Risk Management Case Study

This case study discusses the breaches of WHS Legislation and workplace hazards faced by a hotel. It covers risk assessment and risk treatment, management level controls for non-compliance, and consequences of non-compliance and lack of hazard management. The hotel is facing safety hazards due to poor lighting and old lifts, work organization hazards due to long shifts and lack of customer service, and chemical hazards due to a new cleaning substance. The consequences of non-compliance and lack of hazard management include unwanted injuries.

Running head: RISK MANAGEMENT CASE STUDY 1
Risk Management Case Study
Name:
Institutional Affiliation:

RISK MANAGEMENT CASE STUDY 2
Risk Management Case Study
Breaches of WHS Legislation (NSW Legislation)
The hotel is currently facing issues which are in breach of NW legislation, occupational
health and safety act 2000. The aim of this act is to ensure that the health, safety, and welfare of
employees are promoted at the workplace. It further protects people in the work environment
against any risks to their health and safety. The act also aims to provide a working environment
which is safe and healthy and protects them from any injury or illness. Employees and employers
must also consult so that they achieve the objectives laid out in the act. It also requires that
employers make sure that there is risk identification, assessment, elimination or control. The
community around the business must also be aware of any occupational health and safety issues.
Further to this, the act provides a legislative framework upon which employers can come up with
their own occupational health and safety regulations (NSW,2018). Employers can also refer to
the act when they want to deal with the impact of any case that they may face at the workplace.
The first breach that the hotel has made is the lack of safety of employees at the
workplace. The NSW occupational health and safety act requires that employees are protected by
ensuring that the premises are safe and do not pose any health risk. In this case, the premises are
not safe as the lifts are not working and there is dim lighting hence posing a threat of assault
which causes injury. The faulty lifts may lead to one being confined in a space when the lift gets
stuck. The occupational health and safety act also further states that any substance provided for
use by employers are safe and do not promote any health risks. In this case, there is a breach of
the cleaning substance provided is not safe and has already caused harm. The act also requires
that the employer provides information or training to ensure safety. This has been breached since
the employer has not performed due diligence while purchasing the chemical substance and they
have not tested the substance (NSW,2018). The fact that the substance is not labeled means that
the employer does not even know the ingredients and have put the lives of employees in danger
by purchasing an unlabeled substance.
The occupational health and safety act of NSW also requires that other people that are in
the workplace, in this case, hotel guests, must be safe and any risks to their health avoided. This
has been breached because the lifts are not working and have already caused the stroke of one
customer. Furthermore, lighting is poor and some guests have previously been attacked and

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assaulted due to this. Another issue is that anyone is allowed into the hotel without security
checks being done hence posing a security threat to the hotel guests and employees. Also, the
space that the hotel uses for functions is meant for about 100 people but they have booked over
150 people and another 18 birthday parties on the same day (NSW,2018). The chemical
substance that is being used poses a threat to customers since one customer has already been
overwhelmed by fumes and the rest are at risk.
The occupational health and safety act of NSW also states that the manufacturers of
substances that are used at work must ensure that whatever substance they produce is not
detrimental to anyone’s health and they should also provide enough information concerning the
substance (NSW,2018). This has been breached y the manufacturer of the substance being used
for cleaning since there are no labels hence once is unable to tell the ingredients that went into
manufacturing the product. Further, the chemical is not safe and has already caused burns to staff
and breathing problems.
Under section 14 of the occupational health and safety act of NSW, the nature of
consultation requires that the employer shares relevant information concerning safety health and
welfare (NSW,2018). Employees must also be given a chance to express views and that these
views must be considered by the employer. The hotel has breached this since no health and
safety information has been shared with staff, there is not staff induction about health and safety
matters. Employees have also not been given a chance to express their views when it comes to
health and safety matters.
Under section 17 of the occupational health and safety act by NSW, there should be an
established committee in the workplace dealing with occupational health and safety matters. The
committee is put in place when an employer has employed over 20 staff (NSW,2018). There is a
breach here since there is a committee but they are not focused on health and safety issues since
the last meeting was held over three months ago and the agenda was the staff Christmas party,
and no health and safety issue was discussed. The role of the established occupational health and
safety committee is to investigate and health and safety matters and constantly review and assess
risk. There is a breach by the hotel since risks are never reviewed and the committee has not
investigated the cleaning substance and interviewed staff and the customer so that they get to
know what exactly happened.

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Section 17 of the occupational health and safety act states that one should not hinder aid
to someone who is injured. There is a breach to this by the hotel since the fact that there is no
trained first aider means that there will be no aid offered to in case an accident occurs
(NSW,2018). The act under section 86 further states that there must be notified of incidents that
happen in the workplace. The incident which has happened is the injury of various staff and
customers, brought about by different hazards, but this is yet to be reported.
Workplace Hazards
Safety Hazards-The hotel is facing a safety hazard because of its location in a dimly lit
area and the state and condition of the lifts. Because of the dim lights, staff and guests are not
able to see easily and this has led to other dangers of being assaulted. It can also lead to injury
since when it is at night, one can easily fall or trip while outside the premises (Gazica &
Spector,2016). The lifts pose a great threat since they do not work well and are constantly
breaking down. This poses a great threat to both staff and customers since so far, an old customer
has suffered a stroke while in the lifts. The constant breakdowns are risky especially if people get
stuck inside the lifts.
Work Organization Hazards- Work organization hazards are present in the company as
demonstrated by the staff is tired and frustrated. This is a sign of staff who are being affected by
the workload demands. The staff may be doing long shifts due to a shortage of staff or other
underlying issues hence leading them to be in their current state. This can lead to lack of proper
performance. Work organization issues have also seen the hotel not have a written occupational
health and safety document hence staff may not know how to handle any health and safety issues
that occur. Further to this, there is a risk committee which is only made up of administration staff
and they rarely meet hence posing a hazard since there are no health and safety inspections and
staff who have not been trained may not be able to guide the others accordingly (Ahmad,2017).
The lack of trained first aiders also poses a threat when a staff or guest is injured since the
necessary first treatment cannot be given and yet the injury may be a life-threatening one.
Chemical Hazards-Chemical hazards have been brought about by the new cleaning
substance that is currently being used in cleaning the glass shower screens. The chemical so far
has led to eye burns on two staff, contact burns on four staff and breathing difficulties have been
experienced by 8 staff and one customer has chocked on fumes (McCaughey,2015). The

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chemical poses a great danger especially since the staff has not reported the incidents, most
probably due to the language barrier.
Risk Assessment and Risk Treatment
Hazard identified Risks Associated with Hazard Risk Treatment
Safety-Poor Lighting Injured Guests and Staff due to
tripping
Avoid-Work on getting better
lighting
Safety-Poor Lighting Robberies and Assault to guests and
staff
Transfer Risks- Get Insurance
Safety-Old Lifts Injured or traumatized guests and
staff
Decrease Risk-Get new lifts
Safety-Old Lifts
(Aven,2016)
High costs of maintenance
Work Organization-
Long shifts
Staff tired and frustrated Avoid Risk-Add more staff
Work Organization-
Long Shifts
Poor performance by staff Avoid Risk-Training and staff
welfare
Work Organization-
Long Shifts
Lack of customer service Avoid Risk-Staff Training
Work Organization-
Lack of written OH& S
Non-Adherence to health and safety
standards
Avoid Risk-Come up with a
written document
Work Organization-
H&S committee issues
Lack of health and safety audits Avoid Risk-Train committee
and draw committee staff
from various departments
Work Organization-No
trained first aider
Risk of customer and staff being
injured and no one to attend to them
Avoid Risk-Train first aiders
Work Organization-No
Induction
(Haimes,2015)
Staff not aware of health and safety
issues and other work-related matters
Avoid Risk-Induct staff
Chemical Hazard Injuries to Staff or guests Avoid Risk-Get a safe
cleaning substance
Chemical Hazard Lawsuits by guests or staff Avoid Risk-Get a safe

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cleaning substance
Chemical Hazard
(Glendon, Clarke &
McKenna,2016)
The high medical expense for staff
due to constant treatment
Avoid Risk-Get a safe
cleaning substance
Management Level Controls for Non-Compliance
Management can deal with non-compliance in the following manner:
 Set up a Risk Committee- The committee should be made up of employees from different
departments
 Train First Aiders- First aiders to be selected and trained and each shift must have trained
first aiders (Reese,2015)
 Involve the NSW Office in Implementing OS & H Standards-Engage the office to know
how the hotel can implement health and safety procedures and organize for inspections
 Carry out Inspection to Identify Risks-Carry out immediate inspection, identify all risks
and sort them out as soon as possible to avoid injury and accidents. From there, the hotel
should come up with a risk register and monitor risks actively (Toppie et al.,2015).
Risk Controls for Identified Hazards
Hazard identified Risks Associated with Hazard Risk Control
Safety-Poor Lighting Injured Guests and Staff due to
tripping
Change lighting immediately
and
Safety-Poor Lighting Robberies and Assault to guests and
staff
Provide security outside the
premises
Safety-Old Lifts Injured or traumatized guests and
staff
Have an overhaul and install
new lift system/ Install
escalators as an alternative
Safety-Old Lifts High costs of maintenance Replace lifts to reduce
breakdown costs
(Leveson,2015)
Work Organization-
Long shifts
Staff tired and frustrated Hire more workers to enable
more flexible shifts

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Work Organization-
Long Shifts
Poor performance by staff Hire more workers to enable
more flexible shifts
Work Organization-
Long Shifts
Lack of customer service Train staff on the importance
of customer service
Work Organization-
Lack of written OH& S
Non-Adherence to health and safety
standards
Ensure the OS & H
committee comes up with a
written document and
includes the input of staff
Work Organization-
H&S committee issues
Lack of health and safety audits Set up a health and safety
committee and engage NSW
to carry out inspections at the
hotel also carries out its own
inspections (Luhman,2017)
Work Organization-No
trained first aider
Risk of customer and staff being
injured and no one to attend to them
Ensure there is first aid
training for selected staff and
that in each shift there is a
trained first aider
Work Organization-No
Induction
Staff not aware of health and safety
issues and other work-related matters
Educate staff on health and
safety matters, carry out drills
Chemical Hazard Injuries to Staff or guests Immediately stop the use of
the cleaning substance and
interview injured
staff/customer to cater for
their medical expenses
(Khan,2017)
Chemical Hazard Lawsuits by guests or staff Take care of injured to avoid
any lawsuit
Chemical Hazard The high medical expense for staff
due to constant treatment
Ensure staff are covered by
medical insurance provided
by the hotel and that
insurance is taken to cater for

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any third-party risks
Cost-Benefit Analysis
Lift Replacement
Costs Benefits
Replacement costs
Time is taken to replace lifts
Better customer service
Less risk of injuries (Boardman,2017)
Set up Risk Committee
Costs Benefits
Time for meetings
Commitment
Consistency
Effective risk management
Early issue identification
Prevention of injuries to customers and staff
(Aven,2015)
Training of First Aiders and Risk Committee
Costs Benefits
Cost of training
Time
Trained staff in case of eventualities
Better management of health and safety issues
(Yoe,2016)
Consequences of Non-Compliance and Lack of Hazard Management
Non-compliance and breaches of the occupational health and safety act will lead to the
hotel facing heavy fines, hence it is necessary for urgent changes to be made when it comes to
occupational health and safety issues. Lack of hazard management will lead to the following
consequences (Goble, Bier & Renn,2018):
Unwanted Injuries- When hazards are not managed, there is a very high risk of injuries to
employees and guests. Injuries can occur anytime and this is not good for the hotel’s reputation.
Hazards can lead to permanent injuries to customers or employees.
High expenses- Lac of hazard management will mean that the hotel uses a lot of money in
terms of treating the injured or maintaining equipment that keeps failing. This leads to the hotel
having high operational costs. Payment of penalties to the NSW local government will also be
costly.

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Operations Affected-Incidence occurrence due to hazards will mean that the hotel
operations will be affected. This is because the incidences must be dealt with first before any
operations go back to normal.
References

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Ahmad, A. (2017). Awareness of workplace hazards and preventive measures among sandstone
mineworkers in Rajasthan, India: A cross-sectional study. Journal of Health and Social
Sciences, 2(1), 69-82.
Aven, T. (2015). Risk analysis. NY, John Wiley & Sons.
Aven, T. (2016). Risk assessment and risk management: Review of recent advances on their
foundation. European Journal of Operational Research, 253(1), 1-13.
Boardman, A. E., Greenberg, D. H., Vining, A. R., & Weimer, D. L. (2017). Cost-benefit
analysis: concepts and practice. Cambridge University Press.
Gazica, M. W., & Spector, P. E. (2016). A test of safety, violence prevention, and civility climate
domain-specific relationships with relevant workplace hazards. International journal of
occupational and environmental health, 22(1), 45-51.
Glendon, A. I., Clarke, S., & McKenna, E. (2016). Human safety and risk management. MA, Crc
Press.
Goble, R., Bier, V., & Renn, O. (2018). Two types of vigilance are essential to effective hazard
management: maintaining both together is difficult. Risk analysis.
Haimes, Y. Y. (2015). Risk modeling, assessment, and management. NY, John Wiley & Sons.
Khan, F., & Hashemi, S. J. (2017). Introduction. In Methods in Chemical Process Safety (Vol. 1,
pp. 1-36). Elsevier.
Leveson, N. (2015). A systems approach to risk management through leading safety
indicators. Reliability Engineering & System Safety, 136, 17-34.
Luhmann, N. (2017). Risk: a sociological theory. NY, Routledge.
McCaughey, D., Turner, N., Kim, J., DelliFraine, J., & McGhan, G. E. (2015). Examining
workplace hazard perceptions & employee outcomes in the long-term care
industry. Safety science, 78, 190-197.

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NSW. (2018). Occupational Health and Safety Act 2000 No 40. Retrieved from
https://www.legislation.nsw.gov.au/#/view/act/2000/40/part8/sec142
Reese, C. D. (2015). Occupational health and safety management: a practical approach. NY,
CRC press.
Topie, J., Buchanan, E., Madden, T., & Fagel, M. (2015). Employee Safety. In Regulatory
Foundations for the Food Protection Professional (pp. 251-262). Springer, New York,
NY.
Yoe, C. (2016). Principles of risk analysis: decision making under uncertainty. CA, CRC press.
Appendix
Appendix 1-Risk Treatment

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Image Source - https://www.slideshare.net/mikaelastafrace/beyond-compliance-37628926
Appendix 2-Risk Control
Image Source- https://www.worksafebc.com/en/health-safety/create-manage/managing-risk/
controlling-risks
Appendix 3-Risk Cost Benefit Analysis Scale

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Image Source- https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Cost-benefit-analysis-scale_fig3_291696984