Safety Officer
Role and responsibilities
Safety Officers act as a liaison between their local area and the Monash HSW team. They promote HSW awareness and a positive safety culture across their work area.
Safety Officers are delegated responsibility for the completion of HSW cyclic tasks (docx) in their area by their Head of Unit.
Appointment
Safety Officers are appointed by Heads Units who ensure the person appointed to the role:
- has their delegated authority
- is provided with time to complete all required training, and
- is provided with sufficient resources and time for the completion of HSW tasks.
Deputy Safety Officers may also be appointed to share the responsibilities of the role and to act in the absence of the Safety Officer.
Safety Officers:
- are the point of contact for staff or student health, safety and wellbeing queries
- assist with the implementation of strategic HSW objectives (HSW Plan)
- assist with the management of OHS hazards and incidents in the local area
- assist with risk management (e.g. peer review of risk assessments).
Safety Officers:
- communicate HSW data to Head of Units for follow-up – and to the HSW Committee during quarterly meetings
- communicate relevant information from HSW to everyone in their area
- update HSWnoticeboards
- keep their Head of Unit informed of local HSW matters – including trends identified from HSW data
- ensure hazards, near-misses, and incidents are reported in SARAH.
Safety Officers:
- ensure completion and recording of cyclic tasks (docx) (e.g. coordinate and participate in workplace inspections, and follow up with Building Wardens and First Aid Coordinators, etc.)
- monitor HSW data in PowerBI dashboards in regards to training and inductions and follow up with staff as required
- ensure the annual OHSMS self-assessment is completed and management is updated on the level of local implementation and opportunities for improvement.