The country’s first Safety in Design Toolkit for built environment consultants will be launched next week in Sydney.
The toolkit will be launched on October 25, 2012, by industry association Consult Australia.
Developed following the recent harmonisation of Workplace Health and Safety (WHS) laws across Australia, the Toolkit will assist professionals to comply with new legislation and coincides with National Safe Work Australia Week.
Consult Australia CEO Megan Motto said this is the first collection of best practice material that draws directly from the intellectual property of the industry’s largest consulting firms.
She said the toolkit will assist firms to develop updated policies and procedures that reflect new WHS laws, and will assist in alleviating much of the stress associated with this transition process.
“A number of states have already passed the new legislation and the South Australian parliament is expected to announce that they’ll be moving to this new model next week,” Motto said.
“Adapting to these new changes presents a resource-intensive challenge for many firms, particularly smaller organisations with limited internal capacity and no in-house legal counsel.
“This type of initiative is a fantastic example of how the industry’s major players can come together to selflessly support each other and their SME counterparts.”
The kit includes: a flowchart of actions that should be undertaken throughout the design process; links to relevant information documents; hazard risk register and safety report templates; and the industry’s first template letter to clients.
