Work, health and safety

This Fact Sheet provides guidance to Construction Contractors and other Delivery Partners on how Infrastructure Canberra implements the ACP for eligible Construction Contracts.

Overview

The Active Certification Policy (ACP) commenced in 2013. The ACP June 2016, which came into effect on 1 July 2016 provides a process to conduct point in time auditing of a Prequalified Contractor’s WHS management system at various stages of a construction project.

This Fact Sheet provides guidance to Construction Contractors and other Delivery Partners on how Infrastructure Canberra (iCBR) implements the ACP for eligible Construction Contracts.

The ACP should be read in conjunction with this Fact Sheet and be understood by all persons who are responsible with meeting the objectives of the ACP. This Fact Sheet does not duplicate content from the ACP.

The ACP encourages an environment that, as far as is reasonably practical attempts to consistently improve WHS on construction projects. Active Certification promotes WHS at an organisational level by reducing the precursors to issues onsite and aligns the Safe Work Australia (SWA) Australian Work Health & Safety Strategy 2012-2022.

Active Certification Auditors assess the principal contractor’s WHS implementation and compliance with their site-specific safety management system, its policies, procedures, and workplace instructions.

Types of Audits

There are two types of Audits conducted under the ACP:

• First Initial Audit occurs at the commencement of a contract before the initiation of the Cyclical Audit cycle;
• Cyclical Audit occurs every thirteen weeks at the Territory’s discretion.

The ACP includes provisions for a Follow-Up Audit and Close Out Audit as part of the First Initial Audit approach. iCBR does not utilise these provisions and transitions from a First Initial Audit to the Cyclical Audit.

First Initial Audit

The First Initial Audit is the first audit undertaken for a contract. The First Initial Audit can result in non-conformances, however, does not result in any Points being allocated (ACP Clause 3.6).  There are three types of First Initial Audits conducted by iCBR as empowered by ACP Clause 4.15:

• Preconstruction audit: The Preconstruction audit is a desktop audit and is the review of the contractor’s safety management systems and site-based management plan (SMP). The Preconstruction audit occurs prior to the commencement of any site works.
• Start-up audit: The start-up audit occurs during the first 1-5 weeks of construction activities commencing on site.
• First Cyclical Audit: In the event that neither a Preconstruction or Start-up audit occurs, the first cyclical audit is considered to be the first initial audit.

Cyclical Audit

There are 2 types of cyclical audits:

• Site Specific Audit: An audit conducted on a specific site for an eligible contract.
• Consolidated Audit: which occurs when a Contractor has control of multiple sites at the same time and there have been no non-conformances identified over two consecutive Audits at any one of those sites. A consolidated audit may focus on a specific WHS matter across all referable sites, or will nominate one site to Audit and attribute the results of that Audit across all referable sites (ACP Clause 4.7). Any new eligible contract will be the subject of at least one site specific audit prior to consideration as part of a Consolidated Audit. Any site which has been the subject of a non-conformance will not be eligible for inclusion in a Consolidated Audit (ACP Clause 4.8).

Structure of Active Certification Audits

Each audit undertaken under the Policy comprises the following structure:

• Audit Planning, including:

1. Agenda setting
2. Developing the assessment form to be used during the audit (ACP Clause 6.6)
3. Sourcing audit material from the Contractor (ACP Clause 6.7)

• Opening Meeting (ACP Clause 6.5)
• Desktop and/or Site Audit conducted (ACP Clause 6.6)
• Close-out meeting (ACP Clause 6.8)
• Interim Audit Report (ACP Clause 6.12) including the Close Out Schedule for any non-conformances (ACP Clause 6.9) is provided.
• Contractor response to non-conformances (ACP Clause 6.9)
• Contractor response to observations (iCBR requirement)
• Final Audit Report (ACP Clause 6.17)

Note: An Auditor may ask to sight copies of records or other materials at any time during the Audit process outlined above (ACP Clause 6.7).

Reasons for Waiving an Audit

The justification for waiving an audit is set out in the ACP clause 4.4, 4.5 and 4.6. Audits can be waived for the following reasons:

• If the Contractor completed work on site ahead of the proposed date for practical completion, has handed over the site or has otherwise vacated the site. (ACP Clause 4.4)
• Where a Contractor has been the subject of a recent audit on another Territory site and that Audit has not given rise to a finding of any non-conformance. (ACP Clause 4.5)
• Where a Contractor has been the subject of two consecutive Cyclical Audits of the same contract which have not given rise to a finding of any non-conformance. (ACP Clause 4.6)
• Where the audit is to be conducted as a Consolidated Audit (ACP Clause 4.7 and 4.8)

In addition to the ACP waive provisions, following a risk assessment, WHS Team – Infrastructure Canberra may waive an audit where:

• The construction works are within 4 weeks of completion.
• Construction work has ceased, been delayed or placed on hold (noting that under ACP Clause 4.2 audits can be conducted ‘at any time during which Construction Work is being performed as part of the Construction Project’ and under ACP Clause 4.3 the timing of an audit should have regard for the period during which there is physical construction activity on site).

In addition, under ACP clause 4.9 an audit can be postponed for up to 4 weeks where a non-conformance on a site controlled by the same contractor has been identified, to enable the contractor to respond to the non-conformance. Administratively, the postponement of an audit follows the same process as the waiving of an audit.

Observations

An auditor may identify in the Interim Audit Report observations on general areas of improvement the Contractor may wish to consider (ACP Clause 6.8).  The WHS Team –Infrastructure Canberra review of the Interim Audit Report may result in an observation being upgraded to non-conformance (in which case the non-conformance and points process is triggered).

iCBR requires the Contractor is to consider any observations and acknowledge and report on any actions taken in response to the observations identified.

Non-conformances and Points Allocation

An auditor may identify a non-conformance where there is an absence, or failure to implement and maintain WHS system elements (ACP Clause 12.1). Upon identification of a major non-conformance (ACP Clause 3.3.1 which defines the levels of non-conformances), the Auditor will immediately verbally notify the WHS Team – Infrastructure Canberra (ACP Clause 6.10).

For all non-conformances the Auditor provides WHS Team – Infrastructure Canberra, Contractor and Authorised Person with the Interim Audit Report outlining the findings of the audit highlighting any non-conformances (ACP Clause 6.12) and the Close Out Schedule that does not exceed 20 business days (ACP Clause 6.9 and 6.14).

The WHS Team – Infrastructure Canberra reviews the non-conformances identified in the Interim Audit Report and the Close Out Schedule. The WHS Team – Infrastructure Canberra may upgrade or downgrade the level of non-conformance, including reducing the non-conformance to an Observation (ACP Clause 6.13).

Points are allocated for non-conformances in accordance with ACP. The Superintendent of Works is the authorised representative of iCBR who may allocate points. Points are awarded in accordance with:

• Clause 8.1 for Initial Points
• Clause 8.3 for Final Points where the Contractor has rectified the non-conformance to the satisfaction of the Superintendent of Works and remain for a period of two years (ACP Clause 8.8)
• Clause 8.4 for Final Points where the Contractor has not rectified the non-conformance to the satisfaction of the Superintendent of Works and remain for a period of two years (ACP Clause 8.8)
• Final Points allocated to a Contractor are considered at the time the Contractor seek to renew, upgrade or apply for prequalification status under any Prequalification Scheme (ACP Clause 8.8).

The Contractor is provided with the opportunity to rectify the non-conformance in accordance with the timeframes outlined in ACP Clause 6.14.

Appeals

ACP Clause 10 outlines the appeals process for Contractors who are dissatisfied with a decision made under the implementation of the ACP. Appeals should be directed, in writing to the ACT Government Chief Engineer.

Further Information

If you require further information on how iCBR implements the ACP, please contact: Email: iCBRwhsactivecertification@act.gov.au

This Fact Sheet provides guidance to Construction Contractors and other Delivery Partners on how to report and respond to an incident on Infrastructure Canberra project sites.

OVERVIEW

Infrastructure Canberra (iCBR) is committed to maintaining safe and healthy workplaces by appropriately responding to workplace incidents, including ensuring:

• affected workers are provided with appropriate care
• the incident is investigated and root cause(s) identified
• information about risks is fed back into our Work Health Safety Management System, and
• lessons are learned and there is less likelihood of the incident recurring.

As a Person Conducting a Business or Undertaking (PCBU), Principal Contractors have a responsibility to manage risks at their worksite. The Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (ACT) requires you to do this by identifying hazards and implementing appropriate controls. You are also obligated to have procedures in place to report workplace incidents within the required time frames.

Reporting of WHS information for iCBR projects is an important process, which enables areas of concern to be identified and assurance secured that you are actively addressing hazards on your site. Incident information can also be used to raise awareness of identified or potential hazards and risks and to contribute to a proactive safety culture.

INCIDENT REPORTING PROCESS

1.Immediately following an incident, you are required to take the following action/s to:

• make incident site safe
• initiate emergency and/or first aid response (as required)
• prevent escalation and preserve incident site, and
• record incident details.

2.Principal Contractors must report all WHS incidents (actual or near-misses) on iCBR project sites to the iCBR Project Officer and cc: iCBRWHS@act.gov.au. In making this initial report, you must provide the following information:

• what occurred
• what was the outcome, i.e., was anyone injured and what level of treatment was required? Details about the incident where there was no injury.
• if you have notified the incident to WorkSafe ACT
• the root cause and contributing factors to the incident, and
• control measures to be implemented to prevent a recurrence.

If you do not have all of the above information immediately, still report the incident as soon as possible

3. The following incident types must be reported to WorkSafe ACT immediately:

• the death of a person, or
• the serious injury or illness of a person, or
• a dangerous incident.

It is the responsibility of the Principal Contractor to ensure all notifiable incidents on iCBR project sites are immediately reported to WorkSafe ACT and iCBR Project Officer.

4. You are responsible for investigating the incident that occurs on your worksite and taking the appropriate corrective actions. Copies of your incident reports (initial and closure) must be submitted to the iCBR Project Officer and iCBRWHS@act.gov.au, so that iCBR has assurance that you are actively addressing hazards on your site and there is less likelihood of the incident recurring.

FURTHER INFORMATION

If you require further information, please contact your iCBR Project Officer or the iCBR WHS Team via email: iCBRWHS@act.gov.au.

iCBR will maintain privacy and confidentiality of personal and health information in accordance with iCBR’s privacy statement and ACT privacy legislation.