those within the supply chain will employ practices which support good work health and
safety.
The overarching strategic outcome for this action area is that there will be improved work health
and safety through supply chains and networks.
National activities in this action area will support the following outcomes:
All links along a supply chain and within a network understand their cumulative impact and
actively improve the health and safety of the supply chain.
Commercial relations within the supply chains and networks are used to improve work
health and safety.
Industry leaders champion health and safety in supply chains and networks.
~~~~~


Work Health and Safety Capabilities
An important skill for managers and supervisors is the effective management and
communication of work health and safety issues.
In the workplace, those in control of businesses and undertakings need to be able to identify
hazards and understand how to manage associated work health and safety risks. Managers
need also to be able to judge whether controls are effective and be able to make informed
decisions. Where work is high risk, specialist skills and knowledge will be required. Research
shows that young people have significantly greater risk of work-related death, injury or illness.
Effective work health and safety training should occur at school, during vocational and higher
education, at the time of induction, and in the workplace. This is an important part of providing
young people with the knowledge, experience and skills to help protect themselves and their
workmates.
Many existing workplace hazards will still be present in a decade, but new ones will have
appeared. It will be particularly important that education and training enables those who provide
professional or practical advice to competently deal with old and new hazards. Those who
provide advice need to know when to refer the matter to others with appropriate expertise.
Work health and safety regulators provide support to duty-holders to help them comply with the
legislation. Inspectors and other staff need the skills, knowledge and resources to effectively
perform their roles.
The overarching strategic outcome for this action area is for improved work health and safety
capabilities. National activities in this action area will support the following outcomes:
Everyone in a workplace has the work health and safety capabilities i.e. knowledge and
skills they require.
Those providing work health and safety education, training and advice have the
appropriate capabilities i.e. knowledge, experience and skills.
Inspectors and other staff of work health and safety regulators have the work health and
safety capabilities, i.e. knowledge, experiences, skills and resources to effectively perform
their role.
Work health and safety skills development is appropriately integrated into relevant
education and training programs.
~~~~~


Culture and Leadership
Within organisations positive organisational cultures and leaders promote good work health and
safety through:
role clarity, employee involvement and workgroup cohesion
appropriate training and clear two way communication
compliance with procedures
organisational learning
organisational justice and an environment of dignity and respect
supervisor support, and
leadership and management style.
There is strong evidence that work health and safety performance is improved when it is
considered at the same time as other important business risks.
Organisational cultures can be influenced by broader community values and attitudes.
Community expectations can be powerful drivers of change and collectively influence the
nations health and safety culture.
If the Australian community expected and demanded that work be free from harm, failure to do
so would generate community pressure and initiate actions in response.
It is important to:
lead and influence community debate on work health and safety through media and other
public forums and mechanisms
counteract negative or inaccurate media reporting about work health and safety
create more accurate injury and disease risk perceptions, and
generate community confidence that workplace risks can be managed.
If these messages are delivered by opinion leaders they are more likely to be believed and
acted upon.
The overarching strategic outcome for this action area is that community and organisational
culture and leadership support work health and safety. National activities in this action area will
support the following outcomes:
Proactive communities and their leaders drive improved work health and safety.
Organisational leaders foster a culture of consultation and collaboration which actively
improves health and safety.
Health and safety is given priority in all work processes and decisions.
~~~~~


Research and Evaluation
Effective work health and safety policy, programs and practices need to be informed by robust
evidence. An improved targeted work health and safety research and evaluation program
would use high quality Australian and international evidence. It should have a strong focus on
practical workplace risk control. A key element of any successful research program is that the
results are effectively disseminated and translated into policy and practice.
This evidence will help identify national priorities and monitor our progress towards achieving
the Vision and the 2022 Outcomes.
Australias own research infrastructure and capability must be able to support this. We will need
to continue to improve national data. A significant new focus will be to build an accurate picture
of work health and safety performance in Australia. An important element will be the evaluation
of the effectiveness of work health and safety legislative changes. The research infrastructure
will also collect better information on the effectiveness of current hazard exposure and control,
attitudes towards health and safety, improvements in work health and safety capabilities, and
the effectiveness and cost of compliance.
A nationally-coordinated and cooperative approach is required to promote efficient use of
Australias limited research resources and to ensure that the whole of Australia is able to draw
on available expertise and knowledge. Work health and safety needs to become a priority when
awarding Australian government research grants. The recruitment, training and support of
research professionals will ensure that in 2022 Australias research capacity equals the best
international standards.
The overarching strategic outcome for this action area is for evidence-informed policy, programs
and practice that demonstrably lead to improved work health and safety outcomes.
National activities in this action area will support the following outcomes:
Research and evaluation are targeted to provide the evidence to prioritise and progress
areas of national interest.
Australia has an effective research infrastructure and capacity.
Translating evidence to assist practical application.
The results of research are disseminated and implemented.
~~~~~
Government
Governments have an important role to support improved health and safety whenever
developing or reviewing policies and programs. This national action area will encourage
governments to actively consider work health and safety issues to help identify opportunities for
improvement.
They can also promote and influence work health and safety within Australian organisations and
in the community through their role as policy makers. Governments use a range of tools to
change behaviours including legislation, licensing, and the provision of information and
education, or awareness and compliance campaigns.
Governments are also major purchasers of products and services. By incorporating work health
and safety and safe design requirements into government investment, procurement
arrangements and contracts, they can actively encourage their suppliers to improve their health
and safety practices and performance.


In addition to their role as regulators, governments have obligations as do all other employers to
ensure the highest protection so far as is reasonably practicable of their workers. The
community expects that government agencies should lead by example, ensuring their own
workers high work health and safety.
The overarching strategic outcome for this action area is that governments improve work health
and safety. National activities in this action area will support the following outcomes:
Work health and safety is actively considered in the development, implementation and
evaluation of government policy.
Governments use their investment and purchasing power to improve work health and
safety.
Governments exemplify good work health and safety.
~~~~~
Responsive Regulatory Framework
A responsive regulatory framework aims to be flexible in responding to changes in society and
in the environment in which businesses and undertakings operate. It will ensure that the
improved health and safety is delivered by mechanisms appropriate to circumstances.
To achieve this we need a better understanding of the drivers influencing organisations work
health and safety practice and of regulator behaviour.
Legislation, policies and practice will be reviewed and monitored regularly to ensure they remain
responsive and effective. Their effectiveness will be measured by improvements in work health
and safety performance at the national and individual business and undertaking levels and, in
the case of regulators, by relative performance against relevant international indicators for best
regulatory practice.
While each have their own respective roles and inter-relationships, businesses and
undertakings, unions, the community, and regulators need to build and develop collaborative
partnerships with each other to support improved work health and safety outcomes. At the
highest level, these relationships will involve formal tripartite consultations.
The overarching strategic outcome for this action area is that the regulatory framework
responds and adapts to changing circumstances in order to maintain effectiveness.
National activities in this action area will support the following outcomes:
Legislation, policies and regulatory practice are reviewed and monitored to ensure they
are responsive and effective.
Relationships between regulators and all who have a stake in work health and safety are
effective, constructive, transparent and accountable.
~~~~~


International collaboration
Australia is a signatory to a range of international work health and safety conventions and
agreements. This is one important way Australia can demonstrate our commitment and regional
leadership in work health and safety.
Australia should continue to contribute to building the international evidence base on work
health and safety through appropriate international collaboration, cooperation and exchange of
information particularly in relation to our national priorities. Australia can support the building of
work health and safety capacity in our region.

Implementation Activities
National activities to achieve the Strategys outcomes in each action area will be collaboratively
developed with key stakeholders and included in related Implementation Plans.
The Implementation Plans for each action area will describe the scope and timing of national
activities and who are the lead and contributing parties. Performance indicators will be
collaboratively developed to help monitor progress towards the 2022 and related strategic
outcomes.
These will be published on Safe Work Australias and collaborating partners websites.
Guidance and tools for those interested in undertaking activities to support the Strategy will be
developed and published.

Reporting
An annual report will be prepared on national progress and activities which are undertaken to
support the Vision and 2022 Outcomes.
The Strategy will be reviewed in 2017 to ensure the strategic outcomes and national actions
continue to generate sustained improvements in work health and safety. The results of that
review and any subsequent modifications will be published on the Safe Work Australia website.
The national priorities included in the Implementation Plan will also be reviewed and reported in
2017.
~~~~~