Reviewing Policy and Compliance: The Key Considerations
By 14 Jan 2020
In a rapidly evolving world, organisations must constantly grow and adjust to remain current. Business compliance is no different, requiring constant evolution to ensure staff are sufficiently informed and the organisation protected from liability in the event of an incident on site.
Too often we see organisations waiting for an incident to occur before they are prompted into a review of their existing policies. This reactive approach leads to the occurrence of avoidable incidents, negative experiences for staff and the exposure of the organisation to potential legal action.
Compliance experts recommend a scheduled annual review of all policies to ensure that they are relevant, up to date and achieving the desired results. To help, we have outlined some of the key considerations in identifying if updates are required.
Are Your Policies Outdated?
Advancements in technology
New technology brings with it previously non-existent challenges to those who manage risk and compliance within an organisation. One of the more obvious examples of this from the past decade was the rise of social media, bringing with it new challenges relating to information sharing, privacy, defamation, harassment and discrimination.
Consider, ‘Has new technology been introduced which could create privacy or safety concerns for my team members?’
Updates to Law and Legislation
Government changes to law and legislation can result in a policy which was once up to standard falling short or even the need for a new policy all together. An excellent example of this is changes to the Corporations Act 2001(Cth) made in mid-2019 which resulted in all Australian corporations being required to have a whistle-blower policy implemented.
Consider, ‘Have changes to law or legislation been made which may have an effect my business?’
Societal Change
As times change, so does societies view on acceptable behaviour. While this may not be as clear cut as the introduction of a new piece of technology or the change to a law, it is still an extremely important topic to review in the interest of both staff morale and public perception of the organisation. An example of this from the past decade was the rise in awareness of pollution of our environment and calls for organisations to take more responsibility with sustainability and waste management, leading to many organisations putting policies in place to address these concerns.
Consider, ‘Are there new trending topics of conversation which our policy should address?’
Are Your Policies Achieving the desired Outcome?
Policies are in place to ensure that your team members understand the expected behaviours and procedures in the workplace. Whilst the correct implementation of policy will protect your organisation from liability in the event of an incident, the primary goal should be to provide the knowledge which will help prevent the incident happening at all.
Incidents occurring regardless of the presence of a policy designed to prevent them may indicate that the policy requires updating or that additional training material is required. While a policy outlines right a wrong behaviour, additional training material may be required to help with practical application in different scenarios.
Consider, ‘Have we seen repeat incidents on site, despite that exitance of a policy designed to prevent these?’
What Do Your Staff Think?
The simplest way to review your existing compliance policies is to ask for the opinion of those who are tasked with completing them – your staff.
Ask:
‘Do our policies leave you confident in your understanding of expected behaviours?’
‘Are these expectations reasonable?’
‘Do you feel all topics have been covered?’
If staff are answering ‘no’ to any of these questions, it indicates that you need to dive a little deeper into the review of your existing policies.
Engage a Compliance Provider
Constantly reviewing and updating your organisations compliance policies can be an extremely time-consuming task, especially if your organisation does not have a dedicated resource to do so. Each year employers pay millions of dollars in unfair dismissal claims alone, leading many to turn to a compliance provider to ensure they are never left exposed to liability.
MindAtlas offers TicBox, an online digital compliance platform complete with over 100 expertly written, interactive and engaging policies, designed to maximise information retention, which can be distributed to staff at the click of a button. Staff can complete and sign off policies from anywhere using their smart device, with a digital record then being stored for both staff and managers to review as required.
TicBox policies are constantly reviewed and updated by our compliance experts, providing our client partners with the peace of mind that they are always protected.
For more information on how the TicBox platform can ensure your organisation is meeting its compliance obligations, contact us at info@mindatlas.com.