Diploma of Children’s Services

CHCOHS501AManage Workplace OHS Management Systems

Element 1

Julie Carmel

Occupational Health and Safety Legislation. The basic tenants of OHS legislation is to;

♦ Secure the workplace health and safety and welfare of employees ♦ Protect persons at or near workplaces from risks to health and

safety arising out of work activities ♦ Ensure that expert OHS advice is available to employers,

employees and contractors ♦ Promote work environments that are adapted to the health and

safety needs of employees ♦ Foster cooperation and consultation between employers and

employees on matters related to employee health safety and welfare.

Statistics

Victoria According to information provided by WorkSafe Victoria:

♦ There were 21 work-related deaths in calendar 2008 compared with 22 in 2007 and 29 in 2006.

♦ Deaths in 2008 occurred in building construction (four), transport and agriculture (three each), timber, electrical linesmen (two each). There were also fatali ties involving forklifts, the meat industry, retail, fi refighting, roadworks, warehousing and manufacturing (one each).

♦ The 10 year average is 28.4 deaths/calendar year. There were 39 fatali ties in 1999, the highest in that period. Lowest was 2004 with 18.

♦ The 5 year average is 24 with a high of 30 in 2004, the highest in that period.

• 29,087 [WorkCover] claims last financial year compared with 28,550 in the previous. There were 77 lif e threatening injuries in the last financial year compared with 66 in 06/07.

On an average day

•1 Worker is killed

•300 will injury their back•20 diagnosed as having hearing loss

•15 or more will break bones

Costs •It is estimated that the national cost for workers compensation is in excess of $9.6 billion a year and rising.

•These costs are made up of staff rehabilitation, retraining and replacement, replacement of equipment, medical expenses, welfare and insurance, lost production and more.

•There are penalties for unsafe work practices.

•Each state has there own OHS legislation that governs workplace safety.

•Victoria has various legislations and acts that cover workplace safety.

Legislation

•Secure the workplace health and safety and welfare of employees

• Protect persons at or near workplaces from risks to health and safety that may arise from work activities•Ensure that expert OHS advice is available to

employers, employees and contractors•Promote work environments that are adapted to the

health and safety needs of employees•Foster cooperation and consultation between

employers and employees on matters related to employee health and safety.

The basic tenants of legislation is to:

Costs

It is estimated that the national cost fro workers compensation is in excess of $9.6 billion a year and

increasing

These costs are made up of staff rehabilitation, retraining and replacement of equipment, medical expensesWelfare and insurance, lost production and more

There are penalties for unsafe work practices that are setBy each individual state under their OHS legislation

Victorian Acts and Legislation

The main governing act in Victoria is the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004

This tells employers and employees their obligations under the law.

Employers obligationsThe OHS act states that employers have a responsibility to all employees to provide and maintain a safe working environment

that is without risks to health.

This applies to everyone that comes onto the premises.

This is called Duty of Care

Duty of Care

The law states that is it is reasonably foreseeable that you might suffer some sort of harm or loss because of something someone

else does, then that person owes you a

duty of care.

Thus someone must act with a reasonable standard of care. If this person does not follow

their standard care, and you suffer harm or loss as a result they have been negligent.

What is Negligence ?

When someone who owes you a duty of care, has failedto act according to a reasonable standard of care

and this has caused injury, that leads to damage or loss as a result, they have been negligent

You cannot take legal action against someone for being negligent unless you

suffer some harm or loss.

Reasonable Standard of Care

The way in which a person should act to make sure they do not breach their duty of care.

A person must act, as a reasonable person would have done in the same circumstances.

The court determines what is reasonable by looking at; The risk of harm occurring

The possible seriousness of the harmThe burden (difficulty) of removing or reducing the risk

The usefulness of the activityMeaning that if there is a big chance that someone could be seriously injured, a reasonable person would certainly do something to reduce this risk to meet their standard of

care

How is negligence determined?

To determine if negligence has occurred 4 questions need to be satisfied.

1. Did the defendant (person being sued) owe the plaintiff (person suing) a duty of care?

2. Did the defendant breach their duty of care?

3. Did the plaintiff suffer an injury or other damage?

4. Was the injury or damage caused as a result of the breach of the duty of care?

All these need to be satisfied to establish that the defendant was negligent.

(Lawhandbook.gov.au)

Lessening Risk in the workplace

An employer can:- induct staff

Undertake a job safety assessmentTraining of staff

Have a hazard register.

Staff induction.

It is the duty of employers to induct all new and returning staff on an induction tour of the

centre where they are shown exits, fire extinguishers, emergency procedures and their responsibilities, etc and who the OHS

officer is.

Job Safety Audit

Assesses the risk of injury and illness at a workplace. A job safety audit should be performed for each job the employee

undertakes.

Training

Assess and undertake any training that is deemed necessary for the safety and wellbeing of staff, clients and others.

This could be training staff to be OHS reps, fire wardens, first aid attendants, fir

extinguisher training, lifting procedures, protective behaviours etc.

Hazard Register

Is determined by a hierarchy of control which priorities preferred options for implementing

possible solutions and controls.

Hierarchy of Controls priorities are:

• Elimination

•Substitution

•Engineering (making)

•Administration

•Personal Protective Equipment.

Employees responsibilityAlthough the employer has a duty of care to

employees, employees also have an obligation to reasonable care for their own health and safety and

the safety of their co-workers.

Employees should undertake to maintain OHS at all times in the workplace and not take “shortcuts” that may put themselves or their colleagues in danger.

As part of the OHS (2004) Regulations employees are expected to cooperate with their employer, and when they do they have met their obligations under

the act.

Representation

Under the OHS act (2004) each workplace should have an OHS representative whose job it is to see to it that the OHS act is being

upheld at all times.

The OHS representative should be an independent person and not the employer.

It is the job of the OHS rep to undertake regular safety audits and report any findings

to the employer to be rectified.

In conclusionIt is everyone’s responsibility to ensure that

workplaces are safe for everyone. Employers and employees both have a responsibility to ensure that everyone makes it home uninjured and alive each

night.