Casual Workers - Managing Their Health And Safety

1)

Define the work which you require the casual worker to do.

2)

Identify the hazards and assess any risks associated with the work that will impact on the health and safety of the casual worker. This process should be done with input from health and safety representatives or employees.

3)

Take action to eliminate or reduce the health and safety risks that were assessed in step 2. Again, it is always preferable to draw on the input from health and safety representatives or employees when deciding on risk control measures for the casual worker.

4)

Identify what knowledge and skills (including any licensing and certification requirements) the casual worker should possess in order to undertake the work safely.

5)

Advise the prospective casual worker and on-hire agency (if engaged via an agency) of:
- the job requirements (including health and safety requirements);
- the work environment and organisational arrangement under which the job is required to be performed;
- any health and safety risks associated with the job; and
- the knowledge and skills required for the job.

6)

Select a casual worker with appropriate knowledge and skill to undertake the work safely or select an on-hire agency that has the capacity to provide a person with this knowledge and skill.

7)

Verify that the prospective worker has the necessary knowledge and skill.
Note:
Although it's important to be clear about the knowledge and skill of a prospective casual worker, you still have an obligation to pass on any health and safety information that you would be providing to full time workers. You have no defence by saying "that the worker should have known"; it’s your duty to make sure they know. A risk to safety might be a typical one in lots of workplaces but there’s likely to be certain characteristics of your workplace and how work is done there that makes these "typical" risks unique.

8)

Finalise the contractual arrangement with the casual worker or the on-hire agency and clarify the responsibility for the provision of any equipment (including personal protective equipment) for the casual worker to use in your workplace.

9)

Have processes in place that encourage casual workers to participate in the relevant designated work group. Casual workers (including on-hired workers) participating in designated work groups is a good way to help deal with the unique health and safety issues associated with casual work. (See Note (a) below for related information about on-hired casual workers and designated work groups.)
Note (a):
The involvement of an on-hired casual worker in a designated work group should be worked out between you (the employer) and the relevant health and safety representative and employees in the designated work group. Only employees (casual or permanent workers directly employed by you) have a formal right to be part of a designated work group and to formally be eligible to vote for, or be a health and safety representative or deputy health and safety representative; on-hired casual workers do not have these formal rights. This comes about because the Act's provisions dealing with designated work groups uses the more conventional meaning of "employee". This contrasts with the broader meaning of employee used in the general safety duties of an employer in section 21 of the Act.
It may also be valuable to have on-hired casual workers participate in a health and safety committee, depending on the circumstances in the workplace. However, the on-hired worker must not be regarded as part of the committee membership allocated by the Occupational Health and Safety Act for employees ( see section 72(2) ). Any arrangements associated with getting on-hired casual workers involved in health and safety committees should be made in collaboration with health and safety representatives and employees.
If agreement cannot be reached on the composition of a designated work group, the employer or the employees may apply to the Victorian WorkCover Authority to determine the composition (section 45(1) of the Act ). In this case, the Authority would look at various factors, e.g. the number of employees, the nature of the work being performed, the nature of any hazards at the workplace etc. before making its decision.
Note (b):
The on-hire agency may have its own health and safety committees, designated work groups and health and safety representatives. However, these are health and safety consultative arrangements for the on-hire agency, not your workplace; they must not be regarded as a substitute for your own consultative arrangements.

10)

Provide necessary training, instructions and information in appropriate languages to the casual worker to enable the worker to perform the work safely. The effectiveness of the training should be thoroughly assessed (e.g. by questionnaire and demonstration). Keep a written record of the training provided to the casual worker. The training, instructions and information should be at the same standard you would be required to give a full-time worker who is doing the same jobs as the casual worker. However, you should make sure the following topics are covered in the training, instructions and information because they cover topics which often differ significantly between workplaces:
- Consultative arrangements in the workplace including designated work groups, health and safety representatives, consultative committees, personnel with health and safety responsibilities and issue resolution procedures.
- The management structure or decision making system in the workplace, including lines of communication.
- Workplace hazards relevant to the work the casual worker will be doing.
- Workplace health and safety policy and procedures.
- How to safely operate any model of equipment or machinery which the casual worker is likely to be using. (Note: A person who holds a certificate of competency to undertake certain type of work (e.g. a certified forklift operator) still requires training on hazards and specific models of equipment which are unique to your workplace.)
- Describe any jobs or equipment the casual must not do or use.
- First aid facilities and personnel.
- Workplace facilities such as lunch rooms, change-rooms etc.
- Injury/incident/hazards reporting procedures in the workplace.
- Emergency procedures and emergency personnel.

11)

If the casual worker brings equipment including personal protective equipment (e.g. supplied by the on-hire agency), make sure that the equipment meets adequate health and safety standards and is properly maintained before allowing the equipment to be used in your workplace. You are likely to be held legally accountable if the equipment is not adequate.

12)

Introduce the casual worker to the relevant health and safety representative and the person with health and safety management responsibilities in the area where the casual worker will be working.

13)

Verify that the casual worker fully understands the health and safety training, information, policies and procedures associated with the work before the worker commences work in your workplace.

14)

Provide adequate supervision to monitor whether the work is being performed safely. Recognise that tasks performed by casual employees can sometimes require closer supervision than with full-time workers.

15)

Make sure that appropriate arrangements are in place for identifying hazards associated with the work in an ongoing way, involving your relevant health and safety representatives or employees and the casual worker. Allow the on-hire agency to participate. (See the Guidance Note Hazard identification, risk assessment and risk control in the workplace listed under the "Further information" heading for a good overview of proper hazard identification, risk assessment and risk control procedures.)

16)

When there is a change in your workplace that impacts on the health and safety of the casual worker, advise the on-hire agency and provide necessary additional training, instructions and information to the worker. Do not change the role of the casual worker until the on-hire agency is advised of the proposed change and the agency has an opportunity to respond to the proposal.

17)

Provide refresher training for the casual worker, especially if the worker is engaged for a relatively long period of time.

18)

Allow an on-hired casual worker to maintain communication with the worker's agency.

19)

If there is an incident in your workplace involving a casual worker:
- inform the worker’s on-hire agency of the incident, and notify WorkSafe Victoria if the incident is required to be notified under the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004 (see Part 5 of the Act).
- conduct investigation of the incident to identify all contributing factors. Allow the on-hire agency to participate in this investigation.
- develop and implement measures, in co-operation with the on-hire agency, to avoid a similar incident happening again.

20)

Co-operate with the on-hire agency to assist the agency to meet its legal obligations under the Occupational Health and Safety Act, including allowing the agency access to the workplace and relevant documentation.