Health and Safety Policy

Purpose. States Meridian's commitment to the health, safety and wellbeing of its workers, contractors, students and visitors at both offices, when working remotely and when working at client sites.

1.Commitment

Meridian will provide a safe and healthy working environment and will eliminate or minimise risks to physical and psychological health so far as is reasonably practicable. The firm will meet its duties under the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004 in Victoria and the Work Health and Safety Act 2012 in South Australia and will consult workers on matters that affect their health and safety.

2.Principal hazards

Office based professional work carries hazards that are easy to overlook. Managers must ensure the controls for each are in place and reviewed.

• Sedentary work, workstation ergonomics and eye strain
• Psychological hazards including workload, deadlines and difficult client interactions
• Driving and travel to client sites
• Working alone at client sites or after hours
• Slips, trips and manual handling of boxes and equipment
• Electrical equipment and cabling
• Emergencies in leased buildings

3.Responsibilities

The General Manager holds the officer duty and must exercise due diligence. Department managers must ensure workstation assessments are completed, workloads are monitored and workers know how to raise a concern. Workers must take reasonable care for their own health and safety, follow procedures, report hazards and incidents promptly and take part in consultation.

4.Remote and client site work

Workers who work from home must complete a home workstation checklist annually. Workers attending client sites must follow the client's site induction and safety rules, must record their movements in the shared calendar and must use the working alone check in when on site outside business hours.

5.Psychological health

Meridian will manage psychosocial hazards by planning workloads, setting realistic deadlines, supporting workers after difficult client interactions and providing an employee assistance program. Managers will hold regular one on one meetings and will act on concerns raised.

6.Incident reporting

All injuries, near misses and hazards must be reported on the Incident and Hazard Report Form and entered in the risk and compliance register within one working day. Notifiable incidents must be reported to the Quality, Risk and Compliance Manager immediately so that the regulator can be notified.