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Follow the links below to find material targeted to the unit's elements, performance criteria, required skills and knowledge

Elements and Performance Criteria

  1. Provide information to the work group
  2. Ensure others are able to implement safe work practices
  3. Implement OHS participative processes
  4. Monitor compliance with work procedures
  5. Implement hazard identification, risk assessment and risk control procedures
  6. Implement organisational procedures for maintaining OHS records
  7. Implement emergency procedures

Required Skills

Required skills

Ability to

Use technical skills to access OHS information

Use language and literacy skills to interpret OHS documentation

Communicate with personnel in the work team other work teams managers and expert advisers

Supervise and direct staff

Conduct team meetings

Relate to people from a range of social cultural and ethnic backgrounds and physical and mental abilities

Required knowledge

The difference between hazard and risk

Sources of OHS information both internal and external to the workplace

General duty requirements of OHS legislation and also regulatory requirements relevant to the particular industrytype of work site

The roles and responsibilities of employees supervisors and managers in the workplace

Nature of common workplace hazards such as chemicals bodily fluids sharps noise manual handling work postures underfoot hazards and moving parts of machinery

Knowledge and understanding of guidance material including codes of practicecompliance codes relevant to the particular industrytype of work site

Hazard identification procedures such as workplace inspections and review of workplace data

Principles of risk assessment

The hierarchy of control and its application

PPE requirements including use storage and maintenance

Legislative requirements for record keeping and reporting

Standards and guidelines related to emergency procedures

Roles and responsibilities of OHS representatives and OHS committees

Workplace specific information including

hazards of the particular work environment

hazard identification procedures relevant to the hazards in their workplace

risk controls for specific hazards

designated persons for raising OHS issues

organisational procedures related to OHS including hazard incident and injury reporting hazard identification risk assessment and control consultation and participation incident investigation record keeping

work procedures related to the work of the teamwork group including use of PPE and emergency response

potential emergency situations alarms and signals and required response

Evidence Required

The evidence guide provides advice on assessment and must be read in conjunction with the performance criteria required skills and knowledge range statement and the Assessment Guidelines for the Training Package

Critical aspects for assessment

To demonstrate competency in this unit a candidate must be able to provide evidence of maintaining OHS processes in the workplace particularly in relation to the supervision of a small work group

Evidence gathered by an assessor to determine competence will include

written or verbal responses to scenarios and case studies

provision of workplace examples

evidence from workplace supervisor reports

portfolio of workplace documentation

Evidence of workplace performance over time must be obtained to inform a judgement of competence

Products that could be used as evidence include

Verbal and written responses to verbal pictorial or physical scenarios

Completed examples of information provided to work group risk assessments risk controls developed reports to managers reports workplace inspections audits emergency exercises

Reports from work group members supervisor

Processes that could be used as evidence include

How information transfer was organised and conducted

How risk assessments were conducted

How deviations from workplace procedures were addressed

Access and equity considerations

All workers should be aware of access and equity issues in relation to their own area of work

All workers should develop their ability to work in a culturally diverse environment

In recognition of particular health issues facing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities workers should be aware of cultural historical and current issues impacting on health of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people

Assessors and trainers must take into account relevant access and equity issues in particular relating to factors impacting on health of Aboriginal andor Torres Strait Islander clients and communities


Range Statement

The range statement relates to the unit of competency as a whole. It allows for different work environments and situations that may affect performance. Bold italicised wording, if used in the performance criteria, is detailed below. Essential operating conditions that may be present with training and assessment (depending on the work situation, needs of the candidate, accessibility of the item, and local industry and regional contexts) may also be included.

OHS legislation includes:

commonwealth, state and territory OHS acts and regulations

Standards include:

documents produced by national bodies, OHS regulators or industry bodies, that prescribe preventative action to avert occupational deaths, injuries and diseases

standards are of an advisory nature only, except where a law adopts the standard and thus makes it mandatory

they may be called up as evidence in court or other enforcement action

Codes of practice/compliance codes are:

documents generally prepared to provide advice to employers and workers, of an acceptable way of achieving standards

may provide information for use by unions, employers, management, health and safety committee members and representatives, safety officers and others requiring guidance

Codes of practice/compliance codes may:

be incorporated into regulations

not relate to a standard

be called up as evidence in court or other enforcement action

Guidance material:

is an advisory technical document, providing detailed information for use by unions, employers, management, health and safety committee members and representatives, safety officers and others requiring guidance

advises on 'what to do' and 'how to do it'

has no legal standing

Organisational policies and procedures include:

policies and procedures underpinning the management of OHS including:

hazard, incident and injury reporting

hazard identification, risk assessment and control and monitoring

consultation and participation

incident investigation

quality system documentation.

A hazard is:

a source or situation with the potential for harm in terms of human injury or ill-health, damage to property, the environment, or a combination of these

Specific safety related hazards may include, but are not limited to:

substances e.g. chemicals, starch pulp, steam

noise

manual handling

ergonomics

underfoot hazards

slips and trips

moving parts of machinery

mobile plant

Other workplace hazards may include, but are not limited to:

fatigue

stress

bullying

occupational violence

Risk:

in relation to any hazard, means the probability and consequences of injury, illness or damage resulting from exposure to a hazard

Risk assessments involve analysing a hazard to:

identify factors influencing the risk and the range of potential consequences:

effectiveness of existing controls

likelihood of each consequence considering exposure and hazard level

and combining these in some way to obtain a level of risk

Risk controls include:

the devices and methods to, where practicable, eliminate the hazard or, where this is not practicable, minimise the risk associated with the hazard

Personal protective equipment (PPE) includes:

equipment worn by a person to provide protection from hazards, by providing a physical barrier between the person and the hazard and may include:

head protection

face and eye protection

respiratory protection

hearing protection

hand protection

clothing and footwear

Work procedures include:

Standard Operating Procedures

permit to work

operator or manufacturer manuals

procedures for selecting, fitting, using and maintaining personal protective equipment

Hazard identification is:

the process of identifying sources of harm and may be required:

at design or pre purchase of equipment and materials

at commissioning or pre-implementation of new processes or practices

before new forms of work and organisation of work are implemented

before changes are made to workplace, equipment, work processes of work arrangements

as part of planning major tasks or activities, such as equipment shutdowns

following an incident report

when new knowledge becomes available

at regular intervals during normal operations

prior to disposal of equipment, buildings or materials

Report processes include:

hazards reports

maintenance requests and reports

reports on completion of inspections

incident reports

reports of non-compliance with work procedures

reporting on progress of action plans

OHS housekeeping practices address items such as:

workplace cleanliness and tidiness

unobstructed walkways and emergency exits

underfoot conditions

work space around equipment and machinery

functioning services such as lighting, air flow and ventilation, emergency lighting

storage areas including manual handling issues, storage, personal protective equipment

signage

Residual risk is:

the risk which remains after control have been implemented

Hierarchy of control is:

the preferred order of control measures of OHS risks:

elimination - controlling the hazard at the source

substitution e.g. replacing one substance or activity at the source

engineering e.g. installing guards on machinery

administration - policies and procedures for safe work practices

Personal Protective Equipment e.g. respirators, ear plugs

Expert advice can be obtained from:

persons either internal or external to the organisation including:

safety professionals

ergonomists

occupational hygienists

audiologists

safety engineers

toxicologists

occupational health professionals

OHS representatives

OHS committees

Other persons providing specific technical knowledge or expertise in areas related to OHS including:

risk managers

health professionals

injury management advisors

legal practitioners with experience in OHS

engineers (e.g. design, acoustic, mechanical, civil)

security and emergency response personnel

workplace trainers and assessors

maintenance and trade persons

OHS records may include:

hazard, incident and investigation reports

workplace inspection reports

incident investigation reports

first aid reports

minutes of meetings

Job Safety Analysis (JSAs) and Risk Assessments (RAs)

Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) and registers

employee handbooks

plant and equipment operation records including those relevant to registered plant

maintenance and testing reports

training records

environmental monitoring records

health surveillance records

Legislative requirements for record keeping include those specified under:

OHS legislation for:

serious incident and injury reporting

registered plant

hazardous substances and dangerous goods

environmental monitoring; and

health surveillance

privacy legislation

Emergency may include any abnormal or sudden event that requires immediate action such as:

serious injury events

events requiring evacuation

fires and explosions

hazardous substance and chemical spills

explosion and bomb alerts

security emergencies, such as armed robberies, intruders and disturbed persons

internal emergencies, such as loss of power or water supply and structural collapse

external emergencies and natural disasters, such as flood, storm and traffic accident impacting on the organisation

Emergency equipment is equipment required as part of the emergency response by the organisation and includes:

first aid equipment

eye wash shower or portable eye washes

fire extinguishers and equipment

communication equipment

evaluation alarms

torches/emergency lighting

items of clothing such as coloured hats and vests

Incidents include:

any event that has caused or has the potential for injury, ill-health or damage to property, the environment, or a combination of these