Managing

work health
and safety
Members:
PreparedBy: Almanzor, De Guzman,Fernandez,
Group 6 Gaite, Javier,Pumarada
 analyse to what extent workplace injuries and accidents
01
cost Australian workplaces

recognise the various perspectives of employers, unions

and workers, and the influences of medical, paramedical
02 and legal professions on work health and safery (WHS)
theory and practice

Objectives 03
explain the harmonization of WHS legislation in Australian
federal and state government jurisdictions, and analyse its
advantages and disadvantages

describe how WHS programs can create safe, healthy and

04 ethical workplace environments

05 explain how to manage WHS programs, including how WHS

information systems can facilitate this
Introduction
Work health and safety (WHS) issues
pervade almost all aspects of HR
functions: job design; quality of work life
programs, recruitment, selection,
training and development.

Work health and safety - a term for

occupational health and safety in Australia,
which includes a broad range of physical
and psychological risks in all workplaces
and theirmanagement.
THE EXTENT OF THE PROBLEM
Safe Work Australia is the Australian Government's national body responsible for developing
WHS and workers' compensation. Its report, Work-related traumatic injury fatalities, Australia
2016, notes that fatality rates have been decreasing and had halved since 2007. On average
each year in Australia, 20 workers die every monthat work.

Direct and Indirect WHS costs include sick leave, medical costs and rising insurance
premiums, lost productivity, replacement salaries, equipment downtime, lost potential output,
loss of current and future earnings, adverse effects on teamwork and morale, and the cost of
providing social welfare programs for injured incapacitated workers
THE EXTENT OF THE PROBLEM
The range of potential work hazards, both physical and psychological is
increasingly broad, and encompasses the following:

1.Physical factors: noise, vibration, excessive heat or cold, vehicles, machinery,

equipment, andappliances
2.Chemical agents: poisons, toxins,substances
3.Other hazardous substances: lead, mercury, coal, dusts
4 . W orkplace organization: unsafe work systems, procedures,
supervisions, payment system
5.Stress: common phenomenon related
6.Violence, physical or psychological harm from work colleagues
WHS and Strategic HRM
Using WHS data (including financial costs, accidents, and absenteeism
and compensation statistics) and specific WHS performance
benchmarks as part of an integrated human resource information
management system.

A strategic HRM approach to WHS would focus on the common cause

and trends of work accidents and injuries, assessthe associated human
and financial costs and develop appropriate riskmanagement strategies
and more effective administrative and rehabilitationprograms .
 PERSPECTIVES OF WHS IN
AUSTRALIA
WHS wasreferred to as occupational health and safety (OHS) until the advent of new australian WHS legislation
in 2012. The concerns centred on the hazardous working conditions and increased risks associated with new
manufacturing and mining industries and, in particular the use of child labour.
Toohey, Borthwick and Archer identified the overall issuesthat became central to the prevention of OHS problem
as:

1.the correct perception of OHS issuesand their causes

2.the determination of the appropriate methodologies to address them
3.adequte coverage of all occupations, industries and OHS issues

The main professions to be involved in WHS in Australianindustry include medical professionals, occupational
epidemiologists, occupational hygienists, ergonomists, dangerous goods specialists, HSE(health, safety and
environment) coordinators, trainers, industrial psychologists and industrial sociologists

Each professional group represents a different perspective and isconsidered separately below.
WHS and The Medical Model
Medical specialists focused on the identification of the direct physiological
effects sof work on health.

Medical Model the viewof WHS held by doctors and paramedics that focuses
on scientific diagnoses of the causes, effects and treatment of WHS usually
from an indivisual employee perspective. The model has been challenged
particularly by studies of workplace related psychosocial hazards.
Ergonomics I ndustrial
focuses on fitting the job space
and technology to the person so Sociology
that work can be done more
comfortably, conveniently, and focuses on the structural and
broader workplacesocialaspects
efficiently
of WHS. aspects such aslackof
worker control on their work
processes,production
Industrial imperatives and associated
reward systemsare significant
Psychology contributors to WHS accidents
and diseases.
application of psychology to the workplace
and to workplace accidents and diseases
brought a different perspective to their
causes and treatment. investigation of
work-related psychosocialhazards.
The LegalProfession
of WHS
concerned lawyers and insurance agents, especially in the settlement of
workers' compensation claims
frequent disputes have ended up in the federal and state courts, resulting in
payment to illor injured workers or decisions in favor of employers
the legal profession has a vested interest in WHS issues and there are numerous
examples of costly litigation as the result of employers' negligence or
employers' failure to provide a healthy and safe workplace
Occupational Occupational
Epidiomology Hygiene
studies may involve looking at art and science of anticipating,
workers exposed to a variety of recognizing,measuring,
chemical, biological or physical evaluating, communicating,and
(e.g., noise, heat, radiation) agents controllingworkplace
to determine if the exposures environmentalhazards.
result in the risk of adverse health occupationalhygienists are
outcomes. typically called on to determine
whether workers are exposed to
hazardous levelsof airborne
contaminants ordeafening noise
and to recommend waysof
controlling the risk to health or
hearing.
 growth in education and awareness of
WHS issues from the 1970s unions and
Union their national representative body, the
Australiancouncil of trade union

Approaches (ACTU), began to show more interest

and growing knowledge,in the area.
1983-ACTUproduced a comprehensive
OHSpolicy and established a combined
ACTU and victorian trades hall council
health and safetyresearch unit.
Rudd and Gillard Governments' Fair
Work Act2009 principleswere adopted
its vision2005-2015
Work health and safety,
and HRM
Workplace parties, including the employer or other person conducting a business
or part of the business all have a role to play
the pursuit of working conditions that are safe and without risksto health may
also involve a diverse group of specialists, with perspective, interest and
objectives
WHS requires substantial involvement from workers and their unions.
 The harmonisationof
WHS law in australia
common lawestablishedthat employers have a duty of care for their workers.
Australian industry has been subject to a wide range of prescriptive Acts of
Parliament and regulations made under the Acts concerning specific
occupational risksand hazards.
Factories, Shops and Industries Act 1962 (NSW) tried to limit manual handling
injuries for women and juniors in factories and shops
Model work health and safety (WHS) Act wasdeveloped with
the intention of rationalisation of the earlier federal and state
lawsthe model have now been adopted in allAustralianstates
and territories except Victoria and Western Australia.
Concern with workers's health and safety has generally had
three broad thrusts:
1.PREVENTION,to safeguard workers from real, or
potential, health and safety risks
2.COMPENSATION,to provide injured workers with specified
levelsof monetary compensation
3.REHABILITATION,to assist the safe return to work of
injured workers.
 1970's - growing costs associated with lost-
time accidents and workers' compensation
payments prompted criticism of existing IHS
legislation

did not cover all workers or hazards

Historical risk standards were frequently

inconsistent
multiple acts applied within workplace

Developments enforcement of Acts was conducted by

several government agencies
established standards generally
represented only the minimum
requirements and differed from state to
state
no systematics reviews ocuredand
updating of theelegislation
Ethics andCodes
of Practice
 Industry based
with employers undertaking a critical role in
supporting recovery, adjustment, and
resettlement back on the job.
 Function oriented
so that physical, psychological, and vocational
impairement can be minimized.
Based on early intervention
which enhances the chances of success and
maximizes cost-effectiveness.
 Multidisciplinary
involving the best profession or person for
providing a specific service or making a relevant
decision.
 Based onshared
responsibility
of all stakeholders (workers, employers, the
compensation agency,professionals)
 Issue 1: Issue 2:
Workplace Work stress
accidents
large number of work accidents become a significant WHS issuein
and injuries that are never Australian organisation.
recorded in the data and often a Creating a safe,
failure to record indirect costs.
healthy and Australian respondentsreported
moderate to severe stresslevels,
Accidents generally occur as the
result of unsafe systems of
ethical work with younger people more
affected.
works, lact of effective training. environment
 Issue 2:
Work stress
 Issue 3: Issue 4:
The risks of Workplace bullying
international travel
Traditionally associated with
The risksinclude the threat
of terrorism, disease and
Creating a safe, manual workers, especially
young apprentices, there isa
other medical conditions healthy and general consensus that
including DVT ethical work bullying can occur in alltypes
of workplaces, and can
environment include both physical and
psychological intimidationat
work
 Issue 5: Issue 6:
Shift work Employee personal
problems
involves workingoutside personal problems and work
normal daylighthours.
Creating a safe, problems must be separated
healthy and
work form seven to eight training and support are given
hours
ethical work tothe employee
environment
WHS risks associated are
mental sress, increase of
vehicle accidents
 Issue 7: Issue 8
Manual tasks and Drug andalcohol
body stressing management
Managers with an HR
work injuries considered to be Creating a safe, component in their role at
instances of body stressing
which includes strains, healthy and work are likely to be involved
in programs for the
sprains and other traumatic ethical work management of issuesarising
injuries
environment from the use of alcohol and
other drugs whichcan impair
a person's capacity to work
safely.
Managing WHSprograms
Legalaspects reinforce what isessentiallya rational strategy for
ensuring organisational productivity and profitability
WHS issuespervade allSHRMfunctions, and therefore HRmanagers
need to operate on strategic, operational and administrative levels,
creating linkswith all managers in their organizations.
WHS provides an opportunity to protect workersand save the
organisation the associatedcosts of accidents and injuries.
WHS information systems
WHS database isa valuable indicator of organisational effectiveness and
provides essentialinformation for external reporting as wellas internal
HR management. Are compiled by supervisors, health and safety
committees, senior managers, and HRpractitioners.
THANK YOU!!