Chief
of the Defence Force, Gen Peter Cosgrove, stressed the importance
of safety in the Defence Organisation in his opening address to
the Defence Strategic Direction Seminar held in August.
With this year’s theme ‘Preserving our Capability -
Managing the Risks to People’s Wellbeing’, Gen Cosgrove
said, “Safety is of paramount importance to the ADO.”
Vice Chief Defence Force VADM Russ Shalders sponsored the seminar,
which focused on capability preservation and risk management,
in conjunction with Acting Head Defence Personnel Executive AIRCDRE
Roxley McLennan. It was designed to develop an agreed strategic
direction and framework for Defence safety.
CDF spoke of the imperative of developing a Defence safety team
who would focus closely on two areas: leadership behaviour and
developing a Defence wide safety system.
GEN Cosgrove said, “...at a minimum, the system must provide
valid and accurate information about key safety factors supported
by expert technical appreciation of hazards.” He went on
to say that this information would enable leaders to be proactive
rather than reactive, as the information that could assist them
in their decision-making process would be close at hand.
“On any given day, at least 2050 (or 4.1%) full-time, uniformed
personnel are unfit to deploy because of injury. Injured personnel
are up to 10 times more likely to separate prematurely from the
ADF, and up to seven times as likely to sustain further injury,”
said Acting Secretary, Mr Mick Roche.
He emphasised his commitment to safety by stating that, “we
need to understand that safety must not be considered a bolt on;
just another problem to manage. Safety must firstly be considered
everybody’s individual responsibility, but also as a function
of good management and leadership.”
VCDF re-emphasised the need for leaders at all levels to be committed
to safety. During his address he said, “Safety is a capability
issue. Effective safety management depends on the management of
risk and the sources of risk. These risks are a function of what
we need to do and the way we do it. We must focus on the way we
conduct operations and deliver and support capability if we are
to improve safety”. VCDF went on to say, “Improved safety
can only be delivered through the chain of command because it
is only here that capability risk trade-off judgements can be
made.”
The seminar concluded with a number of key recommendations being
made and agreed by all participants. The recommendations principally
focus on improving the integration and effectiveness of health
and safety management across the Defence.
