Reporting WHS queries and concerns

An important part of participating in WHS in your workplace involves asking questions and reporting concerns. There
are people who can heIp you work safely in your organisation. These include:
your supervIsor
! specialised WHS personnel.

Your supervisor
The instructions or training you receive so you can do new tasks or additional duties should include information
about how to work safely. This is particularly important when you are in a new job role, or you are working with
plant and machinery, technical equipment or hazardous materials.
If you are unsure about any aspect of this information, it is important that you ask questions. Your supervisor has a
duty of care toward you and will generally appreciate you taking an active interest in participating in workplace
health and safety.
It may not be practical for you to refer to your supervisor every time you have a "question or concern about
workplace health and safety. Depending on the issue, a range of other sources of information may be available to
you, including:

health and safety representatives

more experienced colleagues
the organisation's policy manual
the organisation's procedures manuals
training manuals
workplace health and safety officers.

You may occasionally find the information in the policy or procedures manual is difficult to understand or does not
include enough detail. You should speak to your supervisor so they can clarify what is required. Your supervisor may
then decide to review the procedure to make it easier to use in the future.
Your daily work routine will bring you into contact with other workers, suppliers and customers, as well as the
various systems and equipment used in the operation of the organisation. Poor work practices, unsafe behaviours or
not following relevant policies and procedures may jeopardise the health and safety of others in the workplace and
the reputation of the organisation. If you are uncertain about anything related to WHS, discuss it with your
supervisor. You may become aware of issues relating to:

incorrect use of PPE

damaged or missing safety signs
poorly maintained equipment
poorly kept records
missing stocks and supplies
standard precautions not being followed
sterilisation and vaccine storage procedures not being followed correctly
missing MSDS.

You may wish to plan how you are going to explain the issue to your supervisor. You will need to tell them how the
issue came to your attention and give any evidence you have to support your concern. Do not hesitate to contact
your supervisor or relevant personnel if you believe an emergency or incident may be about to happen as a result of
the issue concerning you.
Your supervisor will follow workplace procedures to make sure your concerns are investigated and action is taken
where necessary to eliminate or minimise any risks that exist.

Specialised WHS personnel

You may have access to other employees in your workplace who have special responsibilities for implementing WHS
policies. The availability of this type of specialist personnel largely depends on the size of the organisation. Mediumand larger-sized organisations may have:

 WHS representatives
health and safety officers.
Some organisations will have an WHS committee - a group of people formed to oversee WHS in the workplace. You
will find detailed information about WHS committees in Section 3 of this workbook.

WHS representatives
In some states, WHS legislation provides for staff to elect health and safety representatives to promote their
interests in relation to WHS. In large organisations, such as government organisations, each department or work
area may elect their own representative. The role of an WHS representative may include:

investigating incidents
formally identifying hazards
Accompanying government safety inspectors on inspections in the workplace.

WHS representatives also play an important role in WHS consultation. This means your WHS representative is
available to talk about any concerns you may have about workplace health and safety. They may attend team
meetings to gather information.
WHS representatives are a connection between your work team and senior managers in the organisation. Senior
managers are then able to take action to address your concerns, and improve workplace health and safety.

Health and safety officers

Your organisation may employ a health and safety specialist to manage health and safety matters. Health and safety
officers are different to 0 HS representatives because they are not elected employees. They are employed by the
organisation to perform a specific WHS role. Health and safety officers are usually employed by large organisations
or businesses whose operations involve very serious health and safety risk
You can expect that a health and safety officer will have extensive experience in workplace safety, and expert
knowledge of legislation, regulations, codes of practice, equipment and work systems. Your supervisor and other
management staff in the organisation will work closely with the health and safety officer to perform risk
identification and then develop plans to eliminate or minimise risk. On those occasions where you have referred a
concern to your supervisor, you may find they involve the health and safety officer in any investigation.
You should take the time to identify whether your organisation employs a health and safety officer and the types of
specialist advice they provide. You may find that they are able to assist your work team by:

analysing incident reports

assisting in the preparation of standard operating procedures
conducting safety audits
coordinating fire and other emergency responses
coordinating WHS training
inspecting plant, equipment, processes and working methods
investigating incidents
providing advice on safety matters to supervisors and senior management
providing information to employees
providing specialist advice to the WHS committee.

Lesson task 8
Read the case study. Write down, or tell your trainer, your response to the task.
Case study
Natiq is employed as an administration officer in the human resources department of a government department. His
role requires him to schedule appointments, interviews and meetings for his supervisor; order stationery; collate
information packs for job candidates; and record the contact details of candidates who contact the organisation by
telephone.
During his first week of employment with this organisation, Natiq attended induction training. An important aspect
of his induction training was an introduction to the WHS policies and procedures of the department. The training

officer told the training course participants that any concerns they have about workplace health and safety should
be raised initially with the employee's immediate supervisor.
In many cases, the supervisor will be able to take action to resolve the WHS issue that has been raised. It may be
necessary for the supervisor to contact the specialist WHS unit for advice or assistance in investigating and resolving
issues.
The organisation also has an WHS committee. Staff from all departments housed in the same building meet once a
month to discuss WHS issues, conduct investigations and make recommendations to improve workplace health and
safety. Natiq was told that he can expect to see representatives from the WHS committee regularly inspecting work
areas to identify potential hazards to workplace health and safety.
Employees are encouraged to raise WHS matters at team meetings or to attend WHS committee meetings. It is
expected that all employees will make the effort to read the
WHS committee meeting minutes that are distributed at team meetings and by email each month. Any requests for
maintenance are to be recorded on a maintenance request form.
Natiq is enjoying his role in the human resources department but is concerned about some of his working conditions.
The following table lists Natiq's WHS concerns.

What actions should Natiq take to bring his concerns to the attention of the most appropriate person? Write your
answers in the right column.
WHS issue

Personnel files are overstacked in the compactus.

The ergonomic chair can't be adjusted. The mechanism
appears to be broken.
Natiq frequently works through his lunch break to make
sure the department's telephone is answered.
Natiq has to carry large quantities of paper to the
photocopier each morning because there is no
equipment available to transport it
The light is not working in the storeroom

Action to be taken by Natiq