Consultation for Workplace Changes

UNIVERSITY WIDE PROCEDURE

Occupational Health and Safety
- Consultation for Workplace Changes -

1. Purpose

To describe the procedure to be followed by Supervisors and Managers of the University of Ballarat when planning changes to the workplace.

2. Scope

The following procedure applies to all Supervisors and Managers of the University of Ballarat who are planning workplace changes that may affect the health and safety of employees of the University.

3. Definitions

"Health and Safety Representative" (or "Representative" or "HSR"): an employee of the University, who has been elected to the position of Representative in accordance with the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004.

"Workplace change": covers all modifications to the physical environment or to the work arrangements of employees of the University of Ballarat, where these changes may reasonably be expected to affect the health or safety of employees.

"Supervisor" and "Manager": apply to any employee of the University who:

plans, organises or supervises the activities of other employees, contractors, students or visitors on behalf of the University; or
designs or organises the design of new facilities for the University.

These terms include Heads of Schools and Sections.

4. Actions

Supervisors and Managers must, as a minimum:

consult with the Health and Safety Representative of any work group affected by a workplace change they are planning; and
comply with the provisions of the OHS Procedure - Hazard Identification, Risk Assessment and Control (HIRAC).

If the intended workplace change needs to be modified after the HIRAC Review or after consultation with the HSR, the Supervisor or Manager must inform the HSR.

If the intended workplace change includes modifications to the structure of buildings, to emergency evacuations routes or assembly points, to fire protection systems, to rescue or first-aid equipment, etc, the Manager - OHS must also be consulted.

If as a result of this consultation the Health and Safety Representative feels that an occupational health and safety issue exists, the issue must be handled in accordance with the OHS Procedure - Issue Resolution.

5. Responsibility

The Manager - OHS has responsibility for the maintenance of this procedure.

Specific responsibilities are included in Section 4.

6. Policy Base

Occupational Health and Safety Policy - Employee Representation

7. Associated Documents

Nil.

8. Forms/Record Keeping

Title	Location	Responsible Officer	Minimum Retention Period
Nil	-	-	-

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Warning - Uncontrolled when printed! The current version of this document is kept on the UB website.

Authorised by: University Health and Safety Policy Committee
Maintained by: Manager - OHS
Review Date: Dec-2007

Original Issue: 30/11/1999
Current Version: 21/01/2005

Occupational Health and Safety - Consultation for Workplace Changes -