Safety in the Workplace

Keeping everyone in the workplace safe is a requirement of every organisation. In the care and support workplace, the safety of both staff and clients must be protected. Safety considerations include:

• Ensuring PPE is provided and used correctly.
• Providing lifting equipment such as hoists to avoid ergonomic injury.
• Protecting people from biological hazards such as potentially infected blood.

Safety in the workplace is enhanced by the practices put in place by the organisation to reduce the risk of harm or injury to everyone in that work environment. These practices include the implementation and communication of safety policies and procedures, such as proper training for new staff members.

Organisational safety practices need regular inspections to ensure they are fit for purpose and to help in the identification of workplace hazards.

The term 'health and safety' is not just about preventing injury. Ensuring safety in the workplace is important not only for the well-being of employees but also for the productivity and success of the organisation as a whole. A safe work environment can help to reduce the likelihood of accidents and injuries, lower workers' compensation costs, and improve employee morale and satisfaction.

Watch: 7 simple steps to manage work health and safety (3:53 Minutes)

Watch the following video from Norther Territories (NT) WorkSafe, then complete the activity that follows.

Activity

Adapted from 7 simple steps to manage work health and safety.

Activity

Read the MBIE Health and Safety at Work Strategy 2018–2028 document, then answer the questions that follow.

Overall, managing good health and safety matters in your team is crucial for creating a safe and productive workplace, as well as for meeting legal and moral obligations to your employees.

The Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 (HSW Act) came into effect in April 2016 as part of reforms designed to reduce the number of work-related injuries and deaths. The main aim of this legislation is to ensure that everyone in the workplace is responsible for health and safety so everyone goes home at the end of the workday.

The Act requires that everyone in the workplace knows their health and safety risks and manages them proportionally. To achieve this, there is an expectation that the workplace will:

• ensure that everyone has a role to play
• make everyone’s responsibility clear
• focus on managing risk
• require those who create the risk to control the risk
• engage with workers and enable them to participate on an ongoing basis
• allow flexibility in the management of health and safety risks