Task 2 - WHS Compliance Plan

Work Health and Safety Compliance Plan
Overview of the new WHS legislation.

The model WHS laws were developed to harmonise the regulation of WHS across each Australian
jurisdiction. The model WHS law framework comprises the model WHS Act, the model WHS
Regulations and the24 model Codes. This framework is intended to be broadly applicable to all
organisations regardless of their size or industry.
The model WHS Act:
establishes WHS duties requiring the elimination or minimisation of risks arising from work
provides for worker consultation, representation and participation relating to WHS matters
enables compliance with and enforcement of the model WHS laws through the regulator, and
provides for the making of WHS Regulations and Codes to support the objectives of the model
WHS Act.
The model WHS Regulations set out detailed requirements that must be applied to specific work
activities and hazards to meet WHS duties. The model Codes provide practical information on how
the requirements of the model WHS laws may be met.
Summary of WHS/OHS audit conducted.

The University of Sydney achieved an average audit score of 85%. It has been determined that an
overall score of 70% or greater is required to demonstrate effective implementation of the
University’s health and safety systems. The auditors conclude that the health and safety systems
of the University of Sydney are satisfactory, and that by focusing efforts on the key areas of non-‐
compliance, a score greater than 70% could be achieved without difficulty as long as the Work
Health and Safety compliance plan is well developed, supported, monitored and undergo regular
review to ensure ongoing effectiveness.
Recommended hazard identification procedure (with suggested improvements)

Identify Hazards
Hazards can be visible or invisible, obvious or hidden; therefore, it is important to use a number of
methods to find hazards, such as:
•Ask the workers – these are the people who meet hazards every day; •Inspect the area – this will
help identify obvious hazards;
•Look at the environment – noise, extreme temperatures, work at height, moving vehicles;
•Look at the equipment, materials, substances used – moving parts, sharps, chemicals, biological
agents, radiation;
•Look at the tasks and how they are performed – repetitive, twisting, lifting etc.
1
•Consider the organization and management of the work – stress, fatigue, violence, potential
emergencies;
•Read the literature – Common workplace activities already have well established identified hazards
and controls; check the relevant section in the Work Health and Safety Regulation as well as
guidance material from SafeWork NSW Codes of Practice (CoP), Australian Standards,
manufacturer’s literature, Safety Data Sheets, etc.;
•Check the statistics – look at where hazards or incidents are reported or are there any trends in
sickness absence.
•Consider potential emergencies – what could go wrong? Consider all the people who could be
affected by the work e.g. staff, contractors, students, visitors, members of the community. In a
UniSyd workshop, staff and students in the vicinity of that work may be at risk. On field trips other
participants may be at risk, for instance passers-by. You will need to consult with persons that could
be affected by your work about the hazards and how they could be affected by them. This can be
done through your local Consultation Committee or at team meetings or group forums.
All identified hazards must be documented; the risk management form may be used for this.
Risk assessment and management strategies.

Consequences
When estimating the consequences of harm from each hazard consider:
•What type of harm will occur (e.g. strain, psychological harm, laceration, burn, amputation,
death);
•What will influence the severity of harm (e.g. distance of a fall);
•How many people are exposed (e.g. a crane collapse on a busy road will be more severe than a
collapse in a remote location due to the number of people who could be harmed);
•Could one failure lead to another (e.g. failure of electrical supply will stop local exhaust
ventilation);
•Could it escalate to a more serious event (e.g. a small fire could get out of control in an area
where there is a lot of combustible material).
Likelihood
When estimating the likelihood of harm occurring consider:
•How often is there exposure (e.g. once a day/once a month);
•How long are people exposed to the hazard (e.g. 5 minutes or several hours); How close are
people to the hazard (e.g. there may be a moving part but people don’t go near it);
•Could any changes increase the likelihood (e.g. deadlines causing people to rush);
•Does the environment affect the hazard (e.g. very poor lighting);
•What are the behaviours or attitudes of the people exposed (e.g. young people may be less risk-
aware, or shift-workers may be fatigued);
•Has it caused an injury, illness, disease in the past, at University of Sydney or elsewhere;
•How effective are current control measures.
Once you have determined the consequence and likelihood use the matrix in appendix A to
calculate the risk as low, medium, high or very high. Consider that the risk rating may vary if there
is a change of circumstances for the task (such as working after hours. The activity must not
2
continue if the risk rating is very high. In this case appropriate additional risk controls must be put
in place to reduce the risk.
Control the Risks
Training Needs
Training requirements include:
management and officers being trained in WHS legal requirements, hazard identification, risk
analysis/assessment and the conduct of incident/accident investigations and analysis.
staff being made aware of any rules and regulations relating to their role which concern their
safety and safety of others
'refresher' training needed as identified by staff performance reviews, observation of staff

performance, risk assessments that identify training as a means of addressing risks, changes to
processes or 'tools' used and legislation or other changes that impact on work at The University of
Sydney.
Recommended training resources

 Licence or certificate courses. - Certain jobs require an operator to hold an officially
recognised certificate or licence to do tasks like operating a steam boiler, driving a crane
or working as a dogman on a construction site. Training for these certificates or licences in
most States and Territories is provided by an accredited trainer and assessment is carried
out by a qualified assessor. Assessment can take place either at work or a place where
training is conducted (eg a skills centre).
 Accredited and approved courses. -Courses like introductory training courses for health
and safety representatives are classified as accredited under legislation. Courses for
managers and supervisors may also be classified as accredited. Accredited and approved
courses have to meet certain criteria determined by the relevant Commonwealth, State or
Territory health and safety authorities.
3
 Short courses. -Short courses are usually designed for a specific group of people such as
operators of equipment, employees, managers and supervisors. The most common types
of short courses are:
• general introductory courses. -on topics such as hazard management
• management and supervisory training courses on legal obligations and managing
health and safety in the workplace
• courses on specific issues such as hazardous substances, manual handling, confined
spaces and workplace ergonomics
• courses for employees with non-English-speaking backgrounds giving a general
introduction to basic health and safety principles.
• Vocational and professional courses. -Traineeship and apprenticeship courses normally
include health and safety modules as part of the course. There are also 2 to 4 year
health and safety courses for training health and safety professionals and managers.
These courses usually involve part-time study at a college or university over 2 to 4 years
and result in a qualification in health and safety.
Mentoring and coaching arrangements

Training will be provided once every three months.
WHS record keeping requirements

People
1. Deans/Heads of Schools/Department managers retain responsibility for ensuring appropriate

systems and processes are in place for the capture, storage and disposal of records within their
areas of responsibility, and that their Unit managers are aware of their recordkeeping
responsibilities.
2. Unit managers retain responsibility for identifying the records of their Unit’s activities, the
appropriate capture, storage and disposal of these records, and for ensuring staff within their Unit
are aware of their recordkeeping responsibilities and how to meet them.
3. All staff and contractors or the University have an obligation to make and keep full and accurate
records of their activities. The University provides an induction process and ongoing training to
ensure all staff are aware of these requirements and how to meet them.
4. Business system owners retain responsibility for the capture, storage and subsequent migration
or disposal of records captured to the system.

Task 2 - WHS Compliance Plan

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Task 2 - WHS Compliance Plan

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Task 2 - WHS Compliance Plan

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

What are the main components of the model WHS framework?

What are the main methods recommended for identifying hazards?

Work Health and Safety Compliance Plan

Overview of the new WHS legislation.

The model WHS Act:

Summary of WHS/OHS audit conducted.

Recommended hazard identification procedure (with suggested improvements)

Risk assessment and management strategies.

Control the Risks

'refresher' training needed as identified by staff performance reviews, observation of staff

Recommended training resources

Mentoring and coaching arrangements

WHS record keeping requirements

1. Deans/Heads of Schools/Department managers retain responsibility for ensuring appropriate

You might also like