Reducing injuries, risk management and avoiding legal proceedings are the major occupational health, safety and risk management concerns facing more than 80% of Australian organisations in the lead up to the New Year.

Business software provider ComOps surveyed more than 300 attendees at last month’s Safety Show in Sydney. It revealed companies are concerned about a wide range of OHS issues including legal, claims and compliance-related activities, environmental management, plant and equipment management, employee health, training and productivity and policies and procedures.

The survey found more than 50% of respondents still use manual or paper-based systems to monitor and analyse safety performance, while 44% use OHS and risk management systems.

Risk Management Institution of Australasia (RMIA) President Brian Roylett told insuranceNEWS.com.au major corporations have risk management IT systems, but smaller companies tend to use manual systems because of the difficulty interfacing a risk management system with the normal business management systems.

The ComOps survey also showed that despite issues relating to auditing, monitoring and management of OHS and risk activities being nominated as a high or critical concern by more than 60% of companies, many organisations still struggle with their reporting.

About one-third of companies say they intend to implement an OHS and risk management system.