RCM 301 || Risk Crisis And Disaster Management

HET301A RISK, CRISIS AND DISASTER MANAGEMENT
CASE STUDY
1

Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................3
1. Breaches in WHS Legislation with reference to case study..................................................3
2. Hazards within the workplace................................................................................................4
3. Risk Assessment to determine the priority of Risk................................................................5
4. Management Level Control to address noncompliance with legislation...............................5
5. Hierarchy of controls for the identified hazards....................................................................6
6. Cost benefit analysis for noncompliance, hazards and recommended controls.....................7
7. Consequences of not improving compliance and managing the workplace hazards.............8
Conclusion..................................................................................................................................9
Works Cited.............................................................................................................................10
Appendix 1...............................................................................................................................12
Appendix 2...............................................................................................................................14
2

Introduction
Hotels and resorts have become susceptible to the impact of crisis and disaster for the global
environmental change and the security risks. There are a lot of uncertainties that can create
crisis and disaster within the organization affecting the staffs and customers as well.
Considering these facts, the government has introduced certain laws and policies that help to
prevent hazards in the workplace. The case study of the hotel situated in The Rocks in the
heart of Sydney has been providing cheap service since its inception. The present report
would analyse the breaches in legislation and hazards and risks associated with it and its
ultimate impact on the workplace.
1. Breaches in WHS Legislation with reference to case study
According to New South Wales (NSW) legislations, Work health and safety laws (WHS)
require the parties to consult and cooperate in the management of workplace risk to protect
the health and the safety of the workers and all others who might be at risks at the work
(Workplaceohs.com.au, 2015). WHS Legislation supports WHS act 2011 and WHS
Regulations 2011 to guide the employers to comply with the safety laws.
WHS Act 2011 No 10 (Duty of Care) states that it is the primary responsibility of the
employer to ensure the safety of the workers by ensuring that the work environment, the
system of work, machinery and equipment are safe for the workers. Chemical should be used
stored, handled and used safely and there are adequate workplace facilities. The duty of Care
seemed to be completely ignored in the hotel of the given case study. Firstly, the hotel is
located in a risky area where robbery and assault are common and this threatens the safety of
the worker and the guests. Secondly, the lift is old and out of orders and thus the system of
work and equipment are not safe. Thirdly, the bottles of chemicals are not properly labelled
and no information on the safe use of chemicals are provided. There are several instances of
chemical injuries and some of them go unreported (Safework.nsw.gov.a, 2017).
Division 3 of WHS Regulation 2011 mentions it is the duty of the organization to offer first
aid equipment so that each worker has access to the equipment of first and staffs are trained
to administer it. However, in the given case, there is no proper medical provision for which
the staffs need to go to local doctors. Division 3 of WHS Act shows the importance of health
and safety Representative (HSR). The given case shows that the Health Safety Representative
have not completed HSR training and the HSR committee is made up of the staffs of
3

administration area. Moreover, the committee is least effective in handling issues thus leading
to breach of law (Legislation.nsw.gov.au, 2017).
As per the section 19 of WHS Act, the management of the workplace should provide
information, training and instruction regarding the type of work to be carried out, the nature
of risks and control measures. However, in the given case, the new staffs within the
organization does not undergo any training which affects their performance and staff turnover
is high (Legislation.nsw.gov.au, 2017). Part 4.3 of WHS Legislation 2011 mentioned the risk
of confined spaces and the need to avoid it. However, the case shows that the function area
that has an accommodation capacity of 100 people has a booking of 150 guests. This can
result in severe accidents and thus it breached the law.
2. Hazards within the workplace
The analysis of the hotel of The Rock makes it evident that there are several hazards within
the organization that affects the workers as well as the guests.
Chemical hazards: This hazard is quite common in this hotel and there are several instances
to chemical hazards are reported. The chemical bottles are not labelled properly and the
suppliers do not provide accurate information about the ways to handle the hazards. The
staffs and the guest, for coming in contact with fumes, have also encountered breathing
difficulties (Case Study).
Mechanical and electrical hazards: The lift of the hotel is old and often remain out of
order. The reports of staffs' showed that last month the lift has broken down five times and
once a guest suffered a stroke. Lack of maintenance can result in serious accidents and even
death of the workers(Case Study).
Psychological Hazards: This hazard is also common in this hotel due to the lack of proper
working environment. The hotel is situated in a risky area and hence the employees remain
under the fear of assault and robbery. Ineffective training and motivation have resulted in the
frustration and the tiredness of the employees. This affects their psychological balance(Case
Study).
Manual handling: Manual handling risks can arise from pushing, pulling and lifting.
Improper HSR training and the lack of written occupational health and safety plan increased
the risk of Manual handling as the staffs are unaware of the risk and they do not receive
proper training(Case Study).
4