TLIF407C - Organise Occupational Health and Safety in the Workplace - Learner Guide

TLIF407C Organise

occupational health and

safety in the workplace

Learner Guide

Contents

What this Learner’s Guide is about ........................................ 3

Planning your learning ........................................................... 4

How you will be assessed ...................................................... 7

Section 1............................................................................................. 9

How do you identify hazards and assess risks in the warehouse?............................................................................ 9

Section 2........................................................................................... 41

How do you use recording and reporting of safety problems to monitor hazards in the warehouse? ..................................... 41

Section 3........................................................................................... 53

How do you organise and maintain warehouse safety procedures? ......................................................................... 53

Section 4........................................................................................... 61

How do you promote warehouse Health and Safety practices and procedures? .................................................................. 61

Additional resources....................................................................... 65

Feedback on activities .................................................................... 71

TLIF407C Organise OH&S procedures in the workplace

Page 2 © Australian National Training Authority 2003 ADELG1020 Customised and Developed by Armstrong’s Driver Education P/L – May 2008


© Australian National Training Authority 2003 Page 3 Customised and Developed by Armstrong’s Driver Education P/L – May 2008 ADELG1020

What this Learner’s Guide is about

This Learner’s Guide is about the skills and knowledge required to organise OHS procedures in the workplace, including interpreting and applying information about OHS policies and procedures and duty of care responsibilities, identifying and assessing hazards and risks in the workplace, negotiating to control workplace hazards and risks, resolving complaints about OHS, and instituting appropriate risk management strategies.

As a trainer, you have the responsibility to co-‐ordinate occupational health and safety practices. This involves identifying hazards and the risks they pose to workers. It also involves implementing procedures to minimise the risks. Consultations with workers is an integral part of the processes involved.

The Elements of Competency from the unit TLIF407C Organise OH&S procedures in the workplace covered in this Learner’s Guide are listed below.

Use information about OH&S policies and procedures

Identify and assess hazards

Negotiate to control risks and resolve complaints about OH&S

Institute risk management strategies

This unit of competency is from the Transport and Logistics Training Package (TLI07).



Planning your learning

It is important to plan your learning before you start because you may already have some of the knowledge and skills that are covered in this Learner’s Guide. This might be because:

• you have been working in the industry for some time, and/or

• you have already completed training in this area.

Together with your supervisor or trainer use the checklists on the following pages to help you plan your study program. Your answers to the questions in the checklist will help you work out which sections of this Learner’s Guide you need to complete.

This Learner’s Guide is written with the idea that learning is made more relevant when you, the learner, are actually working in the industry. This means that you will have people within the enterprise who can show you things, discuss how things are done and answer any questions you have. Also you can practise what you learn and see how what you learn is applied in the enterprise.

If you are working through this Learner’s Guide and have not yet found a job in the industry, you will need to talk to your trainer about doing work experience or working and learning in some sort of simulated workplace.



Section 1: Identifying hazards and assessing risks in a warehouse

Are you able to: Yes No

1. name at least eight OHS hazards which might exist in your warehouse?

2. name two important requirements relevant to identifying hazards in warehouses contained in the OHS legislation?

3. describe the risks arising from the above hazards?

4. describe how the level of risk is associated with the hazards?

Section 2: Recording, reporting and monitoring hazards in a warehouse


1. use a checklist to assess workplace hazards?

2. name four ways of monitoring hazards?

3. name who you must report ‘dangerous occurrences’ to under the occupational health and safety legislation?

4. describe how you would monitor the effectiveness of these hazard controls?

Section 3: How are safety procedures organised and maintained in a warehouse?


1. put in place a range of safety procedures?

2. describe how you would select a particular safety procedure?

3. describe the strategies that you would put in place to ensure that safety is maintained?



Section 4: Promoting good health and safety practices in a warehouse


1. describe the steps you would take to develop a plan to promote the use of OHS practices in your workplace?

2. describe two different approaches you have used to promote OHS in your workplace?



How you will be assessed

Assessment of this Unit of Competency will include observation of real or simulated work processes using workplace procedures and questioning on underpinning knowledge and skills. It must be demonstrated in an actual or simulated work situation under supervision.

You will be required to:

• identify a hazard in your workplace and apply the hierarchy of controls to this hazard

• prepare a report on a hazard identified in the workplace and controls implemented and present to a workplace group to involve them in the control of the hazard.





Section 1

How do you identify hazards and assess risks in the warehouse?



Section outline

Areas covered in this section

Identifying workplace hazards

Hazards



Identifying workplace hazards

Occupational health and safety legislation

Health and safety in a warehouse is governed by the occupational health and safety legislation of the state or territory in which it is located.

Under the legislation, a duty of care is imposed on warehouse supervisors. This involves:

• detecting unsafe conditions and behaviours

• fixing them, or when you do not have the authority, reporting them to management together with suggestions for control.



Activity 1: State or territory occupational health and safety legislation

The Occupational Health and Safety Act is part of the legislation. Find the Act that applies to you.

Its name is: ___________________________________________

There is feedback on this activity at the back of this Learner’s Guide.



Subsidiary legislation

Subsidiary parts of the legislation are:

• regulations

• codes of practice

• standards.

Regulations

Regulations are specific rules stating things that must be done to comply with the Act.



Activity 2: Identifying regulations

Name two regulations specific to warehouses.

1. ________________________________________________

________________________________________________

2. ________________________________________________

________________________________________________



Codes of practice

Codes of practice are practical documents which set out safe workplace practices. For example, there is a code of practice for manual handling. The courts in determining whether duty of care has been exercised may use codes of practice.

Sometime codes of practice are mentioned in the Act.

Standards

Standards specify minimum requirements. Often they are mentioned in the regulations.



Activity 3: Identifying standards

Name a standard that applies to the operation of a warehouse.

____________________________________________________

____________________________________________________

____________________________________________________

____________________________________________________

____________________________________________________

There is feedback on this activity at the back of this Learner’s Guide.



Hazards

One of your key roles in Occupational Health and Safety as a supervisor, is to identify hazards in your workplace.

What is a hazard?

A hazard is anything with the potential to cause harm to life, health or property. For example, cluttered and unmarked walkways are a hazard in a warehouse. They increase the risk of injury.

What is risk?

Risk is the probability that the hazard will actually result in injury or disease. For example, the probability of a sprained or broken limb is increased if walkways are cluttered and unmarked.

A major role for supervisors in Occupational Health and Safety is identifying hazards in the workplace and minimising the risks they pose.



Activity 4: Identifying workplace hazards

On the next four pages you will find photographs of workplace hazards.

Choose one of the photographs to study (ideally the one which is closest to the kinds of hazards you find in your warehouse) and make a list of all the hazards you can find in the photo.

Hazards

____________________________________________________

____________________________________________________

____________________________________________________

____________________________________________________



Hazards

____________________________________________________

____________________________________________________

____________________________________________________

____________________________________________________

____________________________________________________

____________________________________________________



Hazards

____________________________________________________

____________________________________________________

____________________________________________________

____________________________________________________

____________________________________________________

____________________________________________________



Hazards

____________________________________________________

____________________________________________________

____________________________________________________

____________________________________________________

____________________________________________________

____________________________________________________



Some hazards may be obvious and immediate in their effect. They may be simple to deal with, for example water on the floor. But many hazards are ‘hidden’, for example dust, and therefore may take time to have an effect. So we need to identify the different types of hazards in the workplace. We do this by:

• regular inspections

• accident and sickness records

• accident investigation.

Inspections

These control hazards by:

• being systematic in covering all areas of the workplace

• highlighting safety problems which are not revealed by day to day observation

• checking the application of relevant regulations, codes of practice and standards

• checking “actions” have been carried out

• leading to discussing health and safety with workers, which encourages their involvement in health and safety activities.

Types of inspections

General

Using checklists enables you to look at the workplace on a regular basis

When undertaking an inspection, a checklist is used to help to identify hazards.

Specific

These refer to inspections undertaken that concentrate on a specific hazard, e.g. Forklifts.

Accident inspections

These are done after a near miss or an accident and are used to identify the hazard.



Activity 5: Conducting a workplace inspection using a checklist

To do this activity you can use either use: • a checklist from your workplace • the checklist provided below.

Walk around your workplace and use the checklist to identify hazards and comment on the actions required.

Only fill in those areas that apply to your workplace.

Checklists

You should attach to each checklist a Hazard Audit certification.

Hazard Audit

Date of inspection: ....../ .... / .......

Person(s) inspecting: ...................................................................

............................................................................................................

Instructions for completing the following checklists are as follows.

1. Complete check for each listed item; if not applicable to your location put N/A.

2. Define what needs to be done immediately (e.g. after serious water spillage restricting access, call maintenance).

3. Sign all problems requiring action.

4. Use comments if required.

5. Forward the completed form to the Health and Safety representative, Safety Committee and Manager/Trainer.



General OK Action required Action taken

Site environment Immediately To be scheduled

Action dated

Signature

Clean gutters

Roof not leaking

Roadway direction arrows

Posted speed limits

Site security appropriate

Comments:


Pests Immediately To be scheduled

Action dated

Signature

No sign of rodent activity

Bird activity controlled

Comments:




Electrical Immediately To be scheduled

Action dated

Signature

No broken plugs, sockets or switches

No damaged or frayed leads

Portable power tools on good condition

No temporary leads on the floor

No strained leads

All power boards fitted with overload switch

No multiple uses of double adaptors

Emergency shutdown procedures

Comments:




Fire Immediately To be scheduled

Action dated

Signature

Extinguishers in place, clearly marked for type of fire and recently serviced

Adequate direction notices for fire exits

Exit doors easily opened from inside

Exits clear of obstructions

Training sessions

Fire equipment in working order

Fire instructions available and displayed

Are fire drills carried out?

Comments:




Fire Immediately To be scheduled

Action dated

Signature

Even surfaces, no cracks or holes

Loose boards or grill cleaned regularly

Oil / grease / dust / water / grain / removed

Entry and exit walkways kept clear

No electrical leads across walkways

Walkways adequately lit and clearly marked

Unobstructed vision at intersections

Comments:




General lighting Immediately To be scheduled

Action dated

Signature

Adequate lighting

Good natural lighting

Good reflection – walkways and ceilings

No direct or reflected glare

Light fittings clean and in good repair

Emergency lighting operable

Comments:




Walkways Immediately To be scheduled

Action dated

Signature

No oil or grease

Entry across walkways kept clear

No electrical leads crossing walkways

Walkways adequately and clearly marked

Unobstructed vision at intersections

Comments:



Specific OK Action required Action taken

Chemicals on site Immediately To be scheduled

Action dated

Signature

MSDS for all chemicals

Containers clearly labelled

Do special storage conditions apply?

Flammable materials securely stored

Comments:




First Aid Immediately To be scheduled

Action dated

Signature

Cabinets and contents clean and orderly

Easy access to cabinets

Employees aware of location of First Aid cabinet

First Aid cabinet clearly labelled

Emergency numbers displayed

Supply of soap and towels

Adequate stock

List of trained First Aiders

Comments:




Motor vehicles Immediately To be scheduled

Action dated

Signature

Cars and trucks

Forklifts

Comments:




Office hazards Immediately To be scheduled

Action dated

Signature

Filing

Chairs

Appropriate lighting – no glare SBE

Photocopiers – fumes

Workstation designed to minimise fatigue

Air-conditioning maintained

Wire/cables

Stable non-slip floor coverings

Comments:




Rubbish Immediately To be scheduled

Action dated

Signature

Bins located at suitable points

Bins emptied regularly

Oily rags/combustible refuse in covered metal containers

Comments:


Storage Immediately To be scheduled

Action dated

Signature

Materials stored – racks, bins

Storage designed to minimise lifting problems (knee, shoulder)

Floors around racks clear of rubbish

General condition of racks and pallets

Comments:




Safety Equipment Immediately To be scheduled

Action dated

Signature

Ladders

Personal protective equipment:

• masks

• helmets

• safety glasses

• ear muffs and plugs

• shoes

• gloves

Comments:




Workshop/ workbenches

Immediately To be scheduled

Action dated

Signature

Clear of rubbish

Tools not kept in place

No damaged hand tools

No damaged power tools

No strained leads

Work height

No sharp edges

Comments:




Other hazards Immediately To be scheduled

Immediately To be scheduled

Comments:



Summarising findings and listings actions

Fill out the following table.

Action required Comments

Immediately

•

•

•

•

•

To be scheduled

•

•

•

•

•

•

Give the form (i.e. this table) to your trainer and health and safety representative for problems that need action immediately.

Forward the form to the Safety Committee for action and check it at the next meeting.



Activity 6: Assessing the risks associated with the hazards

Look at your checklists used in Activity 5.

Make a list of the hazards you have marked that need attention.

Now that the hazards have been identified in Activity 5, you may need to assess the frequency and severity of injury or illness posed in the hazard. This helps to assess the relative importance of the hazard. For example, a hazard that has low severity but high frequency may warrant more or the same amount of attention as a hazard of high severity but low frequency. (Risk is a combination of severity and probability to cause an injury).

Use the following table, probability versus severity, to help you decide which hazards need immediate attention.

Severity

Probability Will the hazard kill or disable someone?

Resulted in seven or more days off work

Was First Aid applied?

Very likely / could happen regularly.

Likely / could happen occasionally.

Unlikely / could happen rarely.

Very unlikely / could happen, but probably never will.

The table above could be used to describe the hazard of a cluttered walkway in the following way. • The cluttered walkway is very likely to contribute to many

accidents that will require First Aid as workers moving stock may bump into each other and into the stock cluttering the walkway.

• Occasionally it may contribute to more serious injuries requiring more than seven days off work when workers trip on the clutter. It is unlikely to kill or liable as no heavy objects cluttering the walkway are stacked above waist height.



Activity 7: Reporting risks

Give a written or oral summary of the result of the workplace inspection explaining the hazards you have identified as being the most hazardous.

Present your findings to the workplace Health and Safety Committee, Health and Safety representatives and to workers.



Section 2

How do you use recording and reporting of safety problems to monitor hazards in the warehouse?



Section outline


Recording and reporting workplace incidents and/or dangerous occurrences

What are control methods for eliminating hazards?



Recording and reporting workplace incidents and/or dangerous occurrences

As a trainer, it is important to record and report all the information on occupational incidents, disease and injury to help you monitor workplace hazards. For example, an employee slips on an oil patch. Wiping up the oil may not be the answer. Consider the cause.

Is it:

• bad housekeeping?

• poor maintenance (if the oil was from a forklift, etc.)?

• faulty management (trainer is on leave and no one renewed the maintenance contract)?

You will get information from:

• incident and injury, compensation, accident investigation forms

• minutes of the OHS Committee

• reports on the outcomes of accident investigations

• a copy of the records in the First Aid book, etc.

• maintenance schedules of all plant and equipment.



Activity 8: Recording warehouse incidents

List three incidents that did or could have nearly caused an injury in your workplace.

(Incidents refer to occurrences that could lead to injury or disease. It includes accidents that result in injury, or a near miss, and / or damage to property).

1. ___________________________________________________

____________________________________________________

2. ___________________________________________________

____________________________________________________

3. ___________________________________________________

____________________________________________________



Activity 9: Describing an incident

Use one of the incidents listed in Activity 8 and enter the details on the form below, or use a form from your workplace.

Incident report form

This report must be completed in the event of:

1. a safety hazard being spotted which cannot be rectified immediately

2. after an accident, occurrence or near miss.

Area:

Trainer:

Date: Time:

Circle to show whether hazard or incident.

What happened?

Circle whether corrective action was taken or required.

What was done?

Is accident investigation required? Yes No

How often is this likely to happen? Rarely Occasionally Often

How severe was the hazard/incident? Minor Marginal Major Catastrophic

Reported and signed by:

Forward to:

Trainer:

OHS Representative:

OHS Committee:



Accident investigation procedures

Unfortunately accidents happen and there will be a procedure to follow in your warehouse. For further information refer to Australian Standard 1885.1 Accident and Reporting Systems.

The investigation is undertaken by a supervisor and a health and safety representative as soon as possible.

Steps to be taken Special note

Check the site. Secure the site. Government inspectors will need to inspect, and ensure other workers are not at risk of injury.

Interview co-‐workers and the injured person as soon as possible.

Use a checklist to ensure a full history is obtained.

Observe the task being performed.

Observe failures in the system, i.e. what were some of the factors that could have contributed to the accident?

Draw a diagram of the site. Include: • layout • work operations • materials involved • how the accident happened.

Discuss the incident with the Health and Safety Committee

Did the failures occur due to: • poor training methods? • poor design of safety equipment? • poor machinery design? • lack of warning signs? • insufficient maintenance? • workflow problems? • unsafe operation of equipment?

What actions can be taken to avoid the same accident?



What questions should the supervisor and the health and safety representative ask?

These questions may help you.

1. Who:

• was injured?

• saw the accident and what did they see?

• was working with the injured person?

• else was involved (and how)?

• was the person’s supervisor?

2. What:

• was the injury / damage / potential injury?

• was the worker doing at the time of injury?

• machinery / tools were involved in the incident?

• was the worker’s tasks and were they following correct procedure?

• communication took place between worker, supervisor and / or co-‐workers prior to the accident?

• action had been taken to prevent the incident?

• previous near misses or similar incidents have occurred?

• personal / protective equipment was in use? (was it adequate?)

3. When:

• did the accident occur / damage become evident?

• did the person commence the job?

• did the person last receive an explanation of the hazards?

4. Where:

• did the injury / incident occur?

• was the supervisor at the time?

• were the witnesses at the time?



5. How:

• did the injury occur?

• could the incident / injury have been prevented?

• could changes in the way the job was done, machinery, plant or equipment have prevented the accident?

6. Why:

• did the incident / injury occur?

• did communication fail?

• was training not given?

• were unsafe conditions permitted?

• was the hazard not identified?

• was personal / protective equipment not provided or used?

• was the way the job was done unsafe?

• was the injured person in that location at the time?

• were specific safety instructions not given?



Activity 10: Investigating an incident in the warehouse

Use an incident you have identified carry out an investigation based on: • a checklist activity • an accident / injury report • minutes of an Occupational Health and Committee meeting.

Describe the incident in the following ways.

1. How did it occur? ____________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________

2. Where was the incident located? (Use a sketch or diagram).

3. What was the cause? ____________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________



Hazard identification

You have now identified hazards from:

• workplace inspection

• safety survey (checklist)

• accident reports

• reported incidents.

You may have noted that causes of hazards can be a combination of factors. For example, oil spilt on the floor, can be a combination of poor training and / or poor maintenance, and / or poor housekeeping.

Now a method of control needs to be put into place. To begin with, you need to convince management that there is a problem.

One way of convincing management is to prepare a report that presents the facts in a clear and logical fashion and offers solutions to control the hazard.



What are control methods for eliminating hazards?

There is a hierarchy of hazard controls. The hierarchy of hazard control methods is listed below.

1 Elimination at the source

2 Substitution of materials / process

3 Enclosure of materials / process

4 Isolation of materials / process

5 Engineering methods for example: guards, ventilation

6 Work practices for example: maintenance, housekeeping

7 Administration controls for example: work schedules, job rotation,

monitoring

8 Training / education for example: specific hazards, emergency

response

9 Personal protective clothing

Source: State Training Board (1992) ACTRAC National OHS Project Training Program, Chadstone, Vic., Holmesglen Institute of TAFE and State Training Board of Victoria.



Activity 11: Reporting hazards

Now that you have identified and assessed hazards you need to prepare a report to present to the Occupational Health and Safety Committee and management.

Your report in oral or written form will identify the hazards and recommend appropriate control measures.



Section 3

How do you organise and maintain warehouse safety procedures?



Section outline


Organising and maintaining warehouse safety procedures



Organising and maintaining warehouse safety procedures

One of you key responsibilities as a trainer is to organise and maintain health and safety procedures in the workplace.

Safe work and emergency procedures must be in writing so that new and existing staff can have ready reference to them.

Procedures are rules, which are written documents, to guide the health and safety behaviour of all workers.

Following is a list of procedures (rules) that your workplace may have:

• housekeeping

• use of Forklifts

• use of machinery

• use of personal protective equipment

• maintenance procedures

• accident reporting

• First Aid attention

• fire protection

• use of tools and equipment

• smoking and drinking

• authorised entry and usage (certificates, licences).



Activity 12: Describing safety procedures in your workplace

Look at the list of procedures on the previous page. Mark the procedures that you have in your warehouse. In the space below list any additional procedures your workplace.

_______________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________



Activity 13: Write a maintenance/safety procedure for a pre-operative check on a Forklift

Before operating a Forklift ensure the following check has been done.

Yes No

Tyre pressure is correct

Horn checked

Reverse lights checked

(Department of Industrial Relations in your State/Territory may have guidelines for the use of a Forklift).

Or, you may want to write a procedure that you have noted your workplace has not got. Follow the above model.



Monitoring work procedures

As a supervisor, you are responsible for maintaining your workplace safety procedures. You need to monitor work procedures to ensure Occupational Health and Safety standards are maintained.

You will need information from:

• preventative maintenance checks

• completed checklists

• minutes from the Health and Safety Committee

• statistics from incident/injuries, and compensation claims from your work area

• regulations and standards relevant to your workplace, e.g. storage of hazardous substances, code for manual handling.

Gather this information for the next activity.



Activity 14: Monitoring workplace procedures

Look at the information you have gathered.

Are there any incidents or hazards occurring in a particular area?

Is there a pattern?

Have the hazards been investigated?

Have the control measures been implemented? You will note this from ‘action taken’ on your checklists.

Report to the Occupational Health and Safety Committee and Health and Safety representative on the issues and implementations you have recognised. Be prepared to discuss controls of hazards you have identified.





Section 4

How do you promote warehouse Health and Safety practices and procedures?



Section outline


Promoting warehouse Health and Safety practices



Promoting warehouse Health and Safety practices

A supervisor’s OHS responsibilities lie in the day to day management of all health and safety issues. Therefore, you are responsible for:

• making sure all your workers’ health and safety is being maintained

• training for new workers in your area

• training for all workers when new equipment or work practices are introduced.

This means that for promotion of occupational health and safety, you are involved in:

• monitoring occupational health and safety policies and procedures

• providing information for the work area

• consulting with workers, management, occupational health and safety representatives and committees, and if appropriate, unions.



Activity 15: Promoting warehouse safety

As a supervisor you have decided to promote correct manual handling procedures to reduce the incidence of absenteeism due to a back injury.

In order to promote the correct procedures you will need to collect information from: • incidence reports • compensation claims.

An example of the data (given in graphs) that you may be able to assemble is given in Figure 1.

Collect information about back programs from: • codes of practice • state/territory Workcover offices • unions • other sources, such as different warehouses, chiropractors,

physiotherapists, etc.

Consult with: • management (to authorise the promotion) • workers (to get their participation) • occupational health and safety representatives and committees,

and, if appropriate, unions (to reinforce consultative procedures).

Plan the promotion through: • meetings • observation of workplace practice • distribution of relevant material.



Additional resources



Control of Hazards

You will often see the control of hazards written as the Hierarchy of Control. The hierarchy is placed in a priority order, so that in solving health and safety problems we should consider ways to rid the problem – reduce the hazard – before considering protective equipment.

Why?

It is in this way you will achieve a healthy and safe workplace and not just be protecting workers from an unsafe workplace.

Hierarchy of controls

Engineering controls

Design

By the careful designing of equipment or work processes hazards can often be eliminated or reduced significantly; for example, if a job involves lifting heavy containers of chemicals then smaller containers could be used, in this way no would worker risk injury by lifting heavy containers.

Remove/substitute

By using less hazardous materials, equipment or substances, this will protect the worker from unsafe workplace or processes.

Adopt a safer process

If the hazard has passed through the design stage undetected and cannot be removed the next best measure is to control it at the source. Change the work methods, or the tools so they are easier to use. Introduce automation to do dangerous jobs, and enclosed areas to stop noise or dust; ventilation systems maybe necessary to remove contaminated air away from workers.



Administration controls

A number of administrative measures can be taken to control hazards in the workplace:

• training for workers so they can do the job safely

• job rotation to reduce exposure or boredom

• routine maintenance and housekeeping procedures to ensure proper work is carried out and equipment is kept in safe order and to act as a check for the need for development of policies in the workplace.

Most administrative controls rely on workers and managers following correct procedures at all times. However, we know that people sometimes forget or ignore correct procedures or are in a rush so administrative procedures are not entirely reliable. That is why they are placed lower down the hierarchy of control.

Personal protective equipment

Personal protection, such as face mask respirators, gloves, protective suits and goggles should be viewed as the last resort. They must only be considered as an interim measure. When personal protective equipment is provided, it must be suitable and properly maintained.

All workers who use personal protective equipment must be trained to use the equipment correctly and maintain it in order to minimise their exposure to hazards.

Once you have decided on the control strategy or a combination strategy, ensure that all workers are informed and consulted.



First Aid

There are Codes of Practice in each state/territory. The following is a summary that will be found in most.

All First Aid records of treatment must be kept for three years.

First Aid kits must be:

• identified with green and white signs

• accessible to all employees

• within 100 metres of each employee

• in the care of a responsible person

• only used for work injuries

• kept well stocked.

First Aid kit containers must be:

• dust proof

• never locked, but sealed, and fitted with a proper carrying handles

• marked First Aid on the outside with a green sign

• marked with contents list on the inside of the lid

• marked with emergency telephone numbers

• kept clean and well stocked

• checked regularly.

Employees must be aware of:

• the nature of First Aid facilities

• the location(s) of First Aid kits

• the names and location(s) of First Aid officers

• procedures to be followed

• First Aid requirements for specific hazards, e.g. eye-‐wash.



Forklifts – training of staff

What are the important things to remember when training staff in procedures?

Pedestrian safety

• Pedestrians and Forklifts should be separated at all times.

• Walkways should be clearly defined with yellow/black stripes.

• The areas where Forklifts operate should be clearly defined and made known to everyone.

How do you separate Forklifts from pedestrians?

• Ensure Forklifts enter through only one entrance.

• Use arrows to indicate traffic flow.

• Arrive at an agreed conclusion about traffic flow in the warehouse through consultation with all parties.

Warehouse

• Define no-‐go areas, and mark them clearly, preferably in red.

• Ensure no-‐go area is closed to general public and traffic.

• Ensure that all staff entering the no-‐go area request entrance to the area from the relevant supervisor of that area, and gain clearance.

Speeding

• Through consultation establish speed limits.

• Use the consultation process to decide on sanctions for anyone caught speeding.





Feedback on activities

The responses provided in this section are suggested responses. Because every workplace is different, your responses may vary according to your specific workplace procedures, the equipment available and the nature of the business.



Activity 1: State/territory Occupational Health and Safety Legislation

Below is a list of Occupational Health and Safety Legislation for the Commonwealth and all states/territories. You need to identify the legislation that applies to your workplace. • Occupational Health and Safety Act Commonwealth 1991 • Occupational Health and Safety Act NSW 1983 • Occupational Health and Safety (Amendment) Act Victoria 1991 • Workplace Health and Safety Act Queensland 1989 • Occupational Health and Safety and Welfare Act WA 1984 • Occupational Health and Safety Act SA 1986 • Occupational Health and Safety Act Tasmania 1977 • Occupational Health and Safety Act 1989 • Work Health Act NT 1992

Activity 2: Identifying standards

Standards Australia

In addition to the regulations and codes of practices, there are also standards set by private organisations such as Standards Australia.

Note these standards are not official nor legally enforceable and in several cases do not contain the detail of a government code of practice. • AS 1269 SAA Hearing Conservation Code • AS 1318 SAA Industrial Safety Colour Code • AS 1339 Manual Handling of Materials • AS 1851 Maintenance of Fire Protection Equipment, Part 1 –

Portable Fire Extinguishers • AS 1940 SAA Flammable and Combustible Liquids Code • AS 2210 Safety Footwear • AS 1885.1 Workplace Injury and Disease Recording Standards.

This is not a comprehensive list.

Documents

TLIF407C - Organise Occupational Health and Safety in the Workplace - Learner Guide