Question

IDENTIFY AND CONFIRM THE DUTIES, RIGHTS AND OBLIGATIONS OF INDIVIDUALS AND PARTIES AS SPECIFIED IN WORK HEALTH SAFETY LAW - Country - Western AAustralia

EMPLOYERS/PCBU'S LEGAL OBLIGATION TO APPLY SAFE WORKPLACE PRACTICE IN AN ORGANISATION ACCORDING TO OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY ACT

Answer 1

DUTIES, RIGHTS AND OBLIGATIONS OF INDIVIDUALS AND PARTIES AS SPECIFIED IN WORK HEALTH SAFETY LAW - Country - Western Australia

Work health and safety (WHS) – sometimes called occupational health and safety (OH&S) – involves the management of risks to the health and safety of everyone in your workplace. This includes the health and safety of anyone who does work for you as well as your customers, visitors and suppliers.

It may initially cost money and time to implement safe practices and install safety equipment but is critical to the success of your business. Not taking action could also result in prosecution, fines and loss of your skilled staff.

Workers’ compensation laws also require you to have a workers’ compensation insurance policy for your employees.

Creating a safe work environment is a legal requirement. It’s also critical to the long term success of your business and can:

• help you keep your staff
• improve staff productivity
• reduce injury and illness in the workplace
• reduce the costs of injury and workers’ compensation

workers must do

People working in your business have WHS obligations to themselves and others at work. They must:

• take care of their own health and safety
• take care not to do anything that could hurt others
• follow WHS instructions
• follow the workplace’s WHS policies and procedures

Rights of individual and parties :

Work functions are a great way to celebrate and thank your staff for their hard work. But remember that while your staff may be 'off the clock', you're probably still responsible for their health and safety. Here are some suggestions to help celebrate safely.

Before the event:

• make sure your internal policies and procedures are up to date, including those for acceptable behaviour, and bullying and harassment in the workplace
• send a friendly email to staff, reminding them:
  • that while the party is a time to relax, it's still a work function
  • of any rules, including those around sexual harassment
  • to be careful if consuming alcohol

At the event:

• any alcohol being served, should be served legally and responsibly
• there should be enough food and non-alcoholic drinks available there should be arrangements for staff to get home safely afterwards, you could organise a bus, pre-order taxis, or arrange designated drivers

Employer must put health and safety practices in place as soon as you start your business. Under Australian WHS laws your business must ensure the health and safety of your workers and not put the health and safety of other people at risk. To do this you must:

• provide a safe work environment
• provide and maintain safe machinery and structures
• provide safe ways of working
• ensure safe use, handling and storage of machinery, structures and substances
• provide and maintain adequate facilities
• provide any information, training, instruction or supervision needed for safety
• monitor the health of workers and conditions at the workplace

SAFE WORKPLACE PRACTICE IN AN ORGANISATION ACCORDING TO OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY ACT

Employers will find that implementing these recommended practices also brings other benefits. Safety and health programs help businesses:

• Prevent workplace injuries and illnesses
• Improve compliance with laws and regulations
• Reduce costs, including significant reductions in workers' compensation premiums
• Engage workers
• Enhance their social responsibility goals
• Increase productivity and enhance overall business operations