Work Health and Safety Policy in Australia

This report discusses the Work Health and Safety policy in Australia, identifying risk factors, hazardous risk identification, outdoor risk assessment, jurisdiction and legal requirements, hierarchy of hazard controls, and cost-benefit analysis. It also provides recommendations for improving workplace safety and the consequences of not doing so.

Running head: RISK, CRISIS AND DISASTER MANAGEMENT
WHS Policy
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Table of Contents
Executive summary:........................................................................................................................2
Introduction:....................................................................................................................................3
Discuss:............................................................................................................................................3
Identification of Risk factors:......................................................................................................3
Hazardous Risk identification:....................................................................................................4
Outdoor risk assessment:.............................................................................................................5
Jurisdiction and legal requirements:............................................................................................5
Hierarchy of hazard controls/ Application of theories:...............................................................7
Costs benefit analysis:.................................................................................................................8
Consequence for not improving workplace hazard:..................................................................10
Recommendation:..........................................................................................................................10
Conclusion:....................................................................................................................................11
Reference:......................................................................................................................................12
Appendices:...................................................................................................................................14

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Executive summary:
Work health and safety policies are inevitable for the workers. It is their basic right to claim free
and healthy workplace and it is the duty of the employer to provide them secure atmosphere so
that they can work in healthy condition. In Australia, there are certain relevant legislations that
are enacted to protect the interest of the workers. Further, all these legislations help to promote
the idea of hazard free environment. The scholars have proclaimed certain theories. This report
has been prepared to identify the relevant legislations and certain recommendations have also
been made to this effect.

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Introduction:
The subject matter of the case is based on Work Health and Safe policy of Australia. The
main objective of the task is to identify all the necessary policies mandatory for any workplace
and point out the provisions that deals with effective steps taken for made any breach regarding
the provisions of these safe work policies. Many provisions and legislations deal with the safe
workplace matter. Safe Work Australia is a government agency that makes investigation in the
workplaces to understand whether the employer has maintained all the policies or not. It has been
established in the year 2008. In this report, an attempt has been taken to examine whether all the
policies regarding the occupational health and safe plan has been maintained or not. Further, the
possible workplace hazards have been mentioned in this report. All the risks have been assessed
and priority has been given to the risk procurement policies. In addition to this, a cost benefit
analysis has been annexed with the report. Importance of making all these changes have been
discussed here and the consequence of not improving the changes have also been mentioned in
this report.
Discuss:
Identification of Risk factors:
Hazards are very common in case of every workplace and the workplaces are suffering
from certain loopholes. However, according to safety law, the workplaces should not make any
infringement regarding the workplace safety issues. The main objective of the hazard
identification is to eliminate the loopholes to avoid the accidents and injuries. According to the
Act, proper steps should have to be taken for the best interest of the workers. There are certain

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common workplace hazards in the workplace of Australia such as biological hazards, physical
hazards, ergonomic hazards, chemical hazards, and organizational hazards. In this current case,
the hazards can be classified as physical hazards, ergonomic hazards and organizational hazards.
Physical hazards occur when the employees have to work in an adverse environment. Ergonomic
hazards occur when the working process causes strains on the body of the workers and
organizational hazards take place in the absence of a flexible working capacity (Sekendiz et
al.,2015) . In this report, it has been observed that the hotel has no risk management board and
the safety representatives have not completed their training. Further, the casual staffs have to do
over shifting, as there is no specific shifting for them. Further, they are suffering from various
illnesses. Therefore, it can be stated that the condition of the workers attract the essentials of
physical, ergonomic and organizational hazards.
Hazardous Risk identification:
Considering the case study, it has been observed that the hotel is suffering from certain
risks, which should be identified, and proper assessment is required to this effect. It is noticed
that there is no written occupational health and safety policy or plan in the hotel. Further, there
are certain health representatives in the hotel; however, most of them have no training certificate
obtained from HSR. The condition of the first aid system of the hotel is not appropriate and if
injured, the employees like to go for treatment to the local hospital. Most of the HR staffs are
tired, as there is no shifting mandate and they are frustrated for the same. The risks of the hotel
could not be assessed properly and there is no process regarding the same. The house keeping
staffs are all casual and most of them are from the non-English background. Further, it has been
observed that most of the casual staffs are suffering from certain illness and the hotel is not
offering proper plan for the casual employees. Therefore, it is important to analyze all these

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disputes in the light of WHS legislation to identify the breach regarding the policy and
legislation.
Outdoor risk assessment:
Risk assessment is important to identify the outcome of the risks and impact of the same
on the workers. It helps to point out the effect of the risks and options for manage those risks for
securing the interest of the workers. Further, certain urgent action to mitigate the scope of risks
has been done through risk assessment. However, risk assessment process should be done at the
pre-accident stage and it brings certain changes in the workplace to take effective control
measures. In this case, every workplace should have to abide by the rules and policies of Work
health and Safety Act (NSW). After proper assessment of the risks, it is important to eliminate
the risks that are reasonably practical in nature (Francis et al., 2017). A consultation with the
workers is necessary to this effect. In this case study, there are certain risk factors employs
within the workers. The medicinal condition of the hotel’s first aid system is defective and there
is no specific working shift mentioned. Further, the health and safety plans are not written and
most of the casual workers are suffering from diseases. Therefore, it is required to eliminate the
risks by promoting health consciousness among the employees. Further, the health and safety
plans should be in written form and the working hour should be specified for the employees
(Appendices two). All these steps should be done with priority so that the interest of the
employees can be secured.
Jurisdiction and legal requirements:
In Australia, labor right plays an important role and many related legislations have been
implemented to this effect. Australia is a federal state and therefore, every province has different
legislative provisions to deal with their own difficulties. However, a single WHS legislation has

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been implemented for the entire content of Australia in the year 2011. Through these policies,
the work health and safety process can be developed and the employer has to maintain all the
policies for a safe workplace for the employees and staffs. According to division 2 (19) of the
Work Health and Safety Act (NSW), every employer should have to take proper duty and care
for the employees and should take all the possible steps to secure the health of the workers
(Smith & Lee, 2015). Further, according to the Act, all the safety plans should be in written form
and it must be attached in a position so that all could see the plans and policies. Adequate
facilities should be given to the employees for the welfare at work. According to division 2 (19)
(f) of the Act, proper training is necessary to secure the rights and interest of the employees.
Further, according to clause (g), proper planning is required to deal with the illness of the
workers and the nature of the works should not be hazardous for the employees. The shifting
time for the employees and the workers should be specified. Proper inspection is required
regarding the workplace condition and the workplace should have to follow all the provisions of
the WHS legislation (McInnes et al., 2017).
However, in this case it has been observed no safety policy has been maintained in the
current workplace. The occupational plans are not in a written form and therefore, no specific
plans have been maintained in this hotel. Further, the employers are not bothered about the
health and interest of the employees. There is no specific shift for the casual staffs. The
employees and safety representatives do not acquire proper certificates (Nossar et al., 2015).
Therefore, it can be stated that breaches have been made in this case.

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Hierarchy of hazard controls/ Application of theories:
Hierarchy of hazard controls is a process by which any industrial hazard can be
minimized. This system has been adopted by many organizations with the view to make effective
changes in the workplace to work for the interest of the workers. It helps to promote a standard
work culture within the industry. The hazard control hierarchy can be divided into five parts such
as elimination, substitution, engineering control, administrative control and personal protective
equipments (Potter et al., 2017). After the risks in a workplace have been identified, it should be
eliminated physically. This process is one of the most effective processes and it brings fruitful
outcomes as against any risk. The second element regarding the topic is substitution. According
to this theory, if anything constitute hazard in a workplace, new one should replace the same so
that the chances of risks can be avoided. The third method regarding the risk mitigation is
engineering control. It isolates the worker from hazard. It helps to reduce the future costs of the
company by build a risk resistance product. In this method, the engineers are manufactured
certain things that can be effective for the workers and their interest can be secured by that
(Rawling & Schofield-Georgeson, 2018). The fourth method is administrative control that makes
changes in the working process of the workers. It includes procedural change, training method
and installation of risk signs. The last element of this process is personal protective equipment.
In this process, the employees are getting certain equipments so that they can work safely. These
equipments are also helped the employees from catching diseases. Further, medical examinations
are done in this process to lower the chances of risks and hazards among the employees (Young
& Brawn, 2017).
In this case, it has been observed that the working policy of the hotel is not in accordance
with the work health and safe policy. Further, proper plan has not been implemented for the

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workers and for their health. The workers are suffering from diseases and this hotel authority has
taken no proper health policies. The condition of the casual employees could be eliminated by
taking the process of personal protective equipment so that they can use this while doing their
job and the scope of diseases can be reduced in this way. Further, administrative control can be
proved effective in this regard. The basic rights of the labor could be hampered if all these
processes could not be maintained at all.
Costs benefit analysis:
Tangible Changes in Program Operations resulting from Project Implementati
Program Operational Cost
Elements FY FY
Changes in Program Operational Costs (Negative Values = Decreased Costs) 2019 2020
A. Personnel -- Operational Costs $600 $600
A-1.a. State FTEs (Salaries & Benefits) $500 $500
A-1.b. State FTEs (# FTEs) 650.00 650.00
A-2.a. OPS FTEs (Salaries) $100 $100
A-2.b. OPS FTEs (# FTEs) 0.00 0.00
A-3.a. Staff Augmentation (Contract Cost) $0 $0
A-3.b. Staff Augmentation (# of Contract FTEs) 0.00 0.00
B. Plant & Facility -- Operational Costs $0 $0
C. External Service Provider -- Operational Costs $1,501 $1,501
C-1. Contractor Services $100 $100
C-2. Maintenance & Support Services $650 $650
C-3. Network / Hosting Services $601 $601
C-4. Data Communications Services $0 $0
C-5. Other Specify $150 $150
D. Data Processing -- Operational Costs $10,000 $10,000
D-1. Hardware $10,000 $10,000
D-2. Software $0 $0
D-3. Other Specify $0 $0
E. Others -- Operational Costs $0 $0
E-1. Training $0 $0
E-2. Travel $0 $0
E-3. Other Specify $0 $0
Subtotal of Operational Costs ( Rows A through E) $12,101 $12,101
F. Revenues / External Contribution / Fiscal Offsets $20,000 $20,000
F-1. Revenues Specify $20,000 $20,000
F-2. Federal Participation Specify $0 $0
F-3. Grants Specify $0 $0

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Total Changes in Program Operational Costs (Sum of Rows A through E minus Row F) ($7,899) ($7,899)
Cumulative Change ($7,899) ($15,798)
Project
Cost
Elements
Project Cost Table
(Project Planning,Development & Implementation Only - FY FY FY FY FY
No Operational Costs) 2019 2020 2021 2021 20
State FTEs (Salaries & Benefits) $150 $150 $150 $150
OPS FTEs (Salaries) $250 $250 $250 $250
Staff Augmentation (Contract Cost) $0 $0 $0 $0
Consultant Services $65 $65 $65 $65
Hardware $0 $0 $0 $0
Software $200 $200 $200 $200
Risk Infrastructure $500 $500 $500 $500
Training $50 $50 $50 $50
Travel $0 $0 $0 $0
Other Specify $0 $0 $0 $0
Total Project Costs (*) $1,215 $1,215 $1,215 $1,215
Cumulative Project Costs $1,215 $2,430 $3,645 $4,860

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Source: created by author
Consequence for not improving workplace hazard:
If all the identified hazards could not be traced and resolved, the workplace will be risky for the
employees. The hotel could face dilemmas regarding the same. The provisions of the
Occupational Health and Safety Act are mandatory in nature. In case of any non-compliance, the
authority could have to face penalties. Further, the basic rights of the workers are hampering due
to the same.
Recommendation:
Therefore, it is recommended that the hotel should have to maintain all the relevant Work
Health and Safety Policies properly. The hotel should have to keep a written occupational health
and safety plan and that should be fixed in a place so that everyone can see it. Further, it is
recommended that the health representative should obtain appropriate certificate. Further, the

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hotel should have to improve the quality of first aid section so that all the primary injuries can be
cured. In addition to this, it is recommended that the hotel authority should have to fix the
employment duration for the casual employees (Appendices one). The duration of the
employment should not exceed the time limit prescribed in the Work Health and Safety Policies.
Conclusion:
Therefore, it can be stated that the present hotel has failed to maintain the work health
and safety policies and the workers are facing diseases regarding the same. Therefore, as a
general manager, it is required to take all the effective measures for the interest of the workers.
Further, the assessed risks should be resolved and risks should be mitigated through hierarchy
risk control.

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Reference:
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.
Francis, G. E., Procter, T. A., & Robinson, R. M. (2017). How safe is safe enough?: Effective
safety frameworks. In EECON 2017: Electric Energy Society of Australia Conference:
collaboration and innovation: adapting today's grid for tomorrow's future (p. 42).
Engineers Australia.
Grasso, M. (2016). Work health and safety resources and advice.
McInnes, J. A., MacFarlane, E. M., Sim, M. R., & Smith, P. (2017). Working in hot weather: a
review of policies and guidelines to minimise the risk of harm to Australian
workers. Injury prevention, 23(5), 334-339.
Nossar, I., Johnstone, R., Macklin, A., & Rawling, M. (2015). Protective legal regulation for
home-based workers in Australian textile, clothing and footwear supply chains. Journal
of Industrial Relations, 57(4), 585-603.
Occupational Health and Safety Act 2000 (NSW)
Potter, R. E., Dollard, M. F., Owen, M. S., O'Keeffe, V., Bailey, T., & Leka, S. (2017).
Assessing a national work health and safety policy intervention using the psychosocial
safety climate framework. Safety science, 100, 91-102.

13RISK, CRISIS AND DISASTER MANAGEMENT
Rawling, M., & Schofield-Georgeson, E. (2018). Industrial legislation in Australia in
2017. Journal of Industrial Relations, 0022185618760088.
Sekendiz, B., Norton, K., Keyzer, P., Dietrich, J., Coyle, I. R., Gray, S., & Finch, C. F. (2018).
Emergency preparedness in fitness facilities: bridging the gap between policy and
practice. International Journal of Business Continuity and Risk Management, 8(1), 71-85.
Smith, M., & Lee, C. (2015). Workplace: Overseas assignment?: Work health and safety
obligations will apply. Proctor, The, 35(1), 36.
Work Health and Safety Act 2012 (NSW)
Young, R., & Brawn, E. (2017). Employment law: Work health and safety duties and dealing
with bullying in the workplace by non-workers. Governance Directions, 69(7), 435.

14RISK, CRISIS AND DISASTER MANAGEMENT
Appendices:
Recommendation week one week two week three week four
Written plan
Health certificate
First aid
condition
Employment
duration
Employee health
Appendices one

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Risk assessment week one week two week three week four
Securing interest
of workers
Consultation
with workers
Medicinal
condition
improvement
Remove
hazardous factors
Promoting health
consciousness
Appendices Two