Work Health And Safety (WHS) Questions And Answers

Question 1

The three situations when an individual conducting an undertaking or business must consult with the workers are as follows:

• Assessing risks and identifying hazards
• Making decisions about different methods of eliminating or controlling risks
• Updating or changing the workplace facilities

Ways which should be adopted for proving safety and health information to the staffs at the workplace are as follows:

• Training is considered to be very much important for the employees. The employees will be able to gain more information on health and safety.
• Communicating regularly with the staffs in order to inform them about the importance of using safety tools and equipment.
• A safety plan needs to be developed which would guide employees what they to do and what it is being expected from them.
• The safety manuals, videos and pictures can also be useful in providing information to the employees (Duncan, Heighway & Chadder, 2010).

The WHS procedures that assist in keeping people are as follows:

• The emergency procedures consisting of effective responses to the emergencies
• The emergency service organizations need to be notified at the earliest
• Medical assistance and treatment
• Informing and instructing the staffs in relation to the implementation of the emergency procedures.

The methods to monitor the staff for confirming they are following work health and safety procedures are as follows:

• Conducting regular meetings and examining the feedback of the workers.
• Inspecting and observing the safety rules followed by the workers at the workplace.

The documents that will act as the evidence of an organization’s compliance with work health and safety laws are as follows:

• The rehabilitation management system manual and safety management system manual.
• The workplace health and safety management system documents (procedures, policies, forms and guidelines).
• Audit reports, plans, programs and registers.
• Training records
• Collected data for workplace health and safety monitoring (Holt & Allen, 2015).

The steps that need to be taken if a staff member is not complying with the organization’s WHS practices are as follows:

• The staff member needs to be stopped for carrying out the work task.
• Gathering all the staff members in the workplace for discussing and reinforcing the safe work processes and how the job needs to be carried out appropriately and safely.
• The staff member should be observed regularly whether he or she is carrying out the work appropriately or not.
• The staff members should be provided with adequate training.

The potential hazards or WHS issues that need to be monitored are as follows:

• Hazardous manual tasks
• Falls/trips/slips
• Workplace violence
• Infectious disease
• Psychological injury

The three matters which might discuss as part of making consultation arrangements are mentioned below:

• Regular meeting needs to be
• Face to face discussion requires with the workers.
• Brief season regarding the health and safety practice.

The three methods which can be provided to the staff members in order to contribute their views on WHS issues are listed below:

• Discuss the health and safety concerns of the workers.
• How to recognize safety hazards and risks.
• Always look for a practical solution and implement it.

The three people who might help to resolve the WHS issue or control a hazard are as follow:

• Reporting Officer.
• Health and Safety Representative.
• Safety officer.

It is very important to discuss with the staff member regarding the WHS issue which has been raised and resolved so that they can identify the hazards and understand the harm which may occur by the hazard. And also what are the precautions need to take (Barker, 2007).

The following five instances of hazard controls which must be used to manage work and safety risks in an organization:

• Elimination
• Substitution
• Engineering control
• Administrative control
• Personal protective equipment.

  The four different types of WHS training methods are as follows.

• Instructor-Led Training
• Interactive techniques
• Hands-on Training
• Computer-based training

The two important examples of WHS training which must need to provide to the staff are mentioned below.

• To prevent illness and injury
• Reduce health and safety hazards.

Four examples of training which might organize with a specialist WHS training provider:

• Safety team development/building workshop
• Frontline leader development program
• Behavioural Safety program
• WHS program for team, supervisors and senior leaders/managers.

Three reasons to monitor the effectiveness of training programs:

• Whether the training program is helpful and effective to the workers and firm.
• To ensure all staffs are fully aware of their WHS responsibilities.
• Improve staff performance and decrease injuries and illness.

The Safety Data Sheets for each hazardous must be easily available to all staffs of an organisation. The electronic format of SDS must be available on every computer of the organisation for access of the employees. A paper copy of SDS should be kept in binders marked and easily available to the staffs (Kloss, 2010).

Five pieces of information can be found on an SDS are as follows:

• Identification of hazards
• First aid measures
• Firefighting measure
• Accidental release measure
• Stability and reactivity.

The information can you get from a completed risk assessment document are mentioned below:

• Risk assessment
• Hazard identification
• Risk analysis
• Risk evaluation
• Risk control

The four pieces of information that should be recorded as a training record for a staff member who has undertaken WHS training:

• Hazards and risk at workplace
• Safe work practice
• Work health and safety legislation
• Emergency procedures

Question 2

Most of the wastages of any office are copy paper, photocopies, computer printers and these papers generally stored in boxes and in file cabinets. Use of fewer sheets can help to manage storage space in a positive way.

 It is the employer’s duty to make his workers understand the hazards of the workplace and how to minimize injuries and illness.

If an organization chooses to have direct regular contact between employer and employees instead of appointing a WHS representative then it failed to meet the requirements of the WHS act. An organization must provide a clear understanding of the duties and responsibilities of every worker in order to create a safe and healthy work environment. According to Work Health and Safety legislation, a WHO representative must be appointed in every organisation (Teys, 2012).

If a WHS issue has risen with an employer and the employer does not consider it then the employer failed to meet the legal requirements. If an employer does not take the reasonability of the issue then he is putting his workers live in danger.

The WHS committee allows the organizations to work together with the staffs or workers on safety and health matters. The committee facilitates co-operation in carrying out and developing measures for improving the safety of the employees. It also develops health and safety rules, procedures and standards.

Two penalties that a judge may impose to an employer who fails to meet WHS requirements are mentioned below:

• The highest penalty under WHS act is 20 years imprisonment in case the death of the worker.
• Up to $1.5 million fine in case of risk of death, serious injury or illness due to failure in the safety of any staff.

Evacuation of staff and customers

The WHS procedures that need to be followed are as follows:

• An authorized person should be responsible to evacuate staffs and customers by following a clear chain of command.
• There should be specific procedures for evacuation consisting of exits and routes.
• A clear procedure should be there for guiding people with disabilities.
• Emergency tools and equipment should be there during the evacuation process.

Hazard identification and reporting

 The WHS procedures that need to be followed are as follows:

• The information need to collected and reviewed about the hazard that is likely to be present within the workplace.
• Conducting a periodic examination of the workplace for determining recurring or new hazards.
• Investigating illness, injuries, close calls and incidents for determining hazards.
• Determining trends in hazards, illness and injuries reported.
• The determination of likelihood and severity of incidents that can result for the identified hazard.

Risk assessment and reporting

The WHS procedures that need to be followed are as follows:

• The identification of hazards associated with the work environment, equipment and work tasks.
• The evaluation of the impact or harm caused by the hazards.
• The likelihood of the occurrence of the hazard.
• The determination of the actions that need to be implemented for eliminating or controlling risk.
• Recording information and data to ensure that the following risks are controlled or eliminated (Thompson & Hopwood, 2006).

The consultation procedure needs to be carried out for managing workplace safety, health and security issues. A workplace can be safe when each and everyone involved in the tasks communicates with each other for determining risks and hazard and also discuss the concerns of work health and safety. The consultation can be carried out with the workers also by taking about WHS matters, listening to the concerns, sharing significant information and providing advice. The discussion should also be determining risks and hazards, minimising or eliminating risks, thinking of the welfare of the workers and making decisions. Each and every person should consult on the WHS matter in order to ensure a duty of care (Barker, 2007).

The work tasks carried out at the workplace need to be considered. The risks need to be determined and evaluated that can harm the employees. The risk assessment procedures need to be carried out which consists of determining hazards, assessing the risks, controlling the risk and examining the controls. The WHS training consists of meeting the legal obligations, developing a healthy and safe workplace, resolving workplace safety and health issues, preventing ill health and injuries of employees and minimising compensation costs. All the information need to be recorded consisting of hazards, factors associated and impact of hazards, the likelihood of occurrence, steps for controlling and eliminating the risks.

The WHS system is considered to be very much important for organizations which need to be implemented at the workplace. WHS assists the organizations to maintain a healthy and safe work environment. A healthy and safe workplace can only be possible when there is a systematic and planned approach for managing the risks. The WHS system allows organizations to determine hazards, assessing the risks, controlling the risks, monitoring control measures and continuous improvement. The safety of the employees is very much important for the employer. Thus, the WHS rules and regulations should be followed by the organizations.

The staffs need to be provided with appropriate training in order to enhance their WHS knowledge. The staffs need to be informed about how they can determine risks and deal with the risks. The training would enable the employees to determine and eliminate the risk effectively (Duncan, Heighway & Chadder, 2010).   

The management of organizations needs to ensure that the WHS rules and legislation are being followed by all the employees at the workplace. The safety and health legislation and policies need to be followed and implemented. The health and safety policies need to be developed and followed by the management of the organization.  

References

Barker, D. (2007). Essential Australian law (6th ed.). Abingdon: Routledge/Cavendish.

Duncan, M., Heighway, P., & Chadder, P. (2010). Health & safety at work essentials (5th ed.). London: Lawpack.

Holt, A., & Allen, J. (2015). Principles of health and safety at work (8th ed.). London: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group.

Kloss, D. (2010). Occupational health law (2nd ed.). Chichester, West Sussex, Angleterre: Wiley-Blackwell.

Teys, M. (2012). New WHS laws and responsibilities for property owners, investors and managers – fundamentals (3rd ed.). Sydney: Law Society of New South Wale.

Thompson, S., & Hopwood, D. (2006). Workplace Safety (2nd ed.). Newark: Wiley.