Work Health and Safety Policy: Questions & Answers on WHS policies

Running head: WORK HEALTH AND SAFETY POLICY
Questions & Answers on WHS policies
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1WORK HEALTH AND SAFETY POLICY
Answer to question 1:
In Australia, Work Health and Safety Act 2011 regulates all the work place related things
with an object to secure the rights and interest of the workers. According to this Act, a person
who is conducting any business or who has undertaken certain business needs to follow the
guidelines of the Act including all the other related provisions such as the Fair Work Act, SA
Code of Practice, and Workplace Gender equality Agency1. Certain duty of care has been
imposed on the employers so that they could continue their business by following all the
mandates for keeping the workplace healthy and safety for the workers. According to this
Act, all the risks are required to be identified and assessed by the employers and they need to
make all the decisions wisely for the benefit of the workers. The decisions should monitor the
health and safety policies for the workers and should conduct the training sessions, if
necessary. An employer is required to follow the legal obligations and practical guidance
regarding the same is providing by the Codes of Practice. There are certain provisions
regarding the hazardous works and process of managing all the risks regarding the tasks has
also been presented by the Codes. One of the most common provisions for the workplace
related matters are Fair Work Act 20092. It provides a balanced framework and assists to
promote the national economic prosperity for the Australians. In case of construction
business, there are certain additional rulings that are required to be maintained such as the
Building Code, National Construction Code, Disability Standards 2010, Environmental
protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 and Heritage Protection. The standard for
the constructed objects has been prescribed under these rules3. The requirements for concoct a
1 Billett, Stephen, et al. "Towards More Effective Continuing Education and Training for Australian
Workers." National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER) (2015).
2 Moriarty, Sandra, et al. Advertising: Principles and practice. Pearson Australia, 2014.
3 Evans, Phil. "The building and construction industry code of conduct (WA)." Brief 44.6 (2017): 22.

2WORK HEALTH AND SAFETY POLICY
building has been prescribed under the National Construction Code. It is no doubt to state that
the construction of building causes serious damage on the environment. Environmental
protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 provides all the protective guidelines to
maintain a sustainable biodiversity. All these rules and regulations are needed to be
maintained by the employers.
Answer of question 2
The employers of any business are required to abide by all the guidelines
mentioned for the specific work in relevant legislations. It is the duty of the employer to
inform the workers regarding all the health and safety policies available to them and should
make them aware of the potential hazards related to the said work. The employers are advised
to call for meeting related to the proper implementation of safety guidelines in the
workplaces4. Apart from this, the employers should talk to the employees regarding their
problems or requirements. In case of proper implementation of the work health and safety
policies, all the legal assistance will be provided to the employers including the drafts and
development policies with an intention to reduce the legal risks. If the employer failed to
comply with all or any of the guidelines mentioned by the specific legislations, the
organisation of the alleged employer could be exposed and necessary penalties could be
imposed on them. The same could create impacts on the premiums of workers. However, it is
a common problem for the employers that the provisions of the workplace safety Act and
regulations are quite clear, but they made various complaints against the policies5. In these
cases, they can seek help from the advocates so that they can review the conducts of the
4 Board, Australian Building Codes. National Construction Code. ABCB, 2015.
5 Colvin, Alexander JS. "Book Review: Rediscovering Collective Bargaining: Australia's Fair Work Act in
International Perspective." (2014): 274-276.

3WORK HEALTH AND SAFETY POLICY
employers and provide necessary suggestion to them. Proper investigations are necessary in
case of any complaints and measures should be taken to manage the problems of the affected
workers. The employers are required to assess the proactive risk management criteria and
should be concerned about the safety and hazardous issues6. They should act in accordance of
supportive manners and with due care in case of any injury or illness has reported. All the
injury related claims should be resolved on urgent base. The employers are required to
provide necessary supports with an intention to bring back the normal working environment
in the workplaces.
Answer to question 3:
The nature of the discussed organisation is construction-based and there are certain
legislations that regulate the workplace safety mandates such as the Building Code, National
Construction Code and the Heritage Protection Policy. A construction work includes
alteration, conversion, renovation, demolition and coordination. According to the building
code, before constructing a structure, planning permission should be obtained from the local
authority. The purpose of it is to review the health and safety welfare of the building and to
investigate whether all the general requirements have been fulfilled or not. The provisions of
the Building Code are not only providing guidelines to the contractors or architects, but
assisting the safety inspectors and the facility managers also. It has been suggested by the
Code that the engineers or the employer should have to maintain the rules laid down in Fire
Code. The nature of the construction works is hazardous and therefore, the buildings should
be well planned and sufficient arrangements should be taken to avoid the possible risks. The
employers or the developers are required to perform certain acts and all the practical
6 Cain, Peter. "A history of Australian legal education [Book Review]." Ethos: Official Publication of the Law
Society of the Australian Capital Territory 246 (2017): 61.