Orange is the first Local Government in Australia to gain Federal Occupational Health Safety (OH&S) accreditation.The endorsement under the Office of the Federal Safety Commissioner’s (OFSC) Australian Building and Construction OH&S Accreditation Scheme was achieved as part of the process of developing stage two of the North Orange Bypass Project.
Technical Services Director Chris Devitt said the process of gaining accreditation had been a long and arduous one.
“With this accreditation Council will be able to project manage Stage 2 of the Bypass work using its own resources rather than having to rely on these being provided by an external organisation,” Chris Devitt said.
“This not only helps build skills within Council staff but also provides local OH&S knowledge and expertise, which will benefit the regional construction industry.Council staff also saw this as an opportunity to bring the organisation’s current OH&S systems together under a discrete management framework as required by the Federal accreditation. It will also be useful in future projects such as the Macquarie Pipeline Project and will also be applied to the everyday activities of the whole Council’s workforce.”
The process has taken more than eight months, involving several audits, staff training and extensive documentation
The accreditation allows Council to take on large scale Federally funded projects.
Council joins a group of about 220 organisations around the country with this certification.While the accreditation was important for the bypass project there are numerous other benefits for meeting this high standard.
These include:
- improved safety on all Council work sites
- improved productivity
- setting a benchmark for other Councils for managing safety in Local Government works
- it will further educate local contractors and suppliers in their responsibilities towards OH&S and promote improved processes and systems, which will be required to work for Council under the OFSC system.
For further information contact Technical Services Director Chris Devitt on (02) 6493 8000.
