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Occupational Health And Safety

Hopefully, when starting any job there was some introduction to Occupational Health and Safety (OHS). OHS is all about making sure workplace is safe for everyone. This has always been an important legal requirement. Now the law is even clearer:

The head of the organisation needs to make sure everyone is safe at their workplace
All workers in the organisation need to make sure they report anything that could make the place less safe and do what they can to keep it safe.

For a brief introduction to OHS for new workers, click here to have a look at the OHS powerpoint in the induction space.

Workplace inspections

One aspect of workplace safety that is often overlooked is inspecting any workplace at least once a year, before work begins. This includes when you first go out to a new sports field or when visiting clients’ homes. You should:

Look and think about any hazards that could cause any harm;
Decide how dangerous the hazards are and how likely they are to cause an incident;
Work out a way to minimise the risk.

The following forms have been designed to make this as easy as possible:

This form can be used to do your site inspection. You should print out several for most medium sized work sites. Even with a laptop, it's a bit of a hassle to do this directly into the computer because you need to walk around the entire workplace to inspect it properly.

OHS Inspection Summary Form (72 KB)

This sample gives some ideas about how the form could look when completed.

OHS Inspection Summary Sample (15 KB)

When an injury happens

When there is an injury at work, the injured worker must:

Seek medical attention
Notify the employer as soon as possible
Record their name, the date and cause of the injury in the employer’s Register of Injuries
Sign the WorkCover medical certificate (if one is required)
Participate in and cooperate with the development and implementation of an injury management plan
Comply with requests made by the insurance company with regard to a claim
Make all efforts to return to work as soon as possible.

Your organisation must have a registry of injuries - a record of any injuries that have happened at the workplace. They can be ordered from the WorkCover Publications Hotline on 1800 658 134 (Monday to Friday - 9am to 5pm). They have carbon paper built in  so that there are automatically three copies made - one for the person who is injured, one for the organisation and one to send off to the insurance company. Often, your workers compensation insurer provides the register of injury report forms in a format they prefer.

Your Workers Compensation insurance company should also provide posters on what to do if an accident occurs. These must be displayed in the staff area.  Or you can download one from here: http://www.workcover.nsw.gov.au/Publications/OHS/OHSResponsibilities/Pages/workcover_watching_out_for_you_poster.aspx (You will need to add the contact details of your insurer if you download one.)

OHS Training

Follow this link to a site that can help you find an OHS trainer in your town or area. It lists all trainers accredited by WorkCover and who use OHS training courses developed by WorkCover.
http://www.workcover.nsw.gov.au/WorkcoverOnline/AccreditedTrainers/Pages/Accreditiedtrainers.aspx

More information

This section has provided a brief introduction to OHS issues. Most of the information about OHS in New South Wales comes from Workcover, the government department responsible for laws about workplace safety.

Two packages that are especially important for youth services are:
The Community Services Safety Pack. This pack has general OHS information, specifically geared to Community organisations.
Preventing Violence in Community Services. This booklet is aimed at accommodation services like refuges or hostels but the information is good for all community organisations where violence might be an issue.