Reference no: EM133214895

Assignment:

Work Health and Safety Legislation and its impact in the workplace

In Australia, work health and safety legislation exists to keep people safe from injury (physical and psychological) at work. In 2012 the Commonwealth Government enacted the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 with the aim of bringing all Australian state and territory WHS/OHS legislation under the one overarching Work Health and Safety law. Most states and territories have since adopted Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (Cth) or harmonised their WHS/OHS legislation with this law. The exceptions are Western Australia and Victoria which still follow their own legislation.

Employers and employees must be aware of the particular legislation that applies to them in the state or territory in which they work.

They should also be aware of the federal and state regulatory body which overseas and enforces WHS/OHS laws and regulation in their state. These can be found at Safe Work Australia web link:

Question 1. Read the information above and answer the following questions.

a) What is the Work Health and Safety regulating body in the state/territory where you live or work in?

b) Why is it important to understand worker obligations set out in the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (Cth)?

Question 2.

a) What are workplace regulations?

b) How does state/territory legislation impact on them?

Question 3

a) What are codes of practice?

b) How does state/territory legislation impact on them?

Question 4. What are industry standards and how does state/territory legislation impact on them?

Question 5. Under the WHS Act, who can be a person conducting a business or undertaking (PCBU)? Provide at least three examples.

Question 6. What are the rights and responsibilities of persons conducting a business or undertaking (PCBUs)/employers, officers and workers as a result of Australian WHS legislation?

Question 7. a) In Australian safety legislation, what is meant by 'a duty of care?'

b) How is this relevant to those who work in the community services sector?

Question 8. Referring to the model Work Health and Safety Regulations, cite at least two WHS regulatory requirements relevant to the community service industry.

Question 9. According to the WHS Code of Practice, describe a PCBUs "duty to consult" and how can this encourage better participation and cooperation from all persons that are involved in workplace health and safety?

Question 10. How does state/territory legislation affect performing hazardous manual tasks in a community services environment? Provide two characteristics of a hazardous manual task.

Question 11. Explain how WHS policies should address hazard identification, risk assessment and control.

Question 12. How does risk analysis contribute to effective hazard and risk management?

Question 13. Outline two hazard identification procedures according to the principles of hazard and risk management.

Question 14. Provide an example of how you would apply Level 2 of the hierarchy of control to control a hazard in a community services environment provided below:

Hazard: The reception area is being painted after hours and the paint is solvent-based, which is causing some irritation, headaches and allergies among staff.

Question 15. What are the four basic steps of risk assessment?

Question 16. Benchmarking, in a health and safety perspective, is the process by which an organisation compares its health and safety performance with others to measure the effectivity of their own health and safety initiatives and determine future goals and improvements that can be implemented.

Provide at least two examples of key performance indicators that may be used by organisations for work health and safety benchmarking.

Question 17. Explain how state/territory legislation impacts infection control in a community services environment.

Question 18. What information does a WHS policy have to include regarding designated person/s for raising issues?

Question 19. Provide two examples of workplace support services that may be included in a WHS policy.

Question 20. How can a WHS policy address consultation and participation requirements that relate to health and safety?

Question 21. Explain how Human Resources (HR) policies and procedures can support workplace health and safety requirements in an organisation.

Question 22. Cite at least two principles of safe design processes?

Question 23. What information about the use of personal protective equipment should be contained in a WHS policy and procedure?

Question 24. Cite at least three important pieces of information that an emergency procedure should include.

Question 25. Provide at least three benefits of having a quality system documentation for WHS documents and records?

Question 26. Give two examples of hazards common to a community services work environment and suggest strategies for risk minimisation.