Occupation Health and Safety at the Workplace - Literature review Example

Occupation Health and Safety Name Institution Course Date Table of Contents Occupation Health and Safety 1 Table of Contents 2 Executive summary 3 Evaluation and inspection 4 Safe Work Method Statement 5 Key Steps 6 Step 1: Identification of Hazards 6 Step 3: Risk Control 7 Step 4: Review 7 Roles and Responsibilities  7 Workers 8 Policy 9 Injuries 9 Hazards 9 Risk Management 10 Conclusion 10 References 11 Occupation Health and Safety Executive summary In Australia, Occupational health and safety (OHS) have hitherto, been regulated by Territory general OHS statutes, Commonwealth, and six states in addition to numerous certain statutes that covers public safety in industries like electricity, the maritime industry, mining, transport as well as dangerous goods. The OHS regulation has placed numerous general duties on different parties that materially influence OHS (self-employed persons, employers, managers, workers, suppliers, structures, and substances). This is accompanied by codes of practice and regulations that offer additional guidance and detail. Inspectorates monitor and enforce adherence to these standards since they have been given the power to inspect and take measures for enforcement that ranges from administrative sanctions, to informal measures, and to formal prosecution. Currently, every statute has provisions for electing employee health and safety committees as well as representatives. The representatives have the rights to inspect the workplace, to be consulted regarding the OHS issues, to get OHS-related information and, in a number of jurisdictions, to enforce notices through provisional improvement. Evaluation and inspection Even though workplace inspections are not in the slightest the only accessible means of reducing work-related, they play an important role in the current practice. For that reason, the workplace inspections’ efficiency is a crucial factor in workplace health and safety (WHS). As mentioned by Lindblom and Hansson (2004), the objective of evaluations is to determine goal satisfaction; they are closely associated with the notion of efficiency. Efficiency connotes goals satisfaction (standards, criteria). Many workers, especially in the construction industry are exposed to different OHS dangers such as fall dangers and cave-ins. Still, safety evaluations can help a company since the review offers important information which an employer could utilise to protect the workers. Through safety evaluations, it becomes easier for employers and business owners to safeguard their workers effectively from various on-the-job dangers. Evaluations promote safety at the workplace by offering employers steps that they should follow in order to enhance the work environments’ quality. Besides that, the evaluation enables business owners to improve their workplace safety regulations as well as come up with new guidelines for protecting employees. In Western Australia, WorkSafe Plan (an assessment and audit process) is utilised to rate health and safety management systems. The Plan is utilised to audit with the aim of offering ratings and information on the level to which a company has espoused a systematic approach to safety and health management as well as the level to which the company is adhering to the legislative requirements (Government of Western Australia, 2014). According to Comcare (2014), workplace inspections are a crucial part of successful safety and health management system and play a crucial role in preventing work-related illnesses and injury. By inspecting the workplace critically, inspections detect as well as report potential hazards which could be avoided or removed. A safety inspection in the workplace is scheduled regularly through a checklist to facilitate hazards’ identification and monitoring. Inspections are the most suitable way of identifying hazards before an injury happens and putting action into place to control or eliminate the hazards. When performing inspection the employer should consider a number of factors: listening to the employees’ concerns, examining incident reporting data and workplace hazard, identifying hazards and establishing their main cause, and examining the effectiveness hazard controls that were implemented previously. As mentioned by Comcare (2014), a workplace inspection can be effective of the inspectors examine the equipment, environment, as well as the work process. Equipment consists of materials and tools. The environment involves ventilation, vibration, noise, temperature and lighting. The process of work is associated with how the employee interacts with the work-related elements while performing an operation or task. Safe Work Method Statement A Safe Work Method Statement (SWMS), according to SafetyCulture (2017), is a document outlining the high-risk work-related activities to be conducted at a work environment, the hazards attributed to such activities, as well as the implemented measures to control the risks. SWMS are needed in the workplace with high-risk work activities; therefore, the SWMS content have to be refined to allow for consultation with employees as well as other people in the company. As mentioned by WorkSafe Queensland (2017), the SWMS main purpose is helping workers, supervisors, as well as other people at the workplace to comprehend the established requirements in order to perform high-risk construction work in a manner that is safe and healthy. The SWMS identifies hazards, outline work activities, and provide control measures. However, complex and simple work activities could be broken down into a sequence of basic steps which would facilitate full analysis of all parts of the activities for potential incidents and hazards. The process description should be made simple so that all activities that bring about incidents can be identified and to allow for adequate identification of the hazards. According to Asnicar (2013), it is imperative for business owners to understand that having SWMS in place is not sufficient; they must ensure that work is performed according to the SWMS. More importantly, the employers must make sure that supervisors like foreman have been trained sufficiently to understand as well as put into practice the SWMS to make sure that work is performed according to the SWMS. Akin to other safety plans, a SWMS have to be regularly reviewed to ensure its effectiveness is retained. The SWMS have to be revised and reviewed if a need arises prior to making any changes in how the construction work is done, before introducing a new work system or before changing the place where work is being done. Key Steps All foreseeable hazards, according to OHS legislation must be identified and the risks which arise from such hazards must be controlled or eliminated. For this reason, the business must take four steps to effectively manage work-related risks. Step 1: Identification of Hazards In this step, the business owners or employers can identify hazards through incident reporting, workplace inspections, employees’ feedback, injuries register, and consulting with employees. Step 2: Risk Assessment Risk assessment should be carried out to determine the likelihood and urgency of a risk and how it would affect people at the place of work. In this step, the business must determine which hazards are more serious and managing them first. While assessing the risk, the business should consider the type of the hazard, its consequence, likelihood, exposure duration, and many other factors. Step 3: Risk Control In this step, the business decides what they should do to control or eliminate the risks to allow for a safe and healthy workplace. If possible, the employer should make effort to eliminate or remove the hazard. If eliminating the hazard becomes impossible, the Hierarchy of Risk Control should be utilised to find out measures that are most effective in minimising the risks (Australian Business Consulting & Solutions, 2014). Step 4: Review In the last step, the business owner and employer should review the control measures periodically and make sure that the risk assessments are carried out to ensure that the espoused control measures are effective and appropriate. The review will help the business determine the validity of the risk assessments. Roles and Responsibilities  As mentioned by ALRC (2003, apart from Queensland and New South Wales, the duties of the employer is the same in all other Australian jurisdictions. They are expected to take practicable steps so as to protect the safety as well as the health of all workers. Person Conducting a Business or Undertaking' (PCBU) A PCBU as stipulated under the WHS Act has a primary duty of care in ensuring health and safety at the workplace. The PCBUs have to meet their obligations in order to offer a healthy and safe workplace for employees by ensuring the work environment is safe, offering adequate facilities for the workers and implementing effective systems for monitoring workplace conditions and workers’ health (Workplace OHS, 2017). A PCBU should have an open and meaningful consultation regarding work health and safety with its employees as well as health and safety committees and representatives. Should coordinate, cooperate, and consult with other PCBUs sharing similar duties. Managing and controlling the workplace Officers Officers normally include senior managers and company directors and their obligation include Making decisions about the business Acquiring and updating knowledge of work safety and health matters Familiarising with business operations and the involved risks and hazards Making sure appropriate processes and resources are offered to allow for identification of hazards and minimization or elimination of risks Making sure processes are reviewed, monitored and verified Workers The role of employees includes: Following the workplace safety instructions Ensuring their work spaces is safe Reporting workplace safety and health hazards Taking part in the needed training Wearing the protective clothing offered by the employers Reporting injuries suffered while in the workplace Policy OHS Policies are a crucial part of all the OHS management systems; therefore, the policies have to be written in a format that can implement easily. An OHS Policy can be defined as a document that states how the employer, contractors, the employees, as well as visitors should conduct themselves when in the performing activities related to the company or when in the company property (OHS Policy, 2017). The law requires all employers to offer a safe work system. Therefore, they require a means of communicating how workers can work safely in the workplace. This process starts with OHS Policies. All workers should be consulted during the development of OHS policies, and the employer should offer a clear statement regarding the company’s commitment towards managing the workplace OHS risks. Injuries In Australian construction industry, the claims’ incidence rate dropped by 30% between 2000 and 2007. But still, a high incidence rate of 21.6 serious claims per 1000 workers was recorded; thus, making construction industry one of the top Australian industries with higher incidence rate (Borys, 2012). According to Borys (2012), long-term contact with substances and chemicals resulted in 33% of fatalities, while contact to electricity, falls from height and vehicle accidents accounted for 7%, 11% and 4%, respectively. Hazards According to Workplace OHS (2016), the hazard is anything that can harm the safety and health of a person. Hazards can arise from work promises, the presence of asbestos, hazardous chemicals, transport and traffic movements, work practices as well as harassment, violence, intimidation, bullying and aggression at work. Hazards can be classified into; chemical hazards (flammable substances, poisons, hazardous chemicals); physical hazards (UV radiation, light, noise, equipment, falls hazards); biological hazards (harmful bacteria, plants, parasites, fungi, viruses); and psychological hazards (violence/aggression, repetitive work, stress, excessive work load). Risk Management Risk management, according to Workplace OHS (2016), is a process utilised to address the risks involved in different activities, such as environmental, commercial and financial risks. Risk management is utilised minimise or eliminate health and safety risks to employees. In Australia, new WHS laws are applicable across Australia (save for Western Australia and Victoria) and they impose a duty on PCBUs and others in ensuring safety and health. The risk management process is crucial to the new WHS laws and allows for the identification of hazards. Through risk management, the employers can assess the risk created by the workplace hazards, how to minimise or eliminate the risks, and monitor the risk to establish to improve or revise the risk control measures. OHS risk management is a vital and integral component of the company’s safe work environment. Conclusion All company owners are required to meet the OHS requirements stipulated in the regulations and acts in their territory or state. Failure to do so can lead to penalties. The acts offer a general overview of ways to make workplaces healthy and safe. They summarise the legal duties and responsibilities as a business owner and employer. Given that businesses use resources to make profits, the resources should offer the right conditions for working. All companies are abided by the rule of law; therefore, they have to espouse systems and processes that allow them to comply fully with the OHS standards. Such standards could enable employees to become stress-free and healthy; thus, making their workplaces an ideal place to work in. References ALRC. (2003, May 30). Regulatory framework for occupational health and safety. Retrieved from Australian Law Reform Commission: http://www.alrc.gov.au/publications/32-occupational-health-and-safety/regulatory-framework-occupational-health-and-safety#_ftn9 Asnicar, t. (2013, December 25). mportance of Implementing a safe work method statement. Retrieved from White Card Online: https://www.whitecardonline.com.au/blog/white-card/importance-of-implementing-a-safe-work-method-statement/ Australian Business Consulting & Solutions. (2014). Managing OHS risk in your workplace . Retrieved from Australian Business Consulting & Solutions: http://www.australianbusiness.com.au/whs/resources/managing-ohs-risk-in-your-workplace Borys, D. (2012). The role of safe work method statements in the Australian construction industry. Safety Science, 50, 210–220. Comcare. (2014, April 2). Workplace inspection. Retrieved from Comcare: https://www.comcare.gov.au/preventing/prevention/workplace_inspection Government of Western Australia. (2014, August 19). WorkSafe Plan - Audits and assessments of occupational safety and health management systems. Retrieved from Department of Commerce: https://www.commerce.wa.gov.au/worksafe/worksafe-plan-audits-and-assessments-occupational-safety-and-health-management-systems Lindblom, L., & Hansson, S. O. (2004). Evaluating workplace inspections. Policy and Practice in Health and Safety, 2(2), 77-91. OHS Policy. (2017). OHS Policy. Retrieved from OHS Policy: http://ohspolicy.com.au/ SafetyCulture. (2017). Safe Work Method Statements (SWMS). Retrieved from SafetyCulture: https://www.safetyculture.com.au/swms/ Workplace OHS. (2016, February 12). Identify hazards. Retrieved from February : http://workplaceohs.com.au/risk-management/identify-hazards Workplace OHS. (2016, February 12). Risk Management. Retrieved from Workplace OHS: http://workplaceohs.com.au/risk-management Workplace OHS. (2017). Responsibilities. Retrieved from Workplace OHS: http://workplaceohs.com.au/responsibilities WorkSafe Queensland. (2017, May 2). Safe work method statements. Retrieved from WorkSafe Queensland : https://www.worksafe.qld.gov.au/construction/health-and-wellbeing-at-work/safe-work-method-statements Read More