FPPOHS320A
Maintain OHS processes

This unit specifies the workplace performance required by an employee with supervisory responsibilities, to maintain organisational OHS processes

Application

This unit is intended to be applied at the level of team leader or supervisor

Workers are likely to perform a broad range of complex and non-routine activities together with leadership and guidance in planning and organising activities for a small work group

Application of this unit should be contextualised to reflect any specific workplace risks, hazards and associated safety practices

Contextualisation statement

This unit has been contextualised from the generic Australian Safety and Compensation Council (ASCC) unit OHS400 Maintain OHS processes

The following contextualisation statement is provided as an aid to training and related personnel and others who wish to use pulp and paper industry OHS standards in our industry or other industry contexts

It provides additional information to be read in conjunction with the range statement

General description of the Pulp and Paper Industry context:

Pulping and/or paper manufacturing facilities are generally characterised by:

State-of-the-art/cutting edge technologies including nano-technology

Large high-speed equipment (current world-class machinery can produce up to 2 kilometres of paper per minute, depending on paper grade)

Continuous 24 hour/7 day week/365 day operations

Fully integrated processes interlinking complex manufacturing operations with related on-site services; supply and distribution operations and other supporting plant, equipment and functions

Thousands of different integrated mechanical and electrical componentry that can span four stories in height and take up the space of a street-block in size, with mills occupying up to 3.4 sq km of land (not including filtration wetlands)

Chemical use comprising chemical recovery operations and may include chemical recovery boiler operations

The nature of the pulp and/or paper manufacturing process requires that occupational health and safety be embedded in knowledge and skills development associated with industry specialisations. This unit must be holistically assessed with the relevant industry specific (functional) units. This ensures that learners are competent in performing all aspects of their work safely


Prerequisites

Not Applicable


Elements and Performance Criteria

ELEMENT

PERFORMANCE CRITERIA

1. Provide information to the work group

1.1. Clearly and accurately explain to the work group relevant provisions of OHS legislation, standards, Codes of Practice/compliance codes, guidance material and safe working procedures and practices

1.2. Provide information on organisational policies and procedures in a readily accessible manner and clearly explain to the work group

1.3. Explain the roles and responsibilities of workplace OHS representatives and OHS committees

1.4. Provide information to the work group, in an accessible and understandable format, on hazards, the outcomes of risk assessments, and required risk controls

2. Ensure others are able to implement safe work practices

2.1. Ensure personal protective equipment appropriate to the work is available and functional

2.2. Implement processes to confirm that others in the work group can identify hazards and required risk controls and are following safe work practices, and organisational policies and procedures

2.3. Identify OHS training needs and either address or report these needs to those with control

3. Implement OHS participative processes

3.1. Consult with the work group and provide advice in relation to OHS matters relevant to their work

3.2. Ensure OHS issues raised are dealt with promptly, and in line with organisational procedures and legislative requirements, or referred to appropriate personnel

3.3. Record outcomes of consultation regarding OHS and promptly communicate these outcomes to the work group

4. Monitor compliance with work procedures

4.1. Check the work procedures for availability, clarity and completeness, addressing any deficiencies or reporting them to appropriate persons

4.2. Identify and address any deviations from procedures or report to appropriate persons

4.3. Evaluate hazard identification and reporting processes for effectiveness and address any deficiencies or report to appropriate persons

4.4. Monitor OHS housekeeping practices to ensure that workplace standards are maintained, and take action to address any deficiencies

4.5. Ensure own behaviour is consistent with organisational safe working procedures and practices

5. Implement hazard identification, risk assessment and risk control procedures

5.1. Ensure hazards are identified and eliminated with residual risk reported in line with organisational procedures

5.2. Conduct risk assessments

5.3. Develop control measures, taking account of the hierarchy of control

5.4. Implement and support outcomes of risk assessments and identified risk control

5.5. Identify and address and/or report deficiencies in OHS risk controls in line with organisational procedures

5.6. Identify personal professional limitations and seek expert advice as required

6. Implement organisational procedures for maintaining OHS records

6.1. Obtain feedback to ensure that work group is aware of organisational reporting requirements

6.2. Review OHS records to confirm that they are completed in an accurate, thorough and timely manner in line with legislative and organisational requirements

6.3. Use aggregate information and data from records to identify hazards and monitor risk controls

7. Implement emergency procedures

7.1. Obtain feedback to ensure that emergency procedures are available and known by the work group

7.2. Implement processes to ensure that emergency equipment is available and routinely checked for functionality

7.3. Implement processes to ensure that others in the work group are able to respond appropriately to emergencies

7.4. Conduct or contribute to investigations to identify cause of emergencies

7.5. Identify and implement or support control measures to prevent recurrence and minimise risk of emergencies

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 industry/type 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 practice/compliance codes relevant to the particular industry/type 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 person(s) 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 team/work 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 and/or 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


Sectors

Not Applicable


Employability Skills

The required outcomes described in this unit of competency contain applicable facets of Employability Skills

The Employability Skills Summary of the qualification in which this unit of competency is packaged will assist in identifying Employability Skill requirements


Licensing Information

Not Applicable