Work Health and Safety Assessment: Hospital/Healthcare Organization

Running head: WORK HEALTH AND SAFETY ASSESSMENT
WORK HEALTH AND SAFETY ASSESSMENT: HOSPITAL/HEALTHCARE
ORGANIZATION
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1WORK HEALTH AND SAFETY ASSESSMENT: HOSPITAL/HEALTHCARE
Introduction
To ensure adequate functioning and quality associated excellence at the workplace,
organizational managers must ensure the prevalence of an occupational environment which is
safe and free from hazards. As per regulations of the Duty of Care, organizational managers have
a responsibility towards the safety, functional capacity and health of workers, so as to ensure that
the key occupational inhabitants and staff gain access to their right an appropriate work
environment (Vreugdenhil, 2017). While every organization and occupational sector poses a
wide range of susceptibilities towards acquisitions of hazards and risks to safety, the organization
which will be focused here is the health and healthcare organization (Foley & Christensen,
2016). The following paragraphs of this paper will aim to shed light on the standards of work
health and safety followed at a local hospital located in Canberra which caters to a wide variety
of patients suffering from physiological as well as psychological health issues. The first section
of this paper will focus upon the key policy standards and institutions associated with
governance of the concerned healthcare organization while the second section focuses
extensively on the summary of work health and safety (WHS) assessment results as well as the
key recommendations on mitigating the identified hazards.
Discussion
Key Agencies/ Institutions
The primary agency responsible for governing work health and safety (WHS) in the
chosen healthcare organization is Safe Work Australia. Safe Work Australia is the key
organization responsible for ensuring key developments in the WHS associated policies and

2WORK HEALTH AND SAFETY ASSESSMENT: HOSPITAL/HEALTHCARE
regulations for every territory and state of Australia, which in this case, considering that the
chosen healthcare organization is a hospital in Canberra, will include the Safe Work Australia’s
‘SafeWork ACT (Australian Capital Territory)’ territorial sector. It is worthwhile to note that
Safe Work Australia is not responsible for regulation or enforcement of WHS associated
legislations. Hence, to comply with WHS regulatory standards, the chosen hospital will require
to work in collaboration with the WHS regulations and legislations associated with the local
government of the concerned state, which in this case would be the Australian Capital Territory
(ACT) government’s sector in Canberra (McInnes et al., 2019). Hence, taking insights from the
same, the chosen hospital organization must comply to the ACT Government’s WHS
requirements by working actively with the WHS site officer who will engage in timely risk and
hazard assessments and risk management audits to ensure that the chosen workplace is free from
hazards and promotes a safe occupational environment for workers (Lower, Rolfe & Monaghan,
2017). Additional, departments within the chosen workplace may also contribute actively to
WHS governance and compliance. Hence intra-departmental organizations like the quality
management department may also ensure of the hospitals WHS compliance by conducting audits
as well as developing extensive reports on hazard managements and risk assessments (Arnetz et
al, 2018).
Policies
To ensure that a safe working environment is maintained by the chosen healthcare
organization, that is, the hospital located in Canberra – there must be compliance with WHS
regulations and policies specific to the ACT government and Safe Work Australia’s ACT
territorial branch. These include: the Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (ACT) and ACT
Codes of Practice, which are regulated by the WorkSafe ACT. Additionally, the managers of the