Work Health and Safety Policy

1. Overview

This policy explains how we will protect our workers and other people in the workplace and meet our legal duties.

2. Scope

This policy applies to BBM Limited. Our workers and officers must follow this policy.

3. General principles

The health and safety of our workers, officers and other people is our priority.

We will:

  • Protect the health, safety and welfare of people in the workplace by removing or reducing risks

  • Meet our legal duties

  • Provide training and resources so that workers can work safely

  • Consult with workers on health and safety matters

  • Provide ways to report incidents and hazards (including a Near Miss).

  • Investigate health and safety matters and reduce or remove risks as much as practical

  • Use risk, safety, critical incident and disaster management methodologies to determine our response to significant health and safety events.

  • Aim to continue to provide our essential services and minimise disruption to our services where possible during significant health and safety events and communicate any changes to those affected as soon and as simply as possible.

4. Definitions

4.1. Officers

An officer includes:

  • a director or secretary of a company

  • someone who makes decisions, or is involved in making decisions, that significantly im-pact a company or a significant part of a company

  • someone who can significantly impact a company’s financial situation

  • someone whose instructions or wishes are followed by the directors of a company (ex-cluding people who give advice to the board as part of their role)

4.2. Workers

A worker is any person who carries out work for us. This includes any person who works as:

  • an employee

  • trainee

  • volunteer

  • outworker

  • apprentice

  • work experience student

  • contractor or sub-contractor

  • an employee of a contractor or sub-contractor

  • an employee of a labour hire company assigned to work for us

4.3. Other people

Other people are clients, visitors and other people in the workplace.

4.4. Workplace

A workplace is a place where work is performed and includes any place a worker goes, or is likely to be, while at work.

4.5. Hazard

A hazard is a situation or thing that could harm a person.

4.6. Incident

An incident is an event at a workplace that causes (or could have caused) harm to a person.

4.7. Near Miss

A Near Miss is an unplanned event that did not result in injury, illness or damage – but had the potential to do so.

4.8. Significant Health and Safety Events

In this policy, the term Significant Health and Safety Events is used to describe major events that have the potential to impact the health, safety and well-being of our workers and other people as well as impacting our ability to deliver our services in the usual manner. These could include, but are not limited to:

  • Outbreaks of communicable diseases including pandemics and epidemics.

  • Major weather events such as storms, smoke haze, fire and floods. A significant health and safety event may also be classified as a WHS incident, Critical Incident or Disaster.

4.9. Psychosocial Hazards

A psychosocial hazard is anything that could cause psychological harm, including job demands, poor support, lack of role clarity, poor change management, inadequate reward and recognition, poor organisational justice, traumatic events or material, remote or isolated work, poor physical environment, violence and aggression, bullying, harassment, conflict.

Psychosocial hazards can create stress. This can cause psychological or physical harm. Stress itself is not an injury. But if workers are stressed often, over a long time, or the level of stress is high, it can cause harm.

5. Consultation

We will discuss work health and safety (WHS) with workers using agreed methods.

6. Duties

6.1. Our duties

We have a legal duty to do as much as we reasonably can to protect the health and safety of workers while they are at work. We must also do as much as we reasonably can to make sure that work performed for us doesn’t put the health and safety of other people at risk.

We will do as much as we can to:

  • Provide a work environment without risks to health and safety

  • Develop safe systems of work

  • Provide adequate facilities for the welfare of workers

  • Provide information, training, instruction or supervision to protect all people in the workplace from health and safety risks

  • Monitor the health of workers and conditions in the workplace to prevent illness or injury

  • Eliminate or minimise so far as is reasonably practicable all psychosocial risks

6.1.1. Officers

Our officers must take reasonable steps to make sure that we meet our legal duties.

This includes:

  • Keeping up to date about WHS

  • Understanding the operations of the company and the hazards and risks related to the operations

  • Providing resources and developing procedures to remove or reduce WHS risks

  • Providing ways for people to report incidents, hazards and risks and respond quickly to information received

  • Developing procedures to meet legal duties under WHS law

  • Making sure that resources and safe work procedures are being used

  • Ensure all WHS audits are completed as required by an appropriate worker

6.1.2. Workers

Workers have the right to work in a safe and healthy workplace. Workers also have WHS re-sponsibilities.

Workers must:

  • take reasonable care for their own health and safety

  • make sure their actions don’t put the health and safety of other people at risk

  • follow reasonable instructions that we give about WHS

  • follow any reasonable policy or procedure about WHS

Complete WHS audits as required

Workers should:

  • Report safety hazards and incidents, including a Near Miss.

  • Fix or remove hazards where possible without putting their health and safety at risk.

  • Attend WHS training

  • Encourage safe work practices.

  • Stay at home if they feel unwell.

6.1.3. Other people

Other people at the workplace must:

  • take reasonable care for their own health and safety

  • make sure their actions don’t put the health and safety of other people at risk

  • follow reasonable instructions that we give about WHS

7. First Aid

We provide first aid equipment for the workplace so that workers have access to first aid equipment and treatment.

A staff member is appointed to manage first aid arrangements.

8. Fire Warden

The role of fire warden is to co-ordinate the safe and orderly evacuation of occupants from the danger zone, as much as possible.

9. Electrical items

We will arrange for our electrical items, that get plugged into a power point, to be tested and tagged on a regular basis. This applies to electrical items that we provide for use by our work-ers.

10. Behaviour in the workplace

We also have a WHS duty to prevent bullying, harassment and discrimination in the work-place. We will manage behaviour in the workplace in line with our Workplace Behaviour policy.

11. Significant Health and Safety Events

The CEO will declare a Significant Health and Safety Event and will advise the Chair as soon as practicable after the declaration. The CEO will determine the response methodology to be followed and report significant health and safety events to the Board of Directors.

12. Continuation of operations

Generally, we will seek to continue to operate during Significant Health and Safety Events within sensible and safe parameters.

13. Policies and practices

Where possible our policies and practices will remain the same, however we may develop new policies, practices or changes to our program in response to issues. Where we amend a policy or practice, we will communicate these changes to relevant workers and stakeholders as soon and as simply as possible.

14. Health and safety and ways of working

In response to Significant Health and Safety Events, we may adjust the ways we offer services.

This could include:

  • Limiting face to face attendance at our office

  • Temporarily closing our office or adjusting office availability hours

  • Limiting the number of workers in each office or directing workers to work from home

Our response will be guided by recommendations or regulatory measures from government.

15. Health, safety and wellbeing of our workers

  • We will support our workers during Significant Health and Safety Events.

  • We will communicate any changes to our team as soon and as clearly as possible. As usual, we will assess requests for flexible working arrangements on a case by case basis. When making decisions, we will take into consideration any known health conditions of our workers and will accommodate the changing needs of our workers where possible.

  • We encourage workers who are impacted by, or feeling anxious about, Significant Health and Safety Events to talk to the CEO or contact our Employee Assistance Pro-gram (EAP) service.

16. How we will apply this policy

We will:

  • Review and apply WHS policies and procedures

  • Consult with worker

  • Develop and improve safe work procedures for specific hazards

  • Follow the four-step risk management approach to hazards in the workplace:

    • 1. Find the hazard (identify)

    • 2. Check it out (assess)

    • 3. Fix it (control)

    • 4. Feedback (review and monitor)

  • Report hazards, incidents and Near Misses.

  • We will keep a register of WHS hazards, incidents, and Near Misses reported. If a worker identifies a hazard, is involved in, or witnesses, an incident or Near Miss, they must report it.

17. Relevant legislation, regulations or standards

  • Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (NSW)

  • Work Health and Safety Regulation 2017 (NSW)

  • Work Health and Safety Amendment Bill 2023 (NSW)

18. Related documents/resources

  • Privacy policy

  • Workplace behaviour policy

  • Employee Health and Wellbeing policy

Policy Information
Version: 3
Approved: 10/2021
Amended:
Reviewed: 03/2023 and 03/2025
Review frequency: Biennial
Responsible position: CEO