What Does This Unit Mean?
This unit is about developing, implementing, evaluating and improving an occupational health and safety management system that supports organisational objectives and manages risk effectively.
The unit requires learners to understand how occupational health and safety management systems align with recognised standards, organisational strategy, legal requirements and risk management principles.
The learner is also expected to demonstrate the ability to evaluate strategic risks, apply risk assessment methodologies, communicate risk effectively and support decision-making at senior management and board level.
In simple terms, this unit is asking:
“Can you design, evaluate and improve an occupational health and safety management system that helps an organisation manage risk, achieve its objectives and continually improve performance?”
What Competence Does This Unit Require?
You are expected to demonstrate that you can:
- Evaluate occupational health and safety management systems against recognised standards.
- Analyse organisational strengths, weaknesses and gaps within existing management systems.
- Understand organisational context and stakeholder requirements.
- Align occupational health and safety management systems with organisational strategy.
- Evaluate the impact of contractors, suppliers and other external parties.
- Assess strategic risks affecting organisational performance.
- Apply appropriate risk assessment and risk quantification methodologies.
- Evaluate accident causation and risk management principles.
- Develop risk reduction strategies and action plans.
- Evaluate risk transfer arrangements.
- Develop effective risk communication strategies.
- Communicate risk information to stakeholders.
- Support strategic decision-making through evidence-based recommendations.
The learner should demonstrate how the organisation's occupational health and safety management system is reviewed and evaluated to determine whether it remains suitable, effective and capable of achieving its intended outcomes.
What to Prepare
Prepare a report, presentation or project that evaluates your organisation's Occupational Health and Safety Management System against the requirements of ISO 45001, applicable legal requirements and your organisation's own health and safety management system requirements.
Your Report Should
- Evaluate how the existing management system aligns with ISO 45001 requirements.
- Identify any gaps, weaknesses or opportunities for improvement.
- Consider the organisation's context, strategic objectives and stakeholder requirements.
- Evaluate internal and external issues that may affect the management system.
- Evaluate how legal and other compliance obligations are identified and managed.
- Evaluate the impact of contractors, suppliers and other third parties on the management system.
- Identify challenges associated with implementing and maintaining the management system.
- Evaluate whether the management system supports organisational objectives and continual improvement.
Supporting Workplace Evidence
The report should be supported by relevant workplace evidence referenced within the report. This may include policies, procedures, risk assessments, audits, inspection reports, management review records, legal compliance records, contractor management arrangements, performance data, action plans or other relevant documents used to support your evaluation.
Assessment Criteria Covered
1.1
1.2
1.3
1.4
1.5
1.6
1.7
1.8
What to Prepare
Prepare a report, presentation or project that explains how strategic risks are identified, assessed, evaluated and managed within your organisation to support informed decision-making and the achievement of organisational objectives.
Important Context
The report must be based on your organisation's actual arrangements, activities, performance data, risk information and workplace examples. Generic descriptions of health and safety theory alone will not be sufficient. You should demonstrate how the principles discussed are applied within your own organisation and support your evaluation with relevant organisational evidence where appropriate.
Your Report Should
- Explain how leadership and management contribute to reducing organisational risks.
- Explain how accident causation principles are used to understand why incidents occur and how future risks can be prevented.
- Demonstrate how fault tree analysis, event tree analysis or other suitable techniques are used to support risk assessment and decision-making.
- Explain how information, data and performance indicators are used to identify, assess and evaluate risks.
- Explain how suitable risk assessment and risk quantification methods are selected and applied.
- Evaluate the strategic risks and dynamic risks that could affect the organisation.
- Explain how risk transfer arrangements, such as insurance, outsourcing or contractual agreements, are used and discuss their limitations.
Supporting Workplace Evidence
The report should reference relevant organisational evidence where appropriate. This may include strategic risk assessments, risk registers, board reports, incident investigation reports, performance reports, key performance indicators (KPIs), fault tree analyses, event tree analyses, risk quantification models, business continuity plans, insurance arrangements, contractor management records, management review records, audit findings, organisational risk profiles or other relevant workplace documents used to support the evaluation.
Assessment Criteria Covered
2.1
2.2
2.3
2.4
2.5
2.8
2.9
What to Prepare
Prepare a report, presentation or project that explains how risks are reduced, controlled and monitored within your organisation through planned improvement activities and effective management of change processes.
Important Context
The report must be based on your organisation's actual arrangements, activities, risk information, performance data and workplace examples. Generic descriptions of management of change or risk reduction principles alone will not be sufficient. You should demonstrate how risks are managed within your own organisation and support your evaluation with relevant organisational evidence where appropriate.
Your Report Should
- Explain how risk reduction plans and improvement actions are developed to address identified risks.
- Explain how recommendations are presented to senior managers, directors or the board to support informed decision-making.
- Explain how organisational, process, equipment, technology or personnel changes are managed to prevent new hazards and risks from being introduced.
- Demonstrate how hazards and risks are identified and assessed before, during and after changes are implemented.
- Explain how existing risk controls are reviewed and revised following organisational changes.
- Explain how the effectiveness of implemented controls and improvement actions is monitored and evaluated.
Supporting Workplace Evidence
The report should reference relevant organisational evidence where appropriate. This may include risk reduction plans, action plans, strategic improvement programmes, board papers, management meeting minutes, management of change procedures, change requests, project plans, risk assessments, revised risk assessments, implementation plans, inspection reports, audit findings, incident investigation reports, corrective action records, performance reports, management review records or other relevant workplace documents used to support the evaluation.
Assessment Criteria Covered
2.6
2.7
What to Prepare
Prepare a report, presentation or project that explains how risks are communicated within your organisation and how consultation, ownership and accountability are established to ensure risks are effectively managed.
Important Context
The report must be based on your organisation's actual communication arrangements, consultation activities, management processes and workplace examples. Generic descriptions of communication or consultation principles alone will not be sufficient. You should demonstrate how risk information is communicated and managed within your own organisation and support your evaluation with relevant organisational evidence where appropriate.
Your Report Should
- Explain how risk information is communicated to workers, managers, directors, contractors and other relevant stakeholders.
- Explain how workers and other stakeholders are consulted and involved in the risk management process.
- Explain how responsibilities, authorities and accountabilities for managing risks are assigned and communicated.
- Explain how ownership of strategic and dynamic risks is established and maintained.
- Explain how legal requirements and stakeholder needs are considered when communicating risk information.
- Explain how crisis communication arrangements differ from normal risk communication arrangements and how they are implemented when required.
- Explain how the effectiveness of risk communication and consultation arrangements is monitored and evaluated.
Supporting Workplace Evidence
The report should reference relevant organisational evidence where appropriate. This may include communication procedures, consultation arrangements, health and safety committee meeting minutes, toolbox talk records, briefing records, communication plans, risk registers, responsibility matrices, organisational charts, role descriptions, stakeholder engagement records, contractor communication arrangements, legal compliance updates, emergency response plans, crisis communication procedures, performance reports, employee feedback, management review records or other relevant workplace documents used to support the evaluation.
Assessment Criteria Covered
3.1
3.2
3.3
3.4
Important Note for Learners
The competence requirements outlined above describe the practical workplace activities, systems, processes and records that may be used to demonstrate competence against this unit.
As this is a competency-based qualification, learners are expected to demonstrate that they can apply their health and safety knowledge and skills within their own workplace or working environment.
In addition to the competence-based assessment criteria, this unit also contains a number of knowledge-based assessment criteria. These are typically assessed through:
- Written responses
- Professional discussions with the assessor
- Assessor questioning
In most cases, the knowledge-based assessment criteria relate directly to the same workplace activities, systems and processes described above. Learners will therefore often find that the workplace evidence gathered to demonstrate competence also helps them prepare for and satisfy the knowledge assessment requirements.