Occupational Health & Safety

Workers.com.au (henceforth "Workers") takes very seriously its obligations as an employer under the various Occupational Heath & Safety Acts and Regulations. Whilst it doesn't have physical control over its clients' workplace, it expects that contractors legally employed by Workers can conduct their work in a safe workplace.

To that end, Workers expects its client companies to provide a safe workplace, and to meet all their legal obligations pertaining to having a duty of care to contractors employed by Workers. We also expect that an appropriate induction be given to all our contractors at the beginning of their assignment to our client companies. If we are unable to satisfy ourselves that a safe workplace exists, we will decline to provide our employment service.

Equally important, contractors also are legally obliged to take all reasonable steps to ensure their own safety and that of other persons who may be affected by their actions at work.

In the event that a contractor employed by us is injured, the workplace OH&S manager should be informed, and we or our insurer should be contacted by telephone immediately. Our insurer is GIO Workers Compensation (NSW) Ltd. (Telephone: 1300 652150, Our Policy No: WC299448G). Where required, the claim form can be downloaded from our Resources section of this site, and completed and then faxed to us or GIO (Fax: 1300 652151).

The following is an extract from WorkCover NSW Health & Safety Guide "Your Business and the Law", and serves as a useful reminder as to what our obligations are as employers.

As an employer, you have a legal responsibility called a "duty of care" to protect the health and safety of people in your workplace. This includes people who work for you casually, part-time, full-time, permanently, as volunteers or as outworkers, plus members of the public while they are in your workplace.

Under the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2000 and the Occupational Health and Safety Regulation 2001, anyone who can affect health and safety in the workplace has a legal responsibility to protect it. This includes manufacturers, suppliers, designers and controllers of work places (including owners) and employees.

As an employer you must provide:

• A safe workplace and safe ways of working.
• Equipment, tools and machinery in a safe condition.
• Safe and hygienic facilities, including toilets, eating areas and first aid.
• Information, training and supervision to all workers.
• A process for consultation with workers and to keep workers informed and involved in decisions that may affect their health and safety.
• Processes for identifying hazards, assessing risks and controlling risks.

The legal obligations for all parties in the workplace are set out in the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2000 and in the Occupational Health and Safety Regulation 2001. The risk management provisions in the Regulation require employers and others to carry out:

• Hazard identification
• Risk assessment
• Elimination or control of risks

The following NSW Workcover-recommended "Six Steps to Safety" provides you with the basic information you need to meet your legal obligations in NSW.

STEP 1 - Responsibilities for workplace safety. The first place to start is to find out the occupational health and safety requirements that apply to your business. Be aware of who has a specific responsibility. This can form the basis of your safety policy. The health and safety responsibilities documented in the Six Steps to Safety section will help you to do this.

STEP 2 - Plan to work safely. This step is about planning. Safety at work involves thinking about what activities happen in your workplace. You can then identify the tasks and procedures which will control the risks arising from those activities. This will allow you to plan safety into each work activity. More detailed information on Planning to Work Safely is in this kit.

STEP 3 - Involve your employees This important step involves consultation. Talk to your employees and set up ways for them to be involved and contribute to decisions that may affect health and safety in the workplace. For example, raise health and safety issues with your staff and display health and safety information in your workplace.

STEP 4 - Develop procedures. This step is designed to assist you in starting the process of identifying the hazards in your workplace and assessing any risks to health and safety associated with them. If you find you need further information, WorkCover's Guide to Risk Management at Work may be of assistance.

STEP 5 - Inform and train your employees. In this step you use the procedures developed in steps 3 and 4 to inform employees about hazards in their job and workplace. The outcomes of the previous steps along with safe work procedures can be used as a training tool. Provide employees, particularly those who are new to the workplace or job, with information, training and supervision. A very simple training checklist is provided.

STEP 6 - Monitor and review. Review the steps you have taken to manage health and safety in your workplace. Adjust your program to address any workplace or legislative changes. See the Health and Safety Program Review Sheet in this kit.

Managing health and safety is an ongoing process that should form part of the way you do business. Your processes, operation and staff may change over time and so may the risks. Make sure you continually review your program to ensure it still addresses any workplace or legislative changes. All businesses should take these simple steps to improve the way they manage health and safety in the workplace.

By using these steps as a guide and applying them to suit your business, you will be off to a good start. A more detailed explanation of these steps can be found in WorkCover's Guide to Risk Management at Work. However, simply completing these steps will not necessarily ensure you have met all the legal requirements that may apply to your business. Refer to the parts of the Occupational Health and Safety Regulation 2001 that apply to your business.

Legislation and other information can be downloaded from the WorkCover NSW Internet site www.workcover.nsw.gov.au.