Workplace Incident Report: Sprained Ankle

This document is a workplace incident report for BizOps. It describes an incident where Mary Smith sprained her ankle while walking and bumping her head due to a misplaced box of documents. First aid was administered on-site, and she was transported to the hospital. The report outlines immediate response actions taken and concludes with recommendations for improvement based on the incident.

Running head: WHS POLICIES FOR BIZOPS
WHS POLICIES FOR BIZOPS
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author Note:

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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Current conditions and recommendations to improve them............................................................3
Involving the staff............................................................................................................................5
Introduction..................................................................................................................................5
Issues to be addressed..................................................................................................................5
Details..........................................................................................................................................5
Summary of the key points..........................................................................................................6
Recommendation.........................................................................................................................6
Hazard analysis................................................................................................................................6
Part 1............................................................................................................................................6
Hazard description:...................................................................................................................7
Risk assessment:.......................................................................................................................7
Risk categorisation matrix........................................................................................................8
Suggested controls:...................................................................................................................9
Immediate actions taken...........................................................................................................9
Part 2..........................................................................................................................................10
Action required:......................................................................................................................10
Appropriate training program........................................................................................................11
Training the work experience students..........................................................................................11

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Introduction................................................................................................................................11
Issues..........................................................................................................................................11
Key points..................................................................................................................................12
Recommendations......................................................................................................................12
Accident at the warehouse.............................................................................................................12
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................15
References and bibliography.........................................................................................................16

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Introduction
Health and safety regulations are necessary to make sure that every worker works in
hazard-free environment. Workplace Health and Safety (WHS), which is often referred to as
Occupational Health and Safety (OHS), is the set of regulations and assessment of the risks that
may have impact on the health, safety and welfare of the people who work at different
workplaces, effectively meaning every employee of the country (Australia, 2014). However, this
act encompasses every stakeholder of any organisation and seeks to protect everyone’s health
safety. Business owners and even government organisations are obligated to comply to some
legal rules and regulations that are designed towards protecting the health and safety of the
people who are involved with the organisation in any way.
The following report would be looking into the current WHS conditions of BizOps and
give comprehensive and realistic ideas relating to how can the current conditions be made to be
better and the policies more integrated into the operations of the company.
Current conditions and recommendations to improve them
BizOps Enterprises is dedicated to ensure all of its employees with a safe and secured
working environment. Every employee has to feel secured while working here and it is the duty
of the organisation to do that. These policies are formed in accordance to the legislative
obligations that the company has to the laws and WHS regulations of the state. As a
demonstration to this commitment of the organisation, BizOps take prompt action against any
and every unhealthy and unsafe working situations. All workers are trained about and
communicated to regarding the health and safety practices and procedures of the company. The
health and safety representatives of the organisation are selected and appointed according to the

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state and territorial legislations. These representatives have the authority that are vested by the
state legislations. To ensure the workplace health and safety are of the highest standards, BizOps
regularly consults on WHS with its staff and employee representatives and also, if deemed
necessary, with the contractors and suppliers of the company as well.
First aid attendant: The company has an attendant who is always on alert and any issue
regarding any sort of injury or safety is immediately given attention by the attendant. The
attendant is trained by the organisation themselves to equip the personnel with the knowledge
and skills to tackle any unpredicted situation that may arise.
Emergency evacuation procedure: The company has clear escape plans and routes all over the
building and clear directions about the escape routes are put up on the walls of BizOps. This
make it easier for the staff to evacuate quicker and calm manner without causing panic.
WHS audit: BizOps conducts regular internal audits of its WHS policies to ensure that the
procedure and policies are up to the mark and can face adversities in any case. The audits help
the organisation to understand if any upgradations are needed or any modifications are required
to the existing policies.
The organisation also has strict policies regarding reporting of any hazards or incidents
that pose to be a threat to or compromise the WHS of BizOps. The entire building is smoke free
and fire and smoke detectors are installed everywhere that ensure no fire related hazards happen.
BizOps has a WHS policy that adheres to the state legislations and conforms with the
laws of the country. However, the existing policies can still be enhanced and a better policy can
be adopted. To achieve this, the company has to analyse all aspects and have proper ideas
relating to the scope and framework of the issues that may arise. It should be clearly defined

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what are the responsibilities of the company and how can those be achieved and which strategies
may facilitate in this process. The organisation also has tables and charts that segregate and
classify every possible type of hazard that may happen in the workplace and also how can they
be prevented or tackled.
Involving the staff
Introduction
While investigating the past WHS incidents of BizOps, it has been noticed that the staff
and employees are almost never consulted about hazard identification or assessment. Their
suggestions about forming and developing risk controls are also not taken into account.
Moreover, some information is given only to the employees, making it difficult for the work
students and interns to know about them and take precautions.
Issues to be addressed
BizOps has to come up with a system that would be helpful in making more decisions,
where the staff and every employee would be consulted to form the risk assessment and risk
control structures. The staff should be consulted and their suggestions and inputs have to
considered while forming the new policies of the company. In recent times, BizOps had to grant
two employees work offs because they had sustained injuries at the wotrkplace. One was due to
prolonged sitting at the computer because the employee was tasked with data entry into the
computer, and the other was suffered by a work experience student who had injured her lower
back while lifting goods in the warehouse.

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Details
The two incidents that were recorded in the last months are the two key points that would
serve as the basis of the formation of the new policies. These employees are going to be
consulted as they would be the best to depict the scenario that happened and can also help to
understand what could have been done to prevent them. The suggestions that would be given by
these employees would serve as the key components for the new policy outlines.
Summary of the key points
The specific conditions and situations of the incidents have been recorded and the
suggestions and perspectives of these staff have also have been noted down. The WHS policy of
BizOps are being overviewed and the occurred instances and the prevailing policies are being
compared to understand the discrepancies and gaps that led these to happen in the first place.
Recommendation
The new policies should be made and formed after the staff of the organisation are
consulted, because they are the persons who face the situations that have potentials for safety
hazards. Hence, they would be the most knowledgeable about what are the causes or which
things lead to the safety issues. Involving them and consulting the employees would be the best
way to create the new WHS policy for BizOps.
Hazard analysis
Part 1
Hazard report
number
1 Area of work Data Entry

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Date Specific hazard
location
Data entry desk
Reported by Contact phone
number
Contact email
Hazard description:
The employee suffered chronic shoulder pain from having sit for eight hours on the computer
while entering data
Risk assessment:
Risk likelihood
legend
Grade Level of likelihood
A Expected (will occur regularly)
B Probable (will occur at some stage)
C Possible (could occur)

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D Improbable (could occur but unlikely)
E Rare (may occur but in limited situations)
Risk impact/
consequence legend
Grade Level of impact
1 Insignificant
2 Minor
3 Moderate
4 Major
5 Catastrophic
Risk categorisation matrix
Level of
likelihood
Level of impact
1 2 3 4 5

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(Insignificant) (Minor) (Moderate) (Major) (Catastrophic)
A (Expected) Medium Medium High Extreme Extreme
B (Probable) Medium Medium Medium High Extreme
C (Possible) Low Medium Medium High High
D
(Improbable)
Low Low Medium Medium High
E (Rare) Low Low Low High Medium
Suggested controls:
This could have been avoided if the employee could be given working environment where
would not be compelled to sit and work for such a long period of time sitting at the same
place.
Immediate actions taken

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The employee was immediately taken to a doctor, for which the organisation paid. The company
also sanctioned for a long leave for the employee to help him recover from the injury sustained
Part 2
Action required:
Recommended control(s):
The employee must first be allowed to treat himself to recover from the injury. That
is the foremost priority.
The employee should be given the time to regain his strength.
The employee should be consulted about what he thinks happened and why did he
injure himself
The employee must be asked about his ideas and suggestions regarding what could
have been done to prevent this situation
The new policies can use his suggestions and inputs to form the strategies that can
aid in situations like this in the future as well as plans to reduce the possibilities for
the occurrence of these situations
Person responsible
Controls to be completed by:
Approved by organisational unit head/officer

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Completion verified by health and safety representative (HSR)
Appropriate training program
Based on the risks that relate to computer data operators, BizOps has decided to train all
the other operators regarding how to work in a manner that would not cause any such incidents
in the future. The operators would be given proper ideas regarding how should they sit and even
operate in the office. What should be the right thing to do when an employee feels uncomfortable
after working for a long period of time.
The computer data entry operators would be given ideas about how can they reduce their
own physical pain by using certain techniques.
Training the work experience students
Introduction
Despite a lot attention being given to the employee safety in BizOps, the focus on the
safety of the work experience students is still very low. This needs to be given attention and
policies need to be made that would also make the organisation a safe place for the students who
come here to gain knowledge.
Issues
A work experience student injured her lower back from having to shift goods in the
warehouse. This cannot be tolerated if the company looks to make it a good and safe working
place.

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Key points
The company wishes to change its current condition and make it a point to ensure safety
and health security to all of the people involved, including the students who work here for
experience.
Recommendations
In order to achieve this, BizOps has to train the work experience students and let them
know how to use the handbook and the guidelines, so that they can better avoid the situations
that can lead to hazardous situations. They also have to trained regarding equipment handling
and other potentially hazardous work they execute.
Accident at the warehouse
Details of incident (e.g. to a worker or visitor) and treatment
Date of incident
Time of incident
Nature of incident Near miss
First aid
Medical treatment/doctor
Name of injured person Mary Smith
Activity in which
person was engaged at
the time of the
Mary was checking her phone and tripped over a box of
documents

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incident/injury
Exact site location
where incident/injury
occurred
Warehouse
Nature of injury, e.g.
burn, fracture, sprain
Ankle sprain, bumped her head
Specific location of
injury on body, e.g.
upper left arm
Ankle, head
Treatment given on site First aid, bandage
Name of treating person
Witnesses to incident Name
Phone contact
Name
Phone contact

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Description of incident Mary Smith was walking while checking her phone and did not
notice the box of documents next to the filling cabinet. She
tripped over and sprained her ankle and bumped her head.
Immediate response
actions (e.g. barricades,
isolation of power) to
stabilise the situation
She was given first aid in the warehouse itself by the first aid
attendant. Then she was taken to a local hospital and was given
two days off from work.
Person reporting
Signature
Reported to Name
Position
Name
Position

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Conclusion
From the above recommendations and hazard analysis of BizOps, it is evident that the
company is on the right way to resolve the issues it has been facing regarding the health and
safety issue, in the recent times. BizOps will be changing a lot of its operational policies to make
sure that the new WHS policy of the company is more inclusive and gives the employees even
more health security, making the company a much safer and secure place to work at.

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References and bibliography
Australia, S. W. (2014). Model Work Health and Safety Regulations 2011. Division 2–High Risk
Construction Work–Safe Work Method Statements.
Australia, S. W. (2014). Work-related traumatic injury fatalities, Australia 2013. ACT: Canberra.
Australia, S. W. (2015). Exposure to Multiple Hazards Among Australian Workers. Safe Work
Australia, Canberra.
Baicker, K., Cutler, D., & Song, Z. (2017). Workplace wellness programs can generate
savings. Health affairs.
Blewett, V., Rainbird, S., Clarkson, L., Etherton, H., & Paterson, J. (2014). Strategic
engagement: including youth in the development of the Youth Work Health and Safety
Strategy for South Australia. In Human Factors in Organizational Design and
Management XI: Nordic Ergonomics Society Annual Conference Proceedings (pp. 711-
716).
Chan-Mok, J. O., Caponecchia, C., & Winder, C. (2014). The concept of workplace bullying:
Implications from Australian workplace health and safety law. Psychiatry, Psychology
and Law, 21(3), 442-456.
Chmiel, N., Fraccaroli, F., & Sverke, M. (Eds.). (2017). An Introduction to Work and
Organizational Psychology: An International Perspective. John Wiley & Sons.
Dawkins, S., & Sanderson, K. (2017). Workplace mental health: An international review of
guidelines.