What can you do about workplace risks and hazards?

The good news is that you can prevent, minimise and/or manage workplace risks and hazards by being alert
to potential hazards and reporting them to your supervisor and/or your organisation's designated health and
safety officers and/or representatives.
You will learn more about identifying hazards, and the role of health and safety officers and representatives
in Section 2 of this workbook. If you are in a medical setting, you can talk with doctors, nurses and/or the
practice manager about safety issues.
You can also adopt safe work practices by following workplace policies and procedures .
Some jobs have codes of practice to further assist you in working safely. Policies and procedures are based
on legislation (laws) that include regulations, standards and guidance notes to make your organisation's legal
requirements dear.
Your organisation must follow these laws and regulations. If an organisation doesn't, it will probably be
fined, taken to court or face more serious action depending on the seriousness of the breach.

WHS legislation
Each state and territory in Australia has its own WHS legislation. There is also a Commonwealth Act covering
Commonwealth employees. The individual legislation that is enforced in each state has been developed to
reflect the particular needs of the people who live there, however, they all have the objective of creating
and maintaining a safe and healthy working environment.
The WHS act in your state or territory describes the legal requirements for ensuring workplaces are safe and
healthy, such as the following:

identify, assess, eliminate or control risks to health and safety

promote and maintain the health, safety and welfare of people at work
protect people at work from injury and illness
protect the health and safety of the public in workplaces
consult workers and encourage participation in maintaining workplace health and safety
provide rehabilitation and maximum recovery for injured workers.

The following chart shows the main WHS legislation in each state and territory.
WHS legislation
All of Australia Occupational Health and Safety Act 1997 (Cth)
Australian Capital Territory (AG) Occupational Health and Safety Act 1989 (AG)
New South Wales (NSW) Work Health and Safety Act 2012 (NSW)
Northern Territory (NT) Workplace Health and Safety Act 2007 (NT)
Queensland Workplace Health and Safety Act 1995 (Qld)
South Australia (SA) Occupational Health, Safety and Welfare Act 1986 (SA)
Tasmania Workplace Health and Safety Act 1995 (Tas)
Victoria Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004 (Vic)
Western Australia (WA) Occupational Safety and Health Act 1984 (WA)

The following table lists the national, state and territory bodies responsible for WHS.
Check your state or territory's legislation at the relevant website.
Region

WHS body

Website

All of Australia

Australian Safety and Compensation Council

(ASCq

www.ascc.gov.au

ACT

ACT WorkCover

www.workcover.act.gov.au

NSW

WorkCover New South Wales

www.workcover.nsw.gov.au

NT

NT WorkSafe

www.worksafe.nt.gov.au

Queensland

WorkCover Queensland

www.workcoverqld.com.au

SA

WorkCover SA

www.workcover.sa.gov.au

Tasmania

WorkCover Tasmania

www.workcover.tas.gov.au

Victoria

WorkSafe Victoria

www.workcover.vic.gov.au

WA

WorkSafe

www.safetyline.wa.gov.au

It is essential that you work in line with legislative requirements, Australian and industry standards, and
the relevant codes of practice.

WHS regulations
Each state in Australia has also developed regulations to support WHS legislation.
Regulations establish specific requirements, duties and procedures that apply to specific areas of work.
Some regulations apply to all workplaces while others apply to specific industries.
You should ask your supervisor whether there are regulations that apply specifically to your workplace.

Codes of practice
You may find that your organisation has WHS codes of practice. These provide practical advice to
organisations, employers and workers in specific industries to help them meet their obligations. Codes of
practice are developed through a consultation process that may involve industry representatives, employers,
workers, professional associations and relevant government agencies, which enable organisations to meet
legislative regulations and acts.
The following example is a code of practice.

Example
While performing his or her duties an employee should:
Exercise proper diligence, care and attention.
Seek to achieve high standards of safety for themselves, colleagues and the public.
This requires you to do the following:

1. Perform all work in a safe manner.

2. Use safe and correct work practices at all times.
3. Never wilfully endanger yourself, other staff members or a member of the public.

4. Correctly use personal protective equipment (PPE) that is supplied for a task .
5. Report any incidents or hazards as soon as possible using the correct forms.
You are expected to follow the safety principles so as to prevent incidents. If you become aware of a situation or
piece of equipment that is unsafe or could potentially endanger you or others, you are required to report this to
your supervisor or the workplace health and safety officer. You should also learn from any mistakes and make
sure they don't happen again.

You have a personal responsibility to address any issues associated with your workstation and equipment,
including making sure maintenance issues are reported promptly and that equipment is returned in a condition
that is suitable for the next person to safely undertake their tasks.