CUSOHS301A Follow OH&S Procedures

1. Occupational Health and Safety Safety and health in the workplace is everyones responsibility OHS is a legal requirement for employers Occupational Safety and Health Act 1984, and the Occupational Safety and Health Regulations, 1996 Department of Commerce, Worksafe. www.commerce.wa.gov.au 2. The Australian Framework Source: www.nohsc.gov.au 3. Duty of Care Duty of care means you have a legal and moral duty to anticipate possible causes of injury and illness, and to do everything reasonably possible to remove or minimise these potential causes of harm. The duty holder, in this case the event owner, must minimise or remove risk to guests and staff where reasonably practical. This allows the duty-holder to use their own judgement to work out the best way of controlling risks. If something does go wrong the duty-holder must show that reasonable precautions were taken to avoid it, and that it was not reasonably practical to do more than what was done. 4. Who is responsible for OHS? In the workplace, both employers (the boss) and employees (workers) have responsibilities in regards to OHS. Employers must: Provide a safe and healthy workplace Provide enough information, training and supervision to ensure the health and safety of workers Have a process to identify and manage workplace risks Observe OHS laws Make sure that OHS procedures are developed and followed As a worker you have certain responsibilities too, employees must: Follow safe work practices, instructions and rules and any other guidelines about working safely Work in a way that protects the health and safety of other workers, customers and guests 5. ThinkSafe Steps 1. Spot the Hazard 2. Assess the Risk 3. Make the changes Source: Worksafe Smart Move 2002 General Module, www.docep.wa.gov.au 6. 1. Spot the hazard A hazard is anything that could hurt you or someone else. Each day you will be around may different hazards. Can you think of some? 7. One way of identifying hazards is by looking closely at the area in which you will be working. Some risks will be obvious eg. Broken or missing steps in a staircase, boxes in a corridor Some risks will be more difficult to spot eg. Frayed wiring on an electrical cord You also need to think about what people will be doing, will the work they need to do have any potential hazards eg. Lifing heavy equipment, climbing 8. Some Common Hazards Manual Handling lifting heavy objects, using force to lower, push, pull, hold or restrain a person, animal or thing; Slippery or uneven floors Hazardous substances Noise Electricity Mechanical Equipment Working alone Violence in the workplace Stress 9. Activity 1 We will take a walk around the community and see if we can spot some potential hazards. Complete the checklist of for these hazards. 10. 2. Assess the risk Assess the risk means working out how likely it is that the hazard will hurt someone and how badly they could be hurt. You can assess the risk by asking yourself two questions: 1. How likely is the hazard to hurt me or someone else? 2. How badly could I or someone else be hurt? 11. Risk Assessment Chart How severely could it hurt someone; or how ill could it make someone Very Likely (could happen any time) Likely (could happen sometime) Unlikely (could happen, but very rarely) Very Unlikely (could happen, but probably never will) Kill or cause permanent Disability 1 1 2 3 Long term illness or serious injury 1 2 3 4 Medical attention and several days off work 2 3 4 5 First Aid required 3 4 5 6 1 = top priority, 6 = lowest priority do something when possible 12. Activity 2 For each of the hazards identified in Activity one, on the Hazard Control Worksheet, work out the severity of the risk, the likelihood of it and its priority rating. 13. 3. Make the changes This means fixing the hazard yourself if you can, or telling someone who is able to fix it. It is the employers responsibility to ensure a safe workplace Sometimes you may be able to fix simple hazards yourself 14. The best way to fix a hazard is to get rid of it, but thats not always possible. There are ways that you can make a hazard less dangerous: 1. Elimination 2. Substitution 3. Isolation 4. Add safeguards 5. Use the safest way to do something 6. Use personal protective equipment 15. Common measures taken to lessen risk Safety signs and symbols Signs and symbols are used in a workplace to convey information to workers and visitors to the site. There are three main types of safety signs used in the workplace: 16. Picture signs using symbols or pictures. 17. Signs with only text based messages 18. Picture signs with a short message 19. Picture signs are the best signs as they are understood even by people that can not read or speak English. There are seven categories of safety signs identified by colour and shape: 20. Prohibition signs these are signs that indicate something that you must not do: They are made up of a red circle border with a line through it, a white background and black symbol 21. Mandatory signs these signs tell you that you must wear some special safety equipment: They are made up of a blue solid circle, white symbol, with no border. 22. Restriction signs these signs tell of a limitation placed on an activity or use in the area concerned. They are made up of a red circular border, no crossbar, and a white background. 23. Hazard warning signs these signs warn you of a danger or risk to your health: They are made up of a yellow triangle with a black border, and a black symbol. 24. Danger hazard signs these signs warn of a particular hazard or hazardous condition that is to be life-threatening: They are made up of a white rectangular background, with the word DANGER in white on a red background, and black border and black text. 25. Emergency information signs these signs show where emergency safety equipment is kept: They are made up of a green solid rectangle, with a white symbol or text. 26. Fire signs these signs tell you the location of fire alarms and firefighting facilities: They are made up of a red solid rectangle, with white text. 27. Personal Protective Equipment Under safety laws employers must provide personal protective equipment (PPE) and clothing for employees when hazards in the workplace cannot be eliminated. Employees need to be made aware of the requirement to wear or use PPE before they start work Employees need to be trained in how to correctly use any PPE. The employer has a duty to provide this training PPE has to comply to relevant Australian Standards 28. Some common PPE Overalls Safety hats Safety boots Safety glasses Gloves Goggles Respirators Ear muffs Reflective clothing 29. Dealing with an Emergency Incidents and accidents will happen in the workplace It is essential that all employees know the location of things such as first aid boxes, fire extinguishers, and evacuation procedures All workplaces should have a incident reporting process that should be followed in all incidents 30. A safe workplace Safe working materials Safe working environment Safe Equipment Safe Premises 31. Safe Staff To be given information To be given proper instructions To be offered relevant training To be adequately supervised