BSBWHS307 WHS Laws in the Workplace

Work Health and Safety

Introduction to health and safety

Occupational health and safety (OHS) or Work health and safety (WHS) are terms used to describe the laws and processes that help to protect employees from death, disease and injury while at work.

Despite the amount of work done towards safety, the number of people dying in Australian workplaces is still greater than the national road toll. State bodies work with employers every day to try and reduce that number.

The Work Cover Authority of NSW estimates that occupational injury and illness cost Australian industry 10 billion dollars each year.

WHS Policies and procedures

Australia has very stringent laws to manage work health and safety. The WHS legislation requires employers and employees to work together to ensure safe and healthy work environments. Each Australian state and territory has a work health and safety Act that aims to:

Focus on the prevention of occupational health hazards
Decreased costs as a result of increased productivity
Decreased workers compensation premiums
Damage to equipment kept to a minimum
Prevention of hazards
More efficient workforce

Why Do You Need Safe Work Procedures?

You have an obligation to protect workers from risks in the tasks that they carry out or from the plant, equipment and machinery used to carry out a task.

Costs of workplace injuries

Workplace injuries affect not only the workplace; they have far reaching effects into personal life. The costs of workplace injury can be divided into 4 areas:

human
social
economic, and
organizational

The costs can directly or indirectly affect the organization.

Direct costs

incapacity payments for lost earnings
medical costs
rehabilitation costs
property damage

Indirect costs

time lost from work by the injured employee = lost productivity
loss of skills, experience and knowledge
cost of recruitment, replacement and training
increased workload pressure and uncertainty for co-workers
higher risk of injuries to other staff and lowered morale
absenteeism, turnover, workplace conflict
the cost of replacement equipment
damage to the organization’s reputation as an attractive workplace
cost of investigation reports

Benefits of health and safety programs

For employers 

The benefits of providing workplace health programs include (but are not limited to):

improved productivity
increased creativity and innovation
improved employee engagement
improved staff morale
reduced sickness-related absenteeism
reduced health-related work impairment
increased attraction and retention of staff
reduced workplace injury and workers compensation costs
improved employee relations
improved corporate image
improved workability in an ageing workforce.

For employees

The benefits of participating in workplace health initiatives include (but are not limited to):
improved health awareness and knowledge
improved physical and mental wellbeing and resilience
increased energy and vitality
increased work enjoyment and fulfilment
improved concentration and productivity
improved team relationships.

What are safe work procedures?

Safe work procedures ensure your workers are aware of the risks in their work tasks, and outline how to avoid injury or illness while doing these tasks. Safe work procedures are a means of documenting the risks associated with a work task and incorporating the appropriate risk control measures into a sequence of steps for doing the task safely.

The legislation requires that all hazards are identified and the risks arising from these hazards are eliminated entirely or controlled in the following sequence if they cannot be eliminated:

Substitution – replace the hazardous substance, machine, process or task with a safer alternative.
Engineering – modify tools and equipment, erect enclosures around equipment, place guards around moving parts.
Administration – develop and implement safe work procedures and introduce training for hazardous tasks.
Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) – safety glasses, footwear and hearing protection may be useful, but as a control measure they are to be used as a last resort.

The general aims and objectives of Australian Commonwealth and State WHS legislation are:

To secure the health, safety and welfare of persons at work
To eliminate, at their source, risks to the health, safety and welfare of persons at work
To protect the public against risks to health or safety arising out of or in connection with the activities of persons at work
To involve employees and employers in issues affecting occupational health, safety and welfare
To encourage registered associations to take a constructive role in promoting improvements in occupational health, safety and welfare practices and assisting employers and employees to achieve a healthier and safer working environment.

The WHS legislation requires all businesses and organizations to have a Work Health and Safety policy in place that is clearly understood by all employees.

Those responsible for the Work Health and Safety policy should be equipped with the necessary skills to carry out and perform these policies and their functions under this policy.

Some of the issues to address include:

Employees need to be aware of the factors involved in work related injuries and disease, and be made aware of changes in Work Health and Safety issues.

Those responsible for administering the Work Health and Safety policy should have the knowledge, skills and competences to carry out their tasks, and be able to identify potential and existing risks and hazards.

Those responsible for administering the Work Health and Safety policy should be able to develop and implement preventive strategies.

Those responsible for administering the Work Health and Safety policy should be able to represent both employer and employee in the consultative process.

Those responsible for administering the Work Health and Safety policy should be aware of current legal requirements and keep up to date with changes in legal requirements and community expectations.

Those responsible for administering the Work Health and Safety policy should implement training policies to effectively address relevant issues in their organization.

The organization should have a system for investigating, reporting and recording incidents and accidents with an emphasis on prevention.

Are your employees equipped with appropriate protective equipment?
Does your organization have an easily accessible FIRST AID station and a trained person to render emergency assistance?
Does your organization have a list of emergency phone numbers to be used in emergency situations?
Does your organization have an emergency procedure plan in place?

Obviously Work Health and Safety is a complex topic, and many organizations have a full time officer to handle this complex task.

Required Skills and Knowledge

Employees need to be able to follow WHS procedures. Knowledge and understanding is required of the work health and safety (WHS) system sufficient to recognize situations affecting WHS and to take the appropriate action to rectify the situation.

Awareness is required that WHS issues are regulated by State/Territory Acts, regulations, codes of practice and industry standards.

Competence includes the ability to apply and describe procedures for:

Recognizing hazards in the workplace
Recognizing safety signs and symbols
Recognizing hazards commonly found in the workplace and standard controls
Reporting hazards identified to the designated person/according to procedure.

Competence also includes the ability to:

Describe the rights and responsibilities of employees under the WHS legislation
Use and maintain appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE)
Communicate WHS issues
Locate and follow WHS procedures under direct supervision.

In this Study Guide, you will be learning about:

The WHS laws in Australia
Types of hazards
How you can participate in WHS processes as an employee
How you can apply your knowledge of WHS in the workplace

WHS legislation in Australia

On 1 January 2012, the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 and the Work Health and Safety Regulations 2011 took effect and replaced:

the Occupational Health and Safety Act 1991
the Occupational Health and Safety (Safety Standards) Regulations 1994
the Occupational Health and Safety (Safety Arrangements) Regulations 1991.

In addition, new Codes of Practice replaced the Occupational Health and Safety Code of Practice 2008, although some of the old codes were preserved.

The Act: Work Health and Safety Act 2011

New work health and safety (WHS) laws commenced on 1 January 2012 in many states and territories to harmonies occupational health and safety (OH&S) laws across Australia.

WHS legislation includes a model WHS Act, regulations, Codes of Practice and a national compliance and enforcement policy. The model WHS Act is not significantly different from current occupational health & safety (OH&S) laws, but will make it easier for businesses and workers to comply with their requirements across different states and territories.

Each state and territory is responsible for regulating and enforcing WHS laws.

Safe Work Australia is the national body in charge of developing work health and safety and workers’ compensation policy.

These laws spell out the duties of different groups of people who play a role in workplace health and safety.

The Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (WHS Act) sets out the objects and core elements of the Commonwealth’s WHS regulatory framework and imposes mandatory obligations on duty holders (as defined in the Act) to comply with the general duties assigned to them.

The main object of the WHS Act is to provide a balanced and nationally consistent framework to secure the health and safety of workers and workplaces.

It defines:

duty holders and their general duties
workplace arrangements including health and safety management arrangements, health and safety committees, designated work groups, and health and safety representatives
the role of Comcare investigators in determining whether there has been compliance with the Act and regulations.

The Regulations: Work Health and Safety Regulations 2011

Some workplace hazards can cause so much injury or disease that specific regulations or codes of practice are needed to control them. These regulations and codes explain the duties of particular groups of people in controlling these risks. There is a difference between regulations and codes:

Regulations are legally enforceable

The Work Health and Safety Regulations 2011 (WHS Regulations) impose mandatory requirements for duty holders to comply with when managing work health and safety.

The WHS Regulations supplement the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (WHS Act) and provide more detailed information about the duties that apply in relation to particular hazards, other procedures, and obligations associated with the Act.

The regulations cover: