Victoria Police Safer Workplaces Project

Victoria Police would like to better understand the patterns and causes of incidents and injuries among its employees in order to facilitate the design more effective prevention programs. Currently, each year there are approximately 750 accepted workers compensation claims. These represent a subset of all injuries, which in turn represent a subset of all OH&S incidents. There are a wide range of workplace incidents occurring on a daily basis across the diverse workforce of Victoria Police, which lead to injuries and conditions of varying types and severities.As an organisation, Victoria Police experiences a broad array of risks, with police work representing a key component of high risk work. Risks vary according to tasks, and are often unpredictable and in unfamiliar or changing locations which adds to their complexity. Exposure factors include arrest and restraint, manual handling, environmental factors, and operational, behavioural and psychological contributors. However, analysing existing safety data is critical for providing a better understanding of risk exposure and the types of injuries experienced by Victoria Police employees. This information can be used to improve future safety performance.Thus, the overall aim of this project was to better understand the patterns and causes of incidents and injuries among Victoria Police employees, in order to facilitate the design of more effective prevention programs. In June 2016, Monash University researchers began working with Victoria Police to conduct an analysis of OH&S incident and injury data in order to provide an understanding of the factors associated with operational, non-operational and near miss incidents and (physical) injuries over a 3 year period (2012–2015).