With the onset of summer and some exceptionally hot weather across Australia, the Australian Institute of Health and Safety is reminding all employers to prepare their workplaces and workers for extreme heat conditions. They are urging all employers to protect workers from the dangers of extreme heat and the escalating risk of climate change.
Climate related impacts are escalating and are causing severe weather conditions – these can include bushfires, floods, storms and extreme heat conditions. These events create new workplace hazards and can have flow on impacts to the physical and psychological health and safety of workers.
These climate impacts can result in fatigue, heat stress and dehydration, as well as reduced productivity, reduced cognition and can lead to increases in incidents and injuries.
In fact, the Australian Government’s Institute of Health and Welfare statistics advise us that, in the last few years, exposure to excessive natural heat was the “most common cause leading to injury hospitalisation for all states and territories”.
Workplaces should review their current practices to ensure they are fit for purpose and consider the impacts of escalating climate events.
So where does Enterprise Risk Management fit in?
In Australia, we have mandatory climate impact reporting requirements, and this reporting is not just for the “big end of town”. Reporting requirements have now become effective for smaller organisations, with the first step in the process being to identify climate related risks and opportunities. One of your key considerations will be your organisation’s WHS program. But we must also think more broadly and take an enterprise view of the risks and opportunities.
Over the course of the next few weeks, we will delve into:
- How to identify Enterprise Risks related to climate impacts – business continuity, key supplier, legal, insurance and reputation are just some of the enterprise risks to consider
- The Mandatory Reporting requirements for Australian businesses, and
- Terminology – starting to unpack some of the language we need to become familiar with and exactly what it means
But for now, let’s start with some key actions to get your climate risks and opportunities journey underway……
- Consult with workers to get their input and complete your WHS Risk Assessment to mitigate risks of heat exposure and other climate impacts
- Jump on the ASIC webpage and have a look at their reporting requirements guide (Pro Tip: they have a great small business explainer!)
- Review your Enterprise Risk Register to see how climate impacts could affect your organisational risk categories
If you want support with how to get underway, reach out to us at The Mindful Risk Group for advice and a chat.
For other free risk management and WHS resources, click on the link below to access all of our past email blogs.
Have a great week,
Bron and the Team