Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute's WHS Statement of Commitment

The Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute (VCCRI) aspires to best practice in health and safety performance. Health and safety must be incorporated into every aspect of our work. VCCRI is committed to meeting the requirements of the NSW Health and Safety legislations to ensure we have a safe and healthy workplace.

VCCRI commits to:

• Providing a safe and healthy workplace by reducing the risk to physical and psychosocial injuries and ill health.
• Ensuring compliance with health and safety legislation, regulations, standards, and codes of practice.
• Providing a positive safety culture in which all employees, contractors and visitors are encouraged to highlight hazards, risks, incidents, non-conformances, and unsafe situations, or any other WHS issues.
• Establishing clear objectives and targets, ensuring they are monitored through departmental, faculty, board, and all staff meetings.
• Ensuring that the WHS Management System (WHSMS) is implemented to protect people from health and safety risks.
• Implementing a risk management framework to identify, assess, control and review hazards using the hierarchy of controls.
• Encourage in the active participation of all employees, contractors, representatives, and visitors in health and safety through consultation and communication.
• Continually improving the health and safety performance through regular risk assessments, internal and external audits, evaluation, and identifying opportunities for improvement planning.
• Ensuring that health and safety responsibilities and accountabilities for employees, contractors and visitors are identified, clear, reasonable, and easy to understand so that everyone is aware of what their role is in working to ensure a safe workplace.
• Ensuring injured employees are returned to suitable work at the earliest possible opportunity through effective injury management.
• Providing the resources and expertise necessary to fulfil the Institute’s WHS Commitment.

Workers have a duty of care to:

• Take reasonable care for their own health and safety.
• Follow safe working procedures applicable to their work.
• Comply with any reasonable health and safety instruction.
• Identify and report any hazards and take preventative action, if appropriate.
• Ensure that the workplace is in a condition that is safe and without risks to health.
• Actively participate and consult with the Institute in ensuring a safe workplace.
• Consider the health and safety of other people who may be affected by their actions or inactions.

I am personally committed to ensuring Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute provides a safe and healthy environment for our workers, contractors, visitors, and others. I willingly accept accountability for ensuring our workplace is legally compliant and continually strive to improve safety. My expectation is that everyone at the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute supports me by accepting that we all have a personal responsibility for working safely.

Signed

Professor Jason Kovacic
Executive Director