New good work design handbook online

SAFE WORK Australia has launched a new handbook to help businesses meet obligations under the work health and safety laws, reduce worker injury rates, and improve productivity and bottom line.

Safe Work Australia Chief Executive Officer Michelle Baxter said that that well-designed, healthy and safe work allowed workers to have more productive lives, which in turn drives business efficiency.

“Principles of Good Work Design shows businesses how to go about designing out hazards before a worker gets injured, which delivers tangible savings by avoiding the costs associated with incidents that result from poor work design practices,” she explained.

“It is often easier and more cost-effective to address hazards and risks during the planning and design stage. This applies to the places we work in, the things we use at work, as well as to how we design organisational structures, roles and tasks.”

A Safe Work Australia initiative under the Australian Work Health and Safety Strategy 2012–2022 and led by Comcare and WorkCover Queensland, the handbook contains information about the ten principles of good work design and how they can be applied to any workplace, business or industry.

Principles of Good Work Design is a ‘living’ electronic document that will be updated regularly with links to case studies and practical examples from businesses that have successfully applied the good work design principles.

“The handbook complements a range of existing resources available to businesses and work health and safety professionals,” said Ms Baxter.

“Failure to consider how work is designed can result in poor risk management and lost opportunities to innovate and improve the effectiveness and efficiency of work.

Good work design can radically transform the workplace in ways that benefit the business, workers and clients.”

Principles of Good Work Design is available on the Safe Work Australia website.