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
A PCBU has the primary duty of care to ensure the health and safety of workers while they are at
work in the business or undertaking.
b. the organisation’s responsibilities
An organisation is responsible for ensuring work carried out does not carry risk to the health and
safety of others.

c. first-line/supervisors manager’s responsibilities

first-line supervisors are responsible for the maintenance of equipment, directing workers to service
or repair equipment, and for ensuring that workers follow safety regulations.

d. the employees’ responsibilities

take reasonable care for their own health and safety. take reasonable care for the health and safety
of others who may affected by their acts or omissions.

2. What are safety committees and who are safety representatives?

The committee is comprised of health and safety representatives (HSRs) and PCBU representatives, such as
senior managers who have the necessary positions to important decisions. At least 50% of the individuals on
the committee must be workers.

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.

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Professional Year Program
BSBWHS401 – Work, Health & Safety
Assessment Task 1.1 – Knowledge Questions
4. What is the difference between a hazard and a risk?

A hazard is something that can cause harm, e.g. electricity, chemicals, working up a ladder, noise, a keyboard,
a bully at work, stress, etc. A risk is the chance, high or low, that any hazard will actually cause somebody
harm. For example, working alone away from your office can be a hazard.

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

The hierarchy of control creates a systematic approach to managing safety in your workplace by providing a
structure to select the most effective control measures to eliminate or reduce the risk of certain hazards that
have been identified as being caused by the operations of the business.

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.
Codes of practice
A code of practice provides practical guidance for people who have work health and safety duties.

Diving and snorkelling laws

In order to understand the workplace health and safety requirements for diving and your obligations under
the law you must understand relevant Acts, regulations and codes of practice.

Transitional provisions
Transitional provisions are included to smooth the transition to the new requirements which will require
some action by business operators in order to comply.

Consultation and representation

To help business operators provide a safer workplace, they have a duty to consult with workers and other
business operators.

Work Health and Safety and Other Legislation Amendment Act 2017
Information about the Work Health and Safety and Other Legislation Amendment Act 2017, which was
passed in Parliament on 12 October 2017.
7. Locate an organisational 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.

The Royal Children's Hospital (RCH) is committed to the provision of a safe and healthy work environment
for all employees, contractors and visitors.

RCH will maintain records of all hazards, near misses, incidents and injuries for the purposes of minimising
risk of injury and ill-health or the recurrence of an incident. Accordingly, all staff are expected to report
hazards, near misses and incidents and managers are expected to address these in consultation with staff.

In doing so, this will ensure that RCH complies with the requirements of the Occupational Health & Safety
Regulations 2017, the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004 and the Workplace Injury Rehabilitation and
Compensation Act 2013 (WIRC Act).

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

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© Navitas Professional 2015 ABN 25 100 404 199
Professional Year Program
BSBWHS401 – Work, Health & Safety
Assessment Task 1.1 – Knowledge Questions
Hazard Reporting- If a hazard requires greater investigation and the sourcing of risk controls, this should be
recorded by the manager or the reporting staff member within VHIMS and the proposed risk controls
identified in consultation with the Health and Safety Representative.

Near Miss and Incident Reporting- If a person has been injured the need for first aid should be assessed and
action taken as appropriate. Managers should follow the Early Intervention Guide. If the near miss / incident
is considered to be serious, the manager should contact the WHS team for advice. The WHS team will advise
regarding the notification of the incident to WorkSafe.

Injury Reporting- Any injury to staff or visitors should be recorded within VHIMS by the manager or the
reporting staff member

9. Why is consultation an essential mechanism for minimizing health and safety risks in the workplace culture?

Consultation is a legal requirement and an essential part of managing health and safety risks. A safe
workplace is more easily achieved when everyone involved in the work communicates with each other to
identify hazards and risks, talks about work health and safety (WHS) concerns, and works together to find
solutions.

454125074.doc P a g e |3
Disclaimer: Printed copies of this document are regarded as uncontrolled
Please check Navitas Professional – Careers & Internships Workplace Information Point to ensure this is the latest version
© Navitas Professional 2015 ABN 25 100 404 199