Workplace Compliance Management Software

Workplace compliance management software is the system an Australian organisation uses to run and evidence its people-facing obligations. It issues policies and captures acknowledgement, assigns and tracks training, logs incidents and hazards, and holds the records a regulator would ask to see. It sits closer to HR and safety than to finance or IT compliance tooling.

That distinction matters more than it used to. The model WHS Regulations now include Division 11, regulations 55A to 55D, requiring a person conducting a business or undertaking to manage psychosocial risks and put control measures in place. Safe Work Australia’s guidance on psychosocial hazards and its model Code of Practice set out the four step risk process behind that duty. Unreasonable workload, poor support, bullying and exposure to violence are hazards to be identified and controlled, and an inspector will look for the assessment, the control measures and the consultation that informed them. A finance-oriented GRC tool rarely holds any of that.

What a workplace system is normally expected to carry:

• current policies, with a record of who acknowledged which version and when
• training assignment, completion and refreshers, for courses such as psychological health and safety and workplace bullying
• separate manager training, because supervisors are the ones expected to act on a report, as in psychological safety training for managers
• incident and hazard reports, and a trail of what was done about each one
• consultation evidence, which workplace surveys are commonly used to gather

Adoption is not uniform across the country. The model WHS laws apply in the harmonised jurisdictions, while Victoria runs its own OHS scheme, so check what applies where you actually operate. Obligations also change over time, so treat this as general information rather than legal advice.

Posts tagged here look at how Australian organisations choose, roll out and get value from these systems. To see it as one platform, visit Sentrient’s workplace compliance system.