Work Health Safety Act 2011 and its application in the Hospitality Industry

Running head: Hotel & Hospitality Management

Hotel & Hospitality Management 1
Contents
Assessment task 1........................................................................................................................................3
1.1Introduction to the Work Health Safety Act 2011..................................................................................3
1.2Defining various terms of WHS Act 2011..............................................................................................3
1.3Relevant Codes of Practice applicable to the Hospitality industry..........................................................4
1.4What could happen if workplaces and workers fail to observe WHS laws and codes of practice?.........4
1.5List four (4) methods of receiving information on WHS laws................................................................5
1.6Explanation of a WHS Management System..........................................................................................5
1.7Examples of the types of activities included in a WHS Management System to ensure that an
organization is compliant with the WHS Law.............................................................................................6
1.8 Persons who would be responsible to administer a WHS management system at the workplace..........6
1.9 Methods Used in the Consultative Process............................................................................................7
1.10 Execution of hazard identification audits and checks and the criteria to assess identified risk..........7
1.11 Assessment of the effectiveness of WHS Management Systems.........................................................8
1.12 Why should employees know how often WHS systems are assessed and evaluated in their
organization?...............................................................................................................................................8
1.13 List of Activities Undertaken Prior to Presenting a Completed Policy to the Senior Managers of the
Organization................................................................................................................................................8
1.14 Key components of WHS policies and procedures..............................................................................9
1.15 Risks and hazards associated with the hotel.........................................................................................9
Assessment task 2......................................................................................................................................11
2.1 a) WHS Management System to suit Why Cook?...........................................................................11
b) Draft WHS Policy of the Catering Business......................................................................................12
c) Health, Safety and Security Responsibilities for a cook....................................................................12
d) Developing a plan for WHS training requirements for a catering company......................................12
e) Establish and monitor a system of keeping WHS records.................................................................13
f) System To Ensure Communication Of WHS Information To The Personnel Of Why Cook?..........13
g) Development of an Action Plan.........................................................................................................13
2.2 a) Reason and Need for implementation of training of WHS laws and legislations.........................15
b) Encouraging PCBU for supporting the initiative...............................................................................15
c) Costs and Benefits Associated With the Implementation of WHS Management System and Staff
Training.................................................................................................................................................15

Hotel & Hospitality Management 2
2.3 Benefits of providing coaching and mentoring to the employees....................................................15
2.4 An Incident Form, Hazard Identification Checklist for Identification Of Hazards In Catering
Locations...............................................................................................................................................16
2.5 Risk Assessment Procedures...........................................................................................................17
2.6 Strategies for managing the hazards................................................................................................17
2.7a) Manual handling of tasks..............................................................................................................18
b) Evaluation Process............................................................................................................................18
c) Need to Keep the WHS Record.........................................................................................................18
References.................................................................................................................................................20

Hotel & Hospitality Management 3
Assessment task 1
1.1Introduction to the Work Health Safety Act 2011
The Workplace Health and Safety Act 2011 (WHS Act) provides an agenda for safeguarding the
health and welfare of the employees at the workplace. It also aims at safeguarding the health of
all the other workers who might be influenced by the occurred incidence.
Its key features comprise of safeguarding the interests of general public so that their health is not
posed to hazards while performing their duties at the workplace (State of Queensland, 2018).The
WHS Act places the main responsibility for safeguarding the health and wellbeing of the
employees on person conducting a business or undertaking (PCBU
) .The duties are also allocated to the officers , workers and other persons at the workplace.
It also sets out the requirements for notification of incidences, resolution of issues , consultation
with the workers and inspection of powers and functions.
1.2Defining various terms of WHS Act 2011
a. PCBU: A person conduction business or undertaking (PCBU) stands for businesses,
organizations and individuals who are executing the trade activities. They are considered a
worker.
b. Officers of organizations: Officers also include directors and they are legally obliged to
make sure that the business has made sufficient arrangements in compliance with the legal
norms. They are accountable for acquiring and updating the data related to health and safety
hazards of the workplace.
c. Managers and supervisors: It is the duty of the managers and supervisors have the duty of
care that they must ensure and take care of their own health and safety and comply with the

Hotel & Hospitality Management 4
instructions and policies pertaining to health and safety of the workers working under them.
d. Workers: A worker performs the duties for a PCBU. Employees, sub-contractors,
contractors and their employees, trainees, students who are gaining experiences, outworkers are
included in the category of workers.
e. Others in the workplace: Other people at the workplace should take reasonable care for
their own health and ensure that their acts do not affect the health and security of their peers.
They should act in compliance with the instructions given by the PCBU ( Perez and del Bosque,
2014).
1.3Relevant Codes of Practice applicable to the Hospitality industry
The WHS Code of Practice applicable for the hospitality industry include regulations regarding
first aid in the workplace, hazardous manual tasks, managing health and safety risks at the
workplace, labeling of workplace hazardous chemicals and managing the risks of falls at
workplace etc. (Quinlan, Bohle and Rawlings-Way,2015).
It prescribes that first aid should be provided to the workers and others who have been injured.
The code of practice also identifies the hazardous manual tasks and regulates the risks of workers
being affected by the handling of manual tasks. The code guides how to correctly label the
hazardous chemicals being used at the workplace. It also prescribes guidelines to prevent the
risk arising from slips, trips and falls.

Hotel & Hospitality Management 5
1.4What could happen if workplaces and workers fail to observe WHS laws and codes of
practice?
As per WHS Act, 2011 and Electrical Safety Act 2002 in the case of death of a worker caused
due to negligibility, the maximum penalty is of 20 years of imprisonment for individuals and $10
million for body corporates. There are various categories of industrial manslaughter.In category
1 offense, the person would be prosecuted in the District Court.
With reference to category 2 and 3 the accused would be prosecuted in the Magistrates Court.
Also, on the spot fines would also be charged as per the State Penalties Enforcement Regulations
2014.
They would be charged in case of failures to comply with the improvement notice or record the
details of the accident by the PCBUs and workers. In case of failure to pay the fines, the warrant
can be issued for the seizure and sale of property and an arrest and imprisonment warrant can
also be issued in this regard (Bharwani and Mathews, 2012).
1.5List four (4) methods of receiving information on WHS laws
1. For receiving updated information about the WHS Laws, model WHS Laws comprising
of the model WHS Act and model Code of Practice should be reviewed.
2. The National compliance and enforcement policy can also be reviewed for updates.