Len Neist, Executive Director: Health and Safety, Worksafe Victoria - The modern regulator in the...

Victorian workers returning home safe every day

The Modern Regulator in the 21st Century

Len Neist

Executive Director Health & Safety

Victorian WorkCover Authority

Safety In Action Conference Melbourne

26 March 2014

The VWA – helping keep Victoria safe

“It is generally recognised that some degree of regulation is essential for a properly functioning society and economy.

The challenge for government is to deliver effective and efficient regulation – regulation that is effective in addressing an identified problem and efficient in terms of minimising compliance and other costs imposed on the community.

Poor quality regulation can impose unnecessary costs, impede innovation and create unnecessary barriers to trade, investment and economic efficiency” Productivity Commission 2003 – Regulation and its review

A modern regulator presents a balanced and constructive

approach to promoting and ensuring compliance ……….


….but achieving the right balance in OHS regulation can be

more complex than most regulatory environments due to

industry and societal dynamics

Applying OHS regulation consistently becomes

difficult with changes in:

• Industry composition

• Work conditions

• Claim trends

• Culture

• Technology application


What constitutes „good regulation‟ has been the focus of

extensive study

Occupational Health and Safety Review, March 2004 Maxwell.

Proportionate

Accountable

Consistent

Transparent

Targeted

Principles of good regulation Supported by research

Gunningham Braithwaite

Frieberg Sparrow

Supported by International and Federal

Government

VAGO VCEC

Better Regulation

Executive

Australian National

Audit Office


Coverage

As the OHS regulator for Victoria, the VWA primarily

administers two separate Acts

VWA‟s

role

Encourage and enforce workplace health

and safety in Victoria through engagement

and oversight of duty holders

Provide insurance protection to employers

and benefits for injured workers and

promotion of early return to work in a „no

fault‟ scheme

Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004

and related Acts and regulations

Accident Compensation Act 1985

and related Acts and regulations

Historical

origin

Product of the perceived inadequacies of the

earlier private workers' compensation

insurance system from late 19th century

From significant manufacturing activity and

radical Victorian politics in late 19th century –

Government assumed role of protecting

workers

“OHS Regulator”

Influence behaviour of workplace parties

Enforce compliance with Law

“Scheme Administrator”

Insurance and assurance

All Duty Holders in Victoria Victorian employers with employees


As an OHS regulator and protective scheme manager, we

already apply a suite of levers or tools to influence safe

behaviour in duty holders but we can become more

constructive by getting the balance right

Achieving the right balance to exhibit constructive compliance requires a

risk-based approach to setting goals and defining programs


How have we been so far ?

Victoria has the safest workplaces of any state

in Australia – but we can still do better

National

average

7.2

Source: Comparative Performance Monitoring Report; 15th ed; Oct 2013

Taking safety to the next level will require a modern, balanced approach as a

regulator


To move to the next level of sophistication we cannot keep

doing the same and expect a new outcome !

Malcolm Sparrow (2008)

Multiple intertwined issues

No clear cause and effect

relationship

Cannot be solved in isolation

Traditional means haven‟t fully

worked

Requires innovative solutions

(departure from BAU)

Complex “knotty” problem

characteristics

Need to evaluate how we work,

the tools we use and how we

can work with others to develop

strategies to solve these

problems.


0

2,000

4,000

6,000

8,000

10,000

12,000

14,000

Manufacturing Health Care andSocial Assistance

Professional,Scientific and

TechnicalServices

2002/03

2003/04

2004/05

2005/06

2006/07

2007/08

2008/09

2009/10

2010/11

2011/12

2012/13

A modern regulator is flexible or adaptable – it is prepared

to change as its regulated environment changes …….

People employed (‟000) by industry

In 2011/12, Health Care and Social Assistance overtook Retail Trade

as Victoria‟s largest industry in terms of people employed

Manufacturing‟s larger composition of full-time workers maintains its

status as the largest industry by amount of hours worked

Hours worked (‟000) by industry

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

Health Careand SocialAssistance

Retail Trade Manufacturing

553 % 513 % 613% 615 % 549% 555%


Society expects their OHS regulator to change with demographics

and the at work landscape ……….

48%

14%

22%

15 - 24 25 - 54 55 and over

2012/13

2002/03 2012/13

Workforce distribution by age group

Worker type distribution

– largely unchanged VAGO:

Occupational

Health and

Safety Risk in

Public Hospitals

Implications for

VWA

Community Concern

Part-time Full-time

7,000

8,000

9,000

10,000

11,000

12,000

13,000

2007/08 2008/09 2009/10 2010/11 2011/12 2012/13

Manufacturing Health Care and Social Assistance

Gap is closing

Hours worked (‟000) by industry


The VWA has developed a strategy to start the journey to

constructive compliance and becoming a modern

regulator…………..

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In preparing for change, the VWA has defined the foundation

stones that prescribe its purpose ………..

The objects of the Law require

that the VWA regulates and operates to:

secure the health, safety and welfare of employees and other

persons at work

eliminate, at the source, risks to the health, safety or welfare of

employees and other persons at work

ensure that the health and safety of members of the public is

not placed at risk by the conduct of undertakings by employers

and self-employed persons

provide for the involvement of employees, employers, and

organisations representing those persons, in the formulation

and implementation of health, safety and welfare standards

The principles of the Law are intended to

improve health and safety by

ensuring:

employees, other persons at work and members of the public

be given the highest level of protection against risks to their

health and safety that is reasonably practicable in the

circumstances

persons who control or manage matters that give rise or may

give rise to risks to health or safety are responsible for

eliminating or reducing those risks so far as is reasonably

practicable

employers and self-employed persons should be proactive, and

take all reasonably practicable measures, to ensure health and

safety at workplaces and in the conduct of undertakings

employers and employees should exchange information and

ideas about risks to health and safety and measures that can be

taken to eliminate or reduce those risks

employees are entitled, and should be encouraged, to be

represented in relation to health and safety issues The Objects and the Principles of the OHS Law 2014 are underpinned by the Duties

Duties of Employers Duties of Employees Duties of Designers of plant, buildings or structures

Duties of Manufacturers and Suppliers of plant or

substances

Duties of Self-Employed persons

Duties of persons who install, erect or commission plant

Duties of person who manage or control workplaces


To address the changing environment we are reviewing the

way we target risks ……..

Catastrophic risk

High risk

Moderate risk

Lower and emerging risks

industries that pose the threat of

catastrophic events and areas where the

consequences of non-compliance are

severe

Industries, hazards and disorders where

consequences of non-compliance are high

across multiple dimensions


consequences of non-compliance are

moderate to high across a handful of

dimensions


consequences of non-compliance are lower,

but which are monitored and addressed

using broad-reaching tools

Indicative

resource

priority

Highest

High

Medium

Lowest


…. as well as reviewing how we respond to risks to health

and safety


In getting the balance right – In developing a more

constructive compliance approach – the VWA needs to

ensure that duty holders understand when the tools will be

used


Combining a constructive approach to compliance with a risk-

based approach to identifying focus areas is complex but

essential for a modern regulator


Working with our stakeholders and partners, the VWA will

continue to focus on Victorian workers returning home safely

everyday

Principles of good regulation

Len Neist, Executive Director: Health and Safety, Worksafe Victoria - The modern regulator in the...

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