What's a hazard?
Arguably the hazards list is the most important part of any Health and Safety plan. It is the list of things that can cause and accident and injury.
An example is a set of external stairs that are not well lit and prone to accumulating dirt that can make them slippery when wet - or they might become icy in mid-winter.
About controls
When a hazard has been identified and listed, the next step is to determine what should be done about it. There are a number of ways to approach this including to "Eliminate", "Isolate" or "Control" the hazard. In our experience, in a Unit Title Development, few hazards can be eliminated or isolated and most need to be controlled. To Control a hazard the Body Corporate puts systems in place to minimise any risks associated with it.
An example hazard and control
Take the example of the slippery external staircase. It' unlikely the body corporate can remove or isolate the staircase (it may even be part of an escape route). The best that can be done is to consider what controls can be put in place to stop it being slippery - such as putting a non-slip surface on the treads. But this may not be sufficient and the steps may need regular cleaning. Then, extra lighting could be installed, the tread nosings painted white and perhaps signage erected to remind people to take care.
Including all of this in your H&S plan
Our planners will identify any hazards during the site inspection and write them up the first draft of your Health and Safety plan. They will also write a proposed control for each hazard.
Keeping your H&S plan enduring
Our planners also give thought to how a control can be enduring. e.g. The planner will likely say something like "..the body corporate will arrange for the staircase to be washed every year..." This means that the plan doesn't need to be rewritten unless circumstances have changed.
Keeping it simple and relevant
In our experience a Unit Title Development is a relatively benign environment and it's Health and Safety plan will not include the types of hazards seen industries such as forestry or construction. But the body corporate is a PCBU and must maintain health and safety plan. So while we look to ensure your plan is compliant, we try keep it relevant with the content relative to the risk profile of the property. This way it should be relatively easy and low-cost to maintain.
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The Plan Heaven team.
Disclaimer. Plan Heaven is not qualified in law and any comments made on this website are only the opinion of Plan Heaven and should not be regarded as legal advice. Our comments are merely providing some thoughts on how the legislation might be interpreted and how we go about attempting to meet its requirements. You should not rely on this information in isolation and do you own homework and at all times if you wish to be sure of your position relating to legal matters you should seek advice from a suitably qualified lawyer.