Controlling hazards and risks in the workplace

Protecting health and safety at work

A workplace is a place where employees or self-employed people work. It doesn’t have to be a building or structure. Workplaces are not just shops, offices or factories. They can be almost anywhere. For example, a paddock, a truck, a family home, a tent, a park and a sportsground can all be workplaces.

Workplaces can also be dangerous. There are hazards that could kill, injure or cause ill health or disease. Protecting the health and safety of people in the workplace is a legal requirement. It's also a community expectation. Workplace incidents can have a big impact on people’s lives. They don't just affect those in the workplace. They can also affect families, friends and the wider community.

Health and safety at work is known as occupational health and safety or OHS. The guidance on the following pages sets out a method to help employers control OHS hazards and risks. This method can help you fulfil your duties to control OHS hazards and risks to employees and other people. It can help you provide them with the highest level of protection that is reasonably practicable in the circumstances.

As well as being a legal requirement, keeping people safe at work makes good business sense. Workplace incidents can have a financial impact on organisations. They can lead to the loss of skilled staff and lost production of goods or services.

WorkSafe has a guideline that explains how it applies the law in relation to identifying and understanding hazards and risks.

Workplace safety laws

There are laws to keep people safe in the workplace. One of those laws is the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004. It's known as the OHS Act. The OHS Act helps protect work health and safety in Victoria. It gives people duties to control risks to health and safety at work. The definition of health under the OHS Act includes psychological health.

The Occupational Health and Safety Regulations 2017 are a set of rules. Known as the OHS Regulations, they build on the OHS Act. They set out how to fulfil duties, obligations and processes that support the OHS Act. Employers must ensure they follow the regulations set out in the OHS Regulations.

As an employer, you have duties under the OHS Act and OHS Regulations. Those duties include ensuring the health and safety of people 'so far as is reasonably practicable'.

A safe and healthy workplace that complies with the law does not happen by chance or guesswork. Good health and safety at work is all about eliminating or controlling hazards and risks. A hazard is something that can cause harm. A risk is the chance of a hazard causing harm. Harm includes injury, illness and death. The best way to manage hazards and risks is to properly consider:

• the sources of harm
• what to do to prevent the harm from happening
• ways to monitor and review risk controls.

A method to control hazards and risks

The method described in the guidance for controlling hazards and risks doesn't require complex systems or large amounts of paperwork. How you put the method into action depends on:

• the type of hazards or risks
• the nature of your organisation and workplace
• how you conduct your business.

In simple situations, the method is just a way of thinking through a problem and taking action.

In complex situations or big organisations, you may need to use the method in a different way. You may need formal systems and procedures to support the method. Those systems and procedures will help ensure good health and safety outcomes. They will help you fulfil your legal duties.

The method in this guidance and the processes that surround it are not your final goal. Rather, the method is a tool that can help you comply with your legal duties. Broadly, those duties are to:

• keep people safe and healthy at work
• control hazards and risks in the workplace, so far as is reasonably practicable.

Key concepts

There are 5 important concepts to understand as you work through this guidance –

Hazard

A hazard is something that can cause harm.

Risk

Risk is the possibility that harm might occur when someone is exposed to a hazard.

Harm

Harm is death, injury, illness or disease a person may suffer from a hazard or risk. Illness and injury include psychological illness and injury.

Control

The word ‘control’ is simply a term that means ‘ways to manage an issue’. Controls are things you can put in place to eliminate and reduce risks.

System of work

A system of work is the way work is planned, organised and done. It may include related sets of policies, procedures and practices. It can also include equipment, materials and environment. Policies and procedures on their own are not systems of work.