Reference no: EM132818459

BSBWHS501 Ensure a safe workplace

1 Discuss the rationale for nationally harmonised work health and safety laws and identify participating and non-participating states/territories.

2 Identify and document the title and date of the WHS/OHS Act and Regulation for the state in which you are located.

3 Discuss the purpose of a code of practice and give two examples of a code of practice relevant to your work or State that you are located, including their title and key purpose.

4 Outline the factors that must be taken into account in determining control measures for hazardous manual tasks as stated in the model Work Health and Safety Regulations 2011.

5 Define the following terms ‘duty holder' and ‘PCBU' and explain their duty of care under WHS/OHS legislation:

6 Explain four ways in which hazards can be identified in the workplace.

7 Discuss the process of risk assessment and control in workplace health and safety.

8 Explain the purpose of the hierarchy of control and each of the options available from most effective to least effective. Provide an example for each.

9 Explain two reasons why it is important to report WHS incidents within the workplace to relevant persons. Identify at least two position holders to whom incidents may be reported in your response.

10 Identify the three events that are defined as ‘notifiable incidents' and the period of time for which employers must keep records of these incidents.

11 Within what time period must an employer notify their worker's compensation insurer where a worker has received a workplace injury?

12 Identify the data a workplace is required to keep about an injury and provide one example of the kind of system a workplace may use to identify patterns of occupational injury and disease.

13 What are the Worksafe expectations for an automotive workshop?

14 Write down any three hazards you might face in an automotive workshop and list any two control measures for each of these hazards.

Assessment Task 2: Development project

For this task you are required to update an existing WHS policy, develop two new policies and establish a record keeping system.

Trucks N Cars is a car dealership business based in Melbourne.
Staff employed in the business include the CEO, Operations Manager, two Senior Management Consultants, two motor mechanics and an Administration Officer. There are also four marketing consultants who work from the office at least 1 day a week each and when they are not on the road they work from home. All of the management consultants travel extensively across Victoria visiting clients.
Trucks N Cars has an existing Health and Safety Policy and various procedures but as the organisation has expanded and more people are travelling and working from home, the CEO believes that it is time to update the existing policy and expand the procedures to include fatigue management and working from home.
The CEO has identified a number of areas that need to be updated:
1. The WHS policy needs to be updated to include:
• The definitions of duty holders under WHS legislation to be included.
• A statement regarding working at home to be included in the appropriate place.
• A statement regarding fatigue management to be included in the appropriate place.
2. Development of two procedures:
• Working from home.
• Managing fatigue.
• These procedures need to include procedures for ongoing hazard identification and risk assessment and management.
3. Record keeping:
• The CEO is not satisfied with the way records are being kept. He has asked you to create a new record keeping system on the network drive so that all managers have visibility and understand where to locate and save relevant WHS information.
As the Operations Manager you are responsible for researching, developing and implementing the above changes.

PART A
Create an electronic folder structure that represents the record keeping requirements as outlined in the Trucks N Cars WHS Policy.
You will be required to create this folder structure electronically (in Windows File Explorer for example) and save all of your assessment tasks into these folders. Speak with your assessor to determine the best location for this folder structure (e.g. USB, personal computer, student network drive, etc.).
Submit a screen shot of your record keeping system to your assessor.

PART B
Review the existing Trucks N Cars Health and Safety Policy and the case study information above.
Your assessor will provide you with a copy of the current WHS Policy. You will need to save this policy into the correct folder in your record keeping system. At the end of this task you will have a superseded version (the original) and the new current version.
1. Update the policy with the information provided:
a) The definitions of duty holders under WHS legislation.
b) A statement regarding working at home.
c) A statement regarding fatigue management.
You will need to conduct research to determine if federal legislative requirements exist in relation to these matters. Update the ‘Standard' section of the policy to include the relevant legislation (including Acts, Regulations and Codes of Practice).
Use track changes or a different colour font/highlight to highlight all of the changes you have made to the policy. This will make is simple for your assessor to view and assess the changes.
Follow the current format, layout and language of the document to maintain consistency and professionalism.

2. Write a brief memo to the CEO (your assessor) requesting their immediate feedback and adoption of the updated policy and submit this with your updated policy to your assessor by the due date.
Save your updated policy into the correct location in your record keeping system.

PART C

You are required to develop two procedures in this assessment task. You are encouraged to complete as much research as you can to source other company's procedures for working at home and managing fatigue in an environment similar to that of Trucks N Cars.

You need to write your procedure in your own words and this should be written clearly and concisely for a wide audience to read and understand. Structure your document using headings, bullets and/or numbering.

1. Draft a working from home procedure.

The procedure should be brief - one to two pages and address the following points:
• Requirements for a home based office (e.g. workstation, working space, technology, etc.)
• Employee responsibilities
• Supervisor responsibilities
• A brief step-by-step procedure for applying to work at home
• Risk Assessment

Include a risk assessment of at least 10 common hazards that can be found working at home in an office environment. You must identify the task, the hazard description and the suggested controls. Your controls must identify the control it is aligned to in the Hierarchy of Controls.

It is recommended that you present your risk assessment data in a table.

You must ensure that your procedure includes how hazard identification and risk assessment will be conducted - before the worker begins working at home, at periodic times as requested and annually.

• Supporting documentation - this should reference an employee working at home checklist and a form to apply for working at home
2. Draft a fatigue management procedure.
The procedure should be brief - one to two pages and address the following points:
• Causes of fatigue, signs of fatigue, immediate effects of fatigue, long term effects of fatigue
• Employee responsibilities
• Supervisor responsibilities
• Risk Assessment
Include a risk assessment of at least 4 common hazards associated with fatigue (in the environment described at Trucks N Cars). You must identify the task, the hazard description and the suggested controls. Your controls must identify the control it is aligned to in the Hierarchy of Controls.
It is recommended that you present your risk assessment data in a table.
You must ensure that your procedure includes how hazard identification and risk assessment will be conducted - before the worker begins working, at periodic times as required/requested and annually.
• Recommended working hours and breaks - this section must be in alignment with WHS and Fair Work legislation and stipulate the following:
o Where flights interstate are required for business purposes these must not be before 7am or after 6pm
o Employees may not drive for longer than 5 hours in a single day
o Employees may not work for more than 10 hours per day including travel time
o Employment Contracts defines ‘ordinary hours' as being 38 hours per week between 7am and 6pm and no employee is permitted to work outside of these hours without prior consent from the Operations Manager
o Employees must take a 30 minute unpaid break away from their work stations.
• Supporting documentation - this should reference a Fatigue Self-Assessment and Long Distance Driving Guide
• Breach of policy/management of persons affected by fatigue.

Assessment Task 3: Case studies

Instructions to students:
TASK SUMMARY
For this task you are required to answer the questions to demonstrate your knowledge of:
• The requirements of a WHS consultation and communication process.
• Completing risk assessments using established procedures and processes.
• Identifying inadequacies of risk control measures and implementing new controls.
• Identifying where to request expert advice.
• Maintaining a record keeping system.
• Compliance with internal WHS policies and procedures, legislation, regulations and Codes of Practice.

Case study 1: No consultation

The new fatigue management policy and procedure has placed serious restrictions on the management consultants, restricting them from getting their work completed and closing sales, which in turn effects their commissions.

As a collective group, the consultants have complained to the management team that they were not consulted with at any point during the design and implementation of the fatigue management policy and procedure. They are not satisfied with the process or the result and have requested that they be included in a revision of the procedure.

QUESTION 1
Is the PCBU required to consult with employees in this scenario? Explain your respon

QUESTION 2
In preparation for writing a consultation procedure, how do you think Trucks N Cars could best consult with their employees? Write dot points for the following headings that will appear in a procedure:

• The matters that management will consult on.
• Who will be consulted?
• The format the consultation will take.
• How information and decisions will be shared with all staff.

QUESTION 3
Does consultation in this scenario need to be documented?

QUESTION 4
If you were to include documenting the consultation process into the procedure, what and how would the consultation be documented?
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Case study 2: Fatigue management
The current Fatigue Management procedure states:
• Where flights interstate are required for business purposes these must not be before 7am or after 6pm.
• Employees may not drive for longer than 5 hours in a single day.
• Employees may not work for more than 10 hours per day including travel time.
• Employment Contracts defines ‘ordinary hours' as being 38 hours per week between 7am and 6pm and no employee is permitted to work outside of these hours without prior consent from the Operations Manager.
• Employees must take a 30 minute unpaid break away from their work stations.

The consultant's view of these restrictions include:
• Flights from 7am from Melbourne mean that consultants cannot get to 9am meetings or even into the CBD of cities until after 9am and coupled with different time zones in Australia this will severely affect business relationships.
• No flights after 6pm hinder work at the opposite end of the day, meaning that consultants must wrap up their work day by 3pm to make it back to airports.
• Driving from Melbourne to country Victoria and back is longer than 5 hours and 5 hours is ridiculous for the same reasons listed above.
• They have laughed at the 10 hour day suggesting that this is simply impossible. They have also said that prior to this procedure they managed their time effectively - if they were late home one night, they started late the next day or finished early the day before or after travel.
• Having to get consent from the Operations Manager to work outside of the hours in the procedure is ridiculous and unrealistic. This suggests that the Operations Manager basically has control over their dairies and commissions.
• The 30 minute lunch break is reasonable.

QUESTION 1
In your group, research, discuss and agree on alternative arrangements for each of the stipulations in the procedure that the consultants have issues with. Ensure the alternative arrangements meet legislative requirements.
Use the Risk Management Chart (Appendix C) in the Safe Work Model Code of Practice - Work Health and Safety Consultation, Cooperation and Coordination as a guide to assess the alternative arrangements. You must suggest a specific control measure for each hazard and provide the results in a similar table:

QUESTION 2
Draft an email communication to the staff informing them of the alternative recommendations for the fatigue management procedure and the risk assessment that has been conducted. You must also inform them that they will be required to vote on the changes at the next staff meeting. Include a brief outline of the safety issue, who was involved in making the alternative recommendations and your contact details if they have questions.  

Case study 3: Health and safety representative
As part of the duty holder's responsibilities, the Operations Manager has informed the employees at a staff meeting that they can elect a health and safety representative. One of the consultants has taken a keen interest and the other consultants and employees have elected them to represent their work group.

The newly appointed health and safety representative has requested to do some training for this role.

QUESTION 1
What training courses can the H&S representative undertake in Victoria?

QUESTION 2
Is the health and safety representative required to undertake this training in order to hold office?

QUESTION 3
Is the PCBU required to let the health and safety representative attend any training?

QUESTION 4
Explain what the PCBU must do if the representative requests training.

QUESTION 5
Draft an email to the health and safety representative approving their training request. Provide the details on the next initial course with an approved provider in Melbourne and inform them what you will and will not be covering the cost of.

Case study 4: Health and safety committee
One of the other employees has requested that a health and safety committee be formed. As the Operational Manager you are not sure of the requirements here. You personally don't think that the company is big enough to have a committee and neither is there a need based on the type of work the employees do. The health and safety representative agrees with you.

QUESTION 1
Assume you are unable to find the information that you need about the topic on the Internet. Find the authority contact information in the State or Territory that you reside and draft an email to them requesting information on the requirements for establishing a health and safety committee.
You will need to provide a brief of the company - the type of operation, how many employees and where the request for the committee came from.
Although you are not sending this email include the email address that you would use to contact the authority in your State/Territory.

QUESTION 2
Assume that you have heard back from the authority. Draft an email communication to the staff informing them of the information provided by the authority, the original request, the decision on whether a committee will be formed, who you consulted with and who staff should contact if they have questions.
You will need to research the requirements and include the information in your own words, including the Act references, about when an employer is required to establish a health and safety committee.

Case study 5: WHS issues raised
The company's WHS Consultation and Communication procedure states that consultation will occur in team meetings where WHS will be a permanent agenda item. It also states that staff will be informed of decisions via the meeting minutes, the health and safety notice board and where applicable, a direct email or other form of communication such as training.
During the weekly team meeting two health and safety issues were raised by the health and safety rep:
1. One of the consultants slipped over in a customer's warehouse last week and hurt her knee quite badly for which she received immediate medical attention and will require on-going care. Upon investigation the health and safety rep discovered that the consultant used the required PPE (hi-vis vest, hard hat and safety glasses) but had stiletto shoes on. Footwear has not been included in the risk assessment.
2. During an online meeting with one of the consultants during the week the operations manager noticed in the background of the webcam that the consultant had the smoke detector hanging out of the ceiling. When questioned, the consultant stated that it was faulty and kept going off every time someone cooked toast. Smoke detectors have not been included in the risk assessment.

QUESTION 1
Use the hierarchy of control to recommend a risk control for both scenarios. Re-create the table below to represent your data:

QUESTION 2
Draft meeting minutes of the safety issues raised at the meeting that include an outline of the issue, who raised the issue, the risk assessment conducted, who was involved in the assessment and consultation process, when the control measures take effect and any other actions that need to be completed.

Case study 6: Patterns of injury
The CEO requests a meeting with the Operations Manager and the Health and Safety rep and raises the record of injury report which has been collated. Over the past twelve months there have been six injuries which is considered extremely high for a small organisation.
There was an increase of two injuries from the previous 12 months - three of the four injuries were from manual tasks.
The following data has been provided at the meeting:

QUESTION 1
What is the pattern of workplace injury?

QUESTION 2
What is the percentage of manual task related injuries over the 2 years?

QUESTION 3
What recommendations would you make to Trucks N Cars to reduce the likelihood of being injured?

Assessment Task 4: WHS training project

TASK SUMMARY
For this task you are required to develop and deliver a workplace health and safety training program.

INSTRUCTIONS
You have been charged with the responsibility of developing and delivering a workplace health and safety induction program for new staff. All current staff will also need to be re-trained to bring them up to speed with the new WHS Policy and information that has been discussed and agreed upon in consultation.
As well as delivering information to staff on the general WHS policy you will need to select one of the topics that you have researched and discussed in Assessment Task 3 to include in your training presentation:
• Working from home
• Fatigue Management
• Health and Safety representatives
• Health and Safety committees
• Health and Safety consultation and communication
• Risk Assessments.
1. Develop a presentation for an induction/training program. You will need to use a presentation package such as Microsoft PowerPoint to create your presentation. Prepare your training session for a 20 minute presentation.
You are required to address the following points in your presentation:
• An overview of WHS legislation that applies to Trucks N Cars and the purpose of such legislation - note this should be the WHS legislation that applies to the state/territory in which you are studying including:
» Purpose/definitions of WHS Act, Regulations, Codes of Practice
» An explanation of the definitions for hazard, hazard identification, risk and risk assessment, accident, incident and near miss
» Meaning of duty of care
» Obligations of workers and PCBU
» Persons within the organisation who are responsible for WHS and each of their responsibilities (as identified from the Health and Safety Policy and the newly appointed WHS representative).
» An outline of the topic you have selected. The information you provide must contain information about the legislative framework and the workplace procedure (or instruction).

2. Conduct induction/training program.
This part of the assessment task requires you to conduct your induction/training program for staff.
You will have 20 minutes to present your induction/training program to a small group of students that your assessor will arrange.
You are also required to ask the participants to sign into your training session so that you can meet the policy record keeping requirements. The sign in sheet (below) must be saved into your record keeping system.
During the presentation you will be required to demonstrate effective interpersonal and communication skills including:
• Speaking clearly and concisely
• Using effective non-verbal communication skills to encourage audience interest
• Responding to questions
• Asking questions to seek feedback and understanding of the topic
• Use of active listening techniques to confirm and clarify understanding.
At the end of the presentation you should provide the opportunity for questions.

3. Write a memo to your assessor evaluating your own performance in developing and delivering the training session. Discuss what went well and what you could improve on. Also discuss what you would include/not include or change if this were a real workplace health and safety induction.

Assessment Task 5: Review and evaluation project

TASK SUMMARY
For this task you are required to measure and evaluate the compliance level of the WHS management system, recommend actions and improvements, and implement an internal audit schedule.

INSTRUCTIONS
It is 12 months down the track and Trucks N Cras want to review their health and safety management system using the WHS Performance Reporting Matrix.
An initial internal audit has been conducted on the WHS Management System with the following results found:
1. WHS Policy:
• The WHS policy was developed and defines objectives and responsibilities.
• The WHS policy is available on the Staff Intranet.
• The WHS policy has been signed off by the CEO.
2. WHS responsibilities:
• Responsibilities for WHS included in policy.
• The policy does not refer to the health and safety representative.
3. WHS consultation:
• WHS is a standing agenda item of staff meeting and all staff have opportunity to raise and discuss issues.
4. WHS Training:
• All new staff have received training on health and safety during induction.
• WHS training sessions held on introduction of new WHS policies and procedures.
• Induction records kept.
5. WHS Procedures:
• WHS procedures in place.
6. Contractor Management:
• No formal WHS procedures in place. The company doesn't use contractors.
7. WHS Performance Indicators:
• WHS policy and procedures includes overall goals of WHS.
8. Risk management processes:
• Clear procedures for risk management with responsibilities identified.
9. WHS inspections:
• Each staff member carries out inspections as required.
• Reports and actions are sometimes completed.
10. Incident Report/Emergency Response:
• Incident form on intranet.
• 70% of incidents and near misses reported.
11. Injury Management/Return to Work:
• Nothing in place currently.
12. WHS Document Control:
• WHS policies and procedures and forms are kept in central location.
• WHS documents have version control and are dated.
• Organisation has an overall record keeping policy and procedure.
13. WHS Performance Review:
• Little analysis of WHS performance measures.
14. WHS Auditing:
• No WHS audits have been conducted in the last 12 months.
15. WHS Continuous Improvement:
• No procedures in place for WHS continuous improvement.
The CEO has advised that a minimum of satisfactory performance is to be achieved for each element and that where an area is identified, as minimal, immediate recommendations for action must be made.

1. You are required to measure and evaluate the level of compliance against the WHS Performance Reporting Matrix and provide a report to the management team.
Review the data in the case study above and measure the performance using the Performance Reporting Matrix. Record the grading for each system element, the reasons that the grade has been applied and at least one action that is required to move the performance to ‘satisfactory performance'.
Also make at least one recommendation for improving the measurement of each system element. For example, WHS policy and commitments states that ‘good performance' equates to the policy being included in relevant training. A better measure may include that staff are trained within two days of their employment commencement date.
Ensure your report is saved into your WHS record keeping system and submit a copy to your assessor in the format required.

2. As a result of the audit evaluation you have discovered that no internal safety hazard inspections have been conducted in the past 12 months.
Create a 12-month audit schedule that covers an audit of each element in the WHS Management System. Allocate the responsibility of the audit to either the operations manager or the health and safety representative.

Draft an email communication to the health and safety representative to inform them of the audit schedule and their responsibilities in completing the audits on time.
Ensure your email communication is saved into your WHS record keeping system and submit your audit schedule and email to your assessor in the format required.

3. Assuming that you have completed all of the required tasks, include a screen shot of your record keeping system and submit it to your assessor. Your assessor may also request that you submit this information electronically.

Attachment:- Ensure a safe workplace.rar