PUBH6002 Assessment 1: Work health safety assessment

Context:

Each state in Australia has legislative requirements that govern work health safety. Australian workplaces are obligated to conduct work health safety assessments and provide methods by which safety incidents can be reported. Work health safety has significant implications for public health, but all workplaces are required to put work health safety policies and procedures in place to promote safety in the workplace.

Instructions:

To prepare for this assignment:

• Locate a suitable environment for conducting a work health safety risk assessment. This may be your own workplace, the workplace of a friend or family member, or a home office space. Make sure that you obtain permission to conduct an assessment in a professional
• Download the work health safety risk assessment
• Review the resources at the Health and Safety Handbook website, and the steps to undertaking a Work Health and safety assessment here: https://www.safeworkaustralia.gov.au/risk

To complete your work health safety risk assessment:

1. Complete the steps of work safety risk assessment, using the template provided to record any hazards identified, existing controls in place, the relative risk level, and any controls that are needed to further reduce risk.

-     Remember that the purpose is to reduce risk and mitigate the effects of risks where risk is inherently present.

2. In a diverse workplace there may be subpopulations that are more vulnerable to being affected by a safety hazard than others. Identify and describe any vulnerable populations, and propose solutions for mitigating risks for these groups.

To write up this case study:

1. Identify any key agencies or institutions that govern work health safety in this type of working
2. Describe any policies that are relevant to maintaining a safe work environment in this industry (policies can be organisational, discipline-specific and/or national).
3. Summarise the findings of your work health safety assessment, including details relevant to managing risk for vulnerable populations, and provide recommendations to resolve the work safety risks identified.

Assessment criteria

• Understanding of the concepts that underpin work health and safety assessment (20%)
• Application of the process of risk assessment to identify and evaluate elements of risk in the environment (30%)
• Development of recommendations appropriate to the risk and context (20%)
• Awareness of vulnerable groups in the workplace ie disability, gender, ethnicity, and the effect of identified work health safety risks for those vulnerable groups (10%)
• Academic conventions (20%)
• Is well written with appropriate sentence construction and without typing, grammar or punctuation errors
• Adheres to academic conventions and appropriate terminology
• Uses APA style for in-text citation and references