Worker Consultation
Worker consultation isn't optional. It's a legal requirement under WHS legislation. ReFresh helps you plan consultation sessions, capture worker input, and maintain complete records demonstrating compliance. More importantly, consultation improves risk assessment quality by including those who know the work best.
Compliance Obligation
WHS laws mandate consultation when assessing risks and selecting controls
Under WHS/OHS legislation, you must consult with workers when identifying hazards and assessing risks, making decisions about control measures, changing work arrangements or systems, and proposing changes to workplace policies. Failure to consult results in regulatory penalties, increased scrutiny during investigations, weaker risk assessments, and worker disengagement.
Beyond Compliance
Workers see risks that management documentation misses
Workers on the front line provide critical insights. They identify hidden hazards not visible in organizational documentation, understand practical constraints affecting control effectiveness, reveal workarounds indicating process problems, and notice early warning signs of emerging issues. Effective consultation improves both compliance and risk management outcomes.
Structured Preparation
Schedule and prepare for effective consultation sessions
ReFresh helps you plan consultations systematically. Define the purpose: risk assessment, control decision, or change proposal. Identify participants including affected workers, health and safety representatives, and relevant managers. Prepare materials such as risk data, proposed options, and background information. Set logistics covering time, location, and format. Proper planning ensures productive consultations that meet legal requirements.
Complete Records
Capture all required information during or after consultation
During or immediately after consultation, document essential details. Record date, time, and location. List attendees and their roles. Document topics discussed and link to specific risks or controls. Capture worker input including concerns, suggestions, and questions. Record decisions made and how worker input influenced them. Assign follow-up actions with responsible parties. This documentation demonstrates compliance and creates accountability.
Coverage Analysis
Demonstrate systematic consultation across your organization
ReFresh tracks consultation participation to ensure comprehensive coverage. Monitor attendance records by role, team, and location. Analyze consultation frequency across risk types and hazard categories. Identify which groups have been consulted and which haven't. Gap analysis reveals underrepresented teams or work areas. Systematic tracking demonstrates to regulators that consultation is embedded in your processes.
Integrated Workflow
Connect consultation directly to risk assessments and control decisions
Consultation records integrate with your risk management workflow. Every risk assessment shows consultations conducted for that specific risk, worker input received during assessment, and how feedback influenced severity rating or control selection. Control implementation documentation includes consultation about proposed controls, worker feedback on practicality and effectiveness, and modifications made based on input.
Flexible Capture
Document formal meetings and informal conversations equally well
Not all consultation happens in formal meetings. ReFresh captures consultation across multiple formats. Health and safety representative involvement with specific concerns and recommendations. Health and safety committee meetings with agenda items and resolutions. Toolbox talks and safety moments. One-on-one conversations with workers. Feedback channels and suggestion systems. Survey comments and open-ended responses. All forms of worker input contribute to your consultation record.
Compliance Evidence
Generate reports demonstrating systematic worker consultation
When auditors and regulators review your consultation practices, ReFresh provides comprehensive evidence. Reports show consultation occurred before decisions were made, affected workers were given opportunity to participate, input was considered and documented, and feedback loops were closed with follow-up actions. This documentation satisfies regulatory scrutiny and demonstrates mature consultation processes.
Turn legal obligation into operational advantage
Structured consultation planning with clear objectives and prepared materials. Complete session documentation capturing all required information. Participation tracking ensuring comprehensive coverage. Integration with risk assessment and control workflows. Support for formal and informal consultation. Audit-ready reporting demonstrating compliance.
