Summary
- In Australia all employers and employees must comply with relevant work health and safety (WHS) legislation, standards and codes of practice.
- Employers must provide a safe workplace and workers must work in a manner that does not endanger themselves or others.
- Employees have a legal obligation to familiarise themselves with WHS law, and their organisation’s WHS policies and procedures, which give guidance to workers about their responsibilities, reporting procedures, recording requirements, emergency procedures and WHS housekeeping in the work area.
- Organisational procedures include the policies and procedures underpinning the management of WHS, such as: hazard, incident and injury reporting; hazard identification, risk assessment and control; consultation and participation; and quality system documentation.
- You have a legal obligation to identify and report workplace hazards and participate in the risk management processes in the workplace that aim to minimise the risk from those hazards.
- All workers in the community service environment should have adequate knowledge of safety symbols and their meanings, and be able to accurately read and interpret workplace safety signs, dangerous goods classifications and safety instructions.
- A work place incident is any set of circumstances that have taken place and resulted in an injury or illness, or that could have resulted in an injury or illness.
- All incidents must be recorded on an incident report form and reported to management as soon as possible.
- Under the WHS Act, immediate notification of a ‘notifiable incident’ to the regulator is required and the incident site must be preserved until an inspector arrives for investigation or directs otherwise.
