Office of the Federal Safety Commissioner Accreditation Scheme

Gain OFSC Accreditation and take on lucrative government-funded building works

Whether your company is looking to become OFSC accredited, maintain accreditation, or need help to improve your existing OFSC accredited safety system, our dedicated team can help overcome your specific challenges.

We provide a range of services to help you with Officer of Federal Safety Commissioner accreditation.

We can help you with:

Complete OFSC accreditation advice and support until accreditation is achieved

Expert advice on interpretation of OFSC criteria, audit reports and action plans

Developing OFSC compliant safety management systems and supporting tools

Document review, gap analysis and modification of your existing safety management system to meet OFSC criteria

Facilitating Safety in Design and build-ability review workshops and processes

Developing tailored hazard identification, risk assessment and control (HIRAC) processes

Preparing OFSC Accreditation Scheme applications on your behalf

Attendance at OFSC accreditation audits, surveillance and re-accreditation audits

Review and close-out of OFSC audit findings and corrective actions

Conducting mock OFSC audits to ensure your people are best prepared

Providing your staff with training and coaching in OFSC system requirements and related matters.

Office of the Federal Safety Commissioner Accreditation Scheme

The Federal Government continues to allocate billions in funding to support building and infrastructure projects across Australia.

For building and civil works contractors to be eligible to tender and win those projects, you need to achieve Officer of Federal Safety Commissioner (OFSC) Accreditation. One of the most stringent health and safety system criteria in the world.

The OFSC scheme enables the government to use its influence to improve health and safety performance in the construction industry, and promote the requirement that works must be performed safely, on budget and on time.

Obsequium’s management system consultants have extensive experience and capability in helping your business successfully pass strict OFSC audit criteria, and gain OFSC Accreditation.

From developing and implementing OFSC compliant management system processes, through to supporting you through the onsite audit of your construction projects. Our management system specialists provide practical advice and solutions working directly with you across the entire OFSC application process.

We draw on our extensive insight working in the construction industry and our involvement with Federal government funded building projects to ensure your company is ready in every way.

Why do you need OFSC Accreditation?

If you are a construction or civil works company that wants to take on government funded building projects, then you need to be accredited under the OFSC accreditation scheme.

Depending on certain financial thresholds being met, only builders who are accredited under the scheme can enter into head contracts for building work that is funded directly or indirectly by the Australian Government.

Any project for building work that includes funding from the Australian Government has the potential to require an OFSC accredited builder.

Directly funded projects are building works with a value of $4 million or more, and where an Australian Government agency has responsibility for directly funding the project and its development.

Indirectly funded projects are project where an Australian Government agency contributes funding to a recipient through a funding agreement, grant or program. For example a new school built by state government using funding provided by the Australian Government.

The Scheme applies to building works projects that are indirectly funded by the Australian Government where the head contract includes building works of $4 million or more (GST inclusive) and:

the value of the Australian Government contribution to the project is at least $6 million and represents at least 50% of the total construction project, or
the Australian Government contribution to the project is $10 million or more.

The OFSC scheme enables the government to use its influence as a client to improve health and safety performance in the construction industry, and promote the requirement that works must be performed safely, on budget and on time.

Officer of Federal Safety Commissioner Accreditation Requirements

The Office of the Federal Safety Commissioner works towards achieving the highest possible health and safety standards on Australian building and construction projects.

The OFSC Accreditation Scheme sets a high benchmark required to achieve accreditation, with some applicants taking several months and rounds of audits before being able to successfully reach the safety standards required for accreditation.

Your organisation can benefit from having experienced consultants work with you to progress through the process as we know what to anticipate form audits and how to interpret and meet the strict requirements.

The road to OFSC Accreditation

Achieving accreditation is a two-stage process. You can download Obsequium’seasy to understand OFSC Roadmap to Accreditation here

First a desktop review of your application and gap analysis, and then an on-site audit. The OFSC usually requires at least three active projects to choose from when completing the onsite audit.

A full list of the OFSC Audit Criteria can be access here. In summary, you must satisfy the following criteria to obtain accreditation:

Have an implemented safety management system that complies with all of the OFSC audit criteria
Demonstrated ability to management construction hazards and high-risk activities (19 in total)
Record in relation to workplace safety
On-site audit results
Performance against the following focus points:

Demonstrated senior management commitment to WHS
Integration of safe design principles into the risk management process
Whole of project consultation and communication
Demonstrated effective subcontractor WHS management arrangements
Whole of project performance measurement
WHS training and competency to deal with safety risks

On-site audits by the Federal Safety Commissioner are used to gather evidence and determine whether your organisation has implemented your safety systems in compliance with the OFSC audit criteria.

The on-site audits include sampling project documentation, interviews with your organisation management and project staff and observations of workers including contractors.

Any failures identified by the auditor will need to be addressed with corrective actions and further audits carried out to verify and confirm they have been successfully implemented.

When your company achieves OFSC accreditation for the first time, you will be granted an initial accreditation period of 3 years. After this initial 3 year period, your re-accreditation period can be granted for up to 6 years.

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