EVERSITY

TOPIC 1: PROVIDE INFORMATION ON HEALTH, SAFETY AND SECURITY

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The aim of health and safety legislation is to secure the health and safety of workers and
workplaces through the elimination or minimization of risks, fair and effective representation,
consultation, cooperation and issue resolution, and effective and appropriate compliance and
enforcement measures, among other matters. Workers and others are to be given the highest
level of protection from hazards and risks as is reasonably practicable.
Workers in Australia are protected by Commonwealth and state/territory health and safety
legislation. Regardless of whether someone is working full-time or part-time, has a permanent,
temporary or casual job—they are covered. This legislation also covers out-workers and
volunteers who work in connection with a trade or business. The legislation is designed to
protect people by establishing safe systems of work to eliminate or minimize the risks to health,
safety and welfare.

Health and safety laws also define:

 the roles and responsibilities of each person or group in the workforce

 what employers and workers must do to comply with the law
 the consequences of non-compliance
The employer (or other person in the organization who is able to make executive decisions) is
referred to as a person conducting a business or undertaking (PCBU). They have distinct
obligations with severe penalties for non-compliance under health and safety legislation.

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Employees are referred to as workers. It is important to note that PCBUs can also be workers in
the eyes of the law.
Under health and safety legislation both employers and employees have responsibility for health
and safety in the workplace. Employers have the ultimate responsibility and a duty of care to
ensure the health and safety of workers and anyone else who might be affected by the work
activity.

PCBUs must:

 take all reasonable and practicable steps to ensure that the workplace is as safe, secure
and stress free as possible
 ensure that employees receive appropriate health, safety and security training, including
training relevant to safe manual handling
 consult with workers, or their representatives, regarding health, safety and security
measures
 conduct hazard identification and risk assessment procedures and take appropriate actions
to ensure workplace safety, eg: support the development and implementation of suitable risk
controls
 make personal protection equipment (PPE) available to workers as needed
 make it possible for workers to report any health, safety and security related incidents, or
illnesses

Worker are responsible for doing everything reasonably possible to protect their own health and
safety and that of other including:

1. Following all reasonable instructions

2. Not putting other workers or members of the public at risk of injury or illness.
3. Using any protective equipment that is provided.
4. Not working under the influence of drugs (including medication) or alcohol.
Employers and employees who fail to comply with health and safety legislation can be
prosecuted, fined, have enforcement actions such as restoration and training orders applied, or
information relating to the nature and outcome of compliance and enforcement activities
published.

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Regulations

Regulations are the administrative aspect of legislation and relate how the law is to be applied.
For every Act, there is a set of regulations. They are legal documents that give more specific
details on how legislation is to be implemented. They must be followed unless an employer can
provide an alternative method which will demonstrably achieve an equal or better level of
health and safety.

Codes of practice/compliance codes

In addition to legislation, codes of practice provide documented advice on how to achieve the
minimum acceptable levels of safety performance to employers in various industries. They are
used to ensure compliance with legislation. They do not have the same legal enforcements as
legislation. However, if a breach of legislation occurs, the code of practice can provide evidence
to show that an employer or worker has breached the duty of care they are given under the
legislation. They might be used to provide evidence that the employer is not meeting minimum
requirements, or alternatively, if an employer is prosecuted, but can prove that they have been
following codes of practice, they are considered to be complying with their responsibilities.

Standards
Standards are designed to create national uniformity in regulations and codes of practice.
Standards are documents produced by national bodies, health and safety regulators or industry
bodies that prescribe preventative action to avert occupational death, injuries and diseases.

Standards are of an advisory nature only, except where a law adopts the standard and thus
makes it mandatory. Standards might be called up as evidence in court or other enforcement
action.

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Guidance material
Guidance material is advisory material that provides detailed information for use by unions,
employers, management, health and safety committees (HSCs), health and safety
representatives (HSRs), safety officers, manufacturers etc. Guidance material advises on what
to do and how to do it. While freely available, guidance material has no legal status.

The most obvious source of reliable, external information about legislation, regulations, and
requirements is the relevant workplace legislative body in each state or territory. These bodies
can provide information about the legislation pertinent to each state/territory and industry, and
about their applications. Each state/territory legislative regulator has a well maintained website
where information can be freely accessed.

Policies and procedures

Health and safety legislation requires organizations and employers to prepare policy and
procedure documents relevant to their health and safety activities and commitment. They should
be developed to reflect the application of health and safety legislation, regulations, codes of
conduct and standards in the workplace.

Each organization will have a number of health and safety policies and procedures in place
which are designed to protect the health, safety and security of employers, employees and
members of the public. Individual organizations will have different health and safety policies
and procedures depending on the type of work done by the business and the related hazards.

A policy is a statement of action adopted by a business that guides and influences decision
making in the business.

Procedures are the particular way tasks are to be done. Procedures describe a logical sequence
of activities that must be followed every time to complete a task correctly and safely.

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Workplace policies and procedures help organizations to meet their legal obligations by
interpreting relevant legal requirements and then describing how these requirements will be met
in the workplace. Policies and procedures should be kept as simple as possible and must be
developed with input from employees or their representatives.

For example, health and safety legislation requires employers to provide safe systems of work.
A restaurant business might develop a manual handling policy as one way to comply with this
requirement.

Manual handling is any activity involving the use of muscular force (or effort) to lift, move,
push, pull, carry, hold or restrain any object, including a person or animal. It covers more than
lifting heavy weights and affects more than the back.

An organization’s manual handling policy might outline how the business intends to eliminate
manual handling incidents (for example by offering training and removing hazards) and the
different roles managers and workers have in helping to do this.

Other examples of health and safety policies include, but are not limited to:

- Incident management
- consultation
- alcohol and drugs
- workplace bullying
- smoking

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Procedures are then developed to detail how manual handling should be done in the workplace.
There might be one procedure for lifting and one for repetitive work as both these functions fit
the definition of manual work. Procedures can include pictures or diagrams to help explain each
step.

An example of a lifting procedure might include step-by-step how-to instructions for:

1. Preparing to lift—clearing the lifting area and facing the direction required to go in.
2. Checking the load—working out if the load will be difficult to carry due to its size, shape, or
packaging.
3. Sizing up the load—checking for any weight indication and moving it slightly to get a feel
for its weight.
4. Lifting posture—correct position for feet, hands, knees and back.
5. Setting the load down—reversing the procedures.
Other examples of health and safety procedures include, but are not limited to:

 hazard notification
 incident/accident reporting
 evacuation
 first aid
 waste management
 workplace inspections
 use of personal protective equipment (PPE)

Policies and procedures should be in writing to provide clarity and certainty at the workplace
and assist in demonstrating compliance with legislation. They should be easily accessible to all
workers.

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Explaining health and safety information to personnel
Employers are legally obliged to explain relevant and current health and safety information to
employees. Information that will help workers understand the reason for policy, procedure or
change to work practices should also be explained.

Policies and procedures impact on the work practices or employment conditions of staff or
compliance requirements of the organization so they should be explained to staff at appropriate
times to ensure they are aware of their roles and responsibilities with regard to organizational
and legislative requirements.

Communicating the information

Information and explanations about health and safety will initially be provided during the
induction process. Workers will then need training that provides them with the skills and
knowledge to work safely, follow safe systems of work and comply with security requirements.

They must be informed of a wide range of health, safety and security requirements:

 the rights and responsibilities of the PCBU and their officers

 their own rights and responsibilities and what they must do to comply with regulations
 the consequences of non-compliance
 how they can participate in the consultation processes
 who their health and safety representatives are, and their responsibilities
 the organization’ security systems and requirements
 emergency procedures that must be followed- alarms, fire wardens and the location of
emergency response equipment
 hazard identification and risk assessment procedures
 procedures for identifying and reporting hazards and health and safety problems
 how risks are assessed and managed
 procedures and responsibilities with regard to reporting incidents or security breaches
 how to access the relevant policies, procedures and any other useful information
 training and coaching that will be provided
 safe manual handing techniques
 first aid—location of first aid kit and persons responsible for administering first aid
 waste management
 use of personal protective equipment (PPE)
 management of dangerous goods and the use of Safety Data Sheets (SDS)
 safe food handling and storage
 hygiene and cleanliness - infection control
 welfare facilities such as staff assistance programs
 instructions on how to operate machinery correctly, use personal protective equipment
and manage the other safety aspects applicable to their jobs
 the ramifications of non-compliance with policies, procedures, legislation and regulations