OHS: Establishing and Maintaining Participative Management Systems

This report discusses the establishment and maintenance of participative arrangements for Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) management within an organization. It emphasizes the importance of OHS procedures in protecting the health, welfare, and safety of staff members. Key aspects covered include identifying and assessing safety risks, handling hazardous materials, planning safe work practices, and setting emergency procedures. The report also touches on performance acceptance testing to ensure staff readiness for the proposed safety procedures. Furthermore, it compares OHS procedures against safety specifications, highlighting the comprehensive nature of OHS in providing detailed explanations of safety requirements, hazards, and emergency measures. The report concludes that implementing a sound OHS plan is crucial for ensuring employee safety, health, and welfare in the workplace, advocating for its adoption by all organizations.

Running Head: OHS PROCEDURES 1
Establish and Maintain Participative Arrangements for the Management of OHS
Name
Institution

OHS PROCEDURES 2
Establish and Maintain Participative Arrangements for the Management of OHS
Occupational safety and health (OHS) is a multi-disciplinary field concerned with health,
welfare and safety of the staff members in the workplace. The goals of this health and safety
program include fostering a safe and healthy work environment within the organization.
Therefore, in order to maintain and establish participative arrangements for the management of
OHS, the management must set apart the OHS Procedures, perform acceptance testing, and
compare against specification.
OHS Procedures
In the any industry, OHS Procedures are a major part of protecting the welfare, health
and safety of the people in employment. All staff and contractors have a duty of care to ensure
that they comply with the safety and health measures set in place. These procedures include;
1. Identifying and assessing the probable safety risks within the organization. This includes
identifying, assessing and reporting them to the designated personnel. Afterward, safe
work practices, safe work instructions, and duty of care requirements are established and
followed in order to control the risks (Occupational Health, n.d.).
2. Also hazardous materials within the work environment are correctly identified and
handled according to the company’s legislations. Measures for controlling theses risks are
also established and communicated to the rest of the staff members (OHS Policies, n.d.).
3. What follows is the planning and preparation of safe work practices. This includes
identifying the correct personal protective equipment and clothing, selection of the right
materials and equipment, among others.

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4. The last step involves setting and following emergency procedures to establish a safe
plan for dealing with emergencies.
Perform Acceptance Testing
To perform the performance acceptance testing, the management will use the operation
acceptance testing method (OSH Answers, n.d.). The method will be used to establish the
operational readiness of the staff to the proposed health and safety procedures within the
workplace.
Compare Against Specification
Unlike OHS procedures and safety requirements, specification refers to the detailed
description of the design of safety and health procedures by stating the precise requirements
about the process. Specification helps in avoiding errors due to lack of information and
compatibility especially on interoperability issues. Thus, although both methods are successful in
attaining safety within the work environment, OHS works better as it provides a more
comprehensive and detailed explanation of the safety and health requirements, hazards and
probable measures in case of an emergency within the work environment.
Summary
All factors taken into consideration, the OHS method is a fundamental component meant
for the safety of workers within any particular organization. The process involves the
description, identification and assessment of work place safety risks. Compared to specification
of safety procedures, setting up and implementing OHS procedures within the organization is
more effective as it ensures a comprehensive identification and handling of safety and health

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risks within the company. For this reason, all organizations should set up and maintain a sound
OHS plan for its employees to ensure their safety, health and welfare when working in the
organization.

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References
OSH Answers Fact Sheets. (n.d.). Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety.
Retrieved 19 April 2018, from http://www.ccohs.ca/oshanswers/hsprograms/basic.html
OHS Policies and Procedures. (n.d.). OHS Policy. Retrieved 19 April 2018, from
http://ohspolicy.com.au/ohs-policies-and-procedures/
Occupational health and safety procedures. (n.d.). Swinburne University of Technology.
Retrieved 19 April 2018, from https://www.swinburne.edu.au/about/leadership-
governance/policies-regulations/procedures-guidelines/ohs-procedures/