Have questions? We’re here to help!
We are located across Australia! Our friendly consultants are always happy to chat. Give us a call on 1800 276 347 or email us at admin@safetypartnersaustralia.com.au
If you enjoyed reading this blog post on ‘How to organise your WHSMS documents’, you may want to check out:
To comply with WHS legislation, WHS policies, procedures, and forms must be readily accessible. Therefore, a Work Health and Safety Management System (WHSMS) must be organised so that all workers can access the relevant documentation. This blog will explore strategies for to organise your whsms documents.
How to store a WHSMS
A WHSMS must be stored in a location where the relevant workers can easily find the information they need. As a WHSMS holds all the key information for an organisation to continuously improve WHS, a small group of managers and/or WHS representatives must have access to the master WHSMS, with one or two people assigned to keep the system up to date.
The master WHSMS can be stored in a shared drive or intranet with access limited to the small group. Once the master WHSMS is up to date final versions of policies and procedures can be distributed to the rest of the workforce by:
- WHS notice boards.
- Creating an online intranet where documents cannot be edited, and workers can access them when they need to.
- Having procedures in place where workers can request any documentation from supervisors and managers.
How to organise the WHSMS
A good way to organise policies and procedures is to assign each procedure to a folder. In each folder will house the form/tools required to comply with the procedure. See below as an example of a folder structure:
Everything in one location
WHS procedures may overlap with other areas of the organisation such as Quality and Environment. It’s important for the person/people who are keeping the WHSMS up to date they can easily access all the required information. As there are ISO standards for Quality, Environment and Safety a good way to ensure all the information is in one place is to develop an Integrated Management System (IMS) where the Quality, Environment and Safety systems integrate into the one system.
The benefits of having an IMS or all WHS information in one system are:
- Ease of access to information during auditing.
- Ease of setting up online permissions to access the system.
- Efficient reviewing and updating processors.
How we can help?
WHS Consultancy
Recovery Partners WHS Consultants are experts in auditing and helping organisations organise their WHSMS and integrate their systems.
Disclaimer – these articles are provided to supply general safety information to people responsible for OHS in their organisation. They are general in nature and do not substitute for legal and/or professional advice. We always suggest that organisations obtain information specific to their needs. Additional information can be found at https://www.safeworkaustralia.gov.au/