Principle, process, performance or what? New approaches to OHS standards setting

Abstract

In designing occupational health and safety (OHS) standards, it is vitally important to determine what kinds of measures are most likely to produce best policy outcomes, influence organisational behaviour and achieve genuine improvements in OHS performance, while being enforceable and able to be implemented at an acceptable cost. Crucial considerations in designing OHS standards that meet these criteria are the content and coverage of standards, the type of OHS standards, and the policy framework within which standards are developed and implemented. These issues have major implications not only for regulators, duty holders and potential victims of work-related injury and disease, but also for the overall effectiveness of the regulatory regime. This paper examines these three aspects of OHS standards setting with the aim of developing approaches to standards setting that are capable of meeting OHS regulatory challenges in the 21st century. The particular focus of this paper is standards setting under OHS statutes, regulations and evidentiary standards (explained further in Section 4.5). Section 2 of the paper identifies major structural changes in the nature of work, responsibility and risk, which provide an important context within which standard setting for the early 21st century must take place. It then canvasses some of the challenges presented by the goals of providing comprehensive coverage of OHS risks, extending the influence of OHS regulation to all of the key parties contributing to OHS risks, and ensuring effective coverage of all those exposed to those risks. Section 3 examines the various types of standards that might be invoked to protect OHS, with reference to four main options available: specification, general duties, performance-based and systematic process/systems-based standards. In doing so, it aims to develop a clearer conceptualisation of types of standards, the distinctions between them, and their respective strengths and weaknesses. Section 4 identifies some considerable shortcomings of existing standard setting arrangements and proposes a substantially different mix of standards, which in combination would be more effective in achieving OHS objectives in the context of 21st century work and organisations. These initiatives are designed to stimulate systematic OHS management, to define OHS performance outcomes and targets more clearly, and to specify particular preventive measures, when required. Finally, the broader policy framework for OHS standards setting is briefly surveyed in Section 5. There are recognised challenges posed by concerns about: national consistency; the most appropriate forums and forms of representation to take account of a cross-section of interests; and the processes and criteria for decision-making in OHS standards setting. Some alternatives are canvassed as to how best to achieve a suitable policy framework for OHS standards setting.