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Chapter 5

DMO People

This chapter provides a summary of personnel initiatives for 2005–06 and a summary of the DMO workforce including personnel numbers, people priorities and initiatives, Workplace Health and Safety, and Performance Pay.

DMO People Strategy

Workplace Health and Safety

The DMO is committed to achieving and sustaining the highest practical occupational health, safety and wellbeing standards for its people. In support of this aim, the DMO (through the DMO Safety Council) has focused its attention during 2005–06 on the following key initiatives:

  • Occupational Health and Safety Audit—the DMO undertakes annual occupational health and safety systems audits of DMO workplaces. Areas that require attention are addressed through the development and implementation of workplace occupational health and safety action plans.
  • Chrysotile Asbestos Management—Consistent with Government Regulatory requirements, the DMO has implemented an identification and substitution program to remove chrysotile asbestos from materiel.
  • Safety Policy 2005—the DMO reviewed and revised its high-level occupational health and safety policy statement and re-issued it on 13 October 2005.
  • Illness and Injury Intervention Pilot—during 2005–06, the DMO conducted a pilot program to achieve an early and effective return to work of ill or injured employees. Evaluation will be effected in the latter part of 2006.
  • Safety Culture and Leadership—the DMO has developed initiatives for embedding a strong occupational health and safety culture. DMO executives set the expectations, approaches and culture to drive positive occupational health and safety outcomes.

Designated Work Groups and Committees

In accordance with the Occupational Health and Safety (Commonwealth Employment) Act 1991, health and safety representatives are elected or selected within designated work groups across the DMO. Health and Safety Committees are established at DMO workplaces ensuring representation of employees by health and safety representatives.

At the corporate level within the DMO, the DMO Safety Council provides strategic guidance to its Divisions on health and safety. The DMO operates within the Defence Occupational Health and Safety Management/Union Agreement 2001–04. The agreement was renewed to 30 June 2006.

A new agreement is currently being negotiated by Defence and is due for implementation in late 2006.

Notification and Reporting of Incidents TO COMCARE

During 2005–06, 277 incident reports were received. Advice to Comcare is based on four categories of incidents: dangerous occurrences, incidents resulting in incapacity, serious personal injury and death.

Data on incidents over a three-year period is provided in Table 5.12.

Comcare was formally advised of 53 incidents. The remaining 224 incidents were managed internally.

Investigations by Comcare

Table 5.13 and 5.14 provide details of Comcare investigations and notices issued into DMO occupational health and safety matters, undertaken over the last three years.

Table 5.12 DMO—Incident Reporting in the DMO 2003 to 2006
  2003–04 2004–05 2005–06
Required to report to Comcare
Deaths - - -
Serious Personal Injury (1) 9 19 20
Dangerous Occurrences (2) - 25 31
Incapacity (3) 8 5 2
Total Reports to Comcare 17 49 53
Internally Managed Incidents(4) 155 230 224
Total Incident reports 172 279 277

Notes:

  1. Serious Personal Injury is defined as an injury or disease in a person caused by a work-related incident for which the person needs to be given emergency treatment by a registered medical practitioner, treated in hospital as a casualty without being admitted to hospital, or admitted to hospital.
  2. A dangerous occurrence is a near miss event that could have, but did not, result in incapacity, serious personal injury or fatality.
  3. Incapacity in being unable to perform DMO work for 30 or more consecutive days or shifts.
  4. Serious personal injury, dangerous occurrences and incapacities were reported formally to Comcare.
Table 5.13 DMO—Investigations by COMCARE in the DMO 2003 to 2006
  2003–04 2004–05 2005–06
Planned investigation - 4 -
Targeted investigations - - -
Reactive investigations - - 2
Whole of agency investigations - 1 -
Review of previous investigations 1 1 -
Total 1 6 2

Notices issued to the DMO by Comcare Investigators

Table 5.14 DMO—COMCARE Notices Issued to the DMO 2003 to 2006
  2003–04 2004–05 2005–06
Improvement notices - - -
Prohibition notices - - -
"Do Not Disturb" notices (1) - - 1
Letter of statutory obligation - - -
Removal or plant or sample - - -
Total - - 1

Note:

  1. Issued for a specific period of time to remove a threat to the health or safety of personnel.

DMO Safety Awards

In May 2006, the DMO established a health and safety awards program to recognise and reward health and safety excellence within the DMO. The DMO program will act as a feeder into the Defence Safety Awards and ultimately into the national health and safety awards program conducted by the Safety Rehabilitation and Compensation Commission.

During 2005–06, DMO staff participated in the Defence Safety Award program. A DMO employee from the F-111C Engine Business Unit—Mr Rodney O'Connor—won the best individual contribution to health and safety award.

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