Public Sector Amalgamations and Health and Safety?

With the State Government amalgamations program focussing largely on Corporate structure, health and safety management staffing and systems is an area that will receive and require attention.

There’s very few examples of Government Agencies maintaining more than one health and safety management system. So if you’re in an amalgamated agency, the task of integrating health and safety management systems is one that if not already on the “to do” list, is likely to appear on it shortly.

Whilst there is substantial guidance around about managing organisational change, it’s a little harder to find information focussing on intergrating health and safety systems. We think these two pieces of guidance could be relevant and helpful in the OSH space.

  1. Case study of the Gosford Council integrating their OHS system with their Environmental Health system. This case study provides a detailed insight into how a Government body went through the process of combining two systems (each with their own set of staff who took pride in what was there) into one quality integrated system. Not two agencies….but it’s relevant.
  2. Looking After Employees During Times of Change – this Comcare tool succinctly outlines how to incorporate health and safety into the organisation change process.

For further information, see the Public Sector Commission’s website dedicated to providing guidance and support on the Amalgamations – 2017 Machinery of Government Changes.