In the last edition of OH&S Insight (here) we discussed how the Building and Construction OHS Accreditation Scheme (the Scheme) operates. Since then it has become apparent that there is still significant industry concern as to the number of OH&S accreditation schemes that employers (particularly principal contractors) need to comply with in order to obtain government-funded work. Accreditation is required for government work worth more than $3 million and indirectly-funded government work where the government contributes at least $5 million (representing at least 50% of the total construction value) or $10 million or more (irrespective of the total construction value). It is important for affected business to stay up to date, in order to ensure they know how to obtain and/or retain their accreditation.

New developments

There have been some new developments that you need to know about if the Scheme applies to your business, or you are intending on joining, including:

• changes to Accredited Contractor reporting requirements;
• new Incident Report Forms; and
• an updated Performance Comparison tool which enables companies to better understand where they stand in terms of OHS performance within the Scheme.

Changes to Accredited Contractor reporting requirements

As you may know, reporting is a key condition of accreditation for the Scheme. The changes to the existing reports are as follows:

• more information is now required when providing an Incident Report;
• when completing a Biannual Activity Report, a business must provide breakdowns of incidents by construction type; and
• Monthly Reports for Scheme Projects and End of Project Reports have been replaced by a six monthly Scheme Project Report, which will (by necessity) require a lot of detail. It may be worthwhile for your business to continue informally compiling Monthly Reports so that you do not have to risk drafting the six monthly Report without records.

Changes to Incident Report Forms

If you are an accredited contractor, you must complete the updated Incident Report if any of the following occur:

• A fatality (regardless of the size of the project) – you must provide a report within 48 hours of the fatality occurring, and the fatality must be notified immediately by calling 1800 652 500;
• An incident which results in a Lost Time Injury and/or an Alternate Work Injury (only for projects with a value of $3 million). You must provide an incident report form within 48 hours if it is a Notifiable Incident, or otherwise within 3 weeks;
• A Medically Treated Injury or dangerous occurrence on a Scheme project – you must provide a report within 48 hours for a Notifiable Incident, otherwise within 3 weeks. It is important to note that Medically Treated Injuries need only be reported where they occur on a Scheme project.

You can also now report incidents (using the Incident Reports) via the Federal Safety Commissioner’s website. If that does not work for any reason you can email reports to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or fax them to 02 6121 9270.

Updated Performance Comparison Tool

The Performance Comparison Tool is available on the OFSC here and is provided for accredited contractors so that they can compare the safety performance of their business against their competitors.

The tool is useful because it helps businesses compare against their competitors the amount of time they lose due to injury and the number and frequency of medically treated injuries. After you input the data you will receive a performance comparison result in a percentile range which will show you how your business performs against other accredited contractors. The tool has been updated recently so that the results are more easily understandable.

The Future

With the move to harmonised laws in 2012, it is likely that there will be further tightening of the requirements on participants in the scheme. This is because the safety regulator will be determined that there is no suggestion of standards falling after the introduction of uniform laws.

Further information on accreditation and the changes can be found on the OFSC website.

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