IOSH Backs New Health and Safety GRI Reporting Standard
Posted on July 16, 2018
The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), an international standards organisation based in the US, has published its updated and revised standard for reporting on occupational health and safety in corporate and organisational annual reports.
The GRI, which has been active in environmental and sustainability reporting for over 20 years, hopes that the GRI 403 Occupational Health and Safety will improve transparency, giving investors, stakeholders and the public a better view of what’s being achieved.
GRI 403 provides a standardised methodology for measuring and reporting on occupational health and safety impacts on the economy, the environment and society.
Organisations have to report on leading indicators on the implementation of health and safety management systems, and use its standard methodologies for measuring and reporting work-related injuries and ill health.
IOSH has been closely involved in the development of the new standard, working alongside the Center for Safety and Health Sustainability (CSHS) in Chicago.
“Standards like this, supporting transparency in operations and supply chains worldwide, can help ensure reports are meaningful and comparable and drive better health and safety performance – benefiting individuals, businesses and societies.”
Richard Jones, IOSH head of policy and public affairs
IOSH was represented on the GRI 403 working group, and also encouraged its members to respond to a 2012 survey on the issue.
Richard Jones, IOSH head of policy and public affairs, said: “IOSH believes that public reporting of OSH performance helps organisations and their stakeholders to have a better view of when and where attention and resources should be focused for improvement.
“Standards like this, supporting transparency in operations and supply chains worldwide, can help ensure reports are meaningful and comparable and drive better health and safety performance – benefiting individuals, businesses and societies.”
The scope of the new standard includes both wellbeing and mental health, and states that “healthy and safe work conditions involve both prevention of physical and mental harm, and promotion of workers’ health.”
It goes on to say that: “Prevention of harm and promotion of health require an organisation to demonstrate commitment to workers’ health and safety [and]…to engage workers in the development, implementation, and performance evaluation of an occupational health and safety policy, management system and programs that are appropriate to the organisation’s size and activities.”
The standard also responds to the modern world of work, and the increase in self-employment. It states that “worker type” does not determine whether the worker is to be included by the organization in its reported data, and that the organization must act to eliminate hazards and minimize risks to protect all workers from harm.
Source: Health & Safety at Work
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