Does Your Business Meet Health & Safety Requirements?

Because if you’re selling, it must!

Workplace health and safety has never been a hotter topic. With increasing penalties and even jail time for those who fail to comply, it’s an issue that should be at the top of your list.

WHS has changed over recent years and keeping tabs on new legislation can be an onerous task. Due to Australia’s high incidence of workplace injuries and deaths, the laws are strict and it’s the responsibility of the business owner to keep up.

If you are selling your business, it’s crucial to ensure you are fully compliant with the law and can prove as much to a potential buyer. But don’t panic – getting your business back on track isn’t as hard as you think.

There are many resources available online to help you. A good place to start is Safe Work Australia –
https://www.safeworkaustralia.gov.au/national-safe-work-month/five-steps

Alternatively, you can work with workplace safety consultants and even consider implementing an Australian Standard safety plan.

Take Action

Regular risk assessments and risk management reduce the chance of a workplace accident, protect your resources, improve your brand image and save you money. Taking action also shows your employees that you take their safety seriously.

Up until 2012, the workplace was governed by Occupational Health and Safety (OH&S) laws and these differed according to which state or territory you were in.

This was confusing and left too much room for error so, in 2012, Workplace Health & Safety (WHS) was introduced across all states. One of the most important changes was that business owners were no longer only responsible for their immediate workplace, but also for anyone coming into the workplace. This includes visitors, customers, contractors, suppliers, volunteers.

Do you have the following in place?

If you are selling your business, you should ensure you have the following in place:

 Workplace Health & Safety (WHS) management plan
 Regular WHS risk assessments
 Safe machinery, tools and materials
 Suitable working environment (heating, cooling, ventilation etc)
 Insurance – including workers compensation insurance

Remember, both the employer and employees are responsible for health and safety, so it is also up to each staff member to behave responsibly, wear safety clothing if required, and comply with all health and safety instructions.

It is the business owner/employer’s responsibility, however, to show employees how to correctly and safely use tools and machinery.

Counting the Cost

The cost of not putting the right safety measures in place is too high. As well as the unthinkable impact on the employee and his or her family, your business will be hit by compensation, fines, higher insurance premiums, downtime and poor productivity caused by low staff morale.

One of the biggest costs will be your reputation and customer base. If you’re selling your business, it’s a risk you can’t afford to take.