Responsibilities of Stakeholders in OHS/WHS

The effectiveness of OHS/WHS policies which are supposed to distribute responsibilities and legislate aiming for occupational health and safety, will be dealt as an issue in the following report (Claxton, 2017). While it is the responsibility of the management, owner, workers, suppliers to establish and maintain a safe and healthy working conditions, it also requires to be administered by the provincial legislation according to the basic guideline along with improving and finding flaws immanent in the guideline itself.

This part of the general report will deal with the effectiveness of OHS/WHS in Allan Barnett Fishing Co, which falls under primary industries, dealing with wild catch fisheries in Tasmania and producing for domestic and international market (Jennings, 2016). It involves health and security issues of workers as well as the workplace. The acts require the employers to make their workers aware about some basic tenets of the workplace to equip them to control the hazards they may face in the concerned workplace, including:

• Placing restricted and prohibited areas
• What should be done in case of emergency fire;
• Direction for gathering first aid facility;
• Hazards that may occur in what places;

For instance,Theorganisation or you are entitled to review and provide the information regarding the Chemicals that can be used to ensure safety with the workplace Thus the guideline necessarily comes with basic workplace rights for the workers involved. The legislation gives the worker three rights:

• Preserved right of refusing certain work which one believes doobie dangerous to them self
• Gathering enough opportunity to ensure workers are safe in their workplace
• Right to know the controlling process of hazard.

It is not a punishable offence for using of the right but an employer will always have the responsibility of justification to any action taken against a Walker within the workplace in terms of Health and safety act. This does not merely fall under the duties of the workers but extends to the duties and accountabilities of the management officials. Executives and the officers that include the directors of the company, the managers of the farm and the partners initiate towards the development of the decisions that impact the substantial part or a whole part of business. According to Hofmann, Burke & Zohar (2017), it is important to keep the officers in charge totally informed  regarding the management of WHS for ensuring the fact that the PCBU tends to fulfill its responsibilities in relation to safety and health. Some of the responsibilities or the  duties of Officers includes some of the essential responsibility to

(a) keep informed with a cutting-edge information of WHS matters;

1. b) comprehend dangers and uncertainties significant to the homestead business;  
2. c) guarantee the utilization of proper assets and procedures to dispose of or limit dangers to wellbeing and security;

(d) guarantee a framework is utilized to get, consider and react to data on perils and dangers timelily;

(e) guarantee they actualize forms for consenting to any WHS obligation (e.g. reports remarkable occurrences, counsels with laborers, consents to sees, gives preparing and guidance and so forth)

Effectiveness and Limitations of OHS/WHS Policies

(f) affirm that the majority of this is being finished.

Policy Gap

Now there can be undesirable gap between the policy and its effectiveness because in lots of workplace accidents though the safety hazards and needed equipment were in place, it lacked the implementation and effective use of them (Lundgren & McMakin, 2018). In Australian countryside ‘A crew member who was a prawn trawler was not wearing any personal flotation device (PFD). He fell while throwing the net on the sea and he drowned before any of his fellow workers can initiate any of their helping hand to him In the case the organization has PFD’s in case of the trawler, nothing was there in the place for any of the procedures that initiated the requirement of the crew members to take up life jackets’ (Lower,2014). Although PFDs were in place, the business management lacked the effective ordinance to regulate and monitor its systematic uses according to the situation, depicting how sensitization is indispensable for the success of the concerned policy. Thus training and sensitizing workers in using safety equipment in relevant circumstances must be considered an imperative in WHS planning and action. To provide another instance of workplace accident due to negligence of policy from harvesting of cane:

‘A cane bin was overloaded by the harvesting contractor which caused it to derail when it moved along the train line. The owner of the cane farm, who was well experienced in the operation, was driving the tractor at the siding to move a cane bin back onto the lines.

A second worker was at the siding, of which the tractor operator was not aware. When the bin was moved back onto the rails, the second worker was hit by the bin. The worker received severe injuries to their leg which required surgery and extensive rehabilitation’ (Lower 2014).

Analysis

In this case a lack of systematic workplace relations endangered this incident as under further investigation the fact of the second worker being unaware about necessary safety information and negligence of policy, has been demonstrated. This particular case study necessarily demonstrates the benefits and the importance of having some of the system in the place. Thus though OHS/WHS can be a very effective system of ensuring safety in workplace, it gets thwarted specifically for two reasons: firstly, due to the lack of sensitization and training to use safety equipment in relevant circumstances and secondly, due to miscommunication between workers or worker-employer and the resulting unawareness surrounding them about the propensity of the work, they are carrying out. The third thing worth mentioning in relation to the effectiveness and limitations of OHS/WHS policy is Code of Practice which ensures the functioning of WHS in relation to the provincial jurisdiction in a state or territory by identifying hazardous and risk-situation with certain readily available juridical codifications to make it easier to be dealt in court (Claxton, 2017). World Health and Safety Act is supposed to subsume these codes of practice under its juridical organization.

Code of Practice in WHS Implementation

The following case study can illustrate the handiness of code of practice in WHS implementation:

Employed in the mixed farming that is mixed grain sheep beef one, the employed worker fell off a quad in case of travelling from one point to the another one and hit her head to death. The farm consisted of the health and safety policy that have been revised in alternate six months by the OHS manager. They furthermore take the risk assessment towards the wearing of the helmets and the availability of it for the use of the staffs. The assessment of the risk projected that in case of the quads for driving less aggressively, the helmet would not have been required.

The owner of the farm pleaded guilty for the charges of the risks from the usage of the quads that furthermore includes deaths and the rate of the injury specifically known as the foreseeable. Taking the helmet is one of the fundamental ways to assist in the management of the risks from the quads which had been both feasible and available. A total amount of $80,000 was hugely imposed with the magistrate with the notable fact aiming the reduction of the penalty. The penalty was $550,000 for the factors of mitigation that furthermore includes the presence of the policies related to health and safety (Lower, 2014)

This instance clearly points out how easier it becomes to ensure justice for the deceased worker if there is a ready code of practice associated with the security measures.

To conclude, following OHS/WHS is absolutely necessary due to various factors including protection of human and natural resources, preservation of human and environmental rights and emerging as a conscious and aware business force in international market. Critical analysis of the implementation process must be conducted regularly in order to keep a check on its relevance and effectiveness

The session undertaken on 23^rd November concerns its participants with problems and their possible solutions surrounding OHS/WHS program where the three new employees have been encouraged to collaborate actively in ensuring an accident free workplace and to comply with the responsibilities accorded to them. Besides sensitizations on workplace safety, usage of necessary safety equipment and rights of the employees, they have been told of the risk factors involved in primary production like this ranging from security issues surrounding confined space including electrical safety, first aid, emergency plans to hazardous chemicals. The purpose of the induction was clearly stated to them as to provide them with required knowledge to safely conduct work in the concerned industry. Along with spoken session, they have been provided with the following hand outs and learning aids where the guidelines and their procedural functioning are clearly stated:

• Links to core WHS resources in corresponding states and territories along with ACTS, NSW, NT and QLD.
• Health and safety manual samples.
• Model codes that are endorsed in current industries.(Lower,2014)

OHS/WHS Induction Session Feedback

In your opinion, how effective was the OHS/WHS induction session for new employees?

The session has been very helpful in indicating the necessity to follow the safety protocols and in making us aware about the impending dangers of carelessness or avoidance of safety protocols.

What would you do differently in if you were running this induction session?

I would rather have advised conducting a practical induction workshop where the threats of the workplace will be practically demonstrated along with how and when using safety equipment is a necessity.

In your opinion, how effective was the OHS/WHS induction session for new employees?

It was more or less effective in determining the safety of the workplace but even despite of these routine sessions, the threat of dangers and accidents persist.

What would you do differently in if you were running this induction session?

I would ensure a part of company’s funds to buy dispensable safety equipment in the process of induction to assure our workers of a safe workplace. Along with that making workers procedurally acquainted with certain juridical policies and codes of practices would be taken in consideration by me.

Session 03, Date: 23/11/18

In your opinion, how effective was the OHS/WHS induction session for new employees?

We learnt a lot about WHS policies to use them at our disposal but it would have been better if the session included a detailed discussion of their intersections with provincial and juridical codes.

What would you do differently in if you were running this induction session?

I would have invited public lawyers to illuminate us on using those codes of practice in the favor of a safe workplace. Also the legal consequence following injuries and health hazards would have been dealt by me extensively.

Allan Barnett Fishing Co operates in Tasmania’s wild catch fisheries and produces for both domestic and export market. The Company follows a set of OHS/WHS policies and procedures that are extremely essential for the occupational safety of Australian employees. The national model legislation is responsible for all work and health related laws and are widely accepted as necessary forms of controls all over Commonwealth and Australian states (Drummond, Sculpher, Claxton, Stoddart& Torrance, 2015). An effective policy statement not only encourages healthy and safe OHS practices, but also demonstrates commitment towards human rights.

The OHS/WHS policy statement clearly identifies the need to adhere to health and safety legislation in order to reflect the specific needs of an organization. It makes a strong commitment to health and occupational safety of the human resources utilized by the particular organization.

• Work Cover: Accident Insurance Policy provides specific insurance covers for injuries and accidents in the workplace.
• Manual Handling: The Occupational Safety and Health Regulation prevent manual handling or the use of force on a person or animal, in a working environment.
• Emergency Procedures: Emergency Preparedness Policy maintains the emergency plans, which contain detailed information regarding specific emergencies at specific workplaces.
• Fire Safety: The Fire and Safety Regulations assures that employees in the construction, renovation and repair sector are aware of the hazards and their consequences.
• OHS/WHS representative functions: The functions of the OHS/WHS representatives include identifying and analyzing hazardous risks, control risks, making decisions regarding prevention facilities, monitoring employee health, monitoring OHS guidelines, etc.
• Smoking Policy: Smoke Free Workplace Policy allows smoking practices only during periodic breaks and outside the office premises.
• Sexual Harassment: Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act initiate the protection of the women from any kind of sexual harassment at their workplace.
• Risk Management: The Financial Audit Committee is responsible for the management and repair of risks.

Conclusion

The Company will allow an effective induction process that would help the employees to work in a safe and hazard-free way (Osibanjo, Gberevbie, Adeniji&Oludayo, 2015). Adequate information and training would be provided to the employees and other stakeholders before functioning on-site.

All stakeholders of the organization would be made aware regarding the existing acts, regulations and codes of practice of their profession, e.g. Safe Work Australia works for the development of work health and safety of workers and as a business owner it is necessary to meet all the OHS/WHS requirements, across Australia (Drysdale, 2017).

The organization will implement formal processes to carry out a thorough and periodic investigation and identification of new or existing risks and hazards (Chow, Ramirez &Keiler, 2018).

As working in wild catch fisheries, the organization is prone to several kinds of water-borne diseases or other occupational injuries and the Company emphasizes on the identification and remedy of such occupational hazards.

References

Claxton, G. G. (2017). Occupational Health and Safety: Generating regulatory perceptions to encourage compliance (Doctoral dissertation, Curtin University).

Hofmann, D. A., Burke, M. J., & Zohar, D. (2017). 100 years of occupational safety research: From basic protections and work analysis to a multilevel view of workplace safety and risk. Journal of Applied Psychology, 102(3), 375.

Lundgren, R. E., &McMakin, A. H. (2018). Risk communication: A handbook for communicating environmental, safety, and health risks. John Wiley & Sons.

Barnett, A., Abrantes, K. G., Baker, R., Diedrich, A. S., Farr, M., Kuilboer, A., …&Stoeckl, N. (2016). Sportfisheries, conservation and sustainable livelihoods: a multidisciplinary guide to developing best practice. Fish and fisheries, 17(3), 696-713.

Nankervis, A. R., Baird, M., Coffey, J., & Shields, J. (2016). Human resource management: strategy and practice. Cengage AU.

Drummond, M. F., Sculpher, M. J., Claxton, K., Stoddart, G. L., & Torrance, G. W. (2015). Methods for the economic evaluation of health care programmes. Oxford university press.

Osibanjo, A. O., Gberevbie, D. E., Adeniji, A. A., &Oludayo, A. O. (2015). Relationship modeling between work environment, employee productivity, and supervision in the Nigerian public sector. American Journal of Management, 15(2), 9.

Drysdale, J. (2017). Safety outcomes associated with new employee classification: the impact of expectations and experience.

Chow, C., Ramirez, J., &Keiler, M. (2018).Application of Sensitivity Analysis for Process Model Calibration of Natural Hazards. Geosciences, 8, 218.

Jennings, S. (2016, February).Provisioning wild catch seafood in Australia’s ocean economy: opportunities and challenges.In 2016 Conference (60th), February 2-5, 2016, Canberra, Australia (No. 235338).Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society.

Lower, Tony (2014). Work health and safety legislative. Health and safety material , Canberra, 2014