ASSIST IN MAINTAINING AN INFORMATION AND

DATA MANAGEMENT SYSTEM THAT ENABLES

RETRIEVAL AND DISTRIBUTION OF OHS
INFORMATION AND DATA

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3.1 Make recommendations for storage of OHS information and
data in a manner that makes it accessible to stakeholders and
key personnel
3.2 Accurately enter and ethically store OHS information, data and
records
3.3 Identify purposes and appropriate uses of OHS information and
data for meaningful outcomes
3.4 Accurately meet legislated reporting requirements to external
bodies within time limits
3.5 Regularly assess training needs relevant to the management of
the information and data system for appropriate personnel and
actioned as appropriate
3.6 Regularly evaluate information and data management systems
to ensure ease of use and relevance to the needs of the
organisation
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3.1 RECOMMENDATIONS ARE MADE FOR STORAGE OF
OHS INFORMATION
• A systematic approach to OHS
generates a significant amount of data
• Remembering that the principle behind
OHS is about prevention and avoidance
of recurrence of incidents, data storage
has a perhaps surprisingly important
role to play in delivering this principle.

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THE RANGE OF DATA COLLECTED IN A SYSTEMATIC
APPROACH TO OHS INCLUDES:
• Data relating to implementation of OHS plans and processes;

• OHS performance indicators, both outcome and process;

• Hazard registers;

• Incident data including injury and disease;

• MSDSs and registers;

• Risk assessments;

• Job safety analyses; and

• OHS policies and procedures

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CHALLENGES FOR DATA & INFORMATION TO BE
USEFUL
• For data and information to be useful it must be accessible to
and used by stakeholders and key personnel.
• The first challenge is that the stakeholders and key personnel
have to be aware of the need for information and how the
information can be used in a systematic approach to managing
OHS.
• The second challenge for the OHS practitioner is to provide the
information needed by the stakeholders and key personnel in a
way that can be accessed and understood easily.

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FACTORS THAT WILL OPTIMIZE ACCESSIBILITY FOR
STAKEHOLDERS AND KEY PERSONNEL.
• physical access to systems;

• familiarity with systems and software;

• skill of the user in accessing, retrieving and

understanding the application of the information;

• routine outputs/reports of the data

management processes; and

• user interactions and facilities such as pre-

formatted reports.

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3.2 ENTER AND STORE OHS DATA ETHICALLY

• privacy;

• confidentiality;

• access to personal
records; and

• commercial-in-
confidence requirements.

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CONFIDENTIALITY AND PRIVACY

• Privacy relates to control over others’ access

to information about oneself and the
preservation of boundaries against giving
such protected information to others or
receiving unwanted information.
• Confidentiality relates to agreement with a
person or organization about what is done
(and may not be done) with their data.

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• Anonymity is another term that is
sometimes confused with
confidentiality. Anonymity means a lack
of identifiers or information that would
indicate which individuals or
organizations provided which data.

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• Privacy legislation impacts on both the collection and
storage of OHS information and on providing access
to the information.
• Privacy legislation does not give employers the right
to refuse to disclose information on health and safety
to health and safety representatives, OHS
committees or inspectors.

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COMMERCIAL-IN-CONFIDENCE

• The commercial interests of a company

are often given as reasons for not
providing information. The requirement
not to pass on information that may be
commercially sensitive is often
protected in law.

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3.3 IDENTIFY PURPOSES AND APPROPRIATE USES OF
INFORMATION FOR MEANINGFUL OUTCOMES
• There is no simple checklist for measuring OHS performance
nor are there definitive measures for evaluating OHS
performance.
• Thus, it is vital that an organization develop a policy for
measuring OHS performance, including:
• the objectives of the OHS management process;
• the indicators of good performance; and
• how the information will be used in monitoring and
improving OHS performance.
• The processes for data collection, storage and retrieval can then
be developed and maintained to achieve these outcomes.

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3.4 MEETING LEGISLATED REPORTING REQUIREMENTS TO
EXTERNAL BODIES ACCURATELY AND WITHIN TIME LIMITS

• There are legislated requirements for the

reporting of serious incidents and injuries
and for lodging claims for workers’
compensation. There are usually set time
limits for such reporting.
• Early notification is critical as the site must be
preserved until an inspector arrives or directs
otherwise.

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3.5 ASSESSING AND TAKING ACTION ON TRAINING NEEDS RELEVANT TO
THE MANAGEMENT OF THE INFORMATION AND DATA SYSTEM FOR
APPROPRIATE PERSONNEL REGULARLY
• Establishing performance benchmarks for the
management of information and data is an important
part of an OHS management system.
• Action can then be taken to ensure training needs
are analysed through skills audits of existing and new
staff and appropriate training interventions put in
place. Thus, there needs to be a ‘training needs
analysis’ for the OHS data and information system.

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TRAINING NEEDS ANALYSIS INVOLVES:

• collecting and analysing data to identify organisational needs;

• analysing work or tasks to determine knowledge and skills required for safe
and effective performance;

• collecting information to determine the current knowledge and skill profile of

staff in the organisation;

• analysing the information to identify gaps between the needs and the current
skill profile; and

• providing advice, recommendations and options to address the gap between

the needs and the current situation.

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 3.6 EVALUATING THE INFORMATION AND DATA MANAGEMENT SYSTEM REGULARLY
TO ENSURE ITS EASE OF USE AND RELEVANCE TO THE NEEDS OF THE
ORGANISATION

Evaluating the organisation’s OHS information and data management system

needs to be undertaken as a regular part of ongoing system review to ensure:

• Compliance with requirements.

• Security of data according to legal and organisational protocols.

• Data is available to assist review and continuous improvement processes

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