Work Health and Safety

• Occupational Health and Safety


  A branch of public health aimed at improving workplace health and safety standards
• Hazard


  Something that has the potential to harm you
• Risk


  The likelihood of a hazard causing harm
• Physical Hazards


  • Factors or conditions within the environment that can harm your health
• Chemical Hazards


  • Arise from inhaling chemical agents in the form of vapor
• Biological Hazards


  • Caused by living organisms which include insects, molds, fungi, viruses, and bacteria
• Ergonomic Hazards


  • Workplace conditions that pose the risk of injury
• Workplace health and safety is an important aspect of all workplaces. It ensures that everyone within an organisation or business is safe.
• Duty of care


  Workplaces have an obligation to implement Workplace Health and Safety (WHS) policies and procedures to protect employees, clients, visitors and others entering their premises from harm
• Workplace health and safety legislation and regulations set out the health and safety requirements affecting all Australian workplaces and work activities.
• Duty of care


  A legal obligation to anticipate and address potential hazards that could cause injury or illness in the workplace
• Employee responsibilities


  Ensure workplace health and safety to prevent injuries to themselves and others in the workplace
• Risk management and assessment


  1. Identify hazards

  2. Assess risk

  3. Determine control measures

  4. Monitor and review
• Types of hazards


  • Physical
  • Biological
  • Chemical
  • Ergonomic
  • Psychosocial
• Assessing risk


  1. Determine likelihood of risk occurring

  2. Determine consequences if risk occurs

  3. Consider existing controls
• Hierarchy of Control


  Preferred options for controlling risks: Elimination, Substitution/Isolation/Engineering, Administrative, Personal Protective Equipment
• Monitoring and reviewing controls


  1. Check if control implemented as intended

  2. Assess adequacy of control

  3. Identify any new hazards created
• Workplaces must keep adequate records of their risk management process, including hazards identified, risk assessment, and control measures implemented
• Risk register


  A tool for documenting risks, actioning and managing them
• Workplace emergency procedure


  A plan to deal with sudden events or situations that require an immediate response to protect employees, customers or the public
• All workplaces must have a comprehensive and well-practised emergency plan, and all workers need to be familiar with the plan and their responsibilities
• Workplace health and safety legislation and regulations

  • Acts
  • Regulations
  • Regulator
  • Codes of practice (or compliance codes)
• Acts


  The law (legislation) that outlines a workplace's responsibilities and duties to ensure that the workplace they are providing is safe
• The Act to be followed is different in each state/territory
• Regulations


  The standards that need to be met for specific risks and hazards that exist in the workplace
• Regulations may include manual handling and noise related risks
• Regulations set out the licenses needed for specific activities and any records or reports that must be documented
• Regulator


  The organisation responsible for ensuring that workplaces uphold the Act and any regulations required
• The regulator is responsible for workplace inspections and providing advice and information relating to workplace health and safety
• The regulator administers penalties when required
• The regulator is different in every state/territory
• Codes of practice (or compliance codes)

  Provide guidance and advice for specific elements of workplace health and safety
• Codes of practice are easy to read and provide practical advice for employers on how to implement and act in accordance with required legislation and regulations
• If the codes of practice are implemented and applied correctly, a workplace will have complied with their workplace health and safety obligations
• Codes of practice are state and territory specific
• Information to document in an incident report


  • Person submitting the report
  • Details of the injured or deceased person: Their name, Position, Contact phone number
  • Current date
  • Their name
  • Sex
  • Date of birth
  • Residential address
  • Date of the incident
  • Time of the incident
  • Name of employer
  • Business address
  • Address or location of the incident
  • Occupation or job title
  • Whether they are/were an employee, contactor or member of the public
  • Work being undertaken at the Time of the incident
  • A brief description of injury or injuries
  • A brief description of the incident
  • Completion of a declaration that all information is accurate and true
  • Witness to the incident
  • Action taken to prevent the reoccurrence of the incident