Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (Cth) (WHS Act) and the Work Health and Safety Regulations 2011 (Cth) (WHS Regulations) outline the requirements of the employer to provide a safe working environment for its employees and to provide all necessary protective equipment and training.

Codes of Practice provide practical guidance on how to meet the standards set out in the WHS Act and the WHS Regulation. This includes the new Code of Practice for Managing Psychosocial Hazards at Work with came into operations on 1st April 2023 (Managing the risk of psychosocial hazards at work Code of Practice 2022 (worksafe.qld.gov.au)

In sort, employee's have responsibilities relating to WHS, including:

• Follow all safe work practices, procedures, instructions and rules
• Work in a manner that ensures the health and safety of him or her and others
• Encourage other employees to work in a healthy and safe manner
• Participate in training
• Report or rectify any unsafe conditions that come to their attention.
• Not place at risk the health and safety of any person in the workplace
• Nor wilfully interfere with anything provided in the interests of health and safety
• Use protective equipment in a manner in which he or she has been properly instructed

According to Safe Work Australia, by avoiding productivity losses and costs from work-related injuries or illnesses, Australia’s economy would have been $28.6 bn larger each year. Between 2008 and 2018, there were 623,663 work-related injuries or illnesses on average each year and as of the date publication of this article, there has been 110 Australians killed at work in 2023.

Employer Responsibilities

Let’s keep this simple.

The first step is to identify the potential risks for people to have an accident in your business.

Most likely this list will include some of the following:

• Manual handling (reams of copy paper right through to heavy equipment covered here)
• Electrical Safety (all things that plug in)
• Chemical safety (cleaning products)
• Working in the heat (very relevant to anyone working outside up North)
• Working at heights (step ladders to cranes – it’s all a potential fall)
• Use of machinery (photocopiers to chippers)

Then we can get a little more exotic up here with snakes, jellyfish, and crocodiles all potential workplace health and safety risks.

And Then…

Once you have ascertained all the different ways people can trip, fall, poison, stab, strain, break and electrocute themselves in your business then put together some simple guidelines on how to avoid these workplace foibles.

These guidelines can be in a number of forms and will probably depend on the nature of your business. The key is to not let WHS overwhelm you. Work through it step by step.

Simply, WH&S is about

1. Risk Identification
2. Putting in a “control measure” to either eliminate the risk or to control the risk
3. Make sure that staff are aware and trained in risks

"As soon as you see a mistake and don’t fix it, it becomes your mistake"

For a step-by-step guy to manage WHS risks in the workplace by identifying hazards, assessing risks, controlling risks, and reviewing control measures, click here.

If you need WH&S advice you can contact WorkSafe QLD or SafeWork Australia for information about other States and Territories.

‍