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Undertaking a COVID-19 Risk Assessment for your workplace

Undertaking a COVID-19 Risk Assessment for your workplace

Have you undertaken a current risk assessment to identify the risks associated with exposure to COVID-19 in your workplace? Safe Work Australia has published a downloadable checklist you can follow with the key considerations for identifying risks and control measures.

Some of the considerations to include in your risk assessment include:

  • What is the latest advice from the government and key industry and employee associations on control measures?
  • What is the current advice from health authorities about the current situation and case numbers, public health orders and health directions for COVID-19 cases in the local community/region? Information on the latest number and location of COVID-19 cases (including in some cases heat maps) is available from your jurisdictional health authority here >>
  • Does the nature of the work undertaken by my business increase the risk of my workers being exposed to COVID-19?
  • Does my workplace have facilities for hand washing and/or hand sanitising?
  • Does my workplace environment/set-up increase the risk of my workers and/or clients being exposed to COVID-19 and can this be changed?
  • Do I have workers that fall within a vulnerable worker category?
  • What are my current cleaning and disinfecting arrangements and are they consistent with guidance provided by Safe Work Australia?
  • How prepared is my business if there is a case of COVID-19 in the workplace?
  • What worker communication and support mechanisms are in place?
  • Do the changes I plan to make to my business or changes arising from COVID-19 change the risk?
  • Do I have a plan to review my control measures to ensure they are effective?

You can download detailed Key considerations for undertaking a risk assessment – COVID-19 from Safe Work Australia here https://www.safeworkaustralia.gov.au/doc/key-considerations-undertaking-risk-assessment-covid-19

Source: Safe Work Australia https://www.safeworkaustralia.gov.au

Ready to train your people in risk management, hazard identification and subcontractor management?

We have a range of programs to train your people in risk management, hazard identification  and subcontractor management which can be tailored specifically to your industry and organisational needs. Training can be delivered as individual modules or as part of one of our accredited programs.

You can see our full program suite here >> or see some relevant units below:

Risk Assessment & Hazard Identification

This program helps you identify and describe the difference between a hazard and a risk, and introduces a way of thinking about hazard identification and risk management as an everyday activity.

It will also enhance the skills and capabilities of leaders in the areas of hazard identification, risk analysis and identification and how to implement appropriate risk controls.

Download the course outline>>

Subcontractor Management

Learn to effectively manage WHS site risks and performance by learning how to effectively select, manage and monitor the complex and difficult world of subcontractors.  It also covers the WHS obligations regarding subcontractors, stepping through the various stages of effective subcontractor management, including assessing, evaluating safety history, attitude and managing expectations of performance and reporting.

See our 1-day program >>

BSB41415 Certificate IV in WHS

The BSB41415 Certificate IV in Work Health and Safety is a nationally accredited program which will teach you how to identify hazards in the workplace, assist with responding to incidents, assess and control risk and consult on work health and safety issues. This program is most suited to those in a Safety Officer or Health and Safety Representatives role, or those currently in leadership roles wishing to shift their career into Health and Safety. This program is currently being updated.

Read more about this program >>

Want to find out more about how we can customise our programs to your industry and organisation?
Let's talk!
Call us on 1300 453 555, email info@ldn.com.au or use our contact form here.

From our blog

WHS Learner Profile – Kevin Walker

WHS Learner Profile – Kevin Walker

, ,

Kevin Walker recently undertook the  BSB41415 Certificate IV in Work Health and Safety, a nationally recognised qualification which trained him to identify hazards in the workplace, assist with responding to incidents, assess and control risk, and consult on work...

read more
Workplace Manslaughter becomes law in Victoria on July 1st 2020

Workplace Manslaughter becomes law in Victoria on July 1st 2020

Victoria has made Workplace Manslaughter a criminal offence and will now have the highest safety fine in the country with maximum penalties of $16.5m and 20 years jail.

Victoria is the third state after ACT and Queensland to legislate to make Workplace Manslaughter a criminal offence. The new laws will commence on 1 July 2020, but those found negligent before the legislation commences may still be prosecuted if an organisation’s work policies caused a workplace fatality before the commencement date.

When will Workplace Manslaughter apply in Victoria?

Workplace Manslaughter applies when all of the elements of the offence are proven:

  • the accused is a body corporate or a person who is not an employee or volunteer
  • the accused owed the victim a duty of care pursuant to sections 21 to 24 or sections 26 to 31 of the OHS Act (this includes duties owed to employees, contractors and members of the public) (applicable duties)
  • the accused breached that duty by criminal negligence in circumstances where there was a high risk of death, serious injury or serious illness
  • the act that breached the duty of care was committed consciously and voluntarily
  • the accused’s breach of the duty causes the victim’s death.

Workplace Manslaughter may apply even when the death of the person occurs sometime after the relevant incident. For example, depending on the circumstances, if an employee develops an asbestos-related disease after an employer exposed them to asbestos without the use of adequate personal protective equipment.

Who can be charged with Workplace Manslaughter?

A person, a body corporate, an unincorporated body or association or a partnership, including government entities and officers of these entities (but not employees or volunteers), who owe applicable duties to ensure the health and safety of another person in the workplace, can be charged with Workplace Manslaughter.

However, in certain circumstances, officers of organisations may be charged if their organisation owes applicable duties:

  • directors and secretaries of companies
  • partners of a partnership or joint venture
  • the trustee of a trust
  • persons who participate in the making of decisions that affect a substantial part of the organisations business
  • persons who have the capacity to affect significantly the organisations financial standing.

Negligent conduct

Voluntary and deliberate conduct is ‘negligent’ if it involves a great falling short of the standard of care that a reasonable person would have exercised in the circumstances and involves a high risk of death, serious injury or serious illness. It is a test that looks at what a reasonable person in the situation of the accused would have done in the circumstances. The test is based on existing common law principles in Victoria.

Negligent conduct can include a failure to act.

Examples of negligent conduct may include when a person:

  • does not adequately manage, control or supervise its employees
  • does not take reasonable action to fix a dangerous situation, in circumstances where failing to do so causes a high risk of death, serious injury or serious illness.

Causation: the conduct caused death

It must be established that it was the accused’s negligently criminal breach of the duty of care that caused the death. That is, his or her acts or omissions must have contributed significantly to the death, or been a substantial and operative cause of it. The acts or omissions must be such that an ordinary person would hold them, as a matter of common sense, to be a cause of the death. This is the existing common law test of causation.

Penalties

If convicted of Workplace Manslaughter, the following maximum penalties apply:

  • A maximum of 20 years imprisonment for individuals
  • A maximum fine of $16.5 million for body corporates

Note – negligent conduct before the legislation commences may still be relevant for the purposes of prosecution if an organisation’s omission to amend unsafe work policies causes a workplace fatality post-commencement.

SOURCE: https://www.worksafe.vic.gov.au/victorias-new-workplace-manslaughter-offences

Ready to train your people in risk management, hazard identification and subcontractor management?

We have a range of programs to train your people in risk management, hazard identification  and subcontractor management which can be tailored specifically to your industry and organisational needs. Training can be delivered as individual modules or as part of one of our accredited programs.

You can see our full program suite here >> or see some relevant units below:

Risk Assessment & Hazard Identification

This program helps you identify and describe the difference between a hazard and a risk, and introduces a way of thinking about hazard identification and risk management as an everyday activity.

It will also enhance the skills and capabilities of leaders in the areas of hazard identification, risk analysis and identification and how to implement appropriate risk controls.

Download the course outline>>

Subcontractor Management

Learn to effectively manage WHS site risks and performance by learning how to effectively select, manage and monitor the complex and difficult world of subcontractors.  It also covers the WHS obligations regarding subcontractors, stepping through the various stages of effective subcontractor management, including assessing, evaluating safety history, attitude and managing expectations of performance and reporting.

See our 1-day program >>

BSB41415 Certificate IV in WHS

The BSB41415 Certificate IV in Work Health and Safety is a nationally accredited program which will teach you how to identify hazards in the workplace, assist with responding to incidents, assess and control risk and consult on work health and safety issues. This program is most suited to those in a Safety Officer or Health and Safety Representatives role, or those currently in leadership roles wishing to shift their career into Health and Safety. This program is currently being updated.

Read more about this program >>

Want to find out more about how we can customise our programs to your industry and organisation?
Let's talk!
Call us on 1300 453 555, email info@ldn.com.au or use our contact form here.

From our blog

WHS Learner Profile – Kevin Walker

WHS Learner Profile – Kevin Walker

, ,

Kevin Walker recently undertook the  BSB41415 Certificate IV in Work Health and Safety, a nationally recognised qualification which trained him to identify hazards in the workplace, assist with responding to incidents, assess and control risk, and consult on work...

read more
7 tips for keeping your remote working team safe and engaged

7 tips for keeping your remote working team safe and engaged

What does ‘work’ look like for you and your team in this current situation?

If your team is working remotely, there may be a lack of certainty about when we may all be able to return to work as we knew it, and when we do, what will it be like?  Even over conferencing platforms like Zoom or WebEx, chances are the face-to-face natural social interactions you’d share in the workplace have dramatically diminished over the past few months.

At the same time, there may be a change in domestic dynamics – perhaps both you and your partner are working from home using technology, you may have children still in the home which presents its own challenges. Plus many are on reduced hours and are trying to do more with less time.

As a leader, you also worry about looking after your peoples’ wellbeing, output and results while dealing with your own situation. We all have different levels of resilience, different needs for social interaction, different needs for the amount of feedback and interaction with our leaders.

The effect can be, to say the least, psychologically stressing on everyone.

Yet work needs to go on. How do you do this?

Firstly as a leader, identify what your needs are at this time.
How does being naturally introverted or extroverted impact you in this situation and under what conditions do you do your best work? Are you missing the hum of the office or are you happy working squirrelled away from your remote location?

These factors will likely influence your leadership response and accessibility at this time.

What we do know, however, is that under our obligations under the WHS/OHS Acts, Regulations and Codes of Practice such as Communication and Consultation and Risk Management – leaders in organisations need to demonstrate Duty of Care.

Here are 7 tips for keeping your people safe and engaged while working remotely

1.Ensure your people are safe wherever they are working
Employers’ duties extend to workers who work from home or remotely, and must take steps to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health and safety of their workers.  Comcare has developed a Working From Home Checklist for employers and workers with guidance and measures on how they can meet their respective work health and safety obligations.

Download the Working From Home Checklist here >>.

2. Give people space
Acknowledge that work is different in many aspects when working remotely. This is the time to assess people on their output, not the clock, and short of installing surveillance cameras in everyone’s home, leaders have to trust people. A study from the Society for Human Resource Management found 77% of workers reported greater productivity while working offsite; 30% said they accomplished more in less time and 24 % said they accomplished more in the same amount of time.

Encourage your people to use outdoor spaces where possible when they take breaks from their computer and try to incorporate some exercise or other activity as part of their working day.

Trust people to do the right things, even though their days might be a mash-up of stop-start-stop-start-stop-stop-start, most people are bending over backwards to do a great job from home.

3.Create community – The Virtual Water Cooler
Create an open room in an online meeting tool like Zoom, WebEX, Skype or Microsoft Teams, and give your team the meeting code so they can join from wherever they are.
Set a time in the workday that works for everyone, say a morning coffee break, afternoon tea or end of the week “wine time” (or “whine time”) where people drop into the online meeting and can see each other and talk about non-work related things. Being able to see one another makes a difference. This is not a work meeting, it’s an essential mental health break.

4. Communicate and tell it straight
Create a weekly “News from the Trenches” via email, video or Facebook live (to a private group of your people, if it’s appropriate for your workplace) –– that outlines how the organisation is going – any initiatives, new clients/opportunities – feedback from clients and customers – how many sales made etc. Be straight, but positive where you can. Anything that reinforces that the business is making headway. A lot of people are terrified about losing their jobs or businesses closing down for good. If you can, reassure them of the steps the business is taking, what government assistance your business is utilising to keep them employed and the business operating, as well as future plans. Knowing is better than the fear of the unknown.

5. Reach out personally
As a leader, call your people regularly and ask “How are you going?”, “What can I/the business do to support you?”, “Do you have the resources to do your job remotely?” and check-in on their wellbeing. Keep them up to date with anything impacting their specific role or responsibilities and ask for ways that you can collaborate to further improve the remote working scenario.
If someone is struggling who is usually a great performer, reach out and ask them how they’re doing and seek to understand where they are at – is it a resourcing issue? The business landscape? Are the complexities of their specific role challenging to do remotely? Is it stress from the dynamics at home? Complete exhaustion? The key is to also listen and acknowledge rather than just talking.

6. Acknowledge people
Most team members thrive on positive feedback, acknowledge them for what they’ve done well either publically or personally and let them know their hard work under the current working conditions hasn’t gone unnoticed.

7. Turn fears into ideas – innovate
While some industries and business are being disrupted and decimated by the pandemic response, others are innovating their way to survival. Ask your team if they see any opportunities to innovate – has the current situation created any opportunities to offer new products, in new ways into new channels or to innovate with processes? Ask if people have any suggestions or can see any new opportunities – how can you turn fears into ideas? Your people are some of the best resources you’ll have for coming up with business innovation and this may be a new opportunity to thrive, both as a business and as an engaged remote team.

Research source: Society for Human Resource Management 
https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/hr-topics/technology/pages/teleworkers-more-productive-even-when-sick.aspx

Want to train your staff at home or remotely?
LDN Interactive (LDN-i) – helping organisations train and develop staff while isolated

Leadership Dimensions, Safety Dimensions and Workplace Dimensions programs are now available through a facilitator-led, real-time, interactive training environment – via computer.

We don’t offer pre-recorded online programs – just the same experience of our face-to-face programs, delivered differently.

Find out more >>

5 tips for working successfully with subcontractors

5 tips for working successfully with subcontractors

Organisations are increasingly including subcontractors in their internal training, so everyone is aligned under a single Health & Safety framework. Not only is this beneficial for alignment of safety behaviours, but from a WHS compliance perspective, you have a duty of care to everyone who walks on site – and this includes your subcontractors.

Here are 5 things you should do to meet your WHS obligations and make partnering with your subcontractors run smoothly.

 

1. Know your obligations

Do you know your legal obligations when it comes to your subcontractors?

If you don’t know how can you plan to be compliant?

PCBUs (Persons Conducting Business or Undertaking) must ensure the health and safety of all workers at work in the business or undertaking including those :

  • who are engaged or are caused to be engaged by the PCBU – this includes subcontractors.
  • whose activities in carrying out work are influenced or directed by the PCBU.

You can check out our video below “WHAT AM I ACCOUNTABLE FOR?” which covers information about your general obligations.

2. Align subbies with your safety culture

Get your subcontractors involved in your internal safety training. Doing a safety course or have a special safety briefing? Get them involved. Subcontractors can’t meet your standards if they don’t know what your standards are. Training should focus on how to build partnerships with your subcontractors, rather than micro-managing them.

 

3. Appropriate supervision

Have regular project meetings to address whether your subcontractors’ performance is meeting the project’s safety and quality requirements. Keep a record of the communications and documentation you share with subcontractors so everyone is clear on who needs to do what, when and how.

 

4. Two-way communication

There should be two way communications between you and your subcontractor. Always be approachable and communicate clearly and succinctly so there’s no room for miscommunication or errors.  When the lines of communication are easy and each side knows the expectations, issues can get resolved more quickly and more gets accomplished.

 

5. Give them feedback

When you need to give your subcontractor feedback, do it in a way that encourages continuous improvement rather than blame, and remediation over retaliation. It’s also important to give positive feedback and acknowledge a job well done.

Want to learn to manage subcontractors?

Our 1-day live and interactive online program via computer or device.

Our program covers the WHS obligations regarding subcontractors and is designed to step through the various stages of effective subcontractor management, including assessing, evaluating safety history, attitudes, performance and reporting.

You will also gain the nationally recognised unit SLCSCM406 Implement and monitor subcontractor work health and safety requirements, which is part of the 10604NAT Certificate IV in Safety Leadership (WHS) – Construction program.

Subcontractor Management is one of our most popular and requested programs, now available to the public via our live and interactive online format, available from anywhere you can access an internet connection.

Program Format & Cost


This program is a facilitator-led, real-time, interactive training environment via an internet-connected computer or device.
This is not a pre-recorded online program, it is the same experience as our face-to-face programs.


Date:  Contact us for upcoming dates here >>

Cost:  $495

Group Discount: 6 or more $395 per person..

GST is not applicable to accredited training.
The program fee includes all materials and assessments.

Read more and enrol

More from our blog

5 tips for working successfully with subcontractors

5 tips for working successfully with subcontractors

Organisations are increasingly including subcontractors in their internal training, so everyone is aligned under a single Health & Safety framework. Not only is this beneficial for alignment of safety behaviours, but from a WHS compliance perspective, you have a duty of care to everyone who walks on site – and this includes your subcontractors.

Here are 5 things you should do to meet your WHS obligations and make partnering with your subcontractors run smoothly.

 

1. Know your obligations

Do you know your legal obligations when it comes to your subcontractors?

If you don’t know how can you plan to be compliant?

PCBUs (Persons Conducting Business or Undertaking) must ensure the health and safety of all workers at work in the business or undertaking including those :

  • who are engaged or are caused to be engaged by the PCBU – this includes subcontractors.
  • whose activities in carrying out work are influenced or directed by the PCBU.

You can check out our video below “WHAT AM I ACCOUNTABLE FOR?” which covers information about your general obligations.

2. Align subbies with your safety culture

Get your subcontractors involved in your internal safety training. Doing a safety course or have a special safety briefing? Get them involved. Subcontractors can’t meet your standards if they don’t know what your standards are. Training should focus on how to build partnerships with your subcontractors, rather than micro-managing them.

 

3. Appropriate supervision

Have regular project meetings to address whether your subcontractors’ performance is meeting the project’s safety and quality requirements. Keep a record of the communications and documentation you share with subcontractors so everyone is clear on who needs to do what, when and how.

 

4. Two-way communication

There should be two way communications between you and your subcontractor. Always be approachable and communicate clearly and succinctly so there’s no room for miscommunication or errors.  When the lines of communication are easy and each side knows the expectations, issues can get resolved more quickly and more gets accomplished.

 

5. Give them feedback

When you need to give your subcontractor feedback, do it in a way that encourages continuous improvement rather than blame, and remediation over retaliation. It’s also important to give positive feedback and acknowledge a job well done.

Want to learn to manage subcontractors?

Our 1-day live and interactive online program via computer or device.

Our program covers the WHS obligations regarding subcontractors and is designed to step through the various stages of effective subcontractor management, including assessing, evaluating safety history, attitudes, performance and reporting.

You will also gain the nationally recognised unit SLCSCM406 Implement and monitor subcontractor work health and safety requirements, which is part of the 10604NAT Certificate IV in Safety Leadership (WHS) – Construction program.

Subcontractor Management is one of our most popular and requested programs, now available to the public via our live and interactive online format, available from anywhere you can access an internet connection.

Program Format & Cost


This program is a facilitator-led, real-time, interactive training environment via an internet-connected computer or device.
This is not a pre-recorded online program, it is the same experience as our face-to-face programs.


Date:  Thursday 4th June 2020

Cost:  $495

Group Discount: 6 or more $395 per person..

GST is not applicable to accredited training.
The program fee includes all materials and assessments.

Read more and enrol

More from our blog