EP25: From Injuries to Culture: How Smart Businesses Turn Health & Safety into an Asset

In this episode of The Rev Room, Francois sits down with occupational health and safety specialist Tamryn Raffles from Labournet to unpack why OHS is far more than a legal tick-box. They break down Section 8, 14, 24 and 37 responsibilities, vicarious liability, contractor risk, and what really happens when an incident occurs – from WCL forms to shutting down machinery and facing inspectors. More importantly, they explore how smart businesses use risk assessments, training, and clear procedures to build a safety culture that protects people, reduces downtime, and keeps founders out of crisis mode.

Three key takeaways

• Compliance is the floor, not the ceiling. OHS isn’t just about avoiding fines and contravention notices – it’s a moral responsibility and a culture-driver. When staff feel genuinely safe, behaviour, productivity and retention all shift.
• Liability flows downward – and back up. Under Section 37, employers can be held vicariously liable for the actions of employees and contractors, unless they can prove clear authority, controls and reasonable steps to prevent harm. Your “I didn’t know” defence won’t hold.
• Risk assessments only work if everyone is in the room. A baseline risk assessment isn’t a static document; it’s an ongoing process that involves supervisors, reps and the people on the floor. When incidents happen, you go back to the assessment, adjust controls and tighten training.

If this conversation made you realise your health and safety is more “hope and guess” than structured and documented, it may be time to treat OHS like the strategic lever it really is. Start by asking a simple question: if an inspector or serious incident arrived tomorrow, would you be confident… or exposed?

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Transcript

welcome to the Rev Room powered by Buzz Rev Advisory
Today
we have the interviewing Tamryn Raffles from Labournet
welcome Tamryn thank you
it's really great to have you
so today
we're talking about occupational health and safety
and this is a topic that Tamryn is very qualified in
and she certainly has a passion to talk about it
so I love the passion so well done Tamryn
so if we kick off what are the common misconceptions
about occupational health and safety
oh great question
thanks for that um
so I think there is a lot of misconceptions
um you know
um generally somebody would
or business organisation would want to comply
based on that it's a legal requirement
it's law um
we need to comply with it
um we have obviously
um inspectors coming on site to do regular inspections
uh whether it was a complaint
or just kind of a proactive inspection
and we need to comply to avoid
obviously getting issued
any improvement or contravention notices
but I think the misconception is really
more detailed around it that it's
it's not just law
it's actually it's the moral thing to do for your staff
in the end of the day
obviously we wanna keep all our employees
you know working in a safe work environment
yeah and you know
part of the act it states that yes
as an employer we need to provide
a safe working environment for our employees
you know ensure that maintenance
is done the supervisions provided the training
etcetera but if it if you look from a moral standard
um that's gonna foster the good
health and safety culture in any organisation um
and what I want to really iterate on is
it takes a team to make that happen um
you know for employees
actually understanding what is health and safety
involving them in the risk assessment process
that is what's gonna actually get you
your good culture and behaviour in a workplace
and that's gonna contribute morally
to doing the right thing um
so that that's
that's the importance of it and I think we
that's a misconception um
that you know we we kind of not see yeah look
we um as you know we I help to grow businesses
and so
we provide all the services that make that happen
and health and safety is an area that people really
just most guys get a bit nervous
when you talk about occupational health and safety so
and there is a legal requirement
which is quite correct
but tell us more about the legal responsibility
for the employer employer with regards to Section 8
I mean what is what are they every employer
I mean they have a legal responsibility yeah
so we did touch a little bit about that
now during the misconception um
but as being as an employer uh
remember that includes your management
your supervisory team
if I say you are the 16 one the appointed um
CEO ultimately taking responsibility or you
the employer that's everyone in your organisation
that basically gives instructions to those below them
so essentially everyone's responsible
and that is to provide that safe work environment
look at practical solutions to keep people safe um
look at specific control measures
identifying those hazards and risks
through the risk assessment process
um again
maintenance of equipment plant machinery
um there's a lot
there's a lot that employees responsible for but again
also keep in mind that employees has responsibilities
as well um
so if you go to Section 14 of the act um
it says they still are responsible for their own safety
they need to actually actively
report those hazards and risks within their work area
um so again
just taking overall
you know essentially everyone's responsible okay yeah
alright so and and
and tell us a little bit about vicarious liability
oh vicarious liability of course
so that is when um basically
a person
is held liable for the acts or missions of another
um so there's a lot of sessions and training courses
your management can go on
um from legal liability
to exploring more courses in depth
with the Occupational Health and Safety Act
and we speak a lot about vicarious liability
so an employer works through an employee
so they remunerate them to do a job
which means ultimately they're responsible for them
and the same with vicarious liability
when it comes to contractors
we work through a contractor and ultimately
we are responsible for their actions um
within the workplace um
so it is a scary thought um
to know that you are responsible
and we refer to a certain section
which is Section 37
of the Occupational Health and Safety Act
so this helps us in in essence
so there's three things you as an employer
management or supervisory
um can ensure to not
obviously take on that vicarious liability
but it's ready to say was that person actually
acting outside their scope of authority
was permission given
and did the employer take reasonable steps
to actually put corrective actions in place
and those are ultimately things to kind of protect us
um against that vicarious liability
and same applies with the contractors
so essentially we are responsible for contractors
working on our premises and typically
if they get injured on our premises
and we don't have an agreement with them
and we weren't compliant
we are responsible for our contractors
but if we have certain agreements in place
um if we as a company are compliant
you know that um
that liabilities obviously wave it off of us
of course of course
so I mean
it's very deep and I think it's
it's great to hear cause you
you often don't think anything can go wrong
until it does right yeah
so what are the common mistakes or common errors
or common
um injuries that will
that you encounter daily yeah
sure there's so many um
because we work with a
you know a variety of clients and businesses and um
the different industries we get exposed to quite a lot
um
obviously you got your universal injuries
that's going to be your slip trips and falls
that's indefinite it will happen
and then also your manual handling injuries
so musculoskeletal disorders
back strains um
you know there could be such things slip discs
all of those things and it's simply actually
following the incorrect technique when lifting
and to put on that you know we
we have all these great procedures in place
and we have rules and we have
you know
disciplines around employees and you get let's say
disciplined when let's say we didn't follow a lock out
tag out procedure but in essence
most injuries happen from manual handling techniques
and there's also a safe operating
procedure for manual handling
but we don't follow disciplinary action
so strict with that and yes
there's more
and it's consistent that we have manual handling
and the severity might be more with a lockout
tagout procedure but essentially
they're the same
and they should be disciplined the same
um and that's
I think the fault that we make
that we kind of just put the things aside that are
generally happen every day
um but somebody did suffer
somebody did get hurt
and suffered the repercussions when that happened
and that's why that procedure was built around it
um so I think we can
we can learn from that
and get a lot more disciplined in that aspect uh
when it comes to incidents
but incidents sure I've seen um obviously um
permanent settlements um
I've seen a fatality
but that was more of a client tower on the premises
but we still do thorough investigations um
to see that where we actually um
had the proper procedures in place
do we have a first aid on site
was they qualified how long did the ambulance take
to learn from the mistakes
um and put those corrective actions in place
so Ja I think there's been a lot of injuries
that we have been exposed to
Ja you
you mentioned back injuries in our
in our industry specifically you
we've often had quite a few people that hurt their back
so it's the first time I've heard of
having a way to pick up a
yep a box and stuff
so that's I mean
that's the most simplistic right
exactly cool
so that's great so if something happens
I mean what's the process of someone slips and falls
what is the documented process that needs to follow
after an incident a simplistic one
of course so I'll try keep it simple
cause there's a lot of documents involved
and procedures to follow um
but we have to first obviously fill in a WCL2 form
so that's your employer's report
there's a Part a and Part B to that form
Part P Part B goes to the hospital
Part a is for our internal use
with that it's a copy of their ID
latest payslip
and that goes with the employee to the hospital
from that process we've
we've done our job for now
we got the person
the medical treatment that they needed
obviously if it was something of a first aid
we just fill in a first aid injury
register in the workplace
monitor the person for a few days
what
if the person has to go to see a medical practitioner
um after that process
they will receive a first medical report
that is a No. 4 document
that needs to come back to the company
they would most likely always go for a follow up um
um a progress report or their final report
which is your number five
and once they return to work fit for duty
that would be your resumption report
which is in No. 6 um
but there is internal documentation
that also needs to be considered
um so we do have an
it's called an extra 1 document
that falls
under the General Administrative Regulations
it's a basically summary of an investigation
and really just to note kind of what was the causes
what correct uh
corrective actions can we put in place some of maybe um
comments from the health and Safety Committee
that would be basically populated on that form
it's really important to always take witness statements
consider those things talk to employees around
find out what happens just to ensure that
you know the injury alleged by that person
actually did happen in that manner
and then a a further step is section 24 incident
so section 24
and 25 of the Occupational Health and Safety Act
stipulates when we need to report it to um
the department of employment and Labour
um and that's in various cases
so it could be somebody
who suffered a permanent disability
a death somebody became unconscious
um
it could be somebody that was off for more than 14 days
due to work related ins um
injury incident it could be a major chemical spill
something flying out of a machine
that is when it gets serious
and that's when it gets scary
in terms of vicarious liability
and it's really important
that you need to actually follow through
and report this
to the department of employment and Labour
so this means we have to undergo a full
full investigation um
along with all the supporting documents
and send it through important to note
that if the person actually got injured
let's say on a machine and cut off all their fingers
you're not allowed to operate that machine
until an inspector comes on site
they need to do their full investigation and say
do we disregard this equipment
what measures you have to put in place
and then you can continue operations on the machine
um so really
really vital information that it's good to take note of
um and the investigation is scary
it's scary
because you've implemented the system over time
and do we have everything in place
and key questions they will ask is
was the person competent
were they trained to understand how to do their job
was there a risk assessment
hazard risk control measures
did you actually put those things in place
um is a person in training currently
and that can be through a safe work procedure
safe operating procedure through inductions and if so
is there actually an attendance register
um because training never happened
if there's actually no physical signature date
topic of conversation um
so it's really good to understand that procedure
and also be prepared for that
and that's why
you need to have your safety system in place
that's a lot sorry
I just no no
that's a lot so no thank you no
it's great
it's quite detailed and so I appreciate that but
but just if you go back to the beginning
does every company have to register
I have an I mean
a occupational health system
so from even if you have two people or three people
or 10 or 20 I mean how does it work that you have to
is it is that legislated yeah
so there is certain it
it works on employee numbers on certain aspects
so in terms of the act if you have one employee or 200
you need to comply
with that and that's having a policy in place
having a 16 1 letter
A16 2 for some of you that don't know
that's basically a person you um
appoint on behalf of the 16 1
and they are allowed to make decisions
in terms of health and safety
so almost like the
the CEO delegates his responsibility of safety
onto his management so yes
essentially you have to have those
but when it comes to let's say uh five employees
that's when you need a first aid kit
that's when you need your legal posters displayed
when you above 10 employees
that's when you need a first aider
when you above 20 employees
that's when you need a health and safety
representatives and 50
a OHS committee that runs every quarter
so it's really on employee count
but essentially one employee you you have to comply
yeah you're responsible for them okay
so what is a a baseline risk assessment involved
and who should conduct it
ooh okay interesting
so um
a risk assessment
a lot of people think it's like it's a paper document
but it's more than that you look at this
and it's got a bunch of numbers and tables
and it's very confusing um
and it's really important that
we don't treat it as a tick box exercise
we need to actually understand the risk assessment
so who actually conducts it
firstly
you need a competent person that's trained in um
risk assessment and hazard identification um
so that's kind of a form of competency
or you can use external providers such as US
consultants um
who obviously have the expertise uh
within our industry
and then we start that process and we say okay
now we first have to identify what are the hazards um
so
that is something that has the potential to cause harm
where the risk is the likelihood that harm will occur
from the exposure
or contact with that particular hazard um
so you gotta understand those things
but I can't do it alone I go to a business environment
and I don't know anything about a CNC machine
and I I
this is all new to me we we have to understand
we gotta know a lot of things
so we speak to the supervisors
we speak to the health and safety representatives
we speak to management um
you know the employees working on the floor
what what is the problem with this machine
what near misses happened
um how do you operate it um
we have a look at this
the layout of the work environment
to truly understand it
so everyone needs to be actively involved
and that just shows that again
it's not management controlling the safety
it's the work employees as well
understanding who we are being able to
obviously add value to that risk assessment
and then from there
you're gonna highlight what is the risk
and that's really around
what's the likelihood of it actually happen
and what's the worst case scenario that can happen
can it cause a fatality you know um
maybe something just you know personal injury
something minor
and then it's important to understand the
control measures
because that's what you gotta implement
and we identify those strings
and we call it a hierarchy of control
so I can look at any machine
and if I apply that hierarchy of control
I'm pretty good um
and it's really starting at can we eliminate it
you know
completely taking that hazard out of the workplace
can we substitute it
something that's maybe a harsh chemical
something more eco friendly
or less harmful on the lungs
and then we start thinking engineering machine guards
containment isolation um
and from there would be your admin controls
which is my favourite
I'm very sad that it's so down on the list
because
I know that people are the biggest risk to any company
we human error it's normal
we are gonna make mistakes and you know
changing the way people do things effectively is is
you know that that's something really passion
passionate I'm about you know um
and then Ja then your P P unfortunately is Ja
then your last result
so you apply that methodology to any risk assessment
and you can definitely come up with the best suited
control measures
and then it's taking that risk assessment and say okay
now how we gonna do this
we gotta put all the cards on the table
how we actually gonna action it
over the months to come um
and involving those key members
and then reviewing it with health and safety
it's constant review
you gotta make sure that we actually
going back to the risk assessment
when an incident happens um
we need to go back to and see did we identify it
was the control measures enough
uh when we have new machinery
or maybe additional employees
we need to reevaluate more people
more higher exposure more mistakes yeah
so that's that's essentially what a risk assessment is
excellent
what is the most common training that you can give
if if I if I have a client wants to start off with
with a occupational health
what is the most common training that you would suggest
the easiest to build up to
hmm um
what is the latest common training that you can offer
or find great
so there is we have to go back to
the legal requirements and best practice um
so what I always do with
with my client how is I'm gonna tell you what's legal
but I'm also gonna tell you where you can better what
what is the best practice
so from a legal requirement
you need to use external providers
when it comes to your first aid training
please ensure that these external providers
are actually registered with department of employment
and Labour very important um
you know if it if you do have an inspection
they see that they're not registered
it's obviously going to be within a contravention
so your uh first aider
you'd have to have external training done for them
at least a level 1 there is also firefighter courses
so you train firefighters um
to obviously assist with the extinguishing of fires
in case of an emergency
and general firefighters would clear the building
they would actually risk their lives
in the end of the day um
I always say when I see them at the assembly point
I know the building's clear
they're here at the assembly point
I hope I hope that they have cleared it properly
and then
you also have your health and safety representatives
so that again remember 20 or more employees
you need to have a trained
health and safety representative
generally these courses are well they're all external
but there are about one to two days um
that the individuals will have to go on the training
um and then additional courses
in terms of just management
or maybe
we have employees
that want to learn more about health and safety
so they can be part of that risk assessment process
and develop and put those things together
if they go on actually a higher courses
which is your hazard identification risk assessment
we also um
offer there is your incident investigator course
so to train them
and equip them to actually handle
the facilitation of doing that entire
you know incident investigation um
there's courses out there from um
evacuation marshals there is um
Occupational Health and Safety Act Quadra training
so that's your compensation of illness and Disease Act
they take you to the forms
take you through the act make sure you understand what
what the rules and the regulations say um
and then just from an internal side
I think that's endless um
and it really it really depends on what equipment
do you have within your workplace
um do we have training material on that
you need to ensure
you also do a health and safety induction
just explain to all your staff what is the basic um
principles of health and safety
what are the rules
and the procedures that the company has in place
um and then you can do really nice go to ones
is your toolbox talks even on just even if it's weekly
monthly or daily it takes
5 minutes in the morning to discuss a safety topic
and it's so lovely you know
some of the companies when they have a monthly um
toolbox talk to go up to the staff member and what's
what's the toolbox talk of the month
and allow them to answer and be
you know involved in that process
so from an internal site it's really endless um
and then there is obviously a lot of external courses
some being legally compliant
legally and need to be done
and some really around best practice
as well cool
that sounds great so
we've spoken a lot about
what has to happen in the workplace
and what is required legally and operationally
which is great and so
you've done really well in explaining all of that
so thank you for that but if you do all of that
what are the what are the the the positives
is there a positive
if you comply with all of this that's required
what positive outcome is there
which is almost an unintended consequence
of applying the occupational health and safety
is there something
yeah of course
I think it's good to keep it simple
health and safety doesn't need to be complicated
um and it it's first a lot of people say like okay
let's establish who's management
explain to their roles and responsibilities
let's go into the legal side
the prosecution
just to make sure we got the buy in from management
but for me it's different
you gotta set the goal
everything in life that you have to do
you need to set the goal um
in my personal development
if I wanna achieve something
you set the goal and you work towards it
you create a plan around it essentially um
and so should a business
and the first thing you can do that is sit down and
and go through health and safety policy and say
what do we wanna achieve by this
remember a policy it's not gonna be a document
you stick against the wall and you review
review in five years time
it's annual review
have a look at that policy understand it set new goals
what do we wanna achieve as a company
in terms of health and safety
so it's first planning that goal
and then you work around plan and you say
this what we gonna do so that's what we do
we built a lovely you know
a 12 month roll out plan
and this is what we wanna achieve
every month going forward
and I think there's a lot to achieve
just in terms of the buy in from staff members
and ensuring that they feel safe
and things can change and we've seen it yes
we have less incidents fantastic great
um but it's just
there's a better behaviour and culture towards safety
you know you
you can't be so strict with discipline and say
we gonna put up cameras these little sensors
and this person didn't wear their PPE
and we gonna recommend them and that
because the minute you're not looking like anyone
the minute they're not being watched
they all gonna do it they gonna make the mistake
so you just gotta establish your line of discipline
in the workplace um
you gotta look at the
the person's that's working for you um
you gotta look at management style
you gotta
you know kind of get everyone's buy in on that
and I think just in terms of productivity
that can increase um
moral understanding um
you know less absenteeism in the workplace
a lot of things can change
and you do see the positive results
and it's not gonna happen overnight
it's not gonna happen in six months
but it will happen in you know um
12 to you know
your 36 months you will see it eventually down the line
um and I think it's got a lot of positive outcomes
when everyone understands
what is their actual role and duty in a workplace
just like an investment you got a first
put the investment down
and it pays dividends at a later stage
but yes it does
it does pay it does pay definitely cool tamarin
this was absolutely incredible
thank you so much for sharing your time
thank you for sharing your knowledge
I I appreciate your passion
I hear the passion in fact
we can feel it so we thank you for sparing us the time
aww thanks
thanks very much cool
so thank you for tuning in
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