Workplace Health and Safety: Legislative Compliance and Promotion

This report provides a comprehensive overview of health and safety measures in the workplace, focusing on legislative requirements and non-statutory health promotion programs. It discusses the differences between legislated health and safety monitoring and voluntary programs, referencing the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004 and the Work Health and Safety Act 2011. The report outlines key duties under the Work Health and Safety Act 2011, emphasizing health monitoring for individuals working with electrical equipment, lifting heavy materials, and managing workplace stress. It also addresses the importance of Comcare's health monitoring reports for identifying and preventing workplace injuries and diseases. Specific issues such as lead exposure and its management, the impact of working hours, economic insecurity, working environment, and health insurance on employee well-being are examined. The report further identifies resources and support services available, including Beyond Blue, incident reporting guidance, and mandated health and safety monitoring requirements. It also discusses the roles of health and safety representatives and OHS practitioners. Finally, it covers relevant legislation like the Workplace Injury Rehabilitation Compensation Act 2013 and privacy legislation, contrasting common law and statute law in the context of WHS. Desklib offers additional resources and solved assignments for students.

Running head: HEALTH AND SAFETY AT WORK
HEALTH AND SAFETY AT WORK ASSESSMENT 1
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author note

1HEALTH AND SAFETY AT WORK
Answer 1
Work related Health and Safety measures are the management interventions,
implemented for example, policies, procedures, risk management, audits, inspections, and pre-
placement health assessments.
The implementation of WHS is a protective guard against anything that can contribute to
organizational health and safety risk.
Workplace wellness programs are actions or interventions adopted in the workplace in an
attempt to actively reduce the incidence of workplace hazard, and actively reduce the likelihood
and consequence of injury or disease, for example employee support and assistance program,
general health promotion measures and programs, general health monitoring, fitness program,
workplace health and wellbeing events and inclusion of any other health products or health
services. Workplace risks include traffic management, machine guarding, working at heights etc.
Answer 2a
Specific legislative requirements are set of prescribed laws, regulations and strategies
depending on which every organization and their employees need to determine their legislative
obligations. On the other hand non statutory health promotion programs are set of actions using
which good health and wellbeing can be fostered. The difference between these two is that where
the legislative obligations provide a framework to create a healthy workplace, health promotion
program provides the benefit to achieve health and wellness to the entire community1.
1 Workplace health and safety (2018). Workplace health and safety | australia.gov.au. [online]
Australia.gov.au. Available at: https://www.australia.gov.au/information-and-services/health/workplace-health-and-
safety [Accessed 25 Jul. 2018].

2HEALTH AND SAFETY AT WORK
Answer 2b
 Legislated health and safety monitoring: Occupational Health and Safety Act
2004 and Work Health and safety Act 2011.
 Voluntary OHS and WHS programs: Safe Work Australia, Health, safety and
wellbeing.
Answer 3
As per duties Work Health and Safety Act 2011, the three duties which need proper
health monitoring are
 People working with electrical equipment and machines and for this purpose
different legislations such as electrical safety codes of practice has been prepared.
 People who lift heavy materials from one place to another and for this purpose
workplace inspection will be carried out.
 Thirdly people who are always under stress that affect their mental health and for
this purpose, consultation, representation and participation will be carried out2.
Answer 4
Comcare require health monitoring report because with the help of these reports, the
organizations are able to provide health monitoring and screening to its workers and as per the
regulation 376 are able to carry out tests and inspection so that injuries and diseases can be
2 Workplace health and safety (2018). Workplace health and safety | australia.gov.au. [online]
Australia.gov.au. Available at: https://www.australia.gov.au/information-and-services/health/workplace-health-and-
safety [Accessed 25 Jul. 2018].

3HEALTH AND SAFETY AT WORK
identified. This is an important step as if the injury or disease that affects the worker is
unmonitored, it can cause severe health issue.
Answer 5
Lead, being a heavy metal and hazardous for health, it comes under the clause 392 of
Work Health and safety and all the organizations need to take effective safety measures for their
workers dealing with lead directly or indirectly. In my region as well, at first a notification will
be generated prior to work with lead, and the complete details as the commonwealth WHS
regulation should be provided in the notification. As well as the biological monitoring of the
person dealing with lead will be increased so that the level of lead in his/her blood can be
monitored and can be prevented from any adverse situation3.
Answer 6
 Working hours: Extended working hour can cause stress and affect the mental
stability of the employee as well as detach them from their social life.
 Economic insecurity: If the employees are not being paid as per the effort they
put in the work, it affect their confidence and mental strength negatively.
 Working environment: it is an important factor as with positive working
environment employees can accept challenges and overcome them without any
difficulty.
3 Xiang, Jianjun, Peng Bi, Dino Pisaniello, and Alana Hansen. "The impact of heatwaves on workers ׳
health and safety in Adelaide, South Australia." Environmental research 133 (2014): 90-95.

4HEALTH AND SAFETY AT WORK
 Health insurance: the working organization should provide health and safety
insurance to all its employees so that they can use them for their health ailments,
otherwise it creates a financial burden upon the workers4.
Answer 7
 The Buttery Private
 Employee Assistance Provider Australia: National EAP Services
Answer 8
 Safe Work Australia,
 Health, safety and wellbeing.
 Nutrition Australia: national workplace health and safety program.
Answer 9
a. Beyond blue support service- it is an organization that works for the wellbeing of
mental health of the millions of Australians who suffer from mental illness due to workplace
stress.
b. Incident reports about bullying guidance material- this is the document using
which the incident reporting for workplace bullying can be done. Each organization should
possess one of the bully reporting material and format using which this can be reported.
c. Workplace bullying guidance material- It is the document that provides complete
details about the bullying, it’s reporting, who to report and how to report processes. The safe
4 Dollard, Maureen, Tessa Bailey, Sarven McLinton, Penelope Richards, Wes McTernan, Anne Taylor, and
Stephanie Bond. "Australian Workplace Barometer: report on psychosocial safety climate and worker health in
Australia." (2012).

5HEALTH AND SAFETY AT WORK
work Australia organization provides this detail against the repeated and unreasonable behavior
against workers.
d. Mandate health and safety monitoring requirements- this is the document provided
by the Comcare and Australian government and includes the details about the risk and remedies
or health and safety monitoring while working in organizations.
e. Mandated worker responsibility- This is the rights or responsibilities of workers
while working in any organizations hazardous condition.
f. Handling use and storage instructions for hazardous substances including first
aid- It is the documented instructions provided by the safe work Australia and Australian
government in which methods and usage of hazardous chemical handling process has been
mentioned.
g. Establishing employee health and safety representatives- Health and safety
representatives are workers who are elected by their co-workers as the face for any health and
safety matters.
h. Implementing early intervention physiotherapy programs- This is a policy
implemented by Australian government in the year 2014 for the health and safety of employees
working in hazardous condition5.
i. Few names of the standards related to hearing specialists are ISO/CD 21388 and ISO
12124:2001(en)
5 Xiang, Jianjun, Peng Bi, Dino Pisaniello, and Alana Hansen. "The impact of heatwaves on workers ׳
health and safety in Adelaide, South Australia." Environmental research 133 (2014): 90-95.

6HEALTH AND SAFETY AT WORK
j. The New Zealand government has implemented a rule of employing people for health
and safety related issues and named them, as health and safety representatives or HSRs. the
implementation of HSRs was effective as they were able to assess hazards present in their
workplace.
k. OHS practitioners are the linkages between health and safety of the organization and
legislative factors so that holistic safety can be provided to workers working in hazardous
environment,.
Answer 10
Working hour
Policies: WHS risk management related legislation, work related stress management
legislation, stress action plan
Procedures: these legislation requires reporting of the incident that causes stress.
Processes: further the process includes internal and external screening of the work place.
Systems: this comes under the workplace WHS system.
Human resources: The human resource has the responsibility to solve thus issue and
control the working hour of the employee.
Working environment
Policies: workers health and workplace conditions, roles and responsibilities for
workplace health, workplace health and safety policies.

7HEALTH AND SAFETY AT WORK
Procedure: the procedure mentions that it is the responsibility of the employees working
in the organization in maintaining healthy working environment.
Process: this mentions and enlists the responsibilities of employers and employees in
maintaining a positive working environment.
System: the system comes under the WHS working environment management and
screening process and legislations.
Human resource: Human resource should implement different strategies to maintain a
healthy environment.
Health insurance
Policies: Workplace health and safety policies
Procedure: this policy section mentions that each organization should provide complete
health cover to the employees for their wellbeing.
Process: the process is dependent on the type of organization and the level of risk
involved in the work process
System: the system is also dependent on the involved risk as depending on that the degree
of health insurance is determined.
Human resource: the human resource department of each company should take care of
this matter and provide each employee with these benefits.

8HEALTH AND SAFETY AT WORK
Answer 11
Workplace Injury Rehabilitation Compensation Act 2013. The purpose of this cat is to
simplify the legislation and provisions for any worker who is injured in the workplace. Further, it
also includes the compensation related rules if any worker is injured or died during the course
due to any accident or disease. This legislation was implemented in Australia on July 1, 2014.
Answer 12
The name of my states privacy legislation is Privacy and data protection Act 2014 (Vic).
The purpose of this act or legislation is to provide the population with their right to privacy and
data protection.
Answer 13
Common law: it is the law, which has been built with the reference of judiciary decisions
and magistrate’s decisions given on WHS related cases over the years. This descion can be
biased as it is the combination of previous judgments provided on different situations therefore
this law provide broad statements on specific situations6.
Answer 14
Statute law: This is a written set of laws and regulations, written by a set of legislatures
or a single legislator, which is a case of absolute monarchy. This law is opposite of the custom
law or regulatory law that is promulgated due to the use of common law dependent on past
judiciaries7.
6 Llewellyn, Karl N. The common law tradition: Deciding appeals. Vol. 16. Quid Pro Books, 2016.
7 Mason, Keith. Mason and Carter's restitution law in Australia. LexisNexis Butterworths, 2016.

9HEALTH AND SAFETY AT WORK
Answer 15
Yes.
Answer 16
Employees
Duties: Serve the organization faithfully.
Rights: they have the right to refuse unsafe works
Employers
Rights: They have the right to appoint and dismiss the worker at any time point.
Duties: they should always take reasonable care of the health of the employees.
Answer 17
Describe
health
and safety
measures
and
initiatives
How does it
addresses
specific
legislative
requirements
How it
supports
non
statutory
health
promotion
List
factors
impacts
WHS
Criteria for
decision
implementati
on
How these
measures are
implemented
Benefits and
costs of these
Workplac
e hazard
spotting
This helps to
determine the
employees’
rights and
duties related
legislation, in
which it was
determined
that the
workers
should be
able to spot
the hazardous
The non-
statutory
health
promotion
camps also
promote
such
actions and
thereby
using this
can satisfy
the
regulations
These
helps to
protect the
workers
against
several
workplace
related
hazards,
stress and
adverse
incidents
that can
For this
purpose, the
organization
should provide
proper training
to the workers
related to
hazards and
hazardous
identification.
Further after the
training the
employees
should be
provided with a
time limit so that
they can identify
all the hazards
present in the
workplace.
These is of
huge benefit
in application
of these
activities in
the workplace
as enhances
the ability of
workers to
fight with
adverse
situations.

10HEALTH AND SAFETY AT WORK
materials
present in
their
organization
so that any
incident can
be avoided.
of non-
statutory
health
promotion
program.
affect the
working
ability of
the
workers.
Fire
marshal
training
This
determines
workplace
health and
safety related
legislation
related to
workers
safety and
their
behavioral
health and
safety.
Implement
ation of
this helps
in saving
the
workers
life in
adverse
situation
This helps
in saving
the
workers
life in
adverse
situation
The
organization
should provide
proper training
and drills so
that during the
situation of
fire, the
employees are
aware of the
regulations.
After the training
the organization
should carry out
a drill so that
ability to combat
such situation
can be estimated.
This also adds
positive
points in the
WHS related
policies of the
organization
and increases
the ability of
the workers to
combat such
situation.

11HEALTH AND SAFETY AT WORK
Bibliography
Dollard, Maureen, Tessa Bailey, Sarven McLinton, Penelope Richards, Wes McTernan, Anne
Taylor, and Stephanie Bond. "Australian Workplace Barometer: report on psychosocial safety
climate and worker health in Australia." (2012).
Llewellyn, Karl N. The common law tradition: Deciding appeals. Vol. 16. Quid Pro Books,
2016.
Mason, Keith. Mason and Carter's restitution law in Australia. LexisNexis Butterworths, 2016.
Workplace health and safety (2018). Workplace health and safety | australia.gov.au. [online]
Australia.gov.au. Available at:
https://www.australia.gov.au/information-and-services/health/workplace-health-and-safety
[Accessed 25 Jul. 2018].
Xiang, Jianjun, Peng Bi, Dino Pisaniello, and Alana Hansen. "The impact of heatwaves on
workers׳ health and safety in Adelaide, South Australia." Environmental research 133 (2014):
90-95.

12HEALTH AND SAFETY AT WORK