STIR

Occupational Health and Safety (OH&S)

Occupational Health and Safety (OH&S) laws establish two things:

1.The right of employees to a healthy and safe workplace

2. The duty of the employers to provide and maintain a working environment that is safe and without risk to health.

STIR

The Victorian Occupational Health and Safety Act The Victorian Occupational Health and Safety Act provides for the participation of employees and employers in decisions that affect health and safety in the workplace.

These laws were originally established by the Labour Government in 1985, it has been amended three times by the Liberal Government.

The law recognises that problems of Occupational Health and Safety are best handled at the individual workplace.

The Act provides for the involvement of employer and employees in establishing and implementing health and safety standards.

STIR

Under the law, workers elect health and safety representatives to represent groups of workers;

known as designated work groups.

An Occupational Health and Safety representative has special rights in the workplace, including: •The right to inspect the workplace•The right to receive relevant information•The right to be consulted about issues affecting health and safety at the workplace.

The representative can require the employer to establish joint employee-employer health and safety committee to deal with longer term issues.

STIR

The way in which health and safety issues are handled is intended to be flexible, so methods of resolving problems vary from workplace to workplace.

The legislation attempts to encourage a cooperative and positive approach to dealing with and preventing problems.

The Act is administered by a Government body, The Victorian Work Cover Authority, which provides advice and can take legal action – i.e. prosecution – against an employer through its inspectors.

STIR

When a worker has a concern about health and safety in the workplace, they should discuss their concerns with their:

•health and safety representative•their representative organisation, i.e. trade union

Advice can also be obtained from The Victorian Work Cover Authority.

It is important that workers follow correct guide lines for maintaining safe practices in the work place.

STIR

Many workplaces now actively promote safe and healthy work practices by displaying information in the workplace.

Some examples are:

•Work break exercises

•Correct lifting procedures and weight of object

•Signs that display a potential risk – slippery when wet, under construction – hard hat required