Topic 2: Establish & Maintain Participative Arrangements: 10335/ICA506111 ICA11

Course No: 10335/ICA506111
Training Package: ICA11
Topic 2: Establish & Maintain Participative Arrangements

This topic addresses the following performance criteria:
1. Establish and maintain participative arrangements with employees and their
representatives in accordance with relevant OHS legislation;
2. Appropriately resolve issues raised through participative arrangements and consultation;
3. Promptly provide information about the outcomes of participation and consultation in a
manner accessible to employees.
Introduction
OHS legislation requires employers to establish and maintain participative arrangements with their
employees.
Participative arrangements and consultative mechanisms include the following types of activities
that are critical for the effective management of OHS in an organisation:
 OHS representatives work with the employer and employees to represent groups or
employees in relation to OHS;
 OHS committees are used as part of the consultation and participative processes within the
organisation;
 OHS meetings are used to facilitate consultation and to maintain OHS at the forefront of
both the employer and employee areas of focus;
 OHS audits are undertaken to confirm the effectiveness of the OHS system within the
organisation and to highlight areas needing attention or improvement;
 OHS reporting and feedback processes are needed to ensure that employee issues can be
recorded and resolved within the appropriate policy framework of the organisation.
Participative Arrangements
The areas in which employees must be consulted about include the following aspects related to
OHS:
 The identification and assessment of hazards and risks;
 Decisions regarding the control of risks;
 Decisions regarding employees facilities;
 Any changes proposed by the employer that may impact on OHS;
 Decisions regarding the policies and procedures for the resolution of OHS issues,
consultation processes for monitoring activities for OHS purposes and for providing
information and training for OHS;
 Decisions regarding the membership of any OHS committee.
In the context of OHS legislation, employers need to consult with employees via a process that
includes the following critical steps:
1. Information needs to be shared with employees;
2. Employees must be given reasonable time and opportunity to provide feedback;
3. Employers must take any feedback into consideration.
BSBOHS509A, Assignment, Version 2 Page 8of 33

Owner: Electrotechnology, ICT & Design / Information Technology / Padstow College
Disclaimer: Printed copies of the document are regarded as non-controlled
The mechanisms and processes via which consultation is to be achieved must be agreed on by the
organisation and the employees, and then they must be complied with.
Consultation must enable a two-way process between the employer and the employees, and must
acknowledge the diversity of employees within the workplace (must consider any special needs,
language issues, disabilities, disabilities, cultural requirements, etc).
OHS information can be provided by via regular meetings, OHS committees, team briefings, and
other such employee forums. These may be supported by the production of OHS communication
packages and the availability of information on an organisation’s intranet.
Consultation
Processes of consultation form an integral part of any organisation’s approach to OHS. The
consultative arrangements need to be devised so they include the needs of the organisation and
the employees of the organisation.
In very small organisations, consultation may occur on a day-to-day, somewhat informal, basis as
part of the operations of the business.
In more complex or larger organisations, it may be necessary to utilise more formal arrangements
to support consultation in the workplace between the employer and the employees of the
organisation.
Designated Workgroups
An employee or a group of employees may request that their employer establish a designated
workgroup at the workplace. An employer may request these themselves also. Once the request
has been initiated, the negotiations on how the designated workgroup will be established must
commence within 14 days.
The following factors need to be taken into consideration to ensure the establishment of a
designated workgroup is appropriate for the requirements of the employer and employees:
 Number of employees in the workplace;
 Nature of the work to be undertaken;
 Number and groups of employees that perform the same or similar work roles;
 Nature of any hazards in the workplace, any overtime and any shift work arrangements;
 Languages spoken in the workplace.
When an agreement has been reached, the employer must advise the employees in writing. Any
changes to the arrangements must also be advised in writing to the employees.
Health & Safety Representatives

The members of each designated workgroup need to select a health and safety representative,
who needs to be a member of the designated workgroup.
A representative can only act in this position for a maximum of 3 years. The representative can
then be reselected.

The main role of a health and safety representative includes the accountability to look after the
interests of the designated workgroup in the organisation.
When a representative is elected, the organisation must enable that individual to attend initial
OHS training. Each year, health and safety representatives must also undertake refresher training.
Within the various pieces of OHS legislation, there are a number of areas that an organisation
must support a health and safety representative to fulfil. Typically, health and safety
representatives perform this role in addition to their usual work role. The employer must enable:
 Access to info regarding hazards;
 Attendance at OHS meetings;
 Attendance at OHS interviews;
 Paid time-away from work to attend training or to perform the requirements of the health
and safety representative.
Within the organisation, a health and safety representative has the power to:
 Inspect a workplace where a member of the designated workgroup operates if there is an
incident or a risk is identified;
 Work with an OHS inspector during a workplace inspection that includes the designated
work;
 Issue a provisional improvement notice;
 Request that an OHS committee be set up;
 Attend interviews about OHS matters within the consent of the employee who is involved;
 Request assistance from others when appropriate.
COMPLETE ACTIVITY 4 IN ASSESSMENT TASK DOCUMENT
Health & Safety Committees

In some States and Territories, organisations are required to form an OHS committee as a key
element of the workplace participative arrangements and consultation. The members of the OHS
committee will be made up of elected employee representatives and management
representatives. This health and safety representatives and any health and safety officer will also
be members of the committee.
The committee functions to consider the strategic health and safety issues that relate to the
organisation as a whole.
The main functions of the committee include:
 Assisting injured workers to return to work;
 Ensuring that training is provided, when necessary;
 Determining suitable work for employees who have a disability;
 Assisting in the resolution of OHS issues;
 Assisting in the establishment of OHS policies and procedures;
 Consulting on changes to OHS policies;
 Consulting on workplace changes that may impact OHS;
 Reviewing the rehabilitation activities for injured workers;

 Developing and monitoring injury reporting systems;

 Developing ad monitoring inspection methods;
 Ensuring compliance with any existing or new regulations or codes of practice;
 Reviewing the availability of resources to support the organisations’ OHS system.
Health & Safety Officers

Larger organisations may also choose to establish a paid and formal job position of a health and
safety officer in the organisation. This role should be filled by an individual who is an expert in OHS
matters and may even be formally qualified in OHS.
The health & safety officer is expected to:
 Provide advice on OHS matters;
 Be well versed in OHS legislation, regulations, and codes of practice;
 Investigate and prevent incidents;
 Provide guidance on the best methods to provide a safe workplace for employees;
 Conduct safety audits;
 Examine machinery and work processes;
 Assist in the development of safety plans;
 Arrange dissemination of OHS information;
 Report to management on OHS issues;
 Monitor and analyse OHS statistics and trends in the organisation;
 Provide technical advice to the OHS committee;
 Test emergency and evacuation procedures;
 Enable OHS training for management and employees.
Importantly, the OHS participative arrangements that are implemented in an organisation must
facilitate the active participation of the employer and the employees of the organisation or their
elected representative, in the OHS activities in the workplace
Issue Resolution
Within the OHS system of an organisation, issue resolution is one of the key activities that need to
be focused on. The participative arrangements and consultative mechanisms of an organisation
need to facilitate the process for employees to raise issues and have them resolved in an
appropriate way.
Many organisations manage OHS issues via the creation and ongoing management of formal issue
registers. The format and layout of a typical issue register is shown in the table
Example of issue register:

Work Issue Date Raised Action Required Date

Area Raised By Resolved
Factory Possible risk due to 12th May G. Jones Assessment of To be
spillages of containment options confirmed
materials and protective
barriers
The use of an issue register must be supported by action plans that may be created for each issue
recorded. The action plans provide more detail about the issue including the identification and
analysis of the cause, the action(s) that has (have) been agreed on, the individual(s) responsible
for resolution and status updates as the resolution activities proceed.
There are a number of approaches towards issue resolution in the workplace. The most effective
process is one that includes steps to enable the organisation to research and analyse the issue,
determine the best possible or most appropriate solution and then implement the most
appropriate solution to address and resolve the issue.
Generally there are 7 main steps involved in issue resolution:
1. Identify the issue and the problem or impact that is being caused by the issue;
2. Agree on what is expected to happen to resolve the issue;
3. Research and analyse the issue to determine its cause;
4. Look for solutions to the issue and generate alternative possible solutions;
5. Evaluate the alternatives and determine the best solution that will resolve the issue;
6. Take action to implement the resolution;
7. Monitor the outcome and results of the resolution – evaluate if the resolution has been
effective and successful.
Using a systematic process like this enables the management of an organisation to involve
employees in the resolution process.
Employee Engagement
Participative arrangements and consultation are the mechanisms that provide critical support for
the organisation’s OHS system. Using these mechanisms in conjunction with formal processes to
manage issues enables the organisation to resolve issues in a responsive and positive way.
The value of involving employees in activities and decisions that directly affect them is proven by
the benefits it provides to both the organisation and the individual employees in the context of
cooperation and collaboration.
Involving employees may also encourage them to be more creative and forward thinking in their
approach to the resolution of OHS issues. People may be inspired and feel empowered to
contribute ideas that fall outside of the traditional norms of the organisation.
Gathering, assessing and using creative ideas can result in the organisation being able to
implement innovative solutions that not only resolve issues that have been raised, but may
actually enhance the effectiveness of the overall OHS system.

Communication of Information
In all organisations, employees have an expectation that they will be communicated with
regarding the outcome of participative arrangements and consultation that exist to support the
OHS system. Under legislation, employers have a responsibility to inform their employees of OHS
requirements and safety information, and to convey their expectations of employees with regards
to OHS.
Employers should establish regular meetings with employees to inform them of OHS and promote
their understanding of the OHS system, and how it operates in the workplace. Typically, if an
organisation’s employees will be made aware of the consultation and participative arrangements
that are in place in the workplace.
The guidelines for the consultation and participative arrangements with employees will be
provided in the OHS policy of the organisation.
OHS information needs to be available to all employees and communicated to all levels of the
organisation. The key is that the organisation needs to ensure that the information is
communicated in a clear and simple way.
The organisation will have to determine and agree on the most appropriate and effective means of
communicating with their employees about OHS. There are a number of methods that are
effective in achieving this:
 Policies and procedures manuals;
 Organisational intranet information updates;
 Newsletters;
 Training sessions;
 Information flyers;
 Booklets;
 Regular team or department meetings.
Information may be distributed directly to employees on an individual basis and should also be
displayed in the workplace.
Within the overall processes to achieve effective communication with employees, there must be a
capability for feedback processes to be initiated and supported. Employees must be able to
express their views and ask questions of any communications that are provided by the
organisation.
In order to confirm that communication within an organisation about OHS is effective, there must
be some methods of follow up and evaluation used by the organisation. Due to the critical
obligations of employers with regards to OHS and the associated need for consultation and
participative arrangements, employers need to ensure that the right information is being
communicated and that all employees can access and understand the information.

The forums or meetings that form part of the participative arrangements and consultation within
the organisation for OHS need to be recorded and documented via the production of meeting
agendas and minutes.
Agendas for meetings need to detail the following information:
 Date, time and venue of the meeting;
 Expected attendees;
 Agenda items to be addressed and the time of each topic;
 Nominee who will lead or present each agenda item;
 Any preparation that attendees need to complete prior to the meeting.
The minutes of meetings need to detail the following information:
 Date, time and venue of the meeting;
 Chairperson details;
 Agenda items that were addressed;
 Details and outcomes of any discussions at the meeting;
 Actions and timeframes associated with the agenda items;
 Any attachments such as reports that were used as reference in the meeting.
Formally recording the meetings for OHS that take place within the organisation ensure that the
organisation can build records and evidence of the consultation and participative arrangements
that are occurring between the organisation and its employees. This also enables the organisation
to monitor and track the progress of actions related to OHS activities.


Topic 2: Establish & Maintain Participative Arrangements: 10335/ICA506111 ICA11

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

You might also like

Topic 2: Establish & Maintain Participative Arrangements: 10335/ICA506111 ICA11

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Topic 2: Establish & Maintain Participative Arrangements: 10335/ICA506111 ICA11

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Course No: 10335/ICA506111

Training Package: ICA11

Topic 2: Establish & Maintain Participative Arrangements

BSBOHS509A, Assignment, Version 2 Page 8of 33

Health & Safety Representatives

BSBOHS509A, Assignment, Version 2 Page 9of 33

COMPLETE ACTIVITY 4 IN ASSESSMENT TASK DOCUMENT

Health & Safety Committees

BSBOHS509A, Assignment, Version 2 Page 10of 33

 Developing and monitoring injury reporting systems;

Health & Safety Officers

COMPLETE ACTIVITY 5 IN ASSESSMENT TASK DOCUMENT

Example of issue register:

BSBOHS509A, Assignment, Version 2 Page 11of 33

Work Issue Date Raised Action Required Date

BSBOHS509A, Assignment, Version 2 Page 12of 33

COMPLETE ACTIVITY 6 IN ASSESSMENT TASK DOCUMENT

BSBOHS509A, Assignment, Version 2 Page 13of 33

BSBOHS509A, Assignment, Version 2 Page 14of 33

You might also like