Occupational Health and Safety
Main OH&S website
Visit us at www.communityohs.org.au for information and resources.
VCOSS Community Sector OHS Education Project
Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) is consistently identified as a priority concern for community sector organisations across Victoria, and VCOSS is supporting a number of initiatives in this area. Extensive negotiations between the DHS Community Sector Investment Fund team, the Victorian Council of Social Services (VCOSS) and WorkSafe were undertaken towards addressing Occupational Health and Safety Issues in the sector. The CSIF has funded VCOSS, working in partnership with WorkSafe, to develop and deliver an integrated OHS education strategy for the community services sector. This is a positive and exciting initiative with DHS, WorkSafe and VCOSS working together in partnership to improve OH&S education in the community sector, with an emphasis on small organisations.
“Training aids [on OHS] are available but the training process is not rigorous.”
“There are a huge number of resources in OHS,” said another, “but no one knows how to access them.”
(VCOSS member comments during 2005 training needs analysis)
To assist in providing appropriate and comprehensive training, VCOSS is working in collaboration with WorkSafe Victoria, DHS, relevant peak bodies and trade unions to develop and deliver an integrated OHS education strategy specifically for the community services sector. The VCOSS Community Sector OHS Education Project is the result of this collaborative effort and aims to increase awareness of OHS issues in the community services sector and equip staff, employers and volunteers with the tools to tackle any potential problems.
The first phase of the project was the completion of a needs analysis of OHS resources and training available to the sector. A number of recommendations came out of the needs analysis, including the need to provide sector specific training on OHS, the creation of a community services sector OHS website as well as the development of a campaign around issues associated with occupational violence.
OHS Equipment Grants
VCOSS participated in the WorkSafe Community Sector Prevention Fund Project through the distribution of OHS equipment grants. The grants aimed to support not-for-profit community service organisations (CSOs) in Victoria to improve workplace health and safety through the purchase of equipment and/or modifications to address identified OHS hazards.
CSOs were able to use the one-off grants (of up to $5000 including GST) towards the purchase of equipment and/or modifications which would eliminate or reduce hazards in their workplace.
Please note that the final round of funding has now closed.