General duties
Occupational health and safety (OHS) matters are regulated by state, territory and Commonwealth OHS Acts and regulations. OHS law in Australia has three sources:
- common law duty of care;
- criminal law; and
- each state and territory in Australia has its own OHS legislation.
Information about the specifics of each Act can be found on each jurisdiction’s website. In a nutshell, the requirements state that employers have a duty to protect the health and safety of employees while at work by providing and maintaining a working environment that is safe and without risks to health.
Read more: OHS requirements for your specific state or territory
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Consultation
Employers are required, under OHS legislation, to consult with employees, so far as is reasonably practicable, on issues that may directly affect their health and safety, especially when:
- identifying or assessing hazards or risks;
- making decisions about controlling those risks;
- proposing changes to how work is done in the workplace, or to plant, substances or other things used at the workplace.
This consultation must involve:
- sharing information with employees about their health, safety and welfare;
- giving employees a reasonable opportunity to express their views and taking these views into account.
Employers should strive to create a work environment that values open communication, including a non-threatening forum for mature workers to communicate OHS issues specific to their particular needs.
Read more: Consultation
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Risk management approach
Managing safety does not have to be difficult. It starts with three simple steps:
- Find the hazards
- Assess the risks
- Fix the problems
Step 1: Find the hazards (Hazard identification)
Some hazards will be obvious because they are common in your industry, but others may not be. Here is a list of what to look out for:
- start by talking to your staff;
- look at every task;
- go through the injury records;
- look at the history of accidents in your industry;
- check out your jurisdiction’s web page - there might be industry specific guidance;
- if you are a small or medium-sized business, you might qualify for free safety consultancy services.
Read more: Find the hazards |
Step 2: Assess the risks
After all the hazards have been identified, you need to assess the risk - make a judgment about the seriousness of each hazard and decide which one requires the most urgent attention. |
Step 3: Fix the problems
First aim to totally remove the risk, e.g. can you avoid doing the hazardous task? If that is not possible, find ways to control it. For example, you may need to alter the way certain jobs are done, change work procedures, or perhaps provide protective equipment. You will often find there are solutions to reduce many of the hazards in your workplace. Most of them will be inexpensive, and some will cost nothing at all.
Where there are no straightforward solutions, what could you do?
- Get help from your industry association.
- Talk to other people in your industry.
- Check out your state or territory OHS regulator’s website and look for industry-specific guidance.
Read more: Fix the problems
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