Professional Year Program

BSBWHS401 – Work, Health & Safety

Assessment Task 1.1 – Knowledge Questions
ASSESSMENT INSTRUCTIONS
Ensure that at the beginning of your report you include the following statement:

I will be basing my responses for the assessment tasks for this unit on the WHS/OHS Act and Regulations and
Codes of practice from the following State or Territory:
ACT QLD SA TAS NSW VIC WA NT Commonwealth

Answer the following questions, giving reasons/justifications and supporting evidence for your answers i.e. clauses
from relevant WHS/OHS Acts and regulations.

1. Employers, managers and employees all have responsibilities under WHS/OHS legislation to ensure the
safety of the workplace. Please outline:
a. PCBU’s responsibilities
i. Responsible for providing a safe working environment
ii. Responsible for maintaining safe plant and structure
iii. Ensure proper safe working practice are adhere to
iv. Provide necessary training and supervision
v. Regular monitoring of worker’s health and workplace condition
vi. Maintain safe working procedure for the handling and storage of plant structures and
substances.
b. the organisation’s responsibilities
i. Provide and maintain safe plant (machinery and equipment)
ii. Provide and maintain safe systems of work
iii. Ensure the safe use, handling, storage or transport of plant or substances
iv. Keep workplaces that you manage and control in a safe condition, free of risks to health
v. Provide suitable facilities for welfare at any workplace you manage and control
vi. Provide necessary information, instruction, training or supervision to enable them to do their
work in a way that is safe and without risks to health
c. first-line/supervisors manager’s responsibilities
i. The manager should stay updated with WHS knowledge
ii. He/she should also gain understanding of the risk and hazard involved in the business
iii. Ensure that workers have sufficient resources to manage the risk
iv. The supervisor should establish an internal incident reporting and investigation framework to
review and respond to incident, hazards and risk.
v.
d. the employees’ responsibilities
i. Take reasonable care for your health and safety in the workplace
ii. Also take reasonable care for the health and safety of others who may be affected by what
you do or don’t do
iii. Cooperate with your employer about any action they take to comply with the OHS Act or
regulations
iv. Don’t intentionally or recklessly interfere with or misuse anything at the workplace to
support health, safety and welfare

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Professional Year Program
BSBWHS401 – Work, Health & Safety
Assessment Task 1.1 – Knowledge Questions
2. What are safety committees and who are safety representatives?

a. A safety and health committee can be established if any employee requests a committee or the
employer decides to have one. The committee can be appointed directly by the WorkSafe Western
Australia Commissioner. The duties of safety committees include:
- Assist in consultation and cooperation between employers and employees
- Initiate, develop and implement health and safety measures
- Constantly inform and remind of health and safety standards in workplaces
- Recommend on health and safety rules, programs, regulations, measures and procedures
- Ensure all information on hazards is kept where it is readily accessible and unambiguous
- Revise and make suggestions about changes that may affect health and safety of workers

b. Safety representatives represent the health and safety interests of a work group. Safety
representatives are elected by workers. The role of a HSR involves:
- undertake workplace inspections
- review the circumstances of workplace incidents
- assist a WHSQ inspector during an inspection
- represent the work group in health and safety matters
- attend conference, interviews and meetings about health and safety matters
- request of a health and safety committee to be established
- can be a participant in health and safety committee
- help to investigate work health and safety complaints and incidents from work group members

3. Describe the steps you can take if there is an accident or incident in your work area. You may create this as a
flowchart if you prefer.

a. Get medical attention or assistance

b. Support and cooperate, act with compassion

c. Report the accident to a supervisor or employer

d. Take proper measures to ensure that similar accident or incident will never happens again including
inspecting and documenting the incident

e. Fill a workplace accident report form

f. Get workplace accident expert legal help

4. What is the difference between a hazard and a risk?

a. Hazard is something that could cause harm whereas risk is the chance that the hazard will cause
somebody harm.

5. Explain how the Hierarchy of Risk (Control) applies to the workplace

a. Hierarchy of risk control is a method of managing WHS risk which starts with the elimination of risk
followed by substitution, isolation and engineering control. The last method of controlling risk is
through administrative control and PPE.

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Professional Year Program
BSBWHS401 – Work, Health & Safety
Assessment Task 1.1 – Knowledge Questions

6. WHS Legislation is not the only legislation concerned with the health and wellbeing of employees in the
workplace. Name and describe five other legislations, Acts or Codes that protect an employee’s wellbeing.
a. Fair Work Act 2009
Ensure workplaces are fair to working Australians, and flexible for businesses, promote productivity and
economic growth in Australia. Also, ensure that the working conditions are fair, relevant and enforced with
minimum terms and conditions through the National Employment Standards.
b. Legislation in the Employment and Workplace Relations Portfolio
Associated with Workplace Act 1996, it is administered by the department of employment workplace
relations
c. Sex, Age and Racial Discrimination Act
These acts protect people from workplace discrimination
d. Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Act 1999 (Cth)
An act to ensure certain employers to promote equal opportunity for women in the workforce
e. Industrial Relations Act 1996 WA
Provide a framework for the conduct of industrial relations in WA
7. Locate an organizational policy and procedure relating to hazard management, fire, emergency, evacuation,
incident (accident) investigating and reporting and submit copies to your assessor. If you are not currently
employed, conduct an internet search for similar policies and provide those.

a. Please refer to attached documents.

8. Provide a summary of the organisational policy and procedure submitted for the previous question

a. Emergency evacuation (including fire)

i. Enable a safe and efficient evacuation during an emergency situation;

ii. Minimise the adverse impacts of an emergency evacuation on people; the environment and
property

iii. Ensure regulatory requirements are fully met.

b. Incident investigation & reporting

i. Employees are legally required to report hazardous situations and any injury or harm to
health.
ii. Employees have a legal obligation to cooperate with the employer whilst investigating
incidents and hazards.
iii. The University is legally required to provide, and maintain, so far as is practicable, a working

iv. environment in which employees are not exposed to hazards.

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Professional Year Program
BSBWHS401 – Work, Health & Safety
Assessment Task 1.1 – Knowledge Questions
v. Follow emergency procedures  take immediate action to minimize risk notify local
authority, HSE director and Emergency management

c. Hazard management

i. Risk assessment should be undertaken when new hazard has been identified or a change in
the workplace may introduce or change a hazard

ii. C.H.A.R.M Risk assessment guide is used in Curtin

9. Why is consultation an essential mechanism for minimizing health and safety risks in the workplace culture?
Consultation is a legal requirement in managing health and safety risks as a safe working environment can be
achieved easier when everyone is involved in the work of identifying hazards and risks, talks about work
health and safety (WHS) concerns, matters and cooperate together to find solutions.

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Disclaimer: Printed copies of this document are regarded as uncontrolled
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© Navitas Professional 2015 ABN 25 100 404 199