SAFETY NEWS
The Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Act (2000), OHS Regulation (2001) and the OHS Consultation Code of Practice (2001) require that Charles Sturt University consult with its staff about the manner of occupational health and safety consultation to be adopted by the University and that these agreed arrangements be detailed in an OHS Consultation Statement signed by the Chief Executive Officer of the organisation.
Initial consultation occurred between Human Resources (Environment, Health and Safety) staff, representatives from CSU management and staff associations representing staff at the University. The result was a proposed OHS consultation model, based on the existing approach using OHS Committees that operated at the three major campuses, with employee representatives appointed to represent distinct workgroups or zones. This model provides for an OHS Committee at each campus of the University and denies the use of an alternate legislative clause concerning the appointment of OHS representatives at the request of two or more staff. The proposed model was put to a vote of all staff of the University which closed on 14 June 2004. Of the 500 ballot papers received, being about 30% of the total distributed, 95.7% of valid votes were in favour of the proposal.
An outcome of the vote accepting the OHS consultation proposal, has been the establishment of an OHS Committee at the Dubbo Campus. That committee became operational on 19 August 2004 with the first meeting and election of the Presiding Officer from amongst the employee representatives elected by campus staff. The other campus committees were re-formed at Albury-Wodonga, Bathurst and Wagga Wagga, following elections in July which were determined by the normal two yearly election cycle.
A sample statement contained in Schedule 1 of the Code of Practice was used as a template for the CSU OHS Consultation Statement that the Vice-Chancellor signed on the 13 September 2004, with a web version now in place on the CSU EH&S website for access by staff from the following link.