Workplace Risk Management and Safety: A Comprehensive Report

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of effective risk management strategies within a workplace setting, specifically addressing fire hazards. The study focuses on a case study of a private company in Sydney with 500 employees, highlighting the existing risk controls and the need for a robust risk management framework. The report emphasizes the importance of identifying, analyzing, and evaluating risks, as well as mapping the affected population. It also examines the role of agencies and legislation, such as the Fire Protection Association of Australia and WHS regulations, in ensuring workplace safety. The report offers recommendations for enhancing safety measures, including strict adherence to WHS models, proactive communication with relevant authorities, and the development of safety leadership. Furthermore, it includes a risk assessment template and references to support the findings, providing a practical guide to mitigate potential hazards and improve overall workplace safety.

Running head: EFFECTIVE RISK MANAGEMENT
EFFECTIVE RISK MANAGEMENT
Name of the student
Name of the university
Author note

1EFFECTIVE RISK MANAGEMENT
Introduction
The idea of risk management is an associated with the forecasting and timely
evaluation of the risk factors for the purpose of mitigating the same (Kouabenan et al., 2015).
This is the process of successfully avoiding or minimising the threat associated with any
particular risk. The hazard identified here is the sudden breakout of fire in the chosen
workplace for the case study.
Discussion
This is based on the workplace in Sydney, a private company having 500 employees
and this specific industry is based on the administrative and support service providers. The
strategic location of this company is such that there is a restaurant adjacent to the workplace
which increases the threat and risk of any hazard to a great extent. The existing risk control
for the company seems too robust, for example, there are enough extinguishers in every floor
of the building with the additional evacuation tunnel for the employees. In addition to this,
there are additional risks mitigating tools and equipments like contacts with the fire control
crew who will have the necessary steps taken.
However what is more significant here is to note that there are number of steps in
proper risk management in every context. According to the author, identifying the risk is the
first step towards effectively mitigating it. This is essential to develop robust mechanism for
any threat or prior indication of fire breakout in case of workplace that can probably put
people’ life under threat (Bong et al., 2015). The second step in mitigating the risk is
analysing the level of risk. This is also significant to note that the restaurant adjacent to the
building where the company is operational is under higher threat. Analysing the risk
associated with the sudden fire breakout will help them to map and understand the future

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threats in case of such situation. The third step of risk mitigation is evaluating or raking the
risk associated with this hazards. After the effective evaluation of the risks, it is essential to
consider the treating it constitutes the most significant part of it (Safe Work Australia, 2019).
Hence it is to be argued that the mitigation of risk is a comprehensive process inclusive of
number of steps.
Another important aspect in the process of risk management is mapping the
population and subpopulation that will be directly impacted by the hazards (Reason, 2016).
In this case of the chosen workplace, it has been observed that the subpopulation that can get
equally impacted by the fire breakout is the youngsters and restaurant dwellers which are
residing next to the building. Hence it is crucial to highlight the two aspect of risk
management in any given context: the role of the agencies and recommendation for
effectively mitigating threat of the subpopulation (Crichton et al., 2016). The list below
provides the statistics in the average rate of fatality of employees in an industry specific
manner.
Agencies and legislation of work healthy safety assessment:

3EFFECTIVE RISK MANAGEMENT
This has been observed that the company maintains effective risk management in
order to ensure healthy work environment (Bong et al., 2015). This has not only established
the collaboration with the government agencies in order to ensure that they have the best
managerial tools in case of such hazards, it also has ensured higher safety by adopting some
collaborative measures with that of the private NGO’s. For example, the company has
strictly adhered to the legislations of the government in case of protection of fire in any
building. This has been further raised that the national peak body for fire protection of
Australia, namely, the Fire Protection Association of Australia (Hofmann et al., 2017). It has
number of initiatives of ensuring safer practices for protecting the uncertain outbreak of fire.
This association have installed number of fire-fighters, installers that ensures maximum
security. In addition to this, the company has the management responsible for contacting the
Country Fire services and the metropolitan fire services in case of any unforeseen situation
(Safe Work Australia, 2019). They have maintained a database of numbers for the
emergency contact in case of fire breakouts. This is helpful in situations of recovery
assistance for a situation which is beyond the control of the management of the company
(Hollnagel, 2018). Hence it can be argued that the location of the company and the parallel
existence of number of building in the same area increases the risk factors for the
subpopulation since this building already the history of fire breakout, This was also realised
that the people did not have the prior knowledge of the effective measures to be take in case
of such situations. Hence it has proved to be limited in dealing with such situation. Therefore
it can be argued that there is an enhanced need of maintaining safety standards for the
company in order to maintain their safety measures.
Recommendation:

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Some of the recommendations in order to ensure higher safety measures for the
subpopulations are:
 Effective implementation of the WHS (safe work Australia) model and strict
adherence to the laws and regulations.
 Contacting the specific jurisdiction offices in case of any hazards in order to take
preventive measures prior to any damage in the workplace.
 The management of the company must make enough initiatives for contacting the
WHS with due diligence and ensure that they comply with the health and safety
obligations.
 Each company is required to have their own set of compensation insurance in case of
hazards. There should be number of compensation schemes for the employees of the
company
 Development of safety leadership in every workplace since it is essential to develop
the required infrastructure for engagement and consultation with the respective
authorities. This can be only achieved with the help of the leadership that is
actively involve d in this process.
 It is essential to have clear policy structure in place in order to have better
understanding of the staff members
 Understanding and analysing the safety risk in every business since it is essential to
evaluate the nature of the risk to handle it with utmost concern.
 Regularly checking of progress and update of the same
 Communicating the importance of safety in workplace
Conclusion

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The rationale of the choice of office oriented risk assessment is based on the fact there
are number of offices which fails to adhere to the electrical safety measures. This in most of
the cases lead to the process of fire breakout and thereby damaging the large amount of
property and life of people. This paper made an analysis of the nature of hazards that can
break out in any given situation which might be harmful for the employees. It has been
observed that irrespective having a robust structure in place, some of the company fail to
adhere to these laws this leading to the unsafe workplaces. However what is important here is
to note there is a need to develop enhanced understanding on the issue in order to understand
Task Hazards What could go
wrong
Current risk
rating
Any additional
controls are
required?
Residual
risk
rating
Health risk
management
Fire breakout Damage the
workplace
property and
pose substantial
threat to the
employees.
60% Yes
Higher fire
controlling
measures
30%
the nature of risk and their effective mitigation.
Risk assessment template

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Reference
Bong, S., Rameezdeen, R., Zuo, J., Li, R. Y. M., & Ye, G. (2015). The designer's role in
workplace health and safety in the construction industry: post-harmonized regulations
in South Australia. International Journal of Construction Management, 15(4), 276-
287.
Crichton, J., Candlin, C. N., & Firkins, A. S. (Eds.). (2016). Communicating risk. Springer.
Hofmann, D. A., Burke, M. J., & Zohar, D. (2017). 100 years of occupational safety research:
From basic protections and work analysis to a multilevel view of workplace safety
and risk. Journal of applied psychology, 102(3), 375.
Hollnagel, E. (2018). Safety-I and safety-II: the past and future of safety management. CRC
Press.
Kouabenan, D. R., Ngueutsa, R., & Mbaye, S. (2015). Safety climate, perceived risk, and
involvement in safety management. Safety Science, 77, 72-79.
Reason, J. (2016). Managing the risks of organizational accidents. Routledge.
Safe Work Australia. (2019). Safety by topics. [online] Available at:
https://www.safeworkaustralia.gov.au/topic/all [Accessed 4 May 2019].