How Australia’s nuclear research body ANSTO has prioritized people by strengthening health and safety management through BSI certification to ISO 45001

 

Australia’s Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) is an agency of the Australian federal government. Established over 60 years ago, it is custodian of some of the country’s key national research and science infrastructure, including Australia’s only nuclear reactor. It directly employs 1,400 people across two campuses in Sydney and one in Melbourne, and also works with numerous onsite contractors.

When it comes to workplace health and safety (WHS), the word ‘nuclear’ in ANSTO’s name brings the dangers of radiation to mind, but the wide range of activities it conducts means it must manage a multitude of other hazards too. They include risks from: chemical and biological materials, work in confined spaces and at height, noise, plant and machinery, electrical equipment, construction and maintenance, fieldwork research, manual handling, ergonomic and psychosocial factors. The organization must also plan for emergencies.

BSI certification to ISO 45001 underpins ANSTO’s core value that the health and safety of its people is paramount. It creates trust among its stakeholders, demonstrates responsibility towards them and the wider public, contributes to organizational resilience, and aligns with the Australian government’s commitment to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDGs), notably SDG 8, which promotes decent work and economic growth.

ANSTO’s health and safety challenge

The risks inherent in handling radioactive, chemical, biological and other hazardous materials mean that WHS at ANSTO is heavily regulated. Driven by this need to comply with stringent legislative requirements, the organization’s health and safety management system evolved, and proved effective, over many years.

From 2013, the requirements of the system changed more rapidly, when ANSTO became the operator of the Australian Synchrotron, a radiation facility based in Melbourne, which had some existing regulatory commitments for management system certification that ANSTO needed to maintain. ANSTO also wanted to integrate the two organizations’ health and safety management systems, as well as to benchmark itself against an external standard to continually improve towards best practice.

BSI’s solution

The ideal way to take ANSTO’s WHS system forward proved to be BSI certification to the globally recognized health and safety standard ISO 45001, which it achieved in 2018. ISO 45001 helped the expanded organization comply with the requirements of industry regulators Comcare and ARPANSA, as well as streamline procedures and deliver its integration strategy.

BSI certification to ISO 45001 demonstrates that ANSTO operates a reliable, consistent framework from which it can grow or adapt its overarching WHS system according to emerging needs. The organization is well placed to cope with further change across its diverse facilities and to maintain a culture of trust, focused on prioritizing people.

In addition, ANSTO can now manage all its standards – including ISO 9001 (quality) and ISO 14001 (environmental management) – under the same high-level structure, bringing significant time and resource efficiencies.

Why BSI

  • SHELLEY LEVY, LEADER WHS SYSTEMS, HIGH RELIABILITY, ANSTO

    Ansto logo

  • KAREN WOLFE, GENERAL MANAGER, HIGH RELIABILITY, ANSTO

    People with client