Healthcare: Workplace Health and Safety Unit Assessment Solution

This document presents a comprehensive solution to a healthcare assignment focusing on workplace health and safety (WHS) in Australia. It covers various aspects, including WHS Acts, regulations, and codes of practice across different states and territories, addressing topics such as hazardous manual tasks, infection control, and hazard identification. The assignment delves into the roles and responsibilities of a person conducting a business or undertaking (PCBU), employers, and workers, emphasizing the importance of consultation, record-keeping, and due diligence. The solution also provides examples of hazardous manual tasks, common workplace safety hazards, and mitigation strategies, including the hierarchy of control and risk assessment principles. Furthermore, it highlights the significance of emergency procedures, personal protective equipment (PPE), and the need for a safe working environment. The assignment also discusses factors like hazard identification, assessment, and control, human resources policies and procedures, consultation and participation, incident investigation, and quality system documentation. Overall, the assignment provides a detailed overview of WHS principles and practices applicable to the healthcare sector.

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Healthcare
by [NAME]
Course
Professor’s Name
Institution
Location of Institution
Date

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Question 2
Complete the table
State or
territory
WHS Act WHS
Regulation
WHS Codes of practice
Australian
Capital
Territory
(ACT)
Work Health and
Safety Act 2011
(Workplaceohs.com.au,
2019)
Work Health
and Safety
Regulation 2011
 Abrasive blasting
 Hazardous manual
tasks
 Construction work
New South
Wales (NSW)
Work Health and
Safety Act 2011
Work Health
and Safety
Regulation 2017
 Managing the risk
of falls at
workplaces
 Managing noise
and preventing
hearing loss at
work (SafeWork
NSW, 2019)
Northern
Territory (NT)
Work Health and
Safety (National
Uniform Legislation)
Act
Work Health
and Safety
(National
Uniform
Legislation)
Regulations
 Control and safe use of
inorganic lead at work
 Safe removal of
asbestos
 Construction work
(Worksafe.nt.gov.au,
2019)
Queensland
(Qld)
Work Health and
Safety Act 2011
Work Health
and Safety
Regulation 2011
 Cash in transit Code of
Practice 2011
 Concrete pumping
Code of Practice 2005
 Confined spaces Code
of Practice 2011
(WorkSafe Queensland,
2019)
South Australia
(SA)
Work Health and
Safety Act 2012 (SA)
Work Health
and Safety
Regulations
2012 (SA)
 First aid in the
workplace
 Managing electrical
risks in the
workplace
 Excavation work
(Safework.sa.gov.au,

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2019)
Tasmania (Tas) Work Health and
Safety Act 2012
Work Health
and Safety
Regulations
2012
 Confined spaces
 First aid at the
workplace
 Safe design of
structures
(Workplaceohs.com.au.
2019)
Victoria (Vic) Occupational Health
and Safety Act 2004
Occupational
Health and
Safety
Regulations
2017
 Storage and handling of
dangerous
 Private investigators
(Worksafe.vic.gov.au,
2019)
Western
Australia (WA)
Occupational Safety
and Health Act 1984
Occupational
Safety and
Health
Regulations
1996
 Manual tasks
 Healthy and safety in
welding
 Excavation
(Department of Mines,
Industry Regulation and
Safety Western
Australia, 2019)
Question 3
Acts
An act creates a law that governs how a business is operated and what is expected of everyone
involved. It therefore gives the guidelines of the operation of a business.
Regulations
Regulations are important in business to ensure that there is compliance with the different
government directives that are enforced to ensure the smooth running of a business. It is
important to pass every regulation to avoid fines or closure of business.
Regulating Agencies

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They ensure that businesses comply with the relevant laws and regulations. They enforce the
regulations and ensure that businesses are run in the appropriate way.
Question 4
a) A person conducting a business or undertaking is responsible for the primary duty of care
thus ensuring the safety and health of workers (Australianbusiness.com.au, 2019).
b) A person conducting a business or undertaking also ensures that work performed does not
pose any safety or health risk to the worker (Australianbusiness.com.au, 2019).
Question 5
PCBU holds the compensation policy for workers to ensure that all workers are covered by the
policy. They also ensure that the workers get the appropriate information that can help them
access compensations (Workplaceohs.com.au. 2019). He also manages any injuries sustained in
the line of duty and helps the injured employees to return to work as soon as they can.
Question 6
a) Employer
The employer has the right to hire and fire employees provided the appropriate procedures are
followed. The employer, additionally, has the right to expect a high-performance level from their
employee. An employer also has responsibilities that he/she must satisfy. These include the
provision of a safe and healthy working environment, ensuring that all the workers are well
informed regarding their roles, provision of the appropriate protective gear, and sufficiently
compensating the workers. Employers also have obligations for the duty of care that include

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color codes, warnings, and labels to warn the workers of potential hazards. Any accidents must
be reported and hospitalization ensured to ensure the safety of workers.
b) Worker
Workers have several rights that ensure they work and improve their productivity at the
workplace. These rights include a right to a healthy a safe working environment, a right to ask
the employer to rectify any conditions that may seem dangerous, a right to file complaints about
hazards at the place of work, a right to acquire training from the employer, and a right to refuse
any dangerous or harmful work among others. They also have several responsibilities which may
include the following. Reading the poster that has the jobsite safety and health guidelines,
comply with all the applicable standards of safety, report conditions that may be hazardous, and
reporting to the employer any injury or illness that may occur as a result of the job among others.
Question 7
It is important to comply with the basic requirements of record keeping. This involves
establishing the appropriate systems for keeping records to ensure that work is efficient, legal
requirements are met, and the relationship between customers and staff is strengthened (Peter).
Question 8
Due diligence may be defined as the necessary steps that may be taken by an officer or a
business to evaluate the associated risks of doing any transactions and as a result avoid
committing an offence or making a mistake that may lead to losses. An officer must seek
knowledge and remain informed on matters of WHS. Additionally, the officer must understand
the risks and hazards associated with the business (Roodman, 2012). The officer must,

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furthermore, ensure that right resources are available for the business. The officer, finally, needs
to verify the resources and processes that are in use.
Question 9
 Enough welfare facilities such as clean toilets and safe drinking water.
 Adequate spaces between benches and tables in the working area.
 Adequate lighting.
 Emergency plans when necessary.
 An efficient ventilation system.
Question 10
a) Consulting with workers is where an individual engages their workers in a two-way
process. Consultation is done during the risk assessment and identification of hazards,
decision-making regarding safety procedures, deciding on risk elimination procedures,
and making proposals on changes that may have an impact on the safety and health of
workers. Consultation involves a representative if the employees are represented by a
Health and Safety Representative (Safework.sa.gov.au, 2019). The employer and his/her
workers can establish more formal consultation arrangements. During such arrangements,
they may reach a consensus on the procedures of consultation. After the procedures are
agreed upon, and following consultations must be done according to the procedures.
b) Consulting with other duty holders in the workplace gives everyone associated with a
task to have a common understanding of the risks related to a particular work. It also
enables everyone to identify the affected workers, ways of controlling risks, and the
cooperation of duty holders to handle safety and health.

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Question 11
Consultation is done by PCBUs during the risk assessment and identification of hazards,
decision-making regarding safety procedures, deciding on risk elimination procedures, and
making proposals on changes that may have an impact on the safety and health of workers.
Consultations can also be done during decision-making process that may involve risk
management and elimination.
Question 12
a) A hazardous manual task may be defined as a task that requires an individual to hold,
move, or restrain any animal or person by the use of a sudden force, repetitive movement,
or sustained force.
b) Some examples of hazardous manual tasks include stacking shelves, moving trolleys, and
handling people.
Question 13
Infections can be considered as hazards at the workplace. Prevention and control of infection at a
place of work is important to ensure a safe and healthy working environment. The WHS Act
requires that every individual has a duty of care to ensure safety at a workplace while at the same
time ensuring they minimize or eliminate infections.
Question 14
The common safety hazards at a workplace include accidental falls, injuries caused by electric
faults, the exposure to chemicals, the risk of fire, and injuries due to repetitive use (Stave and
Wald, 2016). The best way of mitigating these hazards is by creating awareness on their presence

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and the potential harm they can cause. This awareness prevents injuries, illnesses, and increases
productivity.
Question 15
Factors Explanation
hazard, incident and injury
reporting
It is important to report incidents, hazards, and injuries as
soon as they occur to ensure that the individuals in charge
of ensuring safety are informed in time so that appropriate
action can be taken to ensure health and safety
management.
hazard identification, risk
assessment and control
Identifying a hazard helps in ensuring the safety of
everyone at the workplace. Risk assessment ensures that
people who are at risk are identified and mitigations put in
place to control the hazard.
human resources policies and
procedures
These policies and procedures ensure that individuals
comply with the outlined employment legislations. They
additionally ensure that employees are informed of their
responsibilities and the expectations of the company.
consultation and participation Consultation and participation ensures that workers are
part of the decision-making in an organization. Through
consultation, their feedback can be taken by the
organization and considered before a decision affecting
their wellbeing at the workplace is made.
incident investigation and
record-keeping
Incident investigation helps in finding the root cause of an
incident and prevent reoccurrence of the same. It also
helps in the determination of the cost of the incident.
Record-keeping helps in the investigation of the incident
and knowing the sources of hazards.
quality system documentation This is important in directing and coordinating the
activities of an organization so that the requirements of the
customer can be met thus improving the effectiveness and
efficiency of an organization.
designated person/s for
raising issues
This individual ensures that everyone at the workplace
understands the path of reporting incidents and hazards.
He/she ensures that the proper channels are followed to
report and investigate incidents.
workplace support services These services help in improving productivity, leadership

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skills, teamwork, and communication. They also reduce
ineffectiveness and inefficiencies that may be due to
conflicts and stress at the work place.
use of personal protective
equipment (PPE)
PPE protects an individual against physical harms and
hazards at the workplace. It also prevents an individual
from being liable for their own injuries and thus improving
productivity due to the confidence one has about being
safe.
emergency procedures They are designed to handle unexpected events that may
be harmful and hazardous to workers. They are aimed at
making people feel prepared about unfortunate yet
unexpected situations. This helps in preventing fatalities
and injuries.
Question 16
a) Risk analysis
Risk analysis may be described as the process understanding the nature of a hazard before the
determination of the risk’s level. At the workplace, risk analysis can be done by estimating the
risk by using historical and current data, informed opinion, and theoretical analysis.
b) Hazard identification procedures
These are the steps followed to identify potential hazards at the workplace. Identification is made
easier when people work as a team to properly assess the situation. This can be done by looking
at accidents and near-miss situations, assessing how work is done at the site of work, at
identifying any foreseeable conditions that may be unusual.
c) Hierarchy of control and its application
This is a safety control system that is used to minimize and eliminate the effects and exposure to
hazards. As a result, workers are properly protected at the place of work and effective control

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solutions are implemented. The hierarchy includes elimination at the top, followed by
substitution, then engineering controls, administrative controls, and finally personal protective
equipment.
d) Principles of risk assessment
Risk assessment involves the identification of risk factors and hazards that can potentially cause
harm. This is then followed by an analysis of the risks associated with a particular hazard before
coming up with ways of eliminating the hazard. At the workplace this can be done by thoroughly
looking at the hazards that can potentially cause harm before taking measures to mitigate the
hazard.
e) Examples of health and safety benchmarks
This is where an organization compares its safety and health performance with that of another
organization to identify areas of improvement. At the workplace, benchmarking can be exercised
by sending a group of workers to another organization to learn their way of doing things. The
knowledge acquired from the different organization can help in improving the health and safety
performance of another.
f) Principles of safe design processes
Safe design process may be defined as the early identification and risk assessment of potential
hazards in the initial stages of a process to help in eliminating or minimizing the risk of an injury
in the remaining stages of the same process. A safe design process helps in improving
productivity and lowering the costs of production.
Question 17 (Skillmaker.edu.au, 2019)

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a) Providence evidence concerning the safety management and proactive health of an
individual.
b) Helps to ensure a continuous improvement.
c) Makes the management aware of the performance of the organization.
d) Shows that an organization is committed to continuously improve health and safety
performance.
e) Enhances the levels of performance.
f) Ensures that the health and safety performance of an individual manger can be reviewed.
Question 18 (Skillmaker.edu.au, 2019)
 Training programs
 Meetings where WHS issues are discussed
 Investigations of injuries, incidents, and hazards
 Internal and external review of safety management
Question 19
 Verbal report of the issue to the supervisor or manager
 Bringing the issue to the attention of the WHS representatives
 Reporting through the hazard report procedures of the organization.
Question 20 (Safeworkaustralia.gov.au, 2019, pg. 5-6)
a) Systematic risk management
b) Information transfer
c) Persons with control
d) Product life cycle

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e) Safe design knowledge and capability
Question 21 (Safework.sa.gov.au, 2019)
 Talking to each other about issues of WHS
 Listening to the workers concerns and raising your own concerns
 Seeking and sharing information and views
 Advising the workers concerning any outcome of a consultation
 Considering the views of the workers during decision making.

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Australianbusiness.com.au. (2019). [online] Available at:
http://www.australianbusiness.com.au/getattachment/WHS/Resources/Introduction-to-the-Work-
Health---Safety-Act/Fact-sheet-Health-and-Safety-Duties.pdf.aspx [Accessed 31 Aug. 2019].
Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety Western Australia. (2019). Codes of
practice. [online] Available at: http://www.commerce.wa.gov.au/worksafe/codes-practice
[Accessed 31 Aug. 2019].
Peter, C. E. O. Work Health and Safety Management of Hot Work.
Roodman, D., 2012. Due diligence: An impertinent inquiry into microfinance. CGD Books.
SafeWork NSW. (2019). Updated codes of practice. [online] Available at:
https://www.safework.nsw.gov.au/news/safework-public-notice/codes-of-practice [Accessed 31
Aug. 2019].
Safework.sa.gov.au. (2019). [online] Available at:
https://www.safework.sa.gov.au/sites/default/files/5.4.23-
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[Accessed 31 Aug. 2019].
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https://www.safeworkaustralia.gov.au/system/files/documents/1702/guidanceontheprinciplesofsa
fedesign_2006_pdf.pdf [Accessed 1 Sep. 2019].

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[Accessed 31 Aug. 2019].
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