OHS policy template · Victoria
OHS policy template Victoria. Work health and safety policy template for small business.
An OHS policy template in Victoria is the occupational health and safety policy you sign and send under the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004. PolicySystem writes that work health and safety policy template for your legal name and the work you do, then keeps version, owner and review date on the live copy. The policy sits in a company-wide OHS management system, with induction, registers and evidence you can send alongside it.
OHS policy template Victoria
WorkSafe Victoria and most Victorian clients say OHS. An OHS policy template in Victoria names the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004. If you also work in NSW or Queensland, the same policy names those jurisdictions in WHS terms. Businesses that also work outside Victoria use the same controlled policy from the WHS policy template. Tick Victoria at setup and the live copy uses OHS.
What you can send
A live OHS policy with version, owner, review date, and draft versus issued. Induction and a training register, hazard and incident registers, SDS and hazardous chemicals, evidence and CAPA. That is the pack most clients mean by "send us your OHS system".
What this is not
Not a site WHS plan, not SWMS, not inspections and not a workers compensation claim system. Not a JAS-ANZ certificate. If a tender also wants ISO 45001, build the system here and engage a JAS-ANZ body for the cert.
What the Victorian framework asks of a small employer
The Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004 puts a general duty on employers to provide a working environment that is safe and without risks to health, so far as is reasonably practicable. The OHS Regulations 2017 add specific duties for hazardous substances, plant, construction, manual handling, noise, confined spaces and falls. The Act also requires consultation with employees and any elected health and safety representatives, and the reporting of notifiable incidents to WorkSafe Victoria. An OHS management system is the documented way of meeting those duties and proving it.
The pack a Victorian client or council expects
- OHS policy, signed and dated, with version and owner.
- Risk management and hazard identification procedure, plus a live hazard register.
- Incident reporting procedure including notifiable incidents, and the register behind it.
- Hazardous substances register with current safety data sheets.
- Induction and training records, including construction induction where relevant.
- Consultation records: toolbox talks, HSR meetings, safety committee where you have one.
- Evidence that management reviews the system and closes corrective actions.
How it works in PolicySystem
Tick Victoria at setup and the policy is written as an OHS policy citing the 2004 Act and WorkSafe Victoria. Add other states and the documents name those jurisdictions too. Procedures are written for the high-risk work you actually do. The registers for hazards, incidents, chemicals, training, evidence and corrective actions open live. The AI internal auditor scores the system against ISO 45001 clauses so you can see the gaps before a client or an assessor does.
Where to next
WHS management system · WHS policy template · ISO 45001 · CM3 pack · FAQ
Common questions.
Victoria did not adopt the model Work Health and Safety Act that most other states passed from 2012. It kept the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004 and the OHS Regulations 2017. The duties are very similar, but the words, the regulator (WorkSafe Victoria) and some of the details differ. A policy that says WHS in Melbourne reads as copied from interstate.
Both. The policy should say it meets the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004 (Vic) and the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (NSW), and the procedures should use OHS or WHS as the context requires. PolicySystem writes the jurisdictions you tick at setup into the documents.
A documented approach to identifying hazards and controlling risk, consultation with employees and health and safety representatives where elected, information and training, incident reporting including notifiable incidents, and records. An OHS management system is how you show all of that in one place.
An OHS management system is the thing itself. ISO 45001 is the standard that describes a good one so it can be audited. If a Victorian client asks for your OHS system they want the documents and registers. If a tender asks for ISO 45001 they want a JAS-ANZ certificate as well. Same system either way.