SITXWHS004 Establish and maintain a work health and safety system
SITXWHS004
Establish and maintain a work health and safety system
Chapter 1
Establish and maintain a framework for health, safety and security
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1.1 Access and interpret key legislative documents to ensure WHS system complies with regulatory requirements, standards and codes.
An effective health and safety management system assists a person conducting a business or undertaking(PCBU) to achieve their obligations under health and safety legislation.
A health and safety management system follows five principles:
Commitment
Planning
Review and improvement
Implementation
Measurement and evaluation
These principles are aligned with the Australian Standards relating to health and safety management systems.
The best health and safety management system are those that are incorporated within an organisation's other management systems, rather than a stand-alone system. This shows the organisation's commitment to health and safety, treating it as a part of their day-to-day operation, rather than an added on component.
The safety management system (SMS) can contain the following elements:
higher level system needs including policies, objectives and structures to achieve those objectives
day-to-day safe operation including operating procedures, work permitting and maintenance management
longer term safety of the facility including risk management, emergency planning, asset integrity management and management of change
personnel-related systems including recruitment, worker induction and training, consultation, contractor selection, and management and training
the effectiveness of the SMS including performance monitoring, auditing, incident investigation and continuous improvement
administrative procedures such as document control
(Safe Work Australia 2012)
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Establishing an effective WHS system is not only a legal requirement for ensuring safety, it is also makes economical sense.
The primary reason for WHS legislation is to make every workplace a safe and healthy one. WHS legislation is extensive, continually changing and job-specific. This reflects the importance that society puts on safety at work.
Safe Work Australia was created to develop and implement a consistent set of WHS laws, regulations and codes of practice throughout Australia.
Safety management systems can be specialised computer applications such as a database, computer-based documents such as those created by a word processor or spreadsheet, or kept in journals. Safety management systems can be viewed using computer terminals, such as an intranet, or printed and bound. If the system is hard copy (printed) document control is an important aspect, ensuring only the latest version of a document is available.
When developing a health and safety management system it is a good idea to consult with workers. Using a participative approach from the beginning means workers are more likely to em
ace the system, leading to better health and safety outcomes.
Safe Work Australia was created to develop and implement a consistent set of WHS laws, regulations and codes of practice throughout Australia.
The federal WHS Act requires all employers to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health and safety of:
workers engaged, or caused to be engaged by the person, and
workers whose activities in ca
ying out the work are influenced or directed by the person, while workers are at work in the business or undertaking.
This primary duty of care requires duty holders to ensure health and safety, so far as is reasonably practicable, by eliminating risks to health and safety. If this is not reasonably practicable, risks must be minimised so far as is reasonably practicable.
Legislation
Health and safety legislation in Australia is state based; each jurisdiction is responsible for its own laws and regulations. Legislation is uniform, however, because it is based on the model Work Health and Safety Act and model Work Health and Safety Regulations. Work health and safety is known as WHS. This means the Act and Regulations are fundamentally the same throughout Australia, albeit with slight variations.
Legislation consists of the Acts of Parliament. Legislation can refer to a single law (also known as a statute) or a collection of laws.
The legislative process starts with a Bill, which is a draft of a law Parliament wishes to enact. When the Bill is passed by both houses of Parliament it is presented to the Governor-General for Royal Assent. Once given, the Bill becomes an Act, which is a statement of law.
An important aspect of legislation is the Regulations. Regulations are a form of subordinate legislation that provides the detail needed to implement the Act.
A Code of Practice is a practical guide to complying with legislation. In workplace health and safety SafeWork Australia is responsible for developing codes of practice to support health and safety legislation. Development occurs by consultation between Commonwealth, state, and te
itory governments, trade unions, and employer organisations.
While the Act and Regulations must be followed, codes of practice are voluntary. A person cannot be prosecuted for failing to comply with a code of practice. Compliance can be achieved by following another method, such as a technical or industry standard, providing it delivers an equivalent or higher standard than the Code of Practice.
Under health and safety legislation, duty holders are identified.
The first duty holder is the Person Conducting a Business or Undertaking (PCBU). The PCBU can be a corporation, partnership, unincorporated association, a self-employed person, or sole trader. The Crown is also a PCBU under health and safety legislation as it is considered to be running a business through its departments and statutory agencies.
A business or undertaking is operated by people, who through their decisions influence the behaviours or activities that determine the effectiveness of health and safety initiatives and compliance by the PCBU in relation to health and safety legislation. Health and safety legislation describes these people as officers and places a requirement of due diligence upon them.
Health and safety legislation uses the same definition of officer as Corporations legislation.
An officer can be:
A director or secretary of the corporation.
A person:
Who makes, or participates in making decisions that affect the whole or a substantial part, of the business of the corporation.
Who has the capacity to affect significantly the corporation's financial standing.
In accordance with whose instructions or wishes the directors of the corporation are accustomed to act (excluding advice given by the person in the proper performance of functions attaching to the person's professional capacity or their business relationship with the directors or the corporation).
While at work, workers must take reasonable care for their own health and safety and that of others who may be affected by their actions or omissions.
They must also:
comply, so far as they are reasonably able, with any reasonable instruction given by the Person Conducting a Business or to allow the PCBU to comply with WHS laws, and
cooperate with any reasonable policy or procedure of the PCBU relating to health or safety at the workplace that has been notified to workers.
The PCBU has a duty to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health and safety of workers engaged by the organisation or workers whose activities are influenced by the organisation while at work in the business or undertaking. The PCBU also has a responsibility to ensure others are not put at risk from work ca
ied out as part of the business or undertaking.
This includes:
The provision and maintenance of a risk free work environment.
The provision and maintenance of safe plant, structures, and work systems.
The safe use (including transport and storage) of plant, structures, and substances.
The provision of information, training, instruction, and supervision to protect all persons from risk to health and safety arising from the conduct of the business or undertaking.
The provision of adequate welfare facilities.
The monitoring of worker health and conditions to prevent work-related injury or illness.
Health and safety legislation states that in exercising due diligence an officer must take reasonable steps to:
acquire and keep up-to-date knowledge of health and safety matters
gain an understanding of the hazards and risks associated with the nature of the operations
ensure that the business or undertaking has appropriate resources and processes to enable risks to health and safety arising from work ca
ied out as part of the business or undertaking to be eliminated or minimised
ensure that the business or undertaking has appropriate processes for receiving and considering information about incidents, hazards and risks and responding in a timely way
ensure that the business or undertaking implements processes for complying with its duties and obligations.
Having an effective safety management system in place will assist officers to meet their obligations under legislation.
Record keeping
The various registers and records that should be kept depend on the type of business or undertaking. The following registers and records should be considered:
isk assessments
health and safety inspections
hazard reports
investigations results:
near misses
Incidents
Accidents
health and safety management system review
health and safety meetings
training registers including:
first aid
induction/ orientation for employees, contractors, agencies and volunteers
safe work practices for employees, contractors, agencies and volunteers
maintenance schedules and maintenance conducted
personal protective equipment issued
emergency evacuation drills conducted
workplace environmental monitoring
confined space entry (including entry permits and risk assessments)» hot work permits for hot work conducted
purchasing where health and safety implications have been considered
safe work practices for employees, contractors, agencies and volunteers
maintenance schedules and maintenance conducted
personal protective equipment issued
emergency evacuation drills conducted
workplace environmental monitoring
confined space entry (including entry permits and risk assessments)» hot work permits for hot work conducted
purchasing where health and safety implications have been considered
egisters;
egister of injuries book
workplace substances held on-site, including safety data sheets (including registers of workplace substances held by contractors or others on-site)
plant and equipment, including electrical equipment
dangerous goods held on-site, including site plans
A PCBU must make and keep worker records of the kind proscribed by the employment or industrial relations legislation in relation to each of its workers for seven years.
Under health and safety legislation, records relating to the following have special record-keeping requirements:
monitoring ai
orne contaminant levels
confined spaces
electrical equipment and electrical installations
general diving work
plant
hazardous chemicals
lead
asbestos
major hazard facilities
The records must be in a specific form if prescribed by legislation and include any information prescribed by the regulations. The regulations may provide for the inspection of those records.
Documentation such as policies, procedures, risk assessment forms, safe work method statements, inspection checklists, training matrices, etc should have some form of version or document control. This can include a document number, document title, date of release, authorising officer, and a date for review. A register of documents which have been prepared and released for use should be kept, along with a list of recipients. This will help with circulation and distribution when documents are updated.
Internal intranet systems can be used to provide access to health and safety documents.
1.2 Design a WHS management system to suit characteristics and needs of the organisation, in consultation with appropriate personnel
A health and safety management system is a system that