Report on WHS: Policy, Risk Management in Australian Hardware Stores

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of Workplace Health and Safety (WHS) policies and risk management strategies within Australian Hardware stores, specifically focusing on the Wollongong store. It assesses the effectiveness of current WHS programs, identifies areas of non-compliance, and offers recommendations for improvement. The report covers various aspects, including the purpose and scope of WHS policies, responsibilities of management and employees, risk management procedures, record-keeping practices, hazard identification methods, and the development of safe work practices. Furthermore, it outlines resources and costs associated with implementing WHS systems and proposes an implementation plan with actionable steps to enhance workplace safety. The report highlights the importance of regular training, hazard identification, and risk assessment to minimize workplace injuries and ensure a safe working environment for all employees and stakeholders. The document emphasizes the need for continuous improvement and adherence to WHS regulations within the Australian Hardware stores.

Ensure a safe workplace
Ensure a safe workplace
Name
Professor
Course
Date

Ensure a safe workplace
Assessment Task 1.
The purpose.
The WHS policy focuses to ensure that the entire work in the company is carried out
safely in accordance with Australian Hardware ethics (Bahn, 2013).This provides a
legislative obligation that focuses to provide health and safe working environment in the
organization. The safe working environment for the environment should be exercised in
employees, business contractors, visitors and client’s .Australian Hardware stores are
working hard enough to ensure all employees are treated well and they are safe from injuries
and other related health hazards (Timmins, 2011).
Australian Hardware Wollongong Store WHS policy.
Purpose. The aim of this policy is to ensure that work is done safely and no injuries. The
policy targets to provide health and safety within workplace thus promoting a conducive
working environment. The main work is to ensure no injuries and health measures are keenly
handled in workplace (Chin, DeLuca, Poth, Chadwick, Hutchinson, Munby, 2010).
Scope. The scope of this policy is to cover employees and contractors in Wollongong Store.
Responsibilities. The responsibility for the policy is to initiate implementation mechanisms
which rests majorly on the employees and management in Wollongong store (Stevens,
Helseth, Khan, Munson, Smith, 2010).
Management carries the following;
 Discussing with employees issues regarding safety and health changes (Farrell &
Shafiei, 2012).
 Ensuring there is safe environment for work.

Ensure a safe workplace
 Training employees on safety and healthy strategies.
While employees in hardware stores ensures;
 Adhering to all health and safety procedures (Bruce & Nowlin, 2011).
 Reporting injuries experienced in workplace.
 Encouraging other employees in stores to follow health and safety policies.
Amended WHS policy applied on workers responsibilities and legislation
 Regular review and evaluating health and safety systems by use of the audits and
inspections in the stores (Jay & Kenny, 2010).
 Establishing objectives that will target to eliminate the injury or illness and also
ensure all cases are adequately reported to the relevant personnel in the stores.
 Providing adequate training to the employees especially on how to handle items
manually, how to lift heavy objects in the stores, training on safe storage of the toxic
chemicals in stores and also training on first aid activities.
 Ensuring there is regular conduct with the injured workers in stores or the staff so as
to monitor their progress (Anderson, 2011).This helps in ensuring all workers injured
are receiving appropriate medical help.
Outline of resources and costs for the system.
Human resource needed in the stores (Bartlett & Bartlett, 2011).
Resource Amount Payment @
hour
Lost
incurred in
production
Total
payment per
hour
Total cost
identified
Employees 20 25 20 40 560

Ensure a safe workplace
Departmental
leaders
5 30 30 30 210
Store
managers
7 40 40 50 370
Senior
mangers
2 70 50 100 290
Rooms used
for training
2 30 20 80
Resources required for the WHS in the hardware stores (Phillips, 2016).
Human resource in stores Amount (($ per hour) Physical resources needed
Senior manager in store 120 Training building.
Store manager 60 Resources needed if an
injury occurs while working.
Team leader from every
store
45 Items for handling heavy
machines and materials in
the stores.
Workers (15 per store) 25 Available buildings
WHS consultant (1 per
store)
70 Office
Audit to track all events in
the stores
30 Office

Ensure a safe workplace
Assessment Task 2.
The scope in ensuring self-working place covers all contractors and all employees in
Australian Hardware stores .The portfolio describes weaknesses in the company .That is how
company has failed to follow the WHS policies. The evidence was revealed by certain
stakeholders in the company (Pollack, Austin, Grisso, 2010).The supervisors gave some
weaknesses that gave adequate prove which indicated how WHS has not been met in the
Australian Hardware company. The following are some evidences in which the company has
failed to adhere to terms in WHS.
 Lack of adequate training to the workers.
 Some members in the company are not aware on issues of WHS and thus unable to
ask for their rights.
 Some stores are not of standards .This is to mean that stores are congested.
Advice from the HSR on Integrating WHS in stores;
 Stores not complying with the terms in WHS policy.
 No timely gathering of information responding to quick risk measures.
 Employees not familiar with risk and hazards anticipated in stores.
 Inappropriate record keeping and lack of training to workers.
WHS risk management procedures.
Purpose. This policy describes the risk management process and sets out the responsibilities
of the Board, chief financial officers and others in the Wollongong Store (Smith, 2017).
Responsibility.
The board must ensures that;

Ensure a safe workplace
 All frameworks for risk management are reviewed by the Audit committee.
 Identifying all areas with potential risk in Wollongong Store
 Preparing remedial action for the risk identified in stores.
 Undertaking regular program for auditing in Wollongong Store.
The Chief financial officer undertakes;
 Ensuring stores comply with risk management policy.
 Reporting to the board information on the risk policies.
 Keeping the risk register in Wollongong Store.
Record keeping procedures in Wollongong Store
Purpose. The purpose of the policy in Wollongong Store is to identify and keep records in
specified manner (Stephans, 2012). All investigations relating to injuries are recorded for
future use whereby they are retrieved when needed.
Responsibilities. Management has the mandate to review the records so as to identify those
incidents which have resulted to injuries in the Wollongong Store. All workers in the
hardware store are expected to cooperate so as to submit all records about injuries to their
respective managers.
Identifying hazards in Wollongong Store
Hazards in the Wollongong Store is identified through;
 Carrying out risk assessment in the workplace (Wang, 2011).
 Determining how employees in workplace may be prone to risk.
 Evaluating risk on regular basis in Wollongong Store.
 Recording risk experienced annually in Wollongong Store.

Ensure a safe workplace
Developing the WHS safe practices in Wollongong Store.
The main ways of ensuring safe place practices in Wollongong Store includes;
Use of substitution method. Targets to replace risk in hardware stores by another which is
less harmful.
Use of warnings. Developing rules and regulations to be followed by workers when in stores.
This minimises exposure to hazards.
Through use of administrative controls in hardware stores. It includes use of other working
practices that aid in protecting workers
Assessment Task 3.
Report on WHS programs Wollongong stores.
Introduction. .
The aim is to report on the entire WHS strategies in Wollongong. It indicates the
objective of the identified concept in relation to monitoring procedures. The report is based
on how the stores have employed difference mechanisms to curb risk depending on WHS
checklist. Also, each concept in the report is constructed with the person responsible.
Report based on the advice given by HSR.
Stores not complying with the terms in WHS policy.
Based on the identified data the number of reported injuries cases increased for last 6
months. This data was obtained through incident reports from WHS checklist. The checklist
contained the total number of workers who were seriously affected by various hazards

Ensure a safe workplace
experienced in the stores .Most of the stores were not familiar with the WHS policies in
workplace.
Employees not familiar with risk and hazards anticipated in stores
Employees were not familiar with risk and hazards in stores. The report was based on
information received from the auditing team in stores. All stores were inspected thoroughly to
point out all risks experienced by workers. It was done depending on the WHS Risk
Assessment Policy in the stores. Was also identified by using project management report on
WHS procedures. The entire process was controlled by the WHS consultant in the company.
Inappropriate record keeping and lack of training to workers.
Training employees on the key concepts indicating risk or hazard assessment strategy
in stores. Most of the training activities in the stores were not done appropriately. Lack of
training decreased the competence level .A small percent indicated employees who have
completed WHS training programs. The number was about 15 out of the 45 in stores.
No timely gathering of information responding to quick risk measures.
There were no records for the number of employees who were injured last month.
Also managers did not keep records for the injuries experienced in the workplace (Stevens et
al, 2010). Failure to record data on injuries in the stores resulted to the lack of information on
identifying employees who were injured in the stores. The report was based on the
investigations done in different offices in the stores. Management did not prove why they
were no records for injuries in the stores.
Recommendation plan for the report.

Ensure a safe workplace
The following recommendations involves actions plans needed by the stores. These
recommendations describes the remedy for the problems indicated in the report on hardware
stores. Wollongong stores need to;
 Identify items to buy or hire so as to ensure safety and health risks in stores when
training employees.
 Considering regulations in health and safety. Ordering new items to be used in
stores which are not prone to risk and injuries.
 Creating system that will enable workers to report cases of injuries, accidents and
risks in workplace. This will ensure employees are safe when working in stores.
 Designing a new safe work method assessment or statements for the new
equipment introduced in the stores.
 Control measures and procedures used in training employees (Wang, 2011). All
the requirements for the items needed in training should be analysed so as to
control risks in health and safety in hardware stores.
 Ensuring workers are familiar with the hazards of low frequencies such as fires.
Implementation plan for the report.
Implementation plan for the report was categorised on different section. Each part described
the appropriate implementation policies needed in the stores.
Action based on the report. Implementation.
Required implementation in stores. Evaluating and reviewing health and safety
measures in the stores.
Eliminating work related injuries and illness
by hiring new items such as ladders for

Ensure a safe workplace
reaching higher heights and borrowing
lifting items in the stores (Zadnikar &
Vanderhenst, 2013).
Training employees on the appropriate
methods to use when using harmful
chemicals, when lifting heavy items in the
stores and also encouraging workers to
record cases of injuries in stores.
Identifying long hazards in the stores. Ensuring workers are conversant with the
hazards which manifests to them for a short
term such as;
 Harmful chemicals in stores.
 Noise from machines and
colleagues.
 Safe storage of sharp items in stores.
 Not exposing to radiations.
Identifying low frequency hazards in stores. All workers being conversant with the
events that may result from the serious
injuries, deaths and other dangerous
situations such as ;
Explosions, building collapsing and
outbreak of fires in the stores.
Understanding risks or hazards from new
items or new equipment in the stores.
Formulating policies on the hazards from
new items purchased in the stores

Ensure a safe workplace
WHS session plan for training (Pollack et al, 2010).
No. Action
plan.
Required
action in
store.
Resources
needed.
Human
resource
responsible
Date for
action
Approved
signature
1 Identifying
access
equipment
to be
replaced in
store such
as ladders
and lifting
cranes.
Providing
appropriate
heights to be
used by the
lifting
machines
introduced.
Providing
ladders to be
used when
lifting heavy
items in
stores.
Senior
manager.
13/10/2018
2 Determining
from the list
provided
what item to
buy and
what item to
Coming up
with most
effective
method of
buying lifting
machines in
Need for
price list
in each
store and
supplier
Store
manager.
14/10/2018

Ensure a safe workplace
be hired in
the stores.
Quoting
important
item.
the stores
(Chin et al,
2010).
catalogues
3 Ordering
and
arranging
access to
new items
needed in
the stores.
Ensuring the
new items are
available for
the entire site.
Store
manager
15/10/2018
4 Designing a
new safe
work
method
assessment
or
statements
for the new
equipment
introduced
in the
stores.
Providing a
training
reference to
the workers in
the stores.
Providing
WHS
codes and
practices
to the
workers.
Team
leader
16/10/2018