Risk Management Policy

Policy

This policy provides direction to all employees regarding the implementation of effective risk management in the provision of our services and understanding and fulfilling their risk management responsibilities.

Keto Australia ensures:

• risk management is implemented in all our services, processes and activities
• ongoing compliance with all relevant legal and other requirements is in place
• a proactive approach for identifying risks is developed, led and promoted
• identified risks are analysed and evaluated
• treatment and control measures are planned and implemented
• the efficiency and effectiveness of the risk management process are monitored and reviewed
• identified risks and control measures are consulted and communicated with employees and other relevant interested parties
• the risk register and related processes are reviewed and updated after each incident or complaint
• relevant records and information are maintained appropriately
• the risk management system includes emergency and disaster planning.
• risk assessments are regularly undertaken and consider the degree to which participants rely on the provider’s services to meet their daily living needs and the extent to which their health and safety would be affected if those services were disrupted.
• infection prevention and control standard precautions are implemented throughout all settings.

Procedure

Keto Australia will identify and record the potential hazards, assess the risk level associated with each potential hazard, and define the controls necessary to manage the hazards.

Control measures are established for identified hazards in accordance with the hierarchy of control and applicable legal and other requirements.

The risk management process will be evaluated yearly to verify that all processes remain effective.

Keto Australia will ensure that all employees, workers, participants and their family/support network are consulted and communicated, and relevant reports and information are maintained appropriately. 

A hazard is a situation with the potential to cause injury or harm or otherwise affect the health and safety of persons at the worksite.

The hazard identification process considers the sources of risks and hazards by evaluating tasks, activities, work practices and environments that may present a risk. This process includes all identifiable and potential risks but not be limited to:

• consultation with the participants and their family/support network
• incident reports
• complaints and feedback
• hazard identification reports
• workplace inspections and audits
• changes in operations, processes, activities, knowledge and information about hazards

A risk is a chance, however big or small, of a hazard causing harm.

Risk information will be maintained through the ‘Risk Assessment Register’.

Once hazards have been identified, it is essential to determine which of the hazards are the most serious and implement controls to mitigate the risks for these hazards first.

It is necessary to determine the worst possible risks from the hazard in terms of 

• death,
• injury,
• illness,
• damage,
• cost
• public safety,
• prosecution,
• worker’s compensation.

Then, it is considered how likely these risks are to happen, particularly concerning:

• how often you do the task
• how often people are near the hazard
• whether the hazard has occurred before (either on this site or otherwise in your experience, personal or otherwise)
• whether there have been near-misses

Risk Assessment Matrix

Likelihood		Consequence		Risk Rating
					C1	C2	C3	C4
L1	Rare:	C1	Insignificant:	L1	1	2	3	4
	Conceivable, but only in extreme circumstances		No treatment is required; only minor first-aid
L2	Unlikely:	C2	Minor:	L2	2	4	6	8
	It could occur at some time in limited circumstances		Minor injury requiring First Aid or Medical treatment (e.g. minor cuts, bruises, bumps)
L3	Likely:	C3	Moderate:	L3	3	6	9	12
	It might occur in some circumstances, but infrequently		Serious injury requiring specialist medical treatment or hospitalisation
L4	Very Likely:	C4	Major:	L4	4	8	12	16
	It Will probably occur in many circumstances		Death, permanent disability

 

Hierarchy Of Controls

HIGHEST	Low Risk	MOST
⇑	Elimination: Risk will be eliminated where possible	⇑
Level of health & safety protection		Reliability of control measures
	Medium Risk
	Substitution – Isolation - Engineering: Where risk remains, one / combination of controls will be used
	High Risk
	Administrative: Where risk remains, administrative controls will be used Personal Protective Equipment (PPE): Where risk still remains, it will be reduced as far as reasonably practicable with the use of PPE.
⇓		⇓
LOWEST		LEAST

 

Evaluation of risks involves determining whether the level of risk is acceptable or needs to be attended to.

An informed decision to accept risk with either no management or existing management strategies is based on acceptance of the likelihood and consequences of the particular risk.

If a risk is deemed unacceptable (High Risk), a management plan will be developed and implemented to manage the risk.

All risks associated with the hazards, risk evaluation, determination of control measures to eliminate or mitigate the hazards and risks and residual risk rating are recorded in the ‘Risk Assessment Register’.

Keto Australia encourages all workers to report hazards immediately. Reporting hazards can be done through consultation meetings, informal communication with the management team and by completing a ‘Hazard Identification Report Form’.

The Keto Australia management team will respond to the hazard report immediately and take whatever action is appropriate. Workers will then be consulted about the actions taken and if further actions are required.

Monitoring and review of all aspects of the risk management process will be carried out at least once a year, or in case of any changes in operations, processes, activities, knowledge and information about hazards that occur throughout the organisation, to:

• minimise the work-related injury and ill-health
• ensure the risk management process is effective and efficient
• ensure the treatment plans and control measures are appropriate and effective
• improve risk assessment process continuously

Risk information will be reported and maintained through appropriate documentation and notification. Hazard/risk reporting is completed using the ‘Hazard Identification Report Form’.

‘Risk Assessment Register’ will be maintained and updated.

As an integral part of our Risk Management system, we determine the measures to enable continuity of support critical to each participant's safety, health and well-being before, during and after an emergency or disaster in the ‘Emergency and Disaster Management Plan’. In our Emergency and Disaster Management Plan, we consider any disruption in our service that our participants rely on for their daily living needs and might affect our participant’s health and safety. We annually review our ‘Emergency and Disaster Management Plan’ to ensure it is up-to-date and appropriate considering changes in our situation.

We follow infection prevention and control standards and best practices, such as COVID-19 guidelines and also communicate them with our workers and participants through our Easy-read documents.

As a registered NDIS provider, we will identify the people with the risked-assessed role and document that in the ‘Worker Employment Register’ and ensure that they have a worker screening clearance.

Risk-assessed roles include

• Roles that directly deliver specified kinds of services or supports to a person with a disability according to the list of specified services and support.
• Roles whose normal duties are likely to require more than incidental contact with a person with a disability. This considers the intimacy of the role (e.g., physical contact with the participant), whether rapport with the participant is required, and the frequency and regularity of the contact. This includes other personnel who are not directly employed or engaged by the provider but perform work at the premises or a registered provider or as part of the provision of support and services to any person with a disability.

Key personnel such as those holding executive, senior management and operational positions in a registered NDIS provider, for example, as a Chief Executive Officer, Chairperson or Board Member.