Deadline: 19-Apr-23
The WorkSafe Victoria has launched its WorkSafe grants program to support the Victorian workforce and community initiatives that help to reduce workplace harm and improve outcomes for injured workers.
The 2023 WorkSafe Grant funding round will prioritise funding projects that focus on increasing and improving support to Victoria’s network of HSRs.
The Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004 (OHS Act) recognises the important role HSRs play in representing the health and safety interests of employees and states that:
- Employees are entitled, and should be encouraged, to be represented in relation to health and safety issues.
- Employers and employees should exchange information and ideas about risks to health and safety and measures that can be taken to eliminate or reduce those risks.
WorkSafe believes the role of HSRs should be encouraged, supported and protected. They encourage the establishment of designated work groups (DWGs) and the election of HSRs in the workplace. Activities considered for funding include, but are not limited to:
- Initiatives that upskill HSRs.
- Initiatives that demonstrate and highlight the importance and impact of HSRs within Victorian workplaces, in particular the business benefits of HSRs.
- Developing peer support opportunities for HSRs.
- HSR recruitment and retention processes or programs.
- Recognition and reward initiatives for HSRs.
Priorities
- Prevention – Reducing Workplace Harm:
- Focusing on workplaces where most injures are predicted to occur.
- Focusing on the most prevalent causes of fatalities and where they are most likely to occur.
- Supporting workplaces to be mentally healthy, alongside a focus on mental injury prevention.
- Strengthening oversight of current and emerging occupational illness and disease.
- Supporting Victoria’s network of health and safety representatives (HSRs).
- Undertaking educational programs that align with WorkSafe objectives and benefit workers within the Victorian community.
- Promoting knowledge and confidence:
- Developing workplace cultures focused on safety, and shared community workplace safety goals.
- Developing a deeper awareness of what a safe workplace is – no matter when, where or how people work.
- Community Value:
- Connecting people to their community through vibrant and effective workplace, family and support networks.
- Celebrating the diversity of the communities in workplaces free from discrimination, harassment, bullying and other psychosocial hazards.
Funding Information
- Applications for the 2023 WorkSafe Grant funding round will be accepted for projects seeking up to $300,000.
- The funding period will last no more than three (3) years, starting from the date that the Funding Agreement is executed.
- Applicants are required to fully detail and clearly justify their requested budget.
- The final budget granted for successful projects will be at the discretion of WorkSafe.
Funding Principles
WorkSafe Grants are underpinned by the following principles, and applications must address all of the funding principles.
- Prevention-focused: Projects are designed to lead to outcomes that prevent risk of injury in workplaces.
- Creating systems level change: Projects aim to drive systems-level change at an industry and sector level.
- Working in partnership: Projects must have evidence of being developed in consultation with workplace leaders, HSRs and employees. Projects designed in collaboration and partnership with industry groups, employee and employer representative bodies are encouraged.
- Working with experts: Projects must be based on evidence and reviewed by the appropriately qualified internal/external experts, such as ergonomists, OHS specialists or organisational psychologists. Collaborations and partnerships that combine expertise, knowledge and resources to achieve the shared goals are encouraged.
- Sustainability: The project scope is to include a plan to sustain the project’s benefits beyond the funding period, such as through continuous improvement. Projects must show evidence of commitment from leadership in the workplace(s). During the implementation period, a plan must also be developed to share learnings and outcomes, and resources (if available) industry-wide and with WorkSafe Victoria.
- Encouraging innovation: Projects should seek to trial new ways of problem solving, especially those that can be expanded and scaled up, or that have been demonstrated to be successful and can be trialed with new industries, sectors and target groups.
- Evidence of implementation and evaluation: Projects must be fully evaluated by a suitably qualified evaluator. The evaluation must detail all aspects of the project, planning, stakeholder engagement, implementation challenges, successes and learnings for future projects.
Eligibility Criteria
- WorkSafe Grants are underpinned by a strict set of eligibility requirements and conditions. Please consider these carefully when completing your application.
- Applicants must be organisations with an ABN, including but not limited to community groups and/or local organisations, employers, or representative groups of employers or employees. Applicants must also demonstrate the necessary expertise, resources and capacity to undertake, manage and evaluate the proposed initiative.
- Applicants must be financially capable to deliver the proposed initiative.
- In order to meet eligibility requirements, an application must:
- Align to the funding principles;
- Be from an organisation registered for GST and an ABN;
- Target Victorian workplaces;
- Include best practice and evidence-based approaches where possible, and provide evidence to support the application (this may be internal data from a workplace or published peer reviewed literature);
- Demonstrate value for money and sustainability beyond the grant funding;
- Include evidence of support for the program/approach from all proposed partner organisations, if the project is being delivered as a partnership;
- Allocate a reasonable percentage of project budget towards contracting experts if required;
- Allocate a reasonable percentage (approximately 10%) of project budget towards monitoring and evaluation;
- Allocate a reasonable percentage of project budget, according to scale and scope, towards salary (FTE) costs if required (not including engagement with subject matter experts or professional services).
- Maintain or obtain the appropriate type and level of insurance(s) for the activities that are the subject of this grant application; such as public liability or product liability insurance.
For more information, visit WorkSafe.