Did local government monitor, evaluate and improve OHS performance?
To assess whether local government monitored, evaluated and improved OHS performance, we examined their hazard and incident reporting and investigation procedures, whether they used lead indicators to monitor OHS performance, and subsequently evaluated and improved their OHS system. OHS incident management in local government is generally rated as basic or minimal. This operational rather than strategic approach to OHS means that although OHS activity has increased, major risks still may not have been addressed. This could be improved by thorough incident investigation procedures that identify the systemic causes of the OHS management failure, combined with the use of a range of lead indicators. Recording more incidents enables better analysis so that situations can be improved by clearly identifying the root causes of all incidents, removing or treating the causes, and (after some time) evaluating the success or otherwise of the action. Most councils are almost certainly under-reporti
