The Importance of Workplace Health and Safety in Australia
Discuss about the Facilities Management and Use Of Helmets At The Construction Site.
The Workplace, health, and safety is a discipline with a wide scope including many specialized fields. In Australia, Workplace, health, and safety act, 2011 governs all organizations engaged in all type of business, which provides employment to the people. It aims at the promotion of the high degree of the mental, social, and mental well-being of workers engaged in all type of occupations. It also helps in the prevention of adverse effects among workers because of the nature of their works. This act works for the protection of risks, involved in the employment and related job responsibilities (Safety helmets on construction sites, 2018). This assignment provides a brief knowledge of the risks involved related to not wearing helmets in the construction industry. Along with this, the techniques for the management of adverse consequences of the organizational efforts in the selected issues have also been discussed in this paper. At the end of the report, a conclusion has been drawn to provide a critical analysis of the issue discussed in the study from a personal perspective.
Safety is the most important issue in all kind of industrial activities, especially in construction, because it is not just a nine to five job for workers and required some extra precautionary measures. The more trained and prepared workers and labors have fewer chances for injuries and accidents at the construction site. The head is the only part of the body that is wholly covered with bones (Hole, 2016). In case of any type of accidents in construction work, there are more chances to have an impact on the head of workers especially in case of working on heights. This is the main reason for the selection of this topic for the purpose of the study of workplace, health, and safety rules as without brain, a human is equal to a dead body. If workers use helmets at the time of their working then it reduces the chances of occurring heavy injuries in the human body parts along with the head injury.
There are several issues that can be faced by the employees and related organization is the accidents related to not wearing helmets by the works at the construction sites. These issues can be distinguished as follows:
The workers can have serious head injuries, which can often lead to their death. It is the well-known fact that injuries to neck and head are the main reasons for severe injury, mental disorder and disability and death of the young workers. In Australia, 75% of the workers in the construction industry who lost their lives are the patients with severe head injuries. Moreover, if they do not die, then their mental health become disable and their families have to spend a lot of money on their treatment. Generally, these workers are from middle-class families and their family members do not have sufficient money to spend of their treatment (Kaynak, Toklu, Elci, & Toklu, 2016). In such a case, most of the workers lost their lives in the absence of treatment. In some cases, the children of the injured workers start working for earning money. It increases the ratio of child labor in the country. Sometimes it also increases the illegal activities in the society as the children of the injured workers get involve is some illegal works in case of need of money for the treatment of their father. The death of a worker not only related to his life but it is also related and affects the life of the entire family as they do not have any source of income to survive in most of the cases (Akpan, 2011).
Adverse Consequences of Not Wearing Helmets in Construction Industry
The life of a worker is the responsibility of an organization until and unless the worker is not willing to do any harmful act. A stable organization strives to make the balance between three main factors including profit, people, and the planet. It means that an organization can never get stability in the long run without protecting the health, safety, and well-being of its employees and workers. Stability is not just related to what is to be done; it is related to how it is to be done. An organization engaged in any type of business in which workers are performing such works which can put their lives in danger is coved under the implications of workplace health and safety act, 2011 (Gunningham, 2015). If an organization does not work as per the implication of this act, then it will fall into the category of non-compliance with the act and can be punished by the Australian government. For such kind of non-compliance, the government can also decline the license of the organization required for working in the construction industry and can also impose the penalty in financial terms.
Further, if any worker of the organization get injured and lost his/her life because of the negligence and no-compliance of the organization, then it will have a direct impact on the corporate social responsibility of the organization. The organization will tend to lose its image from the point of view of ethical and social responsibility towards the general public or the society (REGULATION, 2012).
However, if the organization takes care of all the implications related to wearing the helmet by workers at the time of their working, then there will be no any kind of problem and issue would affect the stability of the organization.
The adverse consequences discussed above for the workers and the stability of the organization can be managed in an effective manner with the help of some below-mentioned techniques:
This the main and the first duty of an organization to provide training to the workers related to their work. The organization should provide the detailed training for working at different sited in the construction industry. For the purpose of making the training sessions effective, the training should be provided at the live locations and all real conditions should be designed so that workers can learn more practically. The experts of the high level should provide the training so that the workers can know every trick and technique related to saving their lives at the time of any type of danger (Library, 2011).
Risk Management Techniques
The management should distribute the work among the workers according to their physical and mental capabilities. For example, the work of heights should not be assigned to a worker who is over-weighted, as there are more chances of accidents related to unbalancing the employee. It can also become the reason for the severe head injury. Similarly, if a worker is not known about the work of electricity, then any electrical work should not be provided to him as it would automatically increase the chances of an accident (Bahn & Pugh, 2014).
The workers and organizations should use the reflective stickers on the helmets especially at the time of working at night. Most of the accidents occur in the night because the vehicle drivers are not able to see that the construction work is going on because of darkness. This can result in the severe injury of more than one person’s and their life. Thus, use of reflective stickers should be mandatory in all organizations. Along with this, the workers should also be provided with the instructions to wear reflective jackets especially at the time of working on roads in the nighttime. These steps can save the workers from the major accidents that may result in losing their lives also (Buying, 2016).
PPE is abbreviated as Personal Protective Equipment. The organizations have duties related to the provision of using personal protective equipment at work. PPE is an equipment that protects the worker or user from the risks related to the health and safety at work. It includes some items such as a safety helmet, eye protection, gloves, safety footwear, rope, clothing, and safety harnesses. The PPE also includes Respiratory Protective Equipment. The organization is required to make sure that all workers should carry PPE at all time on their jobs. For this purpose, the training should also be provided so that the workers can know the way of handling the PPE and the way of using them at right time (Executive, 2018).
It is a well-known fact that accidents are unpredictable. After taking all precautions, it is not necessary that there will be no accidents as risk is always presented in the construction industry. Thus, it is required to make the arrangement for the immediate treatment in case of any type of accident or injury. It can save the life of the worker as there are many cases in which the patients lose their life for not getting treatment on time (Zanko & Daeson, 2012)
Conclusion
It is the prime responsibility of a construction organization to provide the facility of the health insurance to all the workers as it is the only industry, which includes the highest level of risk of life. In case of any injury, the family of the worker would not have to face any kind of financial problem and the workers would be able to get the required treatment. It will also reduce the financial burden of the organizations and it is also mentioned in the Workplace, health and safety rules (Government, 2015).
Conclusion
This report concludes that it comes under the ethical and social responsibilities of an organization to work as per the rules and implications of the Workplace, Health, and Safety Act, 2011. This is more related to the life of the human beings in comparison to the compliance of law or sustainability of an organization. For such purpose, an organization needs to invest its financial resources for providing training to the workers as human beings are considered as the most valuable asset of an organization. However, wearing the helmet at the construction site is also the equal responsibility of workers in comparison to the responsibility of the organization. The management can only provide training to the workers, but the implications of learnings lie in the hands of the workers. So, in case of any type of accident, it is not compulsory that the mistake would be done form the organization’s side. For such purpose, the Australian government is taking actions related to providing the license to the eligible workers and the organizations who are working as per the WHS rules.
References
Akpan, E. I. (2011). Effective Safety and Health Management Policy for Improved Performance of Organizations in Africa. International Journal of Business and Management, 6(3), 159-165.
Bahn, S., & Pugh, L. B. (2014). Health and safety legislation in Australia: Complexity for training remains. International Journal of Training Research, 12(1), 57-70.
Buying, I. (2016). Importance of Wearing Safety Helmets at Work. Retrieved July 28, 2018, from https://www.industrybuying.com/articles/importance-of-wearing-safety-helmets-at-work/
Executive, H. I. (2018). Risk at Work – Personal protective equipment (PPE). Retrieved July 28, 2018, from https://www.hse.gov.uk/toolbox/ppe.htm
Government, A. (2015). Federal Register of Legislation. Retrieved July 28, 2018, from https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2015C00472
Gunningham, N. (2015). Impacts of Work Health and Safety Harmonisation on Very Large Businesses. SSRN Electronic Journal, 28(1), 1-19.
Hole, K. (2016). Types of Safety Helmets, an Industrial Guide. Retrieved July 28, 2018, from https://www.hsimagazine.com/article/types-of-safety-helmets-an-industrial-guide
Kaynak, R., Toklu, A., Elci, M., & Toklu, I. T. (2016). Effects of Occupational Health and Safety Practices on Organizational Commitment, Work Alienation, and Job Performance: Using the PLS-SEM Approach. International Journal of Business and Management, 11(5), 146.
Library, Q. P. (2011). Work Health and Safety Act. Retrieved July 28, 2018, from https://www.parliament.qld.gov.au/documents/explore/ResearchPublications/ResearchBriefs/2011/RBR201117.pdf
REGULATION, N. R. (2012). Work health and Safety Briefing. Retrieved July 28, 2018, from https://regnet.anu.edu.au/sites/default/files/publications/attachments/2015-05/WHS_Briefing_14.Nov_12_1.pdf
Safety helmets on construction sites. (2018). Retrieved July 28, 2018, from https://www.commerce.wa.gov.au/publications/safety-helmets-construction-sites
Zanko, M., & Daeson, P. (2012). Occupational health and safety management in organizations: A review. International Journal of Management Reviews, 14(3), 328-344.
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