Research Methodology For Work Health And Safety Essay.

Outline the research methodology being used for this report e.g. Secondary sources such as WHS legislation (Act and Regulations), specific codes of practice, current workplace WHS/OHS policies and procedures, etc. Primary sources such as staff surveys, interviews etc.

The purpose of this report is to highlight the enacted policies, procedures and undergoing programmes that guide the consultation on safety issues with the work force, how the risks related are identified and how the assessment of risk outcomes and control are communicated and effected. The role of the company’s leaders will also be analysed to find out if they meet the Work Health and Safety responsibilities of the organization.

Snaptree Consolidated Company is an organization that deals with computer hardware and software and has about slightly over 5000 employees. The company operates as a single site and all the transactions are carried out at the single site. The act applicable in the company is the Work Health and Safety Act 2012, part 2, subdivisions 16, 17, 18, and 19. The nature of the work is to collect information from all over and making it available and useful to people. The risks associated are privacy, mishandling of information and fake information.

Staff interviews were organized frequently in order to find out their opinions and recommendations on the policies implemented within the company. In the case of interviews, strict confidentiality was maintained.

Being a computer hardware company, carrying out an online survey among the employees was an inevitable method that had be used. The survey involved the policies applicable and whether or not the employees are satisfied with the policies.

The Work Health and Safety Acts 2011 and 2012, Snaptree Code of Conduct and the Snaptree Policies and Procedures were referred to during the research. The WHS Acts outline the duties of employers and employees and the risks associated. The Snaptree Code of Conduct contains the values that should be adhered to by the employees and also leaders of the company and violating the code results to disciplinary actions.

Several WHS policies relating to health duties and management of risks have been put in place. These are: each duty holder must comply with that duty to the standard required by the WHS Act even if another duty another duty holder has the same duty, a duty imposed on a person to ensure health and safety requires the person to eliminate risks to the health and safety in a reasonably practicable manner and the health and safety of workers should not be put at risk while undertaking their duties (Johnstone & Tooma, 2012).

The work teams are provided with adequate training on certain situations that might be a risk to their lives such as the fire and evacuation procedures. Evacuation via the stairs was assessed and the time it took was noted down and an upgrade in terms of elevators and lifts would speed up the evacuation process (Bishop, He & Magrabi, 2017). The workers are also encouraged to report incidents and hazards as it helps in reducing the risks on workers’ safety (Salmon et al., 2017).

Primary sources

Hazard refers to something with the capability of causing harm or injury to a person or damage to property.  Identifying hazards is the process whereby undesired situations and the mechanisms through which they may occur are identified (Rout & Sikdar, 2017). The consequences, frequency and severity of the hazards are also evaluated. All the departments were examined in order to find out the hazards pertaining to the activities carried out in each department and the impacts of the hazards to the general environment assessed; the health risks associated with the hazard were then identified with the help of past incident reports, employees’ health records and first aid records were reviewed and a safety report forwarded to the management. This process helps avert the possibility of workers being affected by imminent hazards if the process is appropriately carried out.

This is the process whereby the risk factors associated with the work are identified and assessed by a competent person or groups of people who have a good grasp of the knowledge of working and the situation under study. The hazards are identified first, the likelihood of harm and the extent of the harm are determined in accordance with the operational situations and the available health and safety information, the actions and control methods of the hazard are then determined, an evaluation is done to ascertain whether the risk has been eliminated and the situation closely monitored to ensure that the control measures stay effective and lastly records of the process are safely kept (Catton, Shaikhi, Fowler & Fraser, 2018).

A table of risk matrix and risk ratings are used to analyse the severity and frequency of the hazards. The records kept depend on the requirements of legislations and management systems in place and the level of the risks associated. The workers’ are sometimes consulted during this process thereby making it more effective.

This process involves pitting control measures against the hazards identified into place. The best way to deal with risks is to eliminate the risk and if that is not possible then the risk should be greatly minimized. Sometimes the risks are substituted with a safer thing for instance if the risk is a working equipment, the equipment is isolated from the workers. When the risk involves the confidentiality of workers and mental ill health due to workload, the administration ensures that the worker is well protected against such risks (Harvey et al., 2017). This process ensures that workers are’ safety is well taken care of and is very effective since the outcomes of the assessment and control processes are also availed to the workers.

Secondary sources

Consultation is an important aspect when the health and safety of patients is involved and it is a legal requirement according to section 47 of the Work health and safety consultation, co-operation and co-ordination - Code of Practice (Australia, 2011). The mechanisms used during the consultation process are; establishment of health and safety committees, election of health and safety representatives (HSRs) as outlined in section 52(3) of the WHS consultation, co-operation and co-ordination - Code of Practice and organizing regular board and staff meetings. The work teams are appropriately informed about the WHS issues. Consultation creates a good working relationship as workers are given the opportunity to express their views (Erbe et al., 2016) thereby making this process operational.

The specific hazards and risks at Snaptree are;

• Deafening machinery
• Electricity
• Heights
• Bullying at the workplace

The risks have managed however, not sufficiently.

Several programmes have been put in place in order to educate the workers and protect them. These are;

• The Electrical Safety training program
• Fire prevention and evacuation plan
• Hearing preservation program
• Hazard communication program

These programs help in the maintenance of workers’ health and safety. Injuries and incidents relating to work risks have been greatly reduced by the implementation of these programs. Workers have also become more informed in safe working procedures due to this process.

According to section 19 of the Work Health and Safety Act 2011, employers have an obligation of ensuring that the health and safety of workers are directed by them while at work (Francl & Santangelo, 2016). Supervisors perform certain duties in providing the duty of care. These are; conducting WHS training in the job, conducting board and staff meetings, providing adequate work facilities and ensuring a safe and conducive working environment. According to section 28 of the Work Health and Safety 2011, workers should comply with any reasonable instructions given by the employer and co-operate with the reasonable policies implemented by the employer concerning health and safety.  The supervisors are well-trained and experienced due to long years of working and are also assisted by the company’s policies in implementing their WHS responsibilities.

In order to improve the working environment, several changes should be made.

• The management should ensure that workers are constantly trained and educated on the health and safety measures.
• Supervisors should always scout the general working area of employees in order to ensure that they are satisfied with the conditions.
• Workers should ensure that they are not exposed to certain hazards by revealing true information about their health status.
• Employers should ensure that workers are given a reasonable amount of work and they should also work within the time stipulated in the workers’ acts.
• Employers should also ensure that junior workers are not bullied nor overworked by their senior counterparts.

Conclusion

Risks and hazards affect the productivity of workers. However, when these risks are eliminated workers are able to comfortably work and give their best. Snaptree Company should always ensure that workers have enough resources to work and are given reasonable amount of work in order to protect their health and safety. The policies and procedures implemented by employers within a company should be reasonably practicable. The recommendations should be implemented to ensure better and safe working conditions for workers. 

The hazard communication plan can be addressed by the introduction of structured coaching and mentoring programmes. The hazard focussed on in this section is bullying at the workplaces. Low-wage workers are often bullied by their senior counterparts in work places in terms of work load as well as undesirable treatments (Lola & Reyes, 2017). The senior most management of companies should introduce coaching sessions in order to sensitize their employees on the issue of bullying and rules concerning the same should be enacted (Eirnasen et al., 2018). The victims should also be educated on how to handle the situation. Instead of reporting to the immediate senior employee, they should either report the harassment to the top most management or the police. Bullying could lead to mental illness of patients due to the stress caused. Therefore the issue should be appropriately addressed.