Demonstrate knowledge of workplace health and safety requirements

Vocational Department, Marlborough Girls’ College

Lesson One

Introduction

 Unit Standard 497, Demonstrate knowledge of workplace health and safety requirements.

 Unit Standard 497 is worth 3 credits at level 1 on the National Qualifications Framework.

Who is this training for?

 Everyone in New Zealand is legally required to follow these laws in the workplace as employers, employees and visitors to the workplace.

 It is also for people who need to do unit standard 497 for NCEA or other National Certificates.

What does this training cover?

 legislative rights and responsibilities for workplace health and safety the systems approach to workplace health and safety  hazards as defined in the HSE Act.

Lesson Two

Workplace health and safety requirements

 Workplace health and safety requirements are governed by the Health and Safety in Employment Act 1992 (HSE Act).  It promotes the prevention of harm to all people at, or in the vicinity, of work.  Governed by the Department of Labour.

Legislative rights and responsibilities

Responsibilities of the Employer

 Your employer must take all practicable steps to ensure the safety of employees. Practicable means: practical, reasonable, and physically possible.  Eg. your employer can protect you by providing you with personal protective clothing and equipment but cannot guarantee that the workplace will be 100% safe at all times as this is not practicable.

Providing personal protective

clothing and equipment.

 For example, providing you with ear muffs or ear plugs, safety goggles, gloves, aprons, hard hats, safety jerkins, steel.

 cap boots, dust masks and so on.

Managing hazards.

 For example, replacing toxic materials with non-toxic ones, removing tripping hazards, installing safety features on equipment, placing signs around the workplace to warn.

 people of hazards that cannot be eliminated.

Providing supervision and

training.

 For example, training new employees on how to use equipment then supervising those employees until they are able to complete the associated tasks safely.

Responsibilities and rights of employees under the HSE Act

 The HSE Act doesn’t just apply to your employer. It also applies to you and you can be prosecuted under the act if you fail to take responsibility for health and safety at work.



Protecting the health and safety of self and

others. In addition to protecting your own health and safety, such as wearing personal protective equipment and following health and safety guidelines, you also need to look out for others in the workplace.

 Eg. You need to be aware of things you do or don t do at work that can cause harm to others, for example, turning off a machine when you have finished with it, placing a sharp knife in its holder rather than leaving it on a bench, sweeping debris off the floor, placing a sign over a wet floor until it dries, and so on.

Using protective clothing and

equipment. Your employer should supply you with protective clothing and equipment as and when necessary so your responsibility is to wear it and to inform your employer if it doesn’t fit, is damaged or not working for any reason. Protective clothing and equipment has been carefully designed to reduce the likelihood of hazards causing you harm so it s very important you use it properly and at all times when working with or around workplace hazards.



The right to refuse unsafe

work. You have the right, under the HSE Act to refuse to do work that you feel is unsafe. For example, heavy lifting or working with chemicals. You need to explain to your employer why you feel it is unsafe. If your employer doesn’t agree with you or puts pressure on you to work when you feel it is unsafe to do so you will need to talk to your health and safety representative or to a governing authority such as the Department of Labour.

 

To be adequately supervised and/or

trained. You should be trained to do your job safely and in a way that does not cause you any harm. In addition to training you should be supervised until you are able to work competently and safely. Eg. Joe is trained how to operate some equipment and advised when to take a break and how often to reduce the risk of strain. He is then supervised by Pete who watches over him to make sure he uses the equipment safely and takes the regular breaks as required.

 Now do Quiz One in your booklet.

Quiz Answers

The systems approach

 The emphasis of the HSE Act is on the systematic management of health and safety at work. It requires employers and others to maintain safe working environments, and implement sound practice. It recognises that successful health and safety management is best achieved through good faith co operation in the place of work and, in particular, through the input of those doing the work.

The principal systems

 All workplaces should have in place the following systems: Emergency procedures Training and supervision Employee participation Incident and hazard reporting Hazard management.

Employee participation

 Your workplace should have a system in place that gives you reasonable opportunities to participate effectively in ongoing processes for the improvement of health and safety at work. The reason for this is that the HSE Act recognises that you can help make your workplace safe and that you can provide information on health and safety issues (such as workplace hazards) you face at work.

Emergency procedures

 Emergency procedures are the actions that all people in and around any workplace need to do in the event of an emergency, for example a fire, earthquake or chemical spillage.

 Emergency procedures should include a series of instructions on what to do and what not to do in the event of an emergency.

 Eg. MGC emergency procedures.

Training & supervision

    You must be adequately trained in the safe use of all objects, substances, protective clothing and equipment that you are or may be required to use or handle. Your employer must also ensure that you are supervised by an experienced person until you are sufficiently experienced to do your work safely. You also have a duty to follow instruction and not to endanger yourself or others.

Your training may come in many forms. Most workplaces provide induction training which happens when you begin employment at a workplace.

Induction or basic on-the-job training should include:  How to carry out the job in a safe and healthy manner.

 Information on hazards and hazardous work practices.

 Where applicable, details of any isolation or "tag-out" procedures.

 Reporting of accidents or incidents. Selection, use, fitting, storage, and maintenance of protective clothing and equipment.

 Where to obtain occupational safety and health information.

 Emergency procedures.

 Many workplaces repeat induction training a few months after a person has started.  In addition to your basic workplace training you should be given specific training such as how to use any equipment you will be using.  You should also receive training (and supervision) with every significant change of duties or work environment.

 This system usually takes the form of a Health and Safety committee or representative(s). Each health and safety representative or committee may represent a particular type of work, or place of work of the employer and is likely to carry out some or all of the following functions:

    To foster positive health and safety management practices in the place of work; To identify and bring to the employer's attention hazards in the place of work and discuss with the employer ways that the hazards may be dealt with; To consult with inspectors on health and safety issues; To promote the interests of employees in a health and safety context generally and in particular those employees who have been harmed at work, including in relation to arrangements for rehabilitation and return to work; and To carry out any other functions conferred by the particular system of employee participation, a code of practice, or by the employer (with the agreement of the representative or a union representing them).

Incident and hazard reporting

 Incidents and hazards need to be recorded in registers. Incidents and accidents are recorded in an accident register and hazards in a hazard register.

Accident register

 Details of all work-related accidents or incidents that have harmed or might have harmed any person must be recorded in an accident register. This includes accidents or incidents involving employees, self-employed people, customers and other visitors to a place of work.

 When a work-related accident results in serious harm:  Make sure anyone injured or suspected of injury has received first aid or medical attention if necessary.

 Do NOT interfere with the accident scene, unless: A Department of Labour health and safety inspector has given permission,  It is necessary to save someone's life or prevent harm or suffering to them,  It is necessary to maintain access by the general public to an essential service or utility, or  It is necessary to prevent serious damage to property.

 Advise the local Department of Labour health and safety office as soon as possible by phone or fax.

 Carry out / co-operate with any subsequent investigation.

 Mail or fax written notice to the nearest Department of Labour health and safety office within 7 days. The written notice can use the Accident or Serious Harm Form (see example in the appendices) or else must contain the same details as this form.

 Keep the original (or a copy) written notice in the accident register. If the accident register is kept in a different form, the same details must be recorded.

 Take steps to eliminate, isolate or minimise any identified hazard, once an Inspector gives permission to interfere with the accident scene.

Hazard register

Details of ALL identified work-related hazards are recorded in a Hazard register. Each Hazard should be listed on a Hazard Identification form or, if the hazard register is kept in a different form, the same details must be recorded.

Hazard management

    To keep a workplace safe and healthy, employers should make sure there are no hazards to which employees and others in the workplace could be exposed. Employers should look for hazards in advance, as part of their risk management and work planning, so that potential hazards are anticipated and prevented.

In all of this employers should get the benefit of their employees knowledge by talking to them and/or their representatives (including unions) in good faith about the best way to do things.

Employers have to put in place an effective system for identifying existing and emerging (new) hazards.

 Methods of hazard identification include:  Physical inspections of the workplace, equipment, and work practices;  Analysis of tasks and how they are carried out by employees in the workplace;  Analysis of processes carried out in the workplace; Analysis of previous 'near miss' incidents.

 Employers should then also have an effective system for responding to and managing the hazards that they identify.

Hierarchy of hazard management controls

 How the employer responds to and manages a particular hazard will depend on the circumstances. The hierarchy of hazard management is: 

Eliminate Isolate Minimise

Eliminate

 The preferred response is to eliminate the hazard; that is, change things so that the hazard no longer exists.

   Eg. Replacing a toxic chemical with a non-toxic substitute.

Eg. Relocating electrical plugs close to work stations to eliminate the hazard of cords running across passageways.

Eg. Covering a tripping hazard with a ramp.

Isolate

 If the hazard cannot be reasonably eliminated, the next response should be to isolate the hazard; that is, put in place a process or mechanism that keeps employees away from the hazard.

   Eg. Placing a noisy machine inside a sound proof enclosure.

Eg. Installing a safety guard around a dangerous piece of machinery.

Eg. Placing chemicals in a secure location away from the general workplace.

Minimise

 If the hazard cannot be reasonably isolated, then the hazard must be minimised; that is, do what can reasonably be done to lessen the likelihood of harm being caused by the hazard and to protect employees.

 Eg. providing employees with suitable protective clothing or equipment, for example, monitoring employees exposure to the hazard; and with their informed consent, monitoring employees health in relation to the hazard.

Now do Quiz One in your booklet.

Quiz Answers

Hazards as defined in the HSE Act

 Under the HSE Act, Hazard :  (a) means an activity, arrangement, circumstance, event, occurrence, phenomenon, process, situation, or substance (whether arising or caused within or outside a place of work) that is an actual or potential cause or source of harm; and  (b) includes 

(i)

a situation where a person's behaviour may be an actual or potential cause or source of harm to the person or another person; and 

(ii)

without limitation, a situation described in subparagraph (i) resulting from physical or mental fatigue, drugs, alcohol, traumatic shock, or another temporary condition that affects a person's behaviour.

 Hazards can:  be actual or potential.

 be physical, biological, or behavioural (including temporary conditions that can affect a person's behaviour, such as fatigue, shock, alcohol or drugs)  arise or be caused within or outside a place of work.

The term hazardous has a corresponding meaning. Examples of hazards: 

Sharp or protruding pieces of equipment that can harm people as they walk past.



Toxic chemicals that can poison people who breathe in the fumes or damage their skin.



A wet, slippery floor that people can slip on.



A loud workplace that can cause hearing loss and/or stress.



Moving parts of machinery that people can get their fingers, hair, etc., caught in. A person skylarking with a knife or other piece of dangerous equipment.



A person operating a machine while under the influence of alcohol.

Now do Quiz Three in your booklet.

Quiz Answers

Accident or Serious Harm Form

Scenario: Year 9 MGC student Manu Tamaki, was born on 15/ 08/01. She lives at 29 Saxon Street, Picton. At 10am, 2 March 2015, Manu, was walking along the veranda in front of K1 when she slipped on cooking oil that had been spilt on the concrete. There was no barrier or warning around the hazard. Manu was unable to get up, complaining that her ankle hurt. She was taken to the student office by Mrs. Sinclair where it was decided that Manu’s caregivers should take her to the hospital. Manu was diagnosed as having broken her ankle. An investigation has yet to occur into the accident.