You are the Operations General ManagerofA2Z Solutions Pty. Ltd, a Realty firm. You are responsible for the day-to-day running of the company. You oversee the coordination of activities that occur within the Residential, Commercial, and Investments branches of the company. You are responsible for overseeing projects which affect operations of the organisation asa whole. You work with the HR manager to coordinate systems and projects to achieve cooperation and coordination across the company.
WHS Incident
A WHS incident recently occurred at the Commercial office of A2Z Solutions Pty. Ltd. Although it is the Commercial Manager’s responsibility to investigate WHS incidents, they have not done so. You decide to step in. In accordance with the recently implemented WHS management system you must:
investigate incidents
complete an incident report
perform risk assessment
update risk register.
The records you create of the incident need to be submitted to the HR Manager (assessor) for storage as per records management policy.
One of the agents heard calls for help, managed to open the exit and help the client.
Not realising what had happened, or the seriousness of the accident, the agent criticised the client’s high heels, implying that such a thing would never happen to a man. ‘Any sensible woman would take the lift’.
The client was humiliated.
The client was taken to the Royal Women’s Hospitalby ambulance.
She is threatening to sue A2Zfor injuries, loss of income and mental trauma.
Another agent noticed a strange odour and an oily substance on the stairwell.
This agent reported the incident verbally to the Commercial Realty Manager.
This incident has only just become known to the HR manager, who has been contacted by both the client’s lawyer and the Office of the Human Rights Ombudsman.
Several incidents in which managers have failed to undertake WHS management system responsibilities haveoccurred recently. For example, record-keeping has been incomplete.
Consultation with agents, WHS committee meetings not occurred.
The organisation’s original target was to reduce the number of WHS incidents by 25%; however, after initial success, enthusiasm for the system has worn off and incident rates are only just lower than they were when the system was initiated.
Scenario 2
You are the Operations General Manager at A2Z Solutions Pty. Ltd. You have recently investigated a serious WHS incident.You have determined that the incident may represent a systemic breakdown in compliance with the organisation’s WHS management system. This system has only recently been implemented and clearly the requisite practices have not been embedded.Your legal and ethical responsibility is clear. You have a legal and ethical responsibility as a manager to minimise workplace hazards. You need to ensure managers are aware of and comply with the following responsibilities under the WHS management system and WHS legislation:
consult with agents on WHS issues to continually identify any potential risks
regularly conduct WHS committee meetings to address risk across the organisation
regularly assess potential workplace hazards
act proactively to reduce risk
update the risk register.You have decided to prepare a presentation to managers to ensure compliance. Your objective is to ensure a smooth implementation of the WHS management system. Accordingly, you don’t want to single out or embarrass any one manager. Rather, you want to ensure enthusiastic support by underscoring the importance of implementation of the WHS management system with respect to A2Z’s mission and organisational goals.
You will need to ensure you demonstrate and support ethical attitudes and practices.
Answers:
Scenario 1
Incident Report
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Detail Of Person Making Report : Operations General Manager A2Z Solutions
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Name: Mike Taylor (Fictitious)
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Position : General Manager Job Title: Operations General Manager
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Detail of Incident: One of the clients while hurrying through the office of A2Z took the staircase and left through the emergency exit. The client slipped and fell on the stairway and hurt herself.
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Date : 22/06/2018 Time: 1600 Hours
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Location: Commercial Office A2Z Solution Pty Ltd
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Describe what happened and how: One of the client was in a hurry and did not wanted to wait for the lift. She thought that Stairs would save her some time, and she took the emergency exit. Although the emergency exit was blocked by Paper boxes, the client still took the staircase and fell down on the stores. It is suggested that presence of oily substance on the floor is the reason for the floor being slippery.
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Suggest Corrective Actions: Evaluating all the possible parameter and the situation, the following corrective actions could have been taken:
· Use a big fixture or something on the emergency exit.
· Put clear cut sign boards marking Slippery floor
· Keep a first aid kit in the office at all times.
· Ensure that a guard is present at all the emergency exits.
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Detail of Witness
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Name : Mike Ross Job Title: Agent
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Name : William Charles Job Title: Agent
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Name : Roger Stewart Job Title: Agent
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Injury Report
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Status
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Employee
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Contractor
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Client
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Outcome
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Near Miss
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Injury
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Detail of Injured Person : Client visiting A2Z solution commercial office
Name :Deborah Lilly Phone: NA
Address NA Sex : Female
Date of Birth: NA
Job Title: NA (Client)
Start Time: NA
Work Management Casual Full time Part time Other NA
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Details of Incident: Miss Deborah Fell on the stairway while moving out through the emergency exit.
Date : 22/06/2018 Time: 1600 Hours
Location: A2Z solution commercial Office
Describe what happened and How: Deborah while moving out of the office of A2Z solution took the emergency exit and fell on the stairway. The apparent reason for the same has been mentioned as slippery floor.
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Detail of Witness
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Name : Mike Ross Phone : NA
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Address :NA
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Detail of Injury
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Nature of Injury: Client broke of her wrist
Cause of Injury: Fell from the stairway through the emergency exit door
Location on Body:Wrist
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Treatment Administered
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First Aid Given Yes No
First Aider Name: NA
Treatment: NA
Referred to: Royal Women’s Hospital
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Did the injured Person stop work
Yes No
Outcome
Treated by Doctor Hospitalized Workers compensation claim
Returned to normal work Alternative duties Rehabilitation
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Incident Investigation
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Risk Assessment : There is a huge risk associated with unguarded emergency door and no visible signs of wet or slippery floor, highly prone to accident
Likelihood of recurrence: High
Severity of outcome: Medium
Level of Risk: High
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Action to Prevent Recurrence
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Action
The action has to be taken to put the sign boards outside the places which are not properly functional and to put the guards outside such exits.
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By Whom
This has to be done by the commercial manager in close tandem with the HR manager
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By When
22/07/2018
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Date Completed
Next Month
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Action Completed
Signed Manager : Commercial Manager
Title : Commercial Manager Date: 24/06/2018
Feedback to Person Involved
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Review Comments
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WHS Committee/Staff Manager : Meeting conducted
Reviewed by Site manager : Yes
Reviewed by health & safety rep : Yes
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Risk Assessment Form
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Details
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Name: Robert Stanley
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Position: Commercial Manager
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Risk Details
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Risk ID: R11212
Raised By: Robert Stanley
Date Raised: 24/06/2018
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Description of Risk: The risk is highly fatal and if not contained a person might get a severe injury
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Likelihood of Risk: High
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Impact of Risk: High
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Risk Mitigation
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Preventive action recommended: Make a guard stand outside the emergency exists and sign boards for wet floor and exit signs.
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Contingency action recommended: Keep a First Aid kit in the office, and a 2 member admin team anytime at the office with skills and training on basic medical aide
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Approved Details
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Supporting Documentation
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Risk Register
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Risk
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Likelihood
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Impact
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Risk Response
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Responsible
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Fatal Injury
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High
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High
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Immediately medical help for the person
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Admin staff
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Reviewing the Information in Scenario 2
Mission of the Organization-To ensure that they achieve the highest return for the client and deliver experience which is second to none for the customers, at the same time create, implement and execute the WHS policies as created by the management.
Vision of the Organization- Establish the brand A2Z for the highest ethical standards and best in breed performance for the clients.
Strategic Direction- The strategic direction for A2Z is to build sustained engagement with the clients, building good will and a reputation for integrity, promote and support innovative thinking and create a strong, result driven profitable organization.
Explain the link between the organisation’s objectives, standards, relevant legislation and the responsibilities of managers and agents for a safe workplace
It is no brainer that organizations create business goals and objectives so that the organization and its employees have a clear path to follow. Managers are responsible for laying down the KPI and objectives of the employees in sync with the organizational objectives, thus there lies a direct relation between the same.
In order to ensure, practice of safe workplace in the organization, authorities have to create policies and procedures which would ensure a safe workplace. The agents have to make sure that all of them follow the WHS policies and in case of any deflection they are fined or strict action is taken against them.
Expectation of Managers
The expectation of managers in this case is to bring stability in the system and the policies and procedures related to WHS. In order to do so , leaders have to adopt transformational style of leadership which implies that leaders will lead from the front and set an example in front of the employees and transform them to follow the right path. Thus, the expectation of the managers is a function of the responsibility they hold towards the workforce and its employees.
