What Can the Yellow Wiggle Tell Us About First Aid Training?

Heart attacks are one of Australia’s biggest killers. Every year, around 34,000 Australians and New Zealanders suffer a heart attack outside of hospital. Without the assistance of a trained and qualified first aid officer, cardiac arrests frequently turn deadly – in fact, only one in ten victims of out-of-hospital cardiac arrests survive. Would you know what to do if someone at work suffered a heart attack? Is there someone in your workplace that’s trained to help? Maybe you remember a [...]

Does Australia Lead the Way in Safety Management?

What does ISO 45001 say about Australia's Safety Management? Since 2001, Australia and New Zealand have used the AS/NZS 4801 Occupational health and safety management systems as the premier WHS Standard. The majority of Australian businesses that had WHS Certification were certified to this standard, with a minority certified to OHSAS 18001, originally a British standard but used in many countries. All this has changed with the adoption of ISO 45001:2018, which is now the accepted WHS standard worldwide, and [...]

ISO 45001 is finally here! Now what?

ISO 45001 is the new Occupational Health and Safety Management Standard. If you're not sure what the changes are and how to implement them, take a look at GrowEQ's plain English answers to commonly asked questions.

7 Easy Ways You Can Increase Safety On a Budget

Phil La Duke says the belief that a business has to choose between working safely and making a profit is a very old and deeply held mindset — and it’s usually wrong. Here are seven things any business can do to reduce the risk of worker injuries without adding prohibitive cost.

Good Audits Support Good Managers

Don't cringe when you hear the word 'audit'. Make the most of it. Good managers use audits to add value to their business, by identifying key areas for improvement, driving and measuring better processes, reducing risk and strengthening internal controls.

Top 6 Tips: Choosing a Consultant

You know you need to implement a management system be it ISO 9001 for quality, ISO 14001 for the environment, AS 4801 for safety, ISO 50001 for energy, or a combination of these. You’ve decided that it’s too hard/time consuming/risky to do it yourself. You need a consultant. They have to be experienced, highly effective and hold a successful track record. It’s an important decision, one you can’t afford to get wrong. You need someone who’ll ensure project success. Someone [...]

Is Certification Worth It?

Is Certification Worth It? “To be or not to be that is the question” although I don’t think Hamlet had certification in mind when he said this. It is a decision to be taken on business grounds. Here are some of the reasons why organisations choose certification: By setting a clear goal, certification motivates staff and helps to gain their commitment. Certification improves processes and refines activities. There is nothing like certification for focusing one’s attention on this key requirement. [...]

Simple Rules on Purchasing

Simple Rules on Purchasing – Part I  When it comes to purchasing goods and services for your business the ISO 9001 Quality Management Systems standard is full of good common sense. Here is what it says – 7 Product Realisation 7.4 Purchasing 7.4.1 Purchasing Process The organization shall ensure that purchased product conforms to specified purchase requirements. The type and extent of control applied to the supplier and the purchased product shall be dependent upon the effect of the purchased [...]

What on Earth is Preventive Action?

If the preventive action clause in the management standards confuses you, join the club! Most people find this one confusing – “I record the problems (non conformances) AND I fix them (short term corrective actions) AND I address the root causes of problems (long term corrective actions). What more do they want?” All three of the most popular management systems - ISO 9001 Quality, AS4801 OHS, and ISO 14001 Environmental Management Systems have a preventive action clause. Here is the [...]

Keep it Simple

The following information is so important that it is one of my downloadable Top 5 Essential Tips for ISO systems. Why is it so important? Because a) your management system must be simple and practical or your staff won't use it; b) cumbersome systems don't help a business achieve its goals; and c) overcomplicated systems are expensive to maintain. You need a simple system that effectively helps run the business & meet the needs of both customers & stakeholders. Just [...]