Department of Communications
Work Health and Safety Strategy
2012 - 2014
Contents
1. Introduction 3
2. Objectives 3
3. Legislative Obligations 3
4. Consultation 4
5. Areas of Responsibility 4
5.1 Senior Executive Service and other people in leadership positions 4
5.2 Supervisors 5
5.3 Workers 6
5.4 People Branch 6
5.5 Health and Safety Committee 6
5.6 Health and Safety Representatives 6
6. Risk Management 7
7. Incident and Hazard Reporting 8
8. Health and Wellbeing 8
9. Injury Prevention and Management 9
9.1 Staff Training 9
9.2 Workstation Assessments 9
9.3 Workplace Inspections 9
9.4 First Aid 10
9.5 Early Intervention 10
9.6 Rehabilitation Providers 11
10. Offences and Penalties 11
1. Introduction
The Department of Communications (the Department) is committed to providing and maintaining a safe and healthy workplace for staff, contractors and visitors.
The Department aims to achieve high standards of health, safety and rehabilitation in all its workplaces and operations by providing safe systems of work to prevent injuries and illnesses.
The Department seeks to ensure:
> compliance with the applicable legislative framework
> understanding of and compliance with obligations from each individual in the workplace
> the prevention of workplace injury and disease
> promotion of health and wellbeing for all workers
> active senior executive leadership and commitment
> communication and consultation between all relevant parties
> prompt resolution of issues
> the conduct of hazard identification, risk assessment and risk control
> appropriate provision of information, education and training
> continuous improvement of work health and safety performance.
2. Objectives
The Work Health and Safety (WHS) Strategy aims to:
> develop a best practice health and safety culture by providing the framework for a safe and healthy workplace
> improve health and wellness of workers through the Department’s health and wellbeing program
> lower the rate of incidence for injury and illness through effective injury prevention practices
> reduce the impact of injury and illness by the application of early intervention strategies.
Meeting the above will satisfy legislative obligations and assist the Department to meet Safe Work Australia’s National OHS Strategy targets.
3. Legislative Obligations
Health and safety in the Commonwealth jurisdiction is governed by the Work Health and Safety (WHS) Act 2011, WHS Regulations and other legislative instruments, for example Codes of Practice, as determined by Safe Work Australia and/or Comcare.
Under the WHS Act, the Department is a Person Conducting a Business or Undertaking and has the primary duty of care for the health and safety of all employees, contractors and visitors. Obligations are also imposed on officers and workers.
An officer is a person who makes, or participates in making decisions that affect the whole or a substantial part of a business or undertaking of the Commonwealth in respect of the Department. As a general proposition, SES staff are likely to be officers because they make or participate in the making of decisions which affect the whole or substantial part of the Department’s business. Other non – SES staff who make or participate in such decisions may also be officers. Officers have a duty to be proactive and continuously ensure that the business or undertaking complies with relevant duties and obligations. Officers should refer to the Department’s Due Diligence Guidelines for detailed information regarding their responsibilities.
Workers include employees, contractors and volunteers working for a Commonwealth or non-Commonwealth licensee business or undertaking. Under the WHS Act, workers must take reasonable care for their own health and safety and take reasonable care that their actions or omissions do not adversely affect the health and safety of others.
4. Consultation
Consultation is a two-way exchange of information. It should be seen as an opportunity to add value to the decision-making process. Consultation involves appropriately informing workers and inviting and considering their response prior to a decision being made that affects them.
To ensure that the Department meets its objectives under this strategy, it commits to:
> sharing relevant information
> giving workers a reasonable opportunity to express their views, raise issues and contribute to decision making
> taking workers’ views into account
> advising workers of the outcome of the consultation in a timely manner.
If the workers are represented by a Health and Safety Representative (HSR) the consultation will be facilitated through that representative in his/her role as a member of the Health and Safety Committee.
In most cases, HSRs will be notified and given a reasonable opportunity to consult with the workers in their Work Group (WG) in order to represent these views back to the Department.
5. Areas of Responsibility
All workers, irrespective of classification, have a mutual responsibility to ensure their own health and safety and also that of other persons in the workplace.
5.1 Senior Executive Service and other people in leadership positions
Senior Executive Service (SES) staff have a duty to be proactive and continuously ensure that the Department complies with its legislative obligations.
An officer under the WHS Act has a positive duty to exercise due diligence when approaching health and safety issues. Officers should refer to the Department’s Due Diligence Guidelines for detailed information regarding their responsibilities.
SES staff and other people in leadership positions are to contribute to the positive health and safety culture of the Department and share information about health and safety with all staff. The more influential an officer’s role within the Department the greater his or her duty is under the WHS Act.
To exercise due diligence, officers must:
> take reasonable steps to acquire and maintain their knowledge of work health and safety matters
> gain an understanding of the hazards and risks associated with the nature of operations
> ensure that appropriate resources are available and are used to enable hazards to be identified and risks eliminated or minimised
> ensure that processes for notifying incidents, hazards and risks are complied with in a timely manner
> ensure that policies, procedures and other tools are available which allow the Department to meet its legislative obligations
> seek assistance from the Safety & Wellbeing team when unsure.
A high standard of compliance with the work health and safety legislative framework requires persistent evaluation and care to ensure the resources and systems of the Department are adequate to comply with the duty of care imposed on officers. This also requires officers to ensure that they exercise their delegations effectively and in line with policy. Officers can rely on the expertise of the Safety & Wellbeing team within the People Branch for support and advice.
5.2 Supervisors
Any workers who supervise other workers, irrespective of the number supervised, must:
> understand, promote and comply with all health and safety policies and procedures
> engage with workers in an open, honest and meaningful way to ensure they understand what safety standards are expected of them
> encourage feedback and communication between the work area and the Safety & Wellbeing team
> ensure work health and safety responsibilities are addressed in the performance appraisal process
> ensure that the Safety & Wellbeing team is made aware of issues or concerns of safety, especially where hazards or flaws in operational procedures have been identified
> demonstrate commitment to health and safety and model safe work practices to the worker(s) they supervise
> seek assistance from the Safety & Wellbeing team when unsure.
5.3 Workers
Workers have a duty to comply, so far as they are reasonably able, with any reasonable instruction given that allows the Department to comply with the WHS laws. This includes ensuring that they exercise reasonable care in how they undertake their work and cooperating with any reasonable health and safety policy or procedure.
Failure to comply with a health and safety duty imposed by the WHS Act (which duty may be reflected in internal policies and procedures) may result in prosecution by the Commonwealth regulator (Comcare) where that failure has the potential to adversely affect their own, or another person's, health and safety. Equally, a failure to comply with a reasonable instruction (issued to allow compliance with the WHS Act) may result in criminal proceedings or a code of conduct investigation as it may hinder the Department’s ability to comply with its duties under the WHS Act.
5.4 People Branch
The Safety & Wellbeing team within the People Branch advises the Department on health and safety issues to ensure that processes for complying with its duties and obligations are developed and implemented. Injury prevention and early intervention strategies are administered by People Branch in order to assist in achieving a safe and healthy work environment for all workers and visitors.
People Branch:
> manages the day-to-day work health and safety responsibilities of the Department
> provides advice to line areas to ensure safe work practices are maintained
> develops appropriate processes to enable hazards to be identified and eliminated or minimised and to receive and consider information about incidents, hazards and risks.
5.5 Health and Safety Committee
The Health and Safety Committee (HSC) monitors the effectiveness of the WHS strategy and provides advice to the Safety & Wellbeing team to enable the Department to meet health and safety obligations. The HSC has a strategic role in reviewing work health and safety matters and procedures in order to have a consistent approach across the Department.
5.6 Health and Safety Representatives
HSRs and Deputy Health and Safety Representatives (DHSRs) liaise with the Department on behalf of the workers in their respective Work Groups (WG) on health and safety issues. HSRs (or DHSRs in the HSR’s absence) participate in HSC meetings and raise relevant health and safety issues for consideration.
HSRs and DHSRs have powers under the WHS Act to promote the health and safety of their WG. Broadly, the powers include:
> inspecting the workplace of a WG if there has been a recent accident or dangerous occurrence, where there is an immediate threat of an accident or dangerous occurrence, or after giving the Department reasonable notice of the inspection
> requesting Comcare to conduct an investigation in the workplace and/or accompanying an inspector during the investigation
> initiating emergency stop-work procedures (but only if they have completed accredited training)
> issuing provisional improvement notices (PINs) (but only if they have completed accredited training).
HSRs and DHSRs must be committed to attending and actively participating in HSC meetings. If a HSR is unable to attend a meeting, they must ensure their DHSR attends in order to represent their WG. HSRs and DHSRs are responsible for assisting with workplace inspections for their WG in a timely manner to ensure hazards are being identified and eliminated before injuries can occur.
HSRs and DHSRs must attend Comcare accredited training. In the event that a HSR or DHSR is unable to commit to training within a reasonable period of time of appointment to the position, nominations may be called to seek a more appropriate candidate for the role of HSR/DHSR in that WG.
6. Risk Management
The Department has adopted a risk management approach to underpin its Work Health and Safety Arrangements. This approach involves the Department (including officers and workers) in identifying hazards, assessing and prioritising risks, implementing control measures and reviewing how effective the control measures are.
The Risk Management Procedures are a key component of the WHS framework, which requires officers to demonstrate due diligence within their areas of responsibility by having a greater awareness of hazards and how these are mitigated and controlled, through an increased focus on risk assessment and consideration of all WHS factors when undertaking work.
This can be achieved by applying a systematic risk management approach that is regular and ongoing and considers all possible workplace hazards, including but not limited to those of a physical, biological, environmental and psychosocial nature. Risk management is important as it may identify particular problem areas within the Department, focus on potential effects of changes and ensure new issues are noticed. For monitoring and evaluation purposes, this information can be useful to feedback into reviews of the Department’s policies and procedures.
While WHS policies and procedures are developed for controlling hazards present throughout the organisation, all managers and workers are responsible for managing the particular risks associated with their specific work environment. The aim of this approach to risk management is to ensure that WHS considerations become a fundamental consideration during all business planning.
The Department uses the following methods to identify hazards and manage risks:
> development and coordination of a Risk Register for each branch
> undertaking regular workplace hazard inspections
> hazard/incident/injury reporting
> injury and illness records
> provision of WHS training
> consultation processes (e.g. at team and staff meetings).
7. Incident and Hazard Reporting
Incident and hazard notification forms are available and must be completed for all accidents, incidents or hazards and submitted to the Safety & Wellbeing team. The Safety and Wellbeing team will then consider if an incident or hazard requires further action.
Notifiable incidents i.e. those which involve death, serious injury or illness or dangerous incidents must be notified to Comcare immediately by the Safety & Wellbeing team. It is therefore essential that all incidents are notified to the team as a priority.
The person with management or control of the affected worksite should, as far as is reasonably practicable, ensure that the incident site is not disturbed until a Comcare inspector arrives or until an inspector permits the site to be re-opened.
The duty to preserve the incident site does not prevent any action being taken:
> to assist an injured person
> to ensure that the site is safe
> that is associated with a police investigation
> where an inspector or Comcare has given permission.
The meaning of 'immediately' will be dependent on context. Notification will need to be as soon as reasonably possible regarding factors like location and communication facilities. For instance, immediate notification from a remote location with limited communication facilities would be expected to take longer than for immediate notification in a city based location with ample communication facilities.
Where a worker identifies a health or safety issue in the workplace, the HSR/DHSR of the relevant WG should be notified. The matter must be dealt with promptly and resolved in consultation with the worker, the Safety & Wellbeing team, the HSR and where necessary, the supervisor of the area. If an agreement cannot be reached as to how to resolve an issue any party may refer the issue to the Safety & Wellbeing team to request an investigation by Comcare.