OHSE6070 Managing Workplace Health And Safety In Australia

Answer

Managing Workplace Health and Safety in Australia

Occupational safety and health refers to a multidisciplinary field that deals with the welfare of the people in the organisation. The safety programs in the workplace helps in fostering a safe work environment. Workplace Health and Safety (WHS) deals with the aspect of protection of the stakeholders in workplace so that they are not exposed to risks in the organization (Business.gov.au 2018).This essay states the benefits along with problems that the managers face in relation to health and safety in an organisation.

Workplace injury and illness is responsible for imposing large cost pertaining to the national economies. The WHS practices in an organisation acts as a cornerstone pertaining to Corporate Social Responsibility that helps in determining the corporate image. The benefits that the managers in Australian organisations get in managing the safety of the workers helps in giving strategic value to business. The managers in Australian organisation would be able to get better access to the markets and the natural resources that can provide a firm with competitive advantage (Safeworkaustralia.gov.au 2018). The managers being able to manage workplace health shows good faith that shows that the workers would be treated in a fair manner in the organization. Maintaining the health and the safety of the workers helps in communicating to the workers that they are crucial for the organization which helps in improving the quality of work of the employees in an organization. The benefits that the managers get out of managing workplace health in Australia helps in guiding the working practice within the business that can help the organization in making profits. The employees of the organization conceive of themselves to be valued members of the organization that helps the managers in co-operating with them in the right manner. Managing organizational health builds mutual trust between the management and the employees of an organization that helps in increasing the efficiency of work of the employees of a company. The identification of the hazards helps the managers in focussing on the employees that helps them in the creation of a caring environment in the workplace (Kilpatrick et al. 2017). Open communication being encouraged in an organization can pave the path for creation of policies that can work for the benefit of an organization.

In the year 2011, Safe Work Australia developed Work Health and Safety (WHS) laws that can help in enforcing the safety of the workers in Australia (Taylor et al. 2016). Model WHS laws were implemented within Australian Capital Territory, Queensland and South Australia. These Acts help in providing the managers with the guiding lines that can help in maintaining the safety of the workers in the Australian companies. Model WHS Act that forms basis in relation to WHS Acts helps in providing effective representation within the Australian organizations (Business.gov.au 2018). The WHS Act in Australia provides the framework for continuous improvement that greatly helps the people managers in the Australian organization. The WHS Act encourages the unions in taking constructive role that can act to the benefit for the managers in Australian organizations.

The managers face problems in managing workplace health owing to the dearth of resources in an organization. There are constant changes taking place within work community that has an effect on the ability of people managers to support well-being of employees in Australia. The people managers in Australian organizations have the responsibility of promoting good relations among the employees of an organization. They have the responsibility of actively solving the problems within work community. The people managers in Australia however lack power as the personnel in the upper management ignore the legal duty of managing the risks (Cashmore et al. 2016).  The people managers in Australian organizations delegate issue to the first-line supervisor within an organisation without providing any kind of resources that becomes a barrier in the path of implementation of workplace health along with safety laws. The people managers in Australia do not get the support from the upper management and the tight economic situation prevailing in the Australian organization makes it difficult for the managers to implement the workplace safety regulations (Baxter et al. 2014).

The managers face problems in managing health of the employees because of the mental overload of the employees in the Australian organizations. The managers do not get feedback from the employees that makes it difficult for them in the implementation of safety programs in the Australian organizations (Zheng et al. 2015). The managers in an organization need the tools that can help them in meeting the responsibilities in the Australian organizations. The managers do not get the peer support from the colleagues that becomes a problem for the people managers in Australian organizations (Barak 2016). Peer support system can act to the benefit of new managers that can help him in serving the employees in an organization. The organizational health and safety procedures are not well-developed that creates problem for the managers in Australia in implementation of safety programs in the organizations.

Workplace injury is responsible for imposing large amount of cost on national economy. Managing the aspect of organizational health can build mutual trust between managers and employees of an organization. It can increase efficiency of the workers within the ambit of the Australian organizations. The management in an organisation abiding by WHS practices helps the company in evolving as a socially responsible company. The development of WHS laws in 2011 helped in the implementation of laws that looked after the welfare of employees in Australian organizations. The unions play a constructive role in implementing WHS Act in the Australian organizations. Inadequate resources acts as an impediment pertaining to application of the safety programs in the various business organisations within Australia. The people in upper management ignore the aspect of legal duty that makes the people managers powerless in implementing safety laws. Changes occurring within work community creates problem for Australian managers in taking into cognizance the safety laws related to workplace. Managers are not able to get feedback from employees that makes them incapable of implementing safety programs in Australia. Managers not receiving peer support from colleagues acts as a hurdle for people managers in managing safety of employees.

References

Barak, M.E.M., 2016. Managing diversity: Toward a globally inclusive workplace. Sage Publications.

Baxter, S., Sanderson, K., Venn, A.J., Blizzard, C.L. and Palmer, A.J., 2014. The relationship between return on investment and quality of study methodology in workplace health promotion programs. American Journal of Health Promotion, 28(6), pp.347-363.

Business.gov.au (2018). Work Health and Safety (OHS) acts, regulations and codes of practice. [online] Business.gov.au. Available at: https://www.business.gov.au/risk-management/health-and-safety/whs-oh-and-s-acts-regulations-and-codes-of-practice [Accessed 14 Oct. 2018].

Cashmore, A.W., Indig, D., Hampton, S.E., Hegney, D.G. and Jalaludin, B.B., 2016. Factors influencing workplace violence risk among correctional health workers: insights from an Australian survey. Australian journal of primary health, 22(5), pp.461-465.

Kilpatrick, M., Blizzard, L., Sanderson, K., Teale, B., Jose, K. and Venn, A., 2017. Barriers and facilitators to participation in workplace health promotion (WHP) activities: results from a cross?sectional survey of public?sector employees in Tasmania, Australia. Health Promotion Journal of Australia, 28(3), pp.225-232.

Safeworkaustralia.gov.au (2018). Model WHS Laws. [online] Safe Work Australia. Available at: https://www.safeworkaustralia.gov.au/law-and-regulation/model-whs-laws [Accessed 14 Oct. 2018].

Taylor, A.W., Pilkington, R., Montgomerie, A. and Feist, H., 2016. The role of business size in assessing the uptake of health promoting workplace initiatives in Australia. BMC public health, 16(1), p.353.

Zheng, C., Molineux, J., Mirshekary, S. and Scarparo, S., 2015. Developing individual and organisational work-life balance strategies to improve employee health and wellbeing. Employee Relations, 37(3), pp.354-379.