SITXWHS008 - Establish and maintain a work health and safety system

Students will also be expected to demonstrate the following knowledge:

• structure, characteristics and needs of the organisation that the health, safety and security system must address
• objectives, components and comprehensive details of relevant state or territory WHS legislation:

• actions that must be taken for legal compliance
• employer responsibilities to provide a safe workplace
• requirement to consult, designated times for consultation and acceptable consultation mechanisms
• requirements for the use of WHS representatives and committees, and their roles and responsibilities
• designated times for hazard identification and categories of hazards that must be identified
• acceptable mechanisms for hazard identification, risk assessment and risk control
• requirements for record keeping and acceptable record keeping mechanisms
• requirement to provide information and training
• employee responsibilities to ensure safety of self, other workers and other people in the workplace
• employee responsibility to participate in WHS practices

• objectives, components and comprehensive details of WHS codes of practice and standards developed by industry or regulatory bodies
• ramifications of failure to observe WHS laws and codes of practice
• methods of receiving updated information on WHS laws and codes of practice
• components of health, safety and security management systems
• considerations in the formulation of health, safety and security policies and procedures:

• consultation
• emergencies
• evacuation of staff and customers
• handling chemicals and hazardous substances
• hazard identification and reporting
• incident and accident management and notification to WHS regulatory authorities
• incident and accident reporting by staff
• ongoing monitoring of risk control
• overall organisational approach to health, safety and security
• participation of personnel in health, safety and security management practices
• responsibilities of employees to ensure safety
• risk assessments and reporting
• safe work practices

• secure management of:

• cash
• documents
• equipment
• keys
• people

• consultative processes:

• diary, whiteboard or suggestion box used by staff to report issues of concern
• fact sheets to fully inform personnel about WHS rights and responsibilities
• formal WHS representatives and committees
• formal meetings with agendas, minutes and action plans
• informal meetings with notes
• health, safety and security discussions with employees during the course of each business day
• recording issues in a management diary
• regular staff meetings that involve health, safety and security discussions
• seeking staff suggestions for content of health, safety and security policies and procedures
• special staff meetings or workshops to specifically address health, safety and security issues
• staff handbook containing WHS information
• surveys or questionnaires that invite staff feedback on health, safety and security issues

• time requirements for hazard identification:
• when changes to the workplace are implemented:

• before the premises are used for the first time
• before and during the installation or alteration of any plant
• before changes to work practices are introduced
• when any new information relating to health and safety risks becomes available

• approaches to assessing the effectiveness of health, safety and security management systems:

• monitoring the ongoing effectiveness of risk control methods

• reviewing:

• incidents, accidents or near misses
• health, safety and security reports
• health, safety and security statistics

• methods used by the specific industry sector and organisation to:

• conduct consultation when developing policies and procedures
• communicate health, safety and security policies, procedures and safe working practices
• conduct ongoing health, safety and security consultation
• evaluate the effectiveness of health, safety and security management practices

• sources of assessment criteria for assessing risks:

• developed by external consultancy services
• outlined in Australian standards
• self-determined for the organisation as part of a health, safety and security management system
• suggested by industry associations for use by member businesses

• health, safety and security information:

• consultative arrangements for health, safety and security
• employee roles and responsibilities in health, safety and security management practices
• legal obligations and ramifications of failure to comply
• location of first aid kit and emergency evacuation plan
• health, safety and security training information and updates

• policies:

• overall approach of organisation to health, safety and security
• participation of personnel in health, safety and security management practices
• responsibilities of employees to ensure safety
• procedures
• specific risk control measures relevant to the workplace
• specific regulations and codes of practice

• use of:

• hazard identification reporting documents
• risk assessment template documents

• formats for and inclusions of:

• policies and procedures
• WHS templates for hazard identification and risk assessment
• incident, accidents, or near miss reports
• reports that document the evaluation of systems and required changes
• WHS record keeping systems

• WHS record requirements:
• consultation:

• diaries of meetings
• agendas for and minutes of meetings
• committee members
• consultation decisions and follow up actions

• hazard identification
• incident or accident notifications to WHS regulatory authorities
• incident, accident, and near miss reports and related statistics
• policies and procedures
• risk assessments
• risk control actions
• training plans
• training undertaken.