Everyone is entitled to work in an environment where risks to their health, safety and wellbeing are adequately controlled. While the employer has a primary role for creating a safe environment, everyone has a responsibility for their own health and safety, the safety and wellbeing of colleagues, customers, and anyone else affected by what they do, or don’t do.
There are many way ways of approaching and managing health and safety. Some industries have more risk than others, i.e. office work and heavy engineering. Every business and every person has a role in ensuring health, safety and wellbeing are implemented and effective in every workplace.
Starting with what is essential:
Why is Health, Safety and Wellbeing Important for every business?
Who is responsible?
Workplace Hazards - Identifying what could harm us.
How do we control hazards?
Why is Health, Safety and Wellbeing in the Workplace so Important?
We spend a considerable amount of time at work. People are harmed seriously through accidents, or gradually through exposure to environmental hazards like noise, chemicals and even sunshine.
Our safety, caring for those we work with, and the safety and wellbeing for people exposed to our work, is achieved by continuously improving our attitude and contribution. Actively identifying and controlling existing or potential hazards forms an integral part of a safe and healthy workplace environment.
Our attitudes are an essential contributor in ensuring everyone participates to an environment where our safety, our health, and our wellbeing (Mental and physical) are a priority. Done well health and safety is good for business; it is good for productivity, staff engagement, and the reputation of the organisation.
What legislation applies to the New Zealand workplace?
The Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 and related regulations apply. The Act and related regulations require that workers and others get the highest level of protection from workplace health and safety risks.
Legislation for New Zealand workplaces includes:
Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 and Regulations (HSWA)
Accident Compensation Act 2001
Employment Relations Act 2000.
Who has responsibility for Health, Safety and Wellbeing in the Workplace?
The business and its people have different roles and responsibilities. Under the requirements of the Health and Safety at Work Act (HSWA) four groups are identified:
PCBU - The Business.
Officers – Business leaders, including the board and CEO.
Workers - Management and Staff.
Others - Customers, or those who interact with or are affected by the business.
1) The Business - The business, known in the HSWA as the “Person Conducting a Business or Undertaking”, has a “Primary Duty of Care” and is responsible for the care of its workers. It must also ensure that there is no risk to customers, visitors or members of the public who may be impacted by the business activity.
2) Officers – Board members, partners, directors, and the CEO can significantly influence the management of the organisation and are known as “Officers”. Officers have a “Duty of Due Diligence”. The duty, in part, is to ensure they keep up to date with risks, resources, and processes to eliminate risk.
3) Workers – If you do any form of work for a business, you are identified as a worker. You have a legal and moral responsibility to look after yourself and those you work with or encounter. You must follow any reasonable instructions related to health, safety, and wellbeing, and cooperate with any reasonable business policy or procedure relating to health and safety. Proactive identification of hazards and reporting any accidents or near misses form part of your duty.
4) Others – Casual volunteers, visitors to a workplace (e.g. courier drivers, clients, suppliers), customers, or any public who come in contact with the business activity are identified as “others”. Even though the business may not pay you, you have a similar responsibility to that of the worker, ensuring you care for yourself and others. You must follow instructions and cooperate with any reasonable policy or procedure relating to health and safety.
Where to start – Identifying the things that are going to harm people.
It is essential to keep health, safety, and wellbeing top of mind. As organisations get bigger, they may engage in specialist help. Health and Safety Representatives can take responsibility for representing groups or divisions within an organisation. A Health and Safety Consultant/Manager may be engaged to ensure communication, training, business processes and continuous improvement systems are in place.
For smaller business, it should be less complicated, yet no less important. Effective communication and ensuring those who work for and with the business must take health and safety seriously.
Identify Hazards – The best way to identify things that can cause harm in the workplace is to talk to those who are doing the work. In some cases, risks may not be evident because they have become normalised. Observing the way things are done and making suggestions for improvement may not only eliminate hazards and enable controlling them, but it may also improve productivity.
Engage in training – Everyone in the workplace should have access to training related to health and safety and how they can play a role in ongoing improvement. People who have worked in a business for many years should not be excluded from training and education opportunities. Long term workers may be at higher potential risk because of complacency, or extended exposure to noise or other previously unidentified hazards.
Give Everyone a voice – Everyone is at risk from harm. No matter if you are a leader or a casual volunteer and regardless of the type of business. Having a way to communicate your concerns adequately, suggest ideas for improvement and being given opportunities to share knowledge is a good thing for any business. How to do this forms part of the engagement process specific to your business, industry, culture, and resourcing.
Controls – When you know what harms you, what do you do about it?
Knowing the risks associated with hazards in your workplace, taking appropriate measures to manage the risks (controls) and reviewing these regularly all form part of a workplace risk management process.
The most effective control is elimination. If you can change the way work is done and remove the hazard entirely, then the risk of harm is gone. If elimination is not possible, then a sliding scale of minimisation controls need to be implemented.
The Hierarchy of Controls
Elimination
Can the hazardous substance be removed from the workplace?
Minimisation
If elimination is not possible, consider (in this order):
Substitution: Whether the substance could be replaced by one posing less risk, such as substituting solvent-based inks with inks made from vegetable oil.
Isolation: Isolating the hazard can prevent people from coming into contact with it; for example, spray painting in a fully automated booth.
Engineering control measures: Apply physical control measures to minimise risk, such as ventilation.
Administrative controls: If engineering controls are not sufficient to remove the risk, you are required to apply processes to make your workplace safer, e.g. job rotation to reduce the time someone could have exposure to a hazardous substance.
Personal protective equipment (PPE): If the risk remains after all other measures have been applied, you must supply and ensure the use of personal protective equipment. For example, respirators to protect staff from inhaling hazardous substances.
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