Section 3 Activities

Activity: Supporting the WHS process

Workplace activity: Participation in WHS

Workplace activity: Review a policy or procedure

Workplace activity: Providing feedback to supervisors

Activity: Supporting the WHS process

How have you supported the WHS processes in your workplace?

1. Read the list below and tick off all those activities that you have done in your current workplace.

£ Completed an induction process

£ Attended training

£ Used equipment according to guidelines and operating manuals

£ Followed specific instructions for safety procedures

£ Followed reasonable instructions relating to WHS

£ Assisted others to behave safely

£ Reported a hazard

£ Reported incidents such as near misses, property damage or minor injury

£ Recorded an accident, injury or incident according to workplace guidelines

£ Helped monitor hazards and reduce risks

£ Helped with a safety audit

£ Provided other forms of support

2. Provide details for at least three activities, e.g. attended WHS training sessions, filled out a form to report a hazard.

Take the time to discuss this activity with your supervisor and identify any areas in which you can further support WHS processes in your workplace.

Workplace activity: Participation in WHS

How have you contributed to participative arrangements in your workplace?

Read the list below and tick off all those activities in which you have actively participated.

£ Review a policy and procedure

£ Took part in issue resolution procedures

£ Took part in critical incident debriefing

£ Acted as a ‘buddy’ to new staff or volunteers

£ Had a formal role relating to WHS arrangements

£ Contributed to discussions on workplace health and safety issues with other workers or with workplace health and safety representatives

£ Contributed to discussions for modifying procedures or improving physical workflow

£ Did some research on what is happening in the wider world concerning health and safety – Internet, industry journals, newspapers)

£ Took part in other forms of participative arrangements

2. Provide details for at least two activities (e.g. describe your role/contribution).

Take the time to discuss this activity with your supervisor and identify any other participative opportunities in your workplace.

Workplace activity: Review a policy or procedure

In this activity you will select and review a workplace health and safety policy or procedure in your workplace.

1. Identify written policies or procedures in your workplace that relate to a specific type of incident that has occurred in your organisation, or is covered in the accident and injury data provided in this resource. (industry_data2005.pdf – Queensland Department of Industrial Relations 2005, Health and Community Services Industry Action Plan 2004–2007 pp. 5–6).

2. Describe how you might improve one of these policies or procedures to reduce risk. (If there is no scope for improvement, you may need to choose a different one.)

3. Describe the participative arrangements available in your workplace that enable you to have suggestions for improvement considered by the appropriate people.

Workplace activity: Providing feedback to supervisors

In this activity you will explore a health and safety issue in your work area and the way you can provide feedback to your supervisor and others as appropriate. You may either:

1. Identify a work activity (e.g. work process or equipment use) that has been improved in the past because of a WHS incident or a direction from your WHS Officer or representative and:

a) Briefly describe the processes of hazard identification and risk reduction that applied in this case; For example, the WHS committee revised procedures in response to a safety audit.

b) Write a brief statement advising your supervisor or WHS person how successful you think the process has been in reducing risk, and whether it warrants further investigation.

Section 3 Activities