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Cover page images

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|[pic] |Image: 'Dunedin ICT Internship Speed Dating 2010' by Samuel Mann |

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|[pic] |Image: 'What keeps us connected...' by cell105 |

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Table of Contents

Resource 1

2. Raise WHS issues with others 5

2.1 Raise relevant WHS issues in meetings and support others to do this 5

Activity 2.1.1 5

Activity 2.1.2 6

2.2 Record and communicate discussions and outcomes 7

2.3 Follow up outcomes 8

2.4 Communicate outcomes to others 9

Activity 2.4.1 10

Check Your Understanding 10

Using the Unit Notes

Icons and symbols are used throughout the guide to provide quick visual references. They indicate the following:

|Icon |Meaning |Icon |Meaning |

|[pic] |ACTIVITY: An activity is listed to be | |ACTIVITY: A Learning activity requiring |

| |completed | |some physical action |

|[pic] |WWW: A web link is listed | |REFLECTION: A point is to be considered and|

| | | |thought about more deeply |

|[pic] |IMPORTANT: A pivotal point is detailed |[pic] |SEARCH: A particular item / book etc needs |

| | | |to be found and applied |

2. Raise WHS issues with others

In order to effectively promote a safe work environment, it is prudent that safe work practices be adopted. We will look at how to raise and support the implementation of safe work practices with other relevant staff members.

2.1 Raise relevant WHS issues in meetings and support others to do this

A WHS Committee meeting is essentially conducted just like any other business meeting. In any organisation there is likely to be finance meetings, production meetings, administration meetings, union meetings and perhaps social club meetings.

Today it is possible to become involved in a meeting face-to-face, via teleconference, via video-conference, via online collaboration software and eventually via 3D-holograms. However, the structure of meetings has not changed that much over time and regardless of the technology being used, you need to be prepared before the meeting starts.

The WHS meeting might include the following areas:

• WHS issues that have been raised.

• WHS training needs, including inductions.

• WHS needs, e.g. purchase of equipment or resources

• Consideration of hazards, incidents and injuries in the workplace

• Review of action associated with corrective actions associated with of hazards, incidents and injuries

• Assignment of new actions associated with corrective actions associated with of hazards, incidents and injuries

Activity 2.1.1

Inspect “Meeting Procedures ...what to expect and what is expected” () for one example of how the process is likely to unfold. What happens if someone wants to raise an issue at a meeting that was not on the agenda?

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Note – in the above website, the chairperson is referred to as “he” but obviously means “she/he” depending on who the chairperson is.

Also note that WHS meetings do not usually require formal “motions that are moved and seconded by participants of the meetings”. They involve discussion from many points of view (safety, production targets, management, union, etc.) any rely on a consensus of opinion to arrive at the best agreed decision.

Examine this example of a WHS Committee meeting template again (remember that OHS would now be WHS) to assess what roles will be needed to carry out a successful meeting –



Also take the time to have a look at the following site to see how one organisation has implemented their WHS committee:

At a WHS meeting there are staff who will -

• Be the “meeting organiser”. This person will arrange the meeting, setting the day and time, room booking, technology, notification emails (to attendees), etc. Depending on the number of participants and their roles in the organisation there may be some considerable effort in finding a suitable time for the meeting, giving consideration to work schedules, other commitments (such as other meetings) and critical tasks (e.g. end of month tasks). This person may also be responsible for emailing out the minutes of the meeting after its conclusion.

The meeting organiser may not actually attend the meeting.

• “Chair” the meeting. This may not be the same person in each meeting and in fact it is not uncommon for the chairperson appointment to rotate between the regular meeting attendees

• Act as the “minute taker”, recording the meeting. There must always be a detailed record of what happened and what was said during the meeting. This role may also be assigned on a rotational basis. It may be that the minute taker is not actually a participant in the meeting.

• Attend the meeting as an “Attendee”.

o There is likely to be a “quorum” which specifies the minimum number of attendees (including the chairperson and the minute-taker, if they are a participant) before the meeting can proceed. This is to ensure that a balanced view of the issues is taken.

o Although it should be a rare event, the meeting will be cancelled or postponed if the quorum is not met. The meeting will need to be rescheduled or abandoned, taking into consideration the policy of the organisation and also the requirements of the legislation.

Activity 2.1.2

Research and briefly report on the role of both the “chairperson” and the “minute taker” for a meeting.

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It is important that you share your knowledge of WHS with other staff in your workplace. You can support them in following the workplace processes, including raising WHS issues through the appropriate channels. If you are involved in in the WHS committee directly you might find that your ability to support others in the workplace is even greater and you should look to provide support wherever possible or direct staff to those who are enabled to support them best.

Consider how you might support staff in general with raising WHS issues should they mention these in general discussions with you. In doing this you might like to do some research on procedures for reporting WHS matters in a variety of businesses.

2.2 Record and communicate discussions and outcomes

When the WHS meeting occurs there will be discussion about each of the items on the agenda. Some of those discussions will lead to a decision on behalf of the WHS committee. That decision may be, for example:

• To purchase new equipment – e.g. fire extinguishers or a printer that uses safer components and/or consumables.

• Lead to the appointment of new or changed staff positions to implement or monitor WHS issues.

• Change to way that the organisation operates.

o Organisational practice – for example, delivery trucks may now have to arrive via a certain entrance as there have been “near misses” using the previous route. A number of staff may be affected.

o Organisational culture – “smoking breaks” may be reduced or moved to a better location.

The decisions above will usually lead to one or more of the committee members being assigned the “Action” of ensuring that the decision is carried out within a certain timeframe.

• Those members names are recorded against the decision “Action” and “Date to be completed” in the minutes.

• The “Action” may then become your responsibility or that of other individuals.

• When the next WHS meeting occurs, the minutes from the previous meeting are read out including all Actions.

o The expectation is that you will complete your actions by the date that was set. If you arrive at the meeting with your “Actions” not completed on time you will need to provide a reasonable excuse.

Consider what you think might be a reasonable excuse for not completing an action by the due date.

You should always work to meet the deadline to complete an “Action” and consider the following if the deadline is not achievable:

• Liaising with other members of the group about reallocation of the task if you are overcommitted.

• Seeking an extension prior to the due date if there is a reasonable excuse for doing so.

• Making arrangements to have the “Action” completed by a set date that is as soon as possible after the due date so that you can present to the meeting the fact that the resolution is scheduled or underway.

• Putting in place an intermediate solution, this might for example involve use of an Administrative Control such as signage until it is possible to implement the action to eliminate a risk. This is associated to use of the Hierarchy of Controls, for more information see WorkCover NSW – “Hierarchy of Controls”

2.3 Follow up outcomes

Depending on your role within the business you may be called upon to monitor actions associated with WHS. How this is achieved will vary from place to place, and for large organisations you may be responsible for only a subset of this task.

Let us consider two scenarios that might apply:

Scenario 1

Bill works for a large multinational company. He is a member of the WHS committee for his site. His role includes being responsible for monitoring Incident related Remedial Actions and following up those actions to ensure that they are closed out appropriately. Bill is usually a site supervisor but each Monday morning he takes the time to go into the Incident Management System and run the Outstanding Actions Report. In this system there are generally 15 active incidents with 10-20 outstanding actions. This report shows Bill:

• what actions are pending completion, but not yet due

• what actions are due today

• what actions are overdue

• which open incidents do not yet have any actions assigned to them

For each action that is due today the system will automatically send an email to the person responsible reminding them to complete the action, Bill castes his eyes over the list to check for any known issues, e.g. Larry is away this week and he has an action due today. Bill might reassign actions if necessary.

For each action that is overdue Bill will contact the person responsible directly and discuss what is going on. Sometimes Bill will grant an extension or he might provide assistance or arrange for other support or resources (e.g. tools) to get the action completed.

Bill also does checks on actions completed a month ago where the incident was categorised as significant or moderate to ensure that the action had the desired effect, e.g. did the new slip proof paint on the steps actually reduce slips and could staff confirm the steps were in fact now safer?

Lastly Bill will check the date and risk rating of open incidents without actions. If Bill sees that the incident is over 24 hours and serious he will contact the allocated staff member for the incident to find out what is happening, for moderate incidents he will wait a week before following up this matter.

Bill works to the organisations procedure to the letter, he is a stickler for doing things right. He is very proud to be on the WHS committee.

Scenario 2

Jenny works for a small business. There is 4 staff working from a serviced office building. All the staff review and edit text books for a publishing firm. Jenny is the supervisor and has accepted responsibly for WHS in the workplace. At the weekly team meetings WHS is on the agenda. There are rarely any WHS issues to discuss. Last week Tim raised concerns about the worn carpet in the hall.

Jenny logged a call that day with the building manager to get the carpet addressed before someone trips. Prior to the team meeting today Jenny has checked the meeting agenda, recalled the action to get the carpet addressed and called the building manager to discuss this matter. He advised that either they can replace in 2 months or put a hall runner this week. Jenny plans to discuss this with the team today and decide if the carpet will be safe enough for 2 months as that is her preference. If the team do not believe this is safe Jenny will ask that the hall runner be put in place, knowing full well that the new carpet will likely not be completed in the near future then, as she knows safety of the team is the most important thing.

From these scenarios you can see how different the roles of individuals might be in respect of following up outcomes from WHS meetings and discussions. What is important is that both people take WHS seriously, they are conscious that the actions of the team might affect the wellbeing of others in the workplace. Taking steps to ensure that planned actions are completed and any other agreed outcomes from meetings/discussions are followed through is a vital part of the process. There is no point to agreeing on an action if nobody will take responsibility to ensure that the person responsible will complete the action appropriately and in a timely manner.

2.4 Communicate outcomes to others

The decisions, outcomes and changes must be communicated to all staff. That communication may be undertaken in-person or electronically:

• Emails – instant “mass-mailout”.

• Memo – more formal announcement.

• Newsletters – regular information dissemination

• Presentations – to raise awareness and explain decisions and the implications.

• Group and individual meetings – to allow two-way communications.

• Using interpreters and translators – ensuring that all staff can understand the message.

• Reports – covering the topic in a great deal of detail. Also includes

o Hazard reports

o Incident reports

o Investigation reports

• Minutes of meetings from incident investigations.

• First aid records - valuable historical data.

• Workshops and training for the staff.

• Websites, journals and the intranet – for on-going reference to the new policies, procedures, forms, etc.

Activity 2.4.1

A recent decision of the WHS Committee, of which you are a member, will have personal implications for staff. For example, you have an “Action” to ensure safety by defining the type of clothes that staff should wear to work.

Suggest which forms of communication above you might use and why?

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The following link will take you to a document that will help you understand how real world organisations implement procedures that integrate WHS into the work environment it also contains some excellent references to sources of WHS information. Take a look at the information contained in this document.

Check Your Understanding

I can now -

❒ Raise relevant WHS issues in meetings and support others to do this.

❒ Record and communicate WHS discussions and their outcomes according to workplace procedures.

❒ Follow up the outcomes of meetings as appropriate.

❒ Communicate outcomes of these meetings to others

Remember – the monitoring and improving of WHS is an iterative process. It is never really a process that has been “completed”.

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Resource

BSBWHS304A Participate effectively in WHS communication and consultation processes

Topic 2

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