The following extract has been taken from the Safety Concepts E-Guide OHS Secrets for Small Business:

Determining a Consultation Mechanism Within Your Organisation.

Basically, how are you going to consult with your workforce to agree on OHS issues? Will you talk with each member individually? Will you consult with them through Safety Meetings?

Consultation on the subject of promoting a safe and healthy work environment, with all people in your workplace is good management. The ‘team approach’ that the government legislation steers the consultation process towards creates effective communication, improves productivity and morale, and creates a sense of ownership for all involved.

Consultations with your workers are your chance to put together a sound OHS Policy and procedures that are practical and which everyone agrees upon. After all, what would be the use of putting together work and safety procedures for your workers if:

• they don’t agree with the policies and therefore aren’t motivated to apply them
• the policies are far from practical because they were designed by administration or someone who has never used certain equipment in the warehouse before, or has never sat at a table inputting data into a computer, hour after hour
• they simply don’t know about the policies to begin with!

You need to develop a policy for OHS Consultation and communicate this policy to all employees. Failure to consult is a criminal offence that can carry a significant fine.

Make sure you maintain adequate records in relation to consulting with your employees about health and safety in the workplace.

Other Policies that your workplace may benefit from having in place are:

• No Smoking Policy
• Drugs and Alcohol Policy
• Behaviour Policy
• Environmental Policy
• Rehabilitation Policy
• Return to Work Policy

How well do you know your employees? As a business owner or manager you may spend more time making sure the business is operating like a well-oiled machine and less time getting to know the workers that are making that machine chug along. This could well lead to problems and possibly injuries.

1. Know what your employees do…
   Sure, you may know the job your employees are doing, but do you know how they get it done? You should spend more time watching their work to ensure what they are doing looks safe and follows any procedures in the company manuals. You may also find that they are doing ‘things’ better and safer… and that your Procedures Manual needs updating!
2. Be someone they can talk to…
   If you seem to be the hard-nosed boss who has no interest in anything other than the ‘bottom line’, you may be deemed more difficult to approach when there is a problem. You want your employees to be willing to let you know when something ‘doesn’t seem right’ so you can investigate it before something goes ‘completely wrong.’
3. Have a Machine Safety Policy…
   If you have a number of machines in operation at your jobsite, make sure the employees know the safety procedures for when a machine should be shut down. While this may slow down production, they need to know that shutting down a problem machine and getting it repaired is more important than trying to keep it running in an unsafe manner.
4. Get your Worker’s Opinions…
   You should always be open to listening to what the people doing the work for your company are saying; they’re the ones who know where there could be problems coming down the road.  If possible, hold a weekly meeting (or even a daily one, if needed) to talk to workers about the operations and anything they see as a problem, or even a problem on the horizon. Also ask them if they have any ideas on how to add a level of safety to the work environment. It is important that your workers know that they can make suggestions and you won’t shoot them down. Consider all ideas on their merit or you may cause your employees reluctance to share their thoughts for fear you will automatically attack their ideas.

Your employees can be either your best ally or worst enemy when it comes to making the workplace a safer environment. It’s better to have them on your side, then together you can avoid costly and possibly business-threatening incidents.