Necessary policies mandatory for any workplace

Discuss about the Work Health and Safe policy of Australia.

The subject matter of the case is based on Work Health and Safe policy of Australia. The main objective of the task is to identify all the necessary policies mandatory for any workplace and point out the provisions that deals with effective steps taken for made any breach regarding the provisions of these safe work policies. Many provisions and legislations deal with the safe workplace matter. Safe Work Australia is a government agency that makes investigation in the workplaces to understand whether the employer has maintained all the policies or not. It has been established in the year 2008. In this report, an attempt has been taken to examine whether all the policies regarding the occupational health and safe plan has been maintained or not. Further, the possible workplace hazards have been mentioned in this report. All the risks have been assessed and priority has been given to the risk procurement policies. In addition to this, a cost benefit analysis has been annexed with the report. Importance of making all these changes have been discussed here and the consequence of not improving the changes have also been mentioned in this report.

Hazards are very common in case of every workplace and the workplaces are suffering from certain loopholes. However, according to safety law, the workplaces should not make any infringement regarding the workplace safety issues. The main objective of the hazard identification is to eliminate the loopholes to avoid the accidents and injuries. According to the Act, proper steps should have to be taken for the best interest of the workers. There are certain common workplace hazards in the workplace of Australia such as biological hazards, physical hazards, ergonomic hazards, chemical hazards, and organizational hazards. In this current case, the hazards can be classified as physical hazards, ergonomic hazards and organizational hazards. Physical hazards occur when the employees have to work in an adverse environment. Ergonomic hazards occur when the working process causes strains on the body of the workers and organizational hazards take place in the absence of a flexible working capacity (Sekendiz et al.,2015) . In this report, it has been observed that the hotel has no risk management board and the safety representatives have not completed their training. Further, the casual staffs have to do over shifting, as there is no specific shifting for them. Further, they are suffering from various illnesses. Therefore, it can be stated that the condition of the workers attract the essentials of physical, ergonomic and organizational hazards.   

Breaches of safe work policies

Considering the case study, it has been observed that the hotel is suffering from certain risks, which should be identified, and proper assessment is required to this effect. It is noticed that there is no written occupational health and safety policy or plan in the hotel. Further, there are certain health representatives in the hotel; however, most of them have no training certificate obtained from HSR. The condition of the first aid system of the hotel is not appropriate and if injured, the employees like to go for treatment to the local hospital. Most of the HR staffs are tired, as there is no shifting mandate and they are frustrated for the same. The risks of the hotel could not be assessed properly and there is no process regarding the same. The house keeping staffs are all casual and most of them are from the non-English background. Further, it has been observed that most of the casual staffs are suffering from certain illness and the hotel is not offering proper plan for the casual employees. Therefore, it is important to analyze all these disputes in the light of WHS legislation to identify the breach regarding the policy and legislation.

Risk assessment is important to identify the outcome of the risks and impact of the same on the workers. It helps to point out the effect of the risks and options for manage those risks for securing the interest of the workers. Further, certain urgent action to mitigate the scope of risks has been done through risk assessment. However, risk assessment process should be done at the pre-accident stage and it brings certain changes in the workplace to take effective control measures. In this case, every workplace should have to abide by the rules and policies of Work health and Safety Act (NSW). After proper assessment of the risks, it is important to eliminate the risks that are reasonably practical in nature (Francis et al., 2017). A consultation with the workers is necessary to this effect. In this case study, there are certain risk factors employs within the workers. The medicinal condition of the hotel’s first aid system is defective and there is no specific working shift mentioned. Further, the health and safety plans are not written and most of the casual workers are suffering from diseases. Therefore, it is required to eliminate the risks by promoting health consciousness among the employees. Further, the health and safety plans should be in written form and the working hour should be specified for the employees (Appendices two). All these steps should be done with priority so that the interest of the employees can be secured.

Workplace hazards

In Australia, labor right plays an important role and many related legislations have been implemented to this effect. Australia is a federal state and therefore, every province has different legislative provisions to deal with their own difficulties. However, a single WHS legislation has been implemented for the entire content of Australia in the year 2011. Through these policies, the work health and safety process can be developed and the employer has to maintain all the policies for a safe workplace for the employees and staffs. According to division 2 (19) of the Work Health and Safety Act (NSW), every employer should have to take proper duty and care for the employees and should take all the possible steps to secure the health of the workers (Smith & Lee, 2015). Further, according to the Act, all the safety plans should be in written form and it must be attached in a position so that all could see the plans and policies. Adequate facilities should be given to the employees for the welfare at work. According to division 2 (19) (f) of the Act, proper training is necessary to secure the rights and interest of the employees. Further, according to clause (g), proper planning is required to deal with the illness of the workers and the nature of the works should not be hazardous for the employees. The shifting time for the employees and the workers should be specified. Proper inspection is required regarding the workplace condition and the workplace should have to follow all the provisions of the WHS legislation (McInnes et al., 2017).

However, in this case it has been observed no safety policy has been maintained in the current workplace. The occupational plans are not in a written form and therefore, no specific plans have been maintained in this hotel. Further, the employers are not bothered about the health and interest of the employees. There is no specific shift for the casual staffs. The employees and safety representatives do not acquire proper certificates (Nossar et al., 2015). Therefore, it can be stated that breaches have been made in this case.

Hierarchy of hazard controls is a process by which any industrial hazard can be minimized. This system has been adopted by many organizations with the view to make effective changes in the workplace to work for the interest of the workers. It helps to promote a standard work culture within the industry. The hazard control hierarchy can be divided into five parts such as elimination, substitution, engineering control, administrative control and personal protective equipments (Potter et al., 2017). After the risks in a workplace have been identified, it should be eliminated physically. This process is one of the most effective processes and it brings fruitful outcomes as against any risk. The second element regarding the topic is substitution. According to this theory, if anything constitute hazard in a workplace, new one should replace the same so that the chances of risks can be avoided. The third method regarding the risk mitigation is engineering control. It isolates the worker from hazard. It helps to reduce the future costs of the company by build a risk resistance product. In this method, the engineers are manufactured certain things that can be effective for the workers and their interest can be secured by that (Rawling & Schofield-Georgeson, 2018). The fourth method is administrative control that makes changes in the working process of the workers. It includes procedural change, training method and installation of risk signs. The last element of this process is personal protective equipment. In this process, the employees are getting certain equipments so that they can work safely. These equipments are also helped the employees from catching diseases. Further, medical examinations are done in this process to lower the chances of risks and hazards among the employees (Young & Brawn, 2017).

Importance of maintaining occupational health and safe plan

In this case, it has been observed that the working policy of the hotel is not in accordance with the work health and safe policy. Further, proper plan has not been implemented for the workers and for their health. The workers are suffering from diseases and this hotel authority has taken no proper health policies. The condition of the casual employees could be eliminated by taking the process of personal protective equipment so that they can use this while doing their job and the scope of diseases can be reduced in this way. Further, administrative control can be proved effective in this regard. The basic rights of the labor could be hampered if all these processes could not be maintained at all.

Tangible Changes in Program Operations resulting from Project  Implementation
	Program Operational Cost Elements	FY	FY	FY	FY	FY
Changes in Program Operational Costs (Negative Values = Decreased Costs)	2019	2020	2021	2021	2022	TOTAL
A. Personnel — Operational Costs		$600	$600	$600	$600	$600	$3,000
A-1.a.  State FTEs (Salaries & Benefits)	$500	$500	$500	$500	$500	$2,500
A-1.b.  State FTEs (# FTEs)		650.00	650.00	650.00	650.00	650.00	650.00
A-2.a.  OPS FTEs (Salaries)		$100	$100	$100	$100	$100	$500
A-2.b.  OPS FTEs (# FTEs)		0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00
A-3.a.  Staff Augmentation (Contract Cost)	$0	$0	$0	$0	$0	$0
A-3.b.  Staff Augmentation (# of Contract FTEs)	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00
B. Plant & Facility — Operational Costs	$0	$0	$0	$0	$0	$0
C. External Service Provider — Operational Costs	$1,501	$1,501	$1,501	$1,501	$1,501	$7,505
C-1. Contractor Services		$100	$100	$100	$100	$100	$500
C-2. Maintenance & Support Services		$650	$650	$650	$650	$650	$3,250
C-3. Network / Hosting Services		$601	$601	$601	$601	$601	$3,005
C-4. Data Communications Services		$0	$0	$0	$0	$0	$0
C-5. Other	Specify	$150	$150	$150	$150	$150	$750
D. Data Processing — Operational Costs	$10,000	$10,000	$10,000	$10,000	$10,000	$50,000
D-1. Hardware		$10,000	$10,000	$10,000	$10,000	$10,000	$50,000
D-2. Software		$0	$0	$0	$0	$0	$0
D-3. Other	Specify	$0	$0	$0	$0	$0	$0
E. Others — Operational Costs		$0	$0	$0	$0	$0	$0
E-1. Training		$0	$0	$0	$0	$0	$0
E-2. Travel		$0	$0	$0	$0	$0	$0
E-3. Other	Specify	$0	$0	$0	$0	$0	$0
Subtotal of Operational Costs ( Rows A through E)		$12,101	$12,101	$12,101	$12,101	$12,101	$60,505
F.  Revenues / External Contribution / Fiscal Offsets	$20,000	$20,000	$20,000	$20,000	$20,000	$100,000
F-1.  Revenues	Specify	$20,000	$20,000	$20,000	$20,000	$20,000	$100,000
F-2.  Federal Participation	Specify	$0	$0	$0	$0	$0	$0
F-3.  Grants	Specify	$0	$0	$0	$0	$0	$0
Total  Changes in Program Operational Costs (Sum of Rows A through E minus Row F)	($7,899)	($7,899)	($7,899)	($7,899)	($7,899)	($39,495)
Cumulative Change	($7,899)	($15,798)	($23,697)	($31,596)	($39,495)

Project Cost Elements			Project Cost Table
(Project Planning,Development & Implementation Only  –	FY	FY	FY	FY	FY	TOTAL
No Operational Costs)		2019	2020	2021	2021	2022
State FTEs (Salaries & Benefits)		$150	$150	$150	$150	$150	$750
OPS FTEs (Salaries)		$250	$250	$250	$250	$250	$1,250
Staff Augmentation (Contract Cost)	$0	$0	$0	$0	$0	$0
Consultant Services		$65	$65	$65	$65	$65	$325
Hardware		$0	$0	$0	$0	$0	$0
Software		$200	$200	$200	$200	$200	$1,000
Risk Infrastructure		$500	$500	$500	$500	$500	$2,500
Training		$50	$50	$50	$50	$50	$250
Travel			$0	$0	$0	$0	$0	$0
Other		Specify	$0	$0	$0	$0	$0	$0
Total Project Costs  (*)		$1,215	$1,215	$1,215	$1,215	$1,215	$6,075
Cumulative Project Costs	$1,215	$2,430	$3,645	$4,860	$6,075

 

If all the identified hazards could not be traced and resolved, the workplace will be risky for the employees. The hotel could face dilemmas regarding the same. The provisions of the Occupational Health and Safety Act are mandatory in nature. In case of any non-compliance, the authority could have to face penalties. Further, the basic rights of the workers are hampering due to the same.  

Therefore, it is recommended that the hotel should have to maintain all the relevant Work Health and Safety Policies properly. The hotel should have to keep a written occupational health and safety plan and that should be fixed in a place so that everyone can see it. Further, it is recommended that the health representative should obtain appropriate certificate. Further, the hotel should have to improve the quality of first aid section so that all the primary injuries can be cured. In addition to this, it is recommended that the hotel authority should have to fix the employment duration for the casual employees (Appendices one). The duration of the employment should not exceed the time limit prescribed in the Work Health and Safety Policies.   

Conclusion:

Therefore, it can be stated that the present hotel has failed to maintain the work health and safety policies and the workers are facing diseases regarding the same. Therefore, as a general manager, it is required to take all the effective measures for the interest of the workers. Further, the assessed risks should be resolved and risks should be mitigated through hierarchy risk control.

References:

Chan-Mok, J. O., Caponecchia, C., & Winder, C. (2014). The concept of workplace bullying: Implications from Australian workplace health and safety law. Psychiatry, Psychology and Law, 21(3), 442-456.

Francis, G. E., Procter, T. A., & Robinson, R. M. (2017). How safe is safe enough?: Effective safety frameworks. In EECON 2017: Electric Energy Society of Australia Conference: collaboration and innovation: adapting today’s grid for tomorrow’s future (p. 42). Engineers Australia.

Grasso, M. (2016). Work health and safety resources and advice.

McInnes, J. A., MacFarlane, E. M., Sim, M. R., & Smith, P. (2017). Working in hot weather: a review of policies and guidelines to minimise the risk of harm to Australian workers. Injury prevention, 23(5), 334-339.

Nossar, I., Johnstone, R., Macklin, A., & Rawling, M. (2015). Protective legal regulation for home-based workers in Australian textile, clothing and footwear supply chains. Journal of Industrial Relations, 57(4), 585-603.

Occupational Health and Safety Act 2000 (NSW)

Potter, R. E., Dollard, M. F., Owen, M. S., O’Keeffe, V., Bailey, T., & Leka, S. (2017). Assessing a national work health and safety policy intervention using the psychosocial safety climate framework. Safety science, 100, 91-102.

Rawling, M., & Schofield-Georgeson, E. (2018). Industrial legislation in Australia in 2017. Journal of Industrial Relations, 0022185618760088.

Sekendiz, B., Norton, K., Keyzer, P., Dietrich, J., Coyle, I. R., Gray, S., & Finch, C. F. (2018). Emergency preparedness in fitness facilities: bridging the gap between policy and practice. International Journal of Business Continuity and Risk Management, 8(1), 71-85.

Smith, M., & Lee, C. (2015). Workplace: Overseas assignment?: Work health and safety obligations will apply. Proctor, The, 35(1), 36.

Work Health and Safety Act 2012 (NSW)

Young, R., & Brawn, E. (2017). Employment law: Work health and safety duties and dealing with bullying in the workplace by non-workers. Governance Directions, 69(7), 435.