Workplace safety specialist Avetta is urging all businesses, including automotive collision repair businesses, to move beyond basic compliance and adopt more proactive health and safety strategies, particularly in high-risk environments such as panel shops.
Marking World Day for Safety and Health at Work – which is recognised today (April 28) – Scott DeBox, Director of Health, Safety and Environmental for NORAM, EMEA and APAC at Avetta, said the people closest to workplace risks are the workers themselves, making their involvement critical to improving safety outcomes.
For panel shops, where technicians work daily with hazardous chemicals, heavy equipment, welding, paint fumes and repetitive physical tasks, DeBox said stronger worker consultation and better visibility of risks were essential to creating safer and healthier workplaces.
“As the people who directly experience day-to-day conditions and the real impact of organisational policies, workers hold the most valuable insights into safe and sustainable operations,” he said.
DeBox said many organisations were recognising that traditional compliance-based safety systems, while necessary, were no longer enough on their own.
Instead, leading businesses were moving toward performance-driven frameworks such as ISO 45001 for occupational health and safety management, supported by ISO 45003, which focuses on psychosocial risks such as stress, fatigue, mental health and workplace culture.
In automotive repair workshops, these issues can be particularly significant, with tight deadlines, insurer pressure and physically demanding work often contributing to mental strain as well as physical hazards.
Avetta provides supply chain risk management, contractor prequalification and workplace safety solutions for businesses across multiple industries, helping organisations improve compliance, contractor oversight and operational safety performance.
Its systems are designed to give employers greater real-time visibility into risks across their workforce and contractor networks, allowing them to move from static assessments to predictive safety management.
DeBox said organisations genuinely committed to improving workplace safety were focusing on continuous improvement rather than box-ticking exercises.
“Organisations genuinely committed to better safety are moving beyond static assessments and toward real-time visibility, predictive insights and continuous improvement,” he said.
He added that worker participation, consultation and psychosocial wellbeing needed to sit at the centre of safer, more resilient workplaces.
For Australia’s panel and collision repair sector, the message is clear: better safety is not just about compliance, but about building healthier workshops where workers feel protected, heard and supported every day.