Responsibilities of Employers and Employees

Assess and report on OHS issues in the workplace

Responsibilities of employers and employees

Employers’ responsibilities

Employees’ duties

Responsibilities

Identifying and reporting hazards in your workplace

Risk management

Consultation

Record keeping of OHS documentation

What to record

Audit and monitoring records

Analysing the data

Interpretation

Use of OHS records

Notification of accidents

How to notify accidents

Notification of other matters

Recording of incidents and injuries

Accident report form

Recording accidents, injury and disease

Getting to the facts

Summary

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Responsibilities of employers and employees

Employers’ responsibilities

Under the NSW Occupational Health and Safety Act 2000, employers must ensure the health, safety and welfare at work of all their employees, and any other people whose health or safety may be affected by the employer’s undertaking. This is known as the general ‘duty of care’. To meet this duty of care, employers must:

ensure that systems of work and the working environment are safe and without risks to health
ensure that plant (machinery or equipment) or substances used by employees are safe and without risks to health when properly used
provide such information, instruction, training and supervision as may be necessary to ensure the employees’ health and safety
ensure that premises (and means of access and exit) are safe and without risks to health.

Employers in New South Wales must do these things in consultation with their workers. Workers have rights which correspond to each of these things. For example, workers have the right to receive enough information, instruction, training and supervision to enable them to do their job safely.

Under the Occupational Health and Safety Regulation 2001, which fleshes out some of the requirements of the Act, employers must implement a risk management process in order to eliminate or control all risks to the health and safety of their employees and others such as contractors, visitors, or others present at the workplace.

Employees’ duties

Employees also have duties under the legislation. They must:

do their work without endangering their own or anyone else’s health or safety
not interfere with or misuse anything provided in the interests of health and safety
co-operate with the employer’s efforts to control risks.

To properly fulfil these responsibilities, workers would need, for example, to comply with the company’s rules and follow their procedures, as well as reporting any hazards to their supervisor. Workers should also be involved in the process of checking out hazards, assessing them and controlling risks.

Supervisors and managers should also be involved in risk management, according to the scope of their responsibilities. They should try to solve health and safety problems which are reported to them.

Responsibilities

The legal obligation of providing safe and healthy workplaces is the responsibility of the employer. However, all employees have legal responsibilities for occupational health and safety. Supervisors must take all reasonable steps to ensure the health and safety of the employees, and are responsible for ensuring that OHS procedures and standards are adhered to and to consult with OHS representatives or committee. When employees need to assess and report on OHS issues in the workplace, they should approach their supervisor and their OHS representative. (Maintain Workplace Safety, p2, Stephen Harvey, June 2002, Software Publishers Pty Ltd).

Identifying and reporting hazards in your workplace

It is everyone’s responsibility to look for and identify hazards in the workplace. To do this you need to be given information and training, so that you know what you are looking for. Be aware of dangers in your working environment, but remember that many hazards cannot be seen or heard or smelt.

If you spot something that looks hazardous, report it immediately! Report hazards to either your supervisor or OHS representative, so that the risk can be controlled as quickly as possible and before anyone is hurt or anything is damaged. For hazards to be controlled, information needs to be collected, recorded and analysed.

Part of reporting is being able to communicate effectively. If you can’t communicate the problem effectively, the hazard may not be addressed. You may also be required to communicate verbally during OHS/toolbox/coffee cup meetings and during a workplace or work area inspection. You may also be required to use written communicate by completing various types of OHS forms. So by cooperating and reporting any hazards as soon as they are identified, you are contributing to the maintenance of safe and healthy workplace.

(Participate in Workplace Safety Procedures, Stephen Harvey, January 2002, Software Publishers Pty Ltd).

Risk management

What is risk management?

An employer has an obligation to identify and assess foreseeable hazards. If it is not reasonably practical to eliminate the risk, the employer must take steps to control the risk.

Risk management is covered in detail in Chapter 2 of the OHS Regulation 2001. Other chapters also refer to obligations of risk management as they apply to specific hazards, activities or places of work.

Risk management involves assessing and controlling the potential harm from those hazards. It is the process of:

Identifying any foreseeable hazard — anything in the workplace that has potential to harm anyone at the workplace, eg moving parts in machinery, toxic chemicals, manual handling tasks.
Assessing the risk from the hazard — finding out how significant the risk is eg will it cause a serious injury, illness or death and how likely is this to occur?
Eliminating the hazard or if this is not possible, controlling the risk from the hazard — implementing strategies to eliminate or control the hazard eg. design equipment differently, add machine guards, use safer chemicals, providing lifting devices to minimise manual handling or use personal protective equipment.

Note: Risk management is often incorrectly referred to as risk assessment, but in fact it is not sufficient to merely assess the risks – the must also be controlled. ‘Controlled’ means eliminated, or if this is not possible, minimised.

Consultation

Health and safety law in New South Wales spells out a requirement that employers must consult employees about a range of matters to do with health and safety at work, including the matter of how the employer complies with their obligation to control health and safety risks. These requirements are contained in the:

Occupational Health and Safety Act 2000, Part 2, Division 2, Duty to Consult – Sections 13 to 19
Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Regulation 2001, Chapter 3, Clauses 21-32.

Provisions are set out regarding:

the nature of consultation
the circumstances when consultation is required
the means of consultation
the functions of OHS committees and representatives
penalties applicable for failure to consult.

Consultation involves the sharing of relevant information, the opportunity for employees to express their views and the taking into account of these views by the employer.

Consultation is required whenever decisions are made that may affect occupational health, safety or welfare, for example, when new machinery or processes are introduced which may bring new risks.

Consulting workers about the risks on the job is a very practical means of finding out what hazards they face, because the people doing the work, and experiencing the OHS problems, are often the best source of solutions. Their insights into safer ways of doing the work are founded on their familiarity with the practicalities of the tasks the job entails, which is why they’re often able to suggest good and practicable ways of managing the risks.

Employers in NSW may consult workers by one or more of the following means:

through health and safety committees
through OHS representatives elected by the employees, or
in accordance with other arrangements agreed by the employer and the employees.

An employer must consult with employees about the method of consultation to be used.

An OHS committee must be established if the employer has 20 or more employees and the majority of employees make such a request. An OHS representative must be elected if at least one employee makes such a request.

Record keeping of OHS documentation

Maintaining accurate records of OHS issues in the workplace plays an important role in the gathering of statistics and investigations of causes of accidents. Organisations can benefit greatly from good record keeping procedures. Problems can be identified and resolved sooner and managers can gain a greater understanding of workplace health and safety issues. Legislation requires employers to keep records of accidents and injuries on a prescribed form.

What to record

Records should be kept on a range of OHS matters, such as:

OHS polices and procedures
Key roles, responsibilities and accountability for all employees and in particular management and supervisors
OHS management system components and elements
Health and safety performance
Statutory reporting and recording requirements such as working in confined spaces, accident reporting, construction industry induction training program and working with hazardous substances as well as reporting incidents to WorkCover
Incidents/accident reporting as well as near misses
Safety training records
Risk management process – hazard identification, risk assessment and risk control measures.
Permits to work
Monitoring data
Occupational health and safety audits and reviews
Supplier and contractor information
Records of OHS consultation arrangements. Copies of committee minutes and committee meeting agendas
First aid records (see Register of injuries)
Records of personal protective equipment (PPE) issued (when and to whom it was issued and any training and instruction provided) and maintenance arrangements
Safe Operating Procedures (SOPs) or Work Method Statements if these are used.

An effective recording system will allow the employer to identify trends over time, lost time injuries and accidents, location of these events, and what were the causes (agents) of the accident/incident.

Organisations should ensure that:

all documents are identified with version, date and activity or contact person
all documents are readily available
documents are approved by an authorised person
documents are periodically reviewed, revised as necessary
obsolete versions and data are removed from circulation
archival documents and data are retained for legal and other purposes
records may need to be kept in some instances for several years, or even several decades (for some hazardous substances) for both epidemiological and statutory purposes
the appropriate person such as the doctor or physician should keep access to medical records.

Audit and monitoring records

Monitoring records should include:

details of the methods and frequency of review of risks and the risk management process
outcomes of any audits and other monitoring procedures (internal or external) for OHS matters
details of how the review recommendations are to be followed up and implemented
any action plans for reviews of specific OHS matters have been completed and actioned.

Analysing the data

Once the data has been collected, it is critical that it is analysed and validated.

Analysis requires the use of a set of statistical tools that reduce the amount of detail in the data, summarising it and making the most important facts and relationships apparent. It involves the comprehension of the data and the measures used.

The process of analysis requires a number of different approaches and steps depending on the statistical tool used and the type of data collected. It involves the preparation and presentation of the data using tabular or graphic methods. It is the precursor to the interpretation process.

Interpretation

The main aim of interpreting statistical data is to consider whether frequencies, percentages or cumulative percentages are indicative of a problem or a trend. The interpretation should lead to:

1the drawing of conclusions

2the preparation of recommendations

3taking a course of corrective action.

Therefore, we need to be confident that the frequency and percentages of the values warrant a response. It may be more appropriate to note the results and be prepared to review them at a later time.

Maintaining accurate OHS records is not only a legal requirement, it is sound business practice. It assists in the identification of problems in health and safety in the workplace, and in finding solutions to those problems. Even small organisations have obligations in this regard, although most can be met by the careful use of systems provided by insurance companies.

Use of OHS records

To reduce the number and severity of injuries/illness and disease incidents an employer needs to review and analyse the data from accident investigation records regularly.

Notification of accidents

How to notify accidents

WorkCover NSW must be notified of any accident or work-related injury/disease which makes a person unable to carry out their normal work for a period of 7 calendar days. You have to notify WorkCover by filling out an Accident Report Form.

Notification of other matters

WorkCover must be notified if the following work-related incidents occur:

Exposure to body fluids that present a risk of transmission of blood-borne diseases
Any incident of violence at a place of work that results in a person being unfit to carry out their normal work for a period of 7 of more days
Fire, explosion, uncontrolled escape of steam, gas, hazardous substances or a situation where this might have occurred
Damage to plant or equipment that endangers the safety of people in the workplace.
Any occurrence that involves imminent risk of death or serious injury to person (eg electric shock).

Recording of incidents and injuries

Occupiers of workplaces/employers must keep for at least five years the following information about an incident:

a record of the date, time, place and nature of the incident/injury
a record of date of notification and the way in which the notification was given
a record of any acknowledgement given by the insurer or WorkCover.

These records must be made available for inspection by a WorkCover inspector or an authorised representative of the worker. An entry in the Register of Injuries is a sufficient record and an injury to a worker for notification purposes.

A register of injuries is required to be kept under the Workplace Injury Management and Workers Compensation Act 1998. All workplace injuries should be entered into the register as soon as possible after the incident. The records kept in the Accident register are used for workers compensation claims and also for statistical purposes.

A Register of Injuries is kept in each workplace in the First-Aid Kit and kept for at least 5 years. It is to be available for inspection by WorkCover Authority Inspectors. The register should contain:

the name, age, address and occupational of every person injured while working at that place of work
the industry in which the person was working at the time of the injury
the activity in which the person was engaged at the time the injury occurred
the date and time the injury occurred
a brief description of the type of cause of the injury.

Accident report form

Sometimes we have small accidents at work. They seem insignificant at first but later can be more serious. All accidents should be reported. As noted above, you may also need to provide this information in case you have to make a workers compensation claim.

Recording accidents, injury and disease

The Code of Practice for Workplace Injury and Disease Recording, commenced 1 November 1991, covers what should be recorded in workplaces.

The object of this Code of Practice is to adopt the Australian Standard title ‘AS 1885.1- 1990 Workplace injury and disease recording standard’, being a standard issued by Standards Australia. This standard provides guidance to employers, self-employed persons and employees in the recording of injuries and diseases in the workplace.

Accident recording systems can be designed to complete statutory accident notification requirements and to initiate preventive action and to control future incidents. The Workplace Injury and Disease Recording Standard (AS 885.1) developed by National Occupational Health and Safety Commission Australia and Standards Australia provides an easy method for employers to satisfy statutory requirements regarding the recording of injuries in some states.

Many organisations use HRIS (Human Resources Information Systems) or MIS (Management Information Systems) as tools in the management of OHS data. These are integrated systems that can collect, identify and report on different aspects of OHS programs and costs. The sources of the data for these systems come from a number of internal indirect sources such as production records and costing records. The direct internal data includes accident incidence reports, compensation payments and time lost records etc. In most organisations the data is a part of the finance or costing system.

In large organisations a corporate planning or strategic planning unit may have control of all the data within the organisation as it analyses costs and trends. This unit can provide some of the reports and returns required by internal and external users, for example, the Australian Bureau of Statistics on working hours lost etc.

Often, small organisations use the systems that their insurer provides as part of the premium or they allow the insurer to handle all the data reporting requirements at a cost. Irrespective of what system an organisation uses, there are prescribed returns and reports that are required even if there have been no claims or injuries.

Getting to the facts

The greatest difficulty for a manager, supervisor, or safety professional investigating the accident/incident is to get the true facts and not the acceptable story. Because of friction that may exist between management and employees, obtaining true and accurate facts is often difficult.

When investigating an accident it is important to separate any form of blame and/or punishment from the investigation. A skilled investigator will win the respect of the injured person and the bystanders if they demonstrate an objective desire to find out exactly what happened. This approach enables the investigator to determine the exact cause of the accident and to recommend the appropriate countermeasures to correct an unsafe situation.