Occupational Safety & Health, Workers Compensation ... - IDEASWA

1.9 Workplace InspectionsWorkplace inspections are an effective method of identifying hazards.Workplace inspections are the responsibility of the manager. Where there are Occupational Safety and Healthrepresentative(s), they will carry out or be involved in the inspections.Workplace inspections are a formal process used to identify and record hazards, actions required to rectifythe hazard and the effectiveness of the actions taken. The responsibility for hazard identification sits witheveryone in the workplace and everyone else in the workplace is responsible for inspecting their workplaceon an ongoing basis.Our workplace is any place, where employees, volunteers work or are likely to be in the course of their work.The organisation recognises that the workplace can take a wide variety of forms, and can include a privateresidence, other organisations properties and vehicles. Inspections of all of these should also be carried outWorkplace inspections are conducted on regular basis, at least monthly. Inspections should be carried out onall new clients homes at assessment stage where ever possible. This may not be possible in the case of crisiscare however all staff must be adequately trained to identify hazards in these instances.1.10 Hazardous SubstancesAll hazardous substances and chemicals used will be stored and used in accordance with manufacturer’sinstructions. Records shall be maintained of hazardous substances used on all sites.Where there is an alternative a non-hazardous substance will be used in place of hazardous substances.Materials Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) will be provided for all hazardous substances. Each site will have acentral MSDS Register. Where a new hazardous substance is required it must be approved prior to beingintroduced to the site. All new hazardous substances must have MSDS supplied. MSDS will be displayed inthe work area where the hazardous substances are used or stored.Employees required to use hazardous substances must be appropriately trained.Where staff are required to use hazardous substances in a clients home, only approved hazardous substancescan be used. Clients will be informed as part of the initial assessment process which chemicals must not beused.1.11 Incident, accident reporting and investigationsThe organisations aim is to have no workplace injuries or disease however it recognises that incidents thatresult in injury or harm can occur even with the best of systems.Although an incident-free work place is achievable, incidents do occur from time to time. When they do, weneed to manage them to ensure that not only the impact on the person or persons affected is minimised, butalso that we learn from those events and take appropriate action that those events do not re-occur.Lessons can be learnt from incidents and accidents. The lessons learnt are an opportunity to take the necessarycorrective and preventative actions. This will be achieved through effective reporting and investigating ofworkplace incidents and accidents.Incident accident forms are reviewed by management and discussed at safety meetings, staff meetings andother relevant forums.The organisation investigates incidents and accidents to determine causes and to prevent similar incidents oraccidents occurring. The following can be involved in the investigation process:• the person or persons directly involved or affected by the incident or accident;• the relevant manager or supervisor directly in control of the workplace or work activity associated withthe incident or accident;• the relevant OSH representative(s) or other employee representative(s);• people within the workplace with particular technical knowledge or experience of the workplace orwork activity associated with the incident or accident; and/or• external OSH or other specialists.1.12 Notification of Certain Injuries and DiseasesIt is a legal requirement to ensure certain injuries and diseases are notified to WorkSafe. This can be doneby telephone, email, fax or mail.9 10Training Services