Every
employee, regardless of position, has an individual and co-operative
responsibility to be uncompromising with regard to health and safety.
Risk management should be incorporated as an integral part of all
business initiatives and operations, ensuring all hazards are
identified, assessed, controlled, and modified as necessary to maintain
safe working activities.
To work safely it is important to understand what the following
terms mean:
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Hazard
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Risk
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Risk Assessment
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MSDS
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Hierarchy of Control
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Workplace Policies and Procedures
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Safety Induction & Training
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Accident & Incident reporting
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PPE
All employers and employees must take action to minimize the cause of
harm to anyone “so far as is reasonably practicable”. This includes
employers providing training to minimize any risks associated with the
work environment, ensuring the safe use of all equipment and chemicals.
Employers and employees must do everything they can to try and predict
what may cause injury or harm and take action to prevent incidents.
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Hazard
Anything that might hurt or cause harm to someone.
Example: Mopping the floor of a busy shopping centre is a hazard
as the floor is slippery.
Common Hazards in Industry include:
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Chemicals
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Heat Stress
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Equipment
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Slip and Fall
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Manual Handling
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Biological
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Sharps
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Electrical
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Risk
The chance of the hazard hurting someone.
Example: Mopping the floor of a closed shopping centre is less of a risk
than mopping the floor of a shopping centre at peak hour.
Risk Assessment
The procedure for assessing the risks involved on a particular site or
job. It can be performed by a site walk thorough or may be completed by
a site supervisor before commencing work.
M.S.D.S
Material Safety Data Sheet. It is the law that every chemical supplied
and used in the workplace must have a M.S.D.S
The purpose of a M.S.D.S is to show how to safely:
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Hierarchy of Control
The best way to manage risks and hazards is to use the hierarchy of
control. The hierarchy of control must be followed in the listed
order. Elimination should be the first solution sought for the control
of any hazards.
Workplace Policy & Procedures
A document that every employee should be familiar with that discusses
the W.H.S policy for all staff, specific to the tasks performed by the
business.
The WHS policy should expresses the following commitments to
health and safety in the workplace:
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Abide by all statutory and regulatory obligations as a
minimum, and pursue best practice applications beyond these
requirements
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Provide the necessary training for all staff to safely
perform their duties
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Consult with staff, on a regular basis, to identify and
control risks
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Maintain plant and equipment in a safe operating condition
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Isolate defective or dangerous equipment until fixed
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Set and monitor WHS improvement objectives and targets
The WHS Policy should be reviewed periodically to ensure it
continually reflects legislative requirements and organisational needs
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Safety Induction & Training
An introduction when you start a new job, new role or a new work site.
The induction covers all of the things you need to know about how to
stay safe at work. An employer has duty of care to provide training in
all W.H.S matters specific to your work.
The organisation should be committed to continually improving
the way business is managed and the way the business encourages staff to
develop their skills. Internal and external training should aim to:
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Nurture a culture that values training and development, so
that staff have the opportunity to reach their potential
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As a result of staff training and development, long service
and loyal employees is encouraged
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Deliver increased value to clients and stakeholders due to
more efficient and competent staff.
These objectives can be achieved by:
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Inducting all personnel and clearly communicating values
and expectations
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Conducting regular performance reviews with staff, to
identify training and development needs to meet individual and
business objectives
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Encouraging individuals to train and develop themselves to
meet business needs and help realise their personal potential.
Accident & Incident Reporting
Accident = An unexpected event that causes injury or illness.
Incident = Any event that could have caused an injury, illness or a near
miss.
It is very important to report all incidents and injuries in the
workplace; the report should be as detailed as possible with names,
dates, locations, causes of incident/accident and any other details
available.
The purpose of reporting incidents or accidents is to make
any changes necessary in the work environment to ensure no one is harmed
in the future. These reports will be used to highlight any dangerous
work sites, habits or perhaps a gap in the W.H.S policies and training
of the organization.
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P.P.E.
Personal Protective Equipment
Example: Gloves, goggles, aprons, boots, masks
All P.P.E should be correctly used and training should be provided to
all workers on the correct way to use the equipment. P.P.E should be
returned clean and ready to use or disposed of correctly.
All Storerooms must:
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Be lockable and well ventilated – They should always be left
locked when unattended.
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Contain all necessary documentation including WHS policies,
procedures and forms, work orders and all other organizational
requirements.
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An inventory of equipment and consumables should be kept to assist
with re-ordering and to monitor usage patterns.
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M.S.D.S – Should be available to easily access close to where the
chemicals are being used. All chemicals should be stored according to
the M.S.D.S.
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Particular attention should be given to isolate all incompatible
chemicals.
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All chemicals should be clearly labelled accurately especially
when decanted (put into smaller containers).
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The label should not be easily damaged by the contents. (These can
be ordered free of charge from the supplier)
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Equipment must be tagged and tested for electrical faults, any
faulty equipment should be clearly marked as out of service and if
possible removed from the
storage area to another location until serviced and safe to use.
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Equipment that is colour coded should not be in contact with each
other to avoid contamination.
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All equipment should be thoroughly cleaned and ready for next use
before being stored.
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All waste should be removed from storage area. All chemicals and
consumables should be used on a first in first out basis.
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Consumables could refer to anything that can be used up such as,
toilet paper, soap disposable clothes etc.
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P.P.E should be clean and in perfect working order.
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