Overview of Workplace Health and Safety
Question:
Discuss About The Hazard Identification Assessment Control?
Workplace health and safety or WHS, refers to the evaluation and the mitigation of risks, which have the capability of having an impact on the welfare, the safety and the health of individuals at workplace. WHS includes the welfare of all the people at workplace, which includes consumers, contractors, visitors, suppliers, volunteers, consumers, and the employees (Department of Industry, Innovation and Science, 2018). This discussion presents the various facets of WHS norms in Australia.
In Australia, the WHS laws are present at both commonwealth level and state level. The Work Health and Safety Act, 2011 has similar provisions as the state level Work Health and Safety Acts. Along with this, there is a need to follow the Work Health and Safety Regulations, 2011. The workplaces are required to comply with these laws and make proper arrangements for safety at workplaces, which includes guidance on safe working, guidance on how to deal with emergency and the duties of the employees, where they do not put themselves or others in danger (Archer et al. 2014).
This aspect is related to the duty imposed on specified areas of work and on such groups or teams which lead such area of work. It relates to the knowledge, techniques and processes which are required for the implementation and monitoring of such practices, which can be deemed as environmentally sustainable ones. These include the identification of areas for improvement, developing the plans for improving, and the implementation and monitoring of the improvements in environmental performance. The individuals responsible for WHS implementation in the workplaces have to integrate environmental efficiency management procedures and policies in any company. This involves identifying the environmental regulations which could apply on the company, analysing the procedures for assessing compliances related to sustainable and environmental regulations, and various other investigative practices. This is followed by setting the targets for improvements, implementation of the strategies required for performance improvement and monitoring the performance (Training, 2018a).
A key part of WHS is the identification of possible hazards, assessing the risks and controlling such identified risks. Every organization has to ensure that there is a formal process for the hazard identification, and for assessing and controlling risks, in order to manage the workplaces in effective manner, along with the safety hazards. It is not a onetime process and has to be taken as an ongoing process (Western Sydney University, 2015). By indulging in such acts, the hazards at workplace can be identified, the risks which can be born from such hazards can be assessed, the control measures required to minimize or eliminate the risk levels can be determined, and the effectiveness of such control measures can be monitored and reviewed. This is quite a detailed process and is necessary to be undertaken in a careful manner. The significance of this aspect is increased as it helps in contributing towards the implementation of emergency procedures, which are requisite for avoiding the hazards from taking place (Stoll, McGill and Ritchie, 2013).
Laws and Regulations in Australia
In order to contribute towards the implementation and the maintenance of the WHS management systems, there is a need to contribute towards the development and the promotion of WHS policies. This requires applying the knowledge of different elements of WHS policy, so that it can contribute towards the promotion and development of this policy, based on the work area and job role. There is a need to make proper contributions to the WHS management system planning, where the knowledge of WHS legislations has to be used to identify the duty holders based on their area of work, and in planning based on such job roles. There is also a need to make contributions to the implementation, evaluation and improving of these systems. This is because this is the stage which allows for the proper work related health and safety measures to be adopted in the companies (Training, 2018b).
It is crucial that the individuals in workplace are aware of the manner in which the incidents at workplace have to be dealt with. This is to be done based on the legislative and the other requirements. The individuals at workplace need to be aware of the process which is required to assist in the implementation of the initial incident response procedures. So, they need to be trained on how to provide the first aid and how any incident is to be notified, reported and documented. There is also the requirement of collecting the WHS information and the data which is relevant to any investigation. The incident investigations have to be properly assisted with, and there is a need to implement the recommended measures and the actions which are born from the investigations (Training, 2018c).
Another important aspect of WHS is the assistance in managing of claims. The compensation claims of workers have to be processed as per the procedures and policies of the company, and there is a need to fulfil all the requirements under the law and the compensation requirements for workers (CCH Australia, 2007). The claimants have to be advised on their claims being accepted or not. There is also a need for assisting in the planning and implementation of a successful rehabilitation program for affected worker. This rehabilitation program has to be properly monitored and evaluated. This process is not easy as it sounds. Planning and implementation of a successful rehabilitation process required a lot of steps to be undertaken. This requires facilitation of consultation in between the rehabilitation provider and the treating doctor, along with the other health professionals, as may be required. There is also a need of facilitating regular feedbacks and communication in between the workers, provider and supervising manager (Training, 2018d).
This requirement revolves around the assistance in identification of the present contractor arrangements for WHS. This not only requires the application of workplace knowledge to identify the services which are supplied by the contractors, but also identifies the content which is relevant to the contractor WHS arrangements, in addition to accessing the contracts and the other pertinent documentation for contract, data and information, and helping in the identification of policies, processes, procedures, activities, practices and systems which relate to such arrangements. There is also a need for assisting with the evaluating contractor and making improvements as are required, for such WHS arrangements (Training, 2018e).
Implementing Environmentally Sustainable Practices
There are different elements and criteria for this aspect. This involves the identification of the parties which indulge in the WHS consultations and in the participation processes. For this, the knowledge of codes of practices, procedures, polices, regulations and acts surrounding WHS are required, in order to highlight the responsibilities, rights, duties and roles of the parties. There is a need of making contributions to the consultation and participation processes of the WHS. This is done based on the working area and the job role of an individual. Contributions also have to be made to the processes in order to communicate and share the information and data related to WHS. The training requirements which are necessary for the effective participation and consultation of WHS have to be identified and met with. Lastly, contributions have to be made towards improvements in this participation and consultation processes of WHS. This particularly requires the identification and the assessment of implementation and effectiveness of such processes, and in developing, implementing and evaluating the measures which are required for removal of such barriers (Training, 2018f).
It is of utmost importance that in carrying out the aforementioned aspects, the different policies, procedures, and programs under the different WHS legislations are properly followed. These include both the commonwealth legislations, and the state or territory legislations, including the codes of practices. Along with the statutory law, there is a need to adhere to the common law duties in order to fulfil the general duty regarding the care requirements. The workers, along with the other individuals at workplace, have to be made aware of such regulations. They also have to be given proper training and knowledge about the procedure of controlling risks, and cosultation procedures. Another requirement is that the WHS records need to be properly maintained, particularly the ones related to hazards (Training, 2018g).
Conclusion
Thus, in the previous discussion, a range of aspects which revolve around the WHS under the Cert IV WHS program were highlighted. Here, the different requirements which are covered under the WHS requirements were briefed upon based on each heads of the Cert IV WHS program. It is important that the different aspects detailed above are adopted by the WHS professionals. More so, it is crucial that the organizations adopt these aspects so that they can have effective WHS policy in their organization, which not only helps in avoiding the risks, but also prepares the individuals at workplace, on how to deal with emergency situations. With proper training measures, not only the safety of employees can be ensured, but also the legislative requirements can be met.
References
Archer, R. et al. (2014) WHS: A Management Guide. Victoria: Cengage Learning.
CCH Australia. (2007) Australian Master OHS and Environment Guide. 2nd ed. North Ryde: CCH Australia Limited.
Department of Industry, Innovation and Science. (2018) What is Workplace health and safety (WHS)? [Online] Available from: https://www.business.gov.au/info/run/workplace-health-and-safety [Accessed on: 13/03/18]
Stoll, M., McGill, C., and Ritchie, J. (2013) Work Health and Safety. Sydney, NSW: McGraw-Hill Education Australia.
Training. (2018a) BSBSUS301A – Implement and monitor environmentally sustainable work practices (Release 2). [Online] Available from: https://training.gov.au/Training/Details/BSBSUS301A [Accessed on: 13/03/18]
Training. (2018b) BSBWHS405 – Contribute to implementing and maintaining WHS management systems (Release 2). [Online] Available from: https://training.gov.au/Training/Details/BSBWHS405 [Accessed on: 13/03/18]
Training. (2018c) BSBWHS406 – Assist with responding to incidents (Release 2). [Online] Available from: https://training.gov.au/Training/Details/BSBWHS406 [Accessed on: 13/03/18]
Training. (2018d) BSBWHS407 – Assist with claims management, rehabilitation and return-to-work programs (Release 1). [Online] Available from: https://training.gov.au/Training/Details/BSBWHS407 [Accessed on: 13/03/18]
Training. (2018e) BSBWHS408A – Assist with effective WHS management of contractors (Release 1). [Online] Available from: https://training.gov.au/Training/Details/BSBWHS408A [Accessed on: 13/03/18]
Training. (2018f) BSBWHS403A – Contribute to implementing and maintaining WHS consultation and participation processes (Release 1). [Online] Available from: https://training.gov.au/Training/Details/BSBWHS403A [Accessed on: 13/03/18]
Training. (2018g) BSBWHS401 – Implement and monitor WHS policies, procedures and programs to meet legislative requirements (Release 1). [Online] Available from: https://training.gov.au/training/details/bsbwhs401 [Accessed on: 13/03/18]
Western Sydney University. (2015) Hazard Identification, Risk Assessment and Control Procedure. [Online] Available from: https://www.westernsydney.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0020/12917/12917_Hazard_Identification,_Risk_Assessment_and_control_Procedure.pdf [Accessed on: 13/03/18]
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