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 Home Health & Safety
Occupational Health and Safety
Safety at work is everyone's responsibility. Employers have a responsibility to enure that they provide a safe working environment and that work practices do not place workers at risk. Employees have a responsibility to work safely and in accordance with Occupational Health and Safety policies and procedures established by the employer. The Workplace Health and Safety Act 1995 is the legislation in Tasmania which protects the health and safety of members. The Act requires the establishment of OH&S Committees in Workplaces with 20 or more employees. In workplaces with more than 10 but less than 20 employees an employee OH&S Representative can be elected if the majority of the employees request it. What are the duties and obligations of the employer An employer must ensure employees, while at work, are safe from injury and risks at health. In particular, employers must provide and maintain a safe working environment, safe systems of work, and equipment and substances in a safe condition. The employer is also required to provide any information, instruction, training and supervision reasonably necessary to ensure that each employee is safe from injury and risk to health. If a member identifies a hazard or work practice which they believe by be unsafe they should notify their manager or supervisor immediately. What are my duties and obligations as an employee? It is not only the employer who must take safety at work seriously. Safety at the workplace is every members responsibility. In fact the Act requires members to take reasonable care for the member's own health and safety and for the health and safety of other persons, including persons working under the direction or supervision of the employee. A member must also comply with any direction given to the employee by an employer regarding any safety matters. Can I refuse to work in an unsafe environment? Where an employee has reasonable grounds to believe that, as a result of work being carried on at a workplace, there is a risk of serious injury or harm to the health of any person, a member may refuse to work if it is not within the member's ability to fix or reduce the cause of the risk. A member who is concerned about unsafe equipment, unsafe work practices or anything which may lead to the injury of another person should immediately report the matter to their manager or supervisor. An employee who is considering refusing to work as mentioned above should first contact the TCEEA office and support and advice about this issue will be provided. If you are refusing to work because you believe that you or others are at risk of injury or serious harm then you will only be refusing to perform that part of your duty that places you at risk. You can still be required to perform all other parts of your duty or be moved to another area of work. Once the problem has been fixed you will return to your normal duties. Can my employer discriminate against me if I make a complaint? It is every employee's responsibility to make known to the employer any concerns that you may have regarding safety at your worksite. Your employer cannot discriminate against you or threaten your employment for reporting safety concerns including for any of the following reasons:
If you have raised a reasonable safety issue with your employer and the employer has not taken any action or you feel you have being discriminated against or disadvantaged in any way because you raised the matter then contact the TCEEA office. OHS Committees The TCEEA strongly supports the establishment of Workplace Health and Safety Committees as a way of ensuring that workplaces are as safe as possible. Setting up a Committee Where there are more than 20 workers working at a workplace, whether or not they are all employed by the employer, the management of that workplace must, if requested by a majority of those workers, establish a health and safety committee for that workplace not later than 2 months after being requested to do so. A workplace health and safety committee is made up of employees working at the workplace who have been elected by those employees and can also contain persons appointed by the employer. The number of employees who are elected or persons to be appointed to the committee is to be agreed between the employer and the employees. Unless otherwise agreed between the employer and the majority of employees at the workplace, not less than half of the members of a health and safety committee are to be employees elected by the employees at the workplace. The Role of the Committee The function of an OH&S committee are to facilitate consultation and co-operation between the employer and persons working at the workplace for which the committee is established in initiating, developing and implementing measures designed to ensure the health and safety of the persons at the workplace. The Committee has a right to keep itself informed about standards relating to health and safety in similar types of workplaces. One of the key roles of the Committee is to review and make recommendations to the employer on rules and procedures at that workplace relating to the health and safety of the persons working at the workplace. The Committee can recommend to the employer the establishment of programs and procedures relating to the health and safety of the persons working at the workplace. Recommendations to the employer relating to training, education and promotion of health and safety at the workplace is also an important role of the Committee. The Employer and the Committee Where there is a health and safety committee at a workplace, the employer must make available to the committee information that the employer has about hazards that may arise at that workplace. The employer has a responsibility to consult with the committee on changes proposed to be made at that workplace which may affect the health or safety of persons working at that workplace. The employer must also provide the committee with reasonable resources and assistance in carrying out its role. Training for Committee Members Members of the Committee are entitled to participate in relevant training courses relating to the health and safety of employees. Smaller Workplaces In the case where there are 10 or more, but less than 20 employees employed at the workplace they may elect from time to time an employee to be an employees' safety representative for that workplace for the propose of the act. For the purposes of ensuring the health and safety of employees at a workplace, the employer must consult with the employees' safety representative for that workplace whenever reasonably requested to do so by that representative. All the above conditions also apply to the employees' safety representative. TCEEA members are advised that there is an election kit available which contains all the material need to conduct an election for workplace health and safety representatives and committees. If you are thinking of forming a workplace health and safety committee or electing a workplace health and safety representative contact the TCEEA office for assistance or information.
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© 2005 Tasmanian Catholic Education Employees' Association |
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