PEOPLE

Defence's ability to successfully manage occupational health and safety impacts on our capability to defend Australia and its national interests. Protecting our people is the focus of the Occupational Health and Safety Strategic Plan 2004–06. Our objective is to prevent occupational illness, disease and injury by identifying hazards, employing clear risk management principles and by engaging the commitment of our people.

There is always room for improvement. Our occupational health and safety commitment is demonstrated through the Defence Occupational Health and Safety Committee and the Occupational Health, Safety and Compensation Branch, which focused their attention in 2005–06 on the following key areas:

• Implementing the new ADF Rehabilitation Program

In 2004, Defence began redeveloping its rehabilitation system to enhance the management of members being rehabilitated, as well as meet the new legislative requirements of the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2004. Implementation of the new program, known as the ADF Rehabilitation Program, commenced in April 2006. Full implementation is planned to be completed by December 2006.

As part of the new scheme, ADF members requiring rehabilitation now receive early intervention. This involves immediate referral to rehabilitation assessment, coordinated management to deal with injury and illness quickly and the appointment of a case manager to coordinate their rehabilitation program.

• Developing a Capability Maturity Model

In 2005, Defence developed a Capability Maturity Model to determine the current level of capability against the elements of the Defence Occupational Health and Safety Management System. The elements include incident prevention and management to minimise injury and disease. The aim of the model is to inform improvement initiatives in occupational health and safety and to facilitate systematic and sustainable change across Defence. In January 2006, a pilot project commenced to test the utility of the Capability Maturity Model approach.

• Establishing a Defence Centre for Occupational Health

A new Defence Centre for Occupational Health was established as a major initiative to address a key priority of the Defence Occupational Health and Safety Strategic Plan.

The centre, launched on 4 April 2006 by the Minister Assisting the Minister for Defence, the Hon. Bruce Billson MP, provides a range of services to assist with the promotion of health and safety at work. The centre provides advice, information, policy guidance, training, and practical tools to support commanders, managers and supervisors to meet their occupational health and safety responsibilities.

In line with internationally recognised definitions of 'occupational health', the role of the centre is to assist Defence to promote health and improve the prevention of occupational illness and disease by identifying and controlling hazards. The initial work of the centre focused on priority risks identified by the Defence Occupational Health and Safety Committee, including asbestos, beryllium, heat, lead, noise and aviation fuels.

In addition to the above strategies, there are others that are targeted more immediately at improving occupational health and safety performance in the workplace. These projects include the development of hazard identification; maintenance and management skills; guiding incorporation of safety considerations within equipment and procedures from the initial concept specification; and safety in operations.

Agreements with Employees

Defence's commitment to wellbeing and supporting a fair, safe and healthy workplace is reflected in the Defence Collective Agreement 2006–2009. The Defence Occupational Health and Safety Agreement 2006–2008 is currently being negotiated and is due for implementation in late 2006. It will replace the existing Defence Occupational Health and Safety Management/Union Agreement 2001–04.

New Committees

In 2005–06, new Group occupational health and safety committees were established in the Vice Chief of the Defence Force Group and the Corporate Services and Infrastructure Group. In the latter Group, a subcommittee was also formed to guide the Group's integrated management system development and implementation. In the Air Force, the Air Lift Group established a 'Working At Heights' committee involving the Air Lift System Project Office, Defence Health Services, the Ambulance Service of NSW and other stakeholders.

Health and Safety Representatives

In accordance with the Occupational Health and Safety (Commonwealth Employment) Act 1991, health and safety representatives were appointed, with information about the selected representative and deputy, where applicable, placed in each work area. Information about representatives is maintained by Defence's Regional Occupational Health and Safety Coordinators. New representatives and deputies continued to be selected and trained as vacancies arose.

Notification and Reporting of Incidents

The Occupational Health, Safety and Compensation Branch received 12,283 incident reports in 2005–06. Data on incidents reported over the last three years is provided in Table 4.16.

Table 4.16 Incident Reporting⁽¹⁾

	2003–04	2004–05	2005–06
Total Incident Reports(2)	11,737	14,929	12,283
Comcare reportable
Deaths(3)	3	16(4)	2
Serious Personal Injury(5)	651	738	676
Incapacity(6)	940	466	166
Dangerous Occurrence(7)	2,594	5,174	3,565
Total	4,188	6,394	4,409

Investigations by Comcare

Table 4.17 provides details of Comcare investigations undertaken over the last three years.

Table 4.17 Investigations by Comcare⁽¹⁾

Reports	2003–04	2004–05	2005–06
Review of Previous Investigations(2)	–	–	15
Planned Investigations	6	3	–
Targeted Investigations	5	2	1
Reactive Investigations	33	36	18
Whole-of-Agency Investigations	2	4	–
Total	46	45	34

Notices Issued to Defence by Comcare Investigators

Table 4.18 provides details of notices issued to Defence by Comcare investigators over the past three years.

Table 4.18 Comcare Notices⁽¹⁾

Reports	2003–04	2004–05	2005–06
Improvement Notices(2)	5	5	10
Prohibition Notices(3)	3	5	7
Do Not Disturb Notices(4)	6	4	3
Letter of Statutory Obligation(5)	–	1	2
Removal of Plant or Sample(6)	–	2	0
Total	14	17	22

Defence Safety Awards—2006

Defence recognises and encourages its people to look for innovative solutions to local and corporate occupational health and safety issues and, seeks to, communicate these solutions across the whole organisation.

The annual Defence Safety Awards were introduced in 2004. They recognise individuals and teams for their contributions to improving Defence occupational health and safety in the workplace. This year, the number of entries almost doubled those of 2005, demonstrating the growing acceptance by Defence people to improve occupational health and safety and to protect each other from hazards.

The Defence Safety Awards for 2006 were presented to:

Category 1—Best Workplace Health and Safety Management System

• Commendation—Navy Safety Systems*

Category 2—Best Solution to an Identified Workplace Health and Safety Issue

• Winner—HMAS Anzac ship's company for its 'Portable Pontoon' initiative*
• Commendation—Defence Science and Technology Organisation's 'Safety Culture Improvement Program'*
• Commendation—Air Force's Air Lift Group 'Working at Heights' policy*

Category 3—Best Workplace Health and Safety Practices at Unit/Branch Level

• Winner—Navy's Fleet Intermediate Maintenance Activity—Perth*
• Commendation—Air Force's No. 3 Squadron*
• Commendation—HMAS Stuart ship's company

Category 4—Best Individual Contribution to Health and Safety

• Winner—Mr Rodney O'Connor of the F-111 Engines Business Unit, DMO*
• Commendation—Colonel Brett Billett, Army Heat Injury Remediation Program
• Commendation—Squadron Leader Darryl Stokes, implementation of the 'Working at Heights' policy at Air Lift Group

* Denotes Defence submissions to the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Commission 2006 Awards (scheduled for October 2006).

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