Local HSW Committees
There are several HSW committees here at Monash, all of them aim to keep you safe while you work.
The key role of these committees is to:
- monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of corrective or preventative actions, risk controls and local processes as set out in the OHS Monitoring and Performance Evaluation Procedure
- identify opportunities for improvement
- set annual HSW Strategic Priorities.
These committees can be established at faculty, division, school, institute, department or centre level based on the operational context and governance structure of the area. All areas are able to set up a HSW committee, even if they're not part of a Designated Work Group (DWG).
These committees provide a forum to:
- meet regularly and bring together knowledge and experience
- exchange information and ideas about risks to health, safety and wellbeing, and measures that can be taken to eliminate or reduce those risks
- address broad organisational issues in accordance with the committees’ Terms of Reference (ToR)
- provide a consistent approach to the implementation and continual improvement of the OHSMS.
The role of the HSW Chairperson is to ensure that:
- OHS committee meetings are scheduled and then conducted in accordance with their agreed Terms of Reference
- membership of the committee is regularly reviewed to ensure that adequate representation of all workers is provided
- members are empowered to raise HSW-related items to the committee's attention
- engagement with workers encourages issues and concerns to be raised to the Committees attention
- discussions within committee meetings are recorded and minutes communicated to workers.