Application
This unit describes a participant’s skills and knowledge required to establish and maintain the WHS management system in the Resources and Infrastructure Industries.
This unit is applicable to those working in management roles where risk needs to be managed.
Licensing, legislative, regulatory and certification requirements that apply to this unit can vary between states, territories, and Industry sectors. Relevant information must be sourced prior to application of the unit.
Note: The terms Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) and Work Health and Safety (WHS) are equivalent and generally either can be used in the workplace. In jurisdictions where the National Model WHS Legislation has not been implemented RTOs are advised to contextualise the unit of competency by referring to the existing State/Territory OHS legislative requirements.
Elements and Performance Criteria
1 Establish and maintain the framework for the WHS Management System | 1.1 Access, interpret and apply WHS management system legislation and documentation and ensure the work activity is compliant 1.2 Develop WHS policies, objectives and procedures that clearly express the organisation’s commitment to WHS, and how relevant WHS legislation will be implemented, consistent with overall organisational policies 1.3 Clearly define, allocate and include in job descriptions and duty statements for all relevant positions, WHS responsibilities and duties, which will allow implementation and integration of the WHS Management System 1.4 Identify, seek and/or provide in a timely and consistent manner, financial and human resources for the operation of the WHS Management System 1.5 Provide and explain information on the WHS Management System and procedures in a form that is readily accessible to employees |
2 Establish and maintain participative arrangements for the management of WHS | 2.1 Establish and maintain appropriate consultative processes in consultation with employees and their representatives 2.2 Ensure issues raised through participation and consultation are dealt with and resolved promptly and effectively 2.3 Ensure that information about the outcomes of participation and consultation is provided in a manner accessible to employees |
3 Establish and maintain procedures for identifying hazards | 3.1 Develop, maintain and ensure integration of a procedure for ongoing identification of existing and potential hazards with systems of work and procedures 3.2 Monitor activities to ensure that hazard identification procedure is adopted effectively throughout the organisation 3.3 Ensure procedures are in place and applied for hazard identification at the planning, design and evaluation stages of any change in the workplace to ensure that new hazards are not created |
4 Establish and maintain procedures for assessing risk | 4.1 Ensure appropriate assessment of risks presented by identified hazards is carried out 4.2 Develop and ensure integration of a procedure for ongoing assessment of risks 4.3 Monitor activities to ensure that the risk assessment procedure is adopted effectively throughout the organisation 4.4 Ensure procedures are in place for risk assessment to be addressed at the planning, design and evaluation stages of any change within the organisation to ensure that risks are not created |
5 Establish and maintain procedures for treating risks | 5.1 Develop and ensure implementation of measures to control assessed risks in accordance with relevant legislation, code of practice and trends identified from the WHS records system 5.2 Ensure the implementation of interim solutions until a permanent control measure is developed when measures which treat a risk at its source are not immediately practicable 5.3 Develop and ensure integration of procedures for ongoing control of risks within general systems of work and procedures 5.4 Monitor activities to ensure that the risk treatment procedure is adopted effectively throughout the organisation 5.5 Ensure risk treatment is addressed at the planning, design and evaluation stages of any change within the organisation to ensure that adequate risk control measures are included 5.6 Identify inadequacies in existing risk treatment measures and seek and provide resources to enable implementation of new measures according to appropriate procedures |
6 Establish and maintain organisational procedures for dealing with unplanned incidents | 6.1 Identify the range of most likely potential unplanned incidents from an analysis of likely risks 6.2 Develop procedures in consultation with appropriate emergency services that would treat the risks associated with the potential events that meet legislative requirements as a minimum 6.3 Provide appropriate information and training to all employees to enable implementation of the correct procedures in all relevant circumstances |
7 Establish and maintain a WHS training program | 7.1 Develop a WHS training program to identify and fulfil employees’ WHS training needs 7.2 Ensure implementation of WHS training program |
8 Establish and maintain a system for WHS records | 8.1 Establish a system for recording WHS activity and outcomes 8.2 Monitor the system for keeping WHS records to allow identification of patterns of occupational injury and disease within the organisation |
9 Plan and prepare for the implementation of the WHS Management System | 9.1 Identify and interpret the legislative and site requirements related to the WHS Management System 9.2 Access and interpret the WHS Management System 9.3 Identify, clarify and communicate verbally and in writing to all, personnel roles and responsibilities 9.4 Identify, forecast, obtain and allocate/schedule resources required for the implementation of the WHS Management System 9.5 Implement WHS management training program. 9.6 Encourage, receive, review and, where appropriate, implement suggestions and recommendations for changes to WHS management procedures |
10 Evaluate the organisation’s WHS Management System and related policies, procedures and programs | 10.1 Assess the effectiveness of the WHS Management System and related policies, procedures and programs 10.2 Develop and ensure implementation of improvements to the WHS Management System to ensure more effective achievement of the organisation’s WHS aims 10.3 Assess compliance with WHS legislation and code of practice to ensure that legal WHS standards are maintained as a minimum |
Evidence of Performance
Evidence is required to be collected that demonstrates a candidate’s competency in this unit. Evidence must be relevant to the roles within this sector’s work operations and satisfy all of the requirements of the performance criteria of this unit and include evidence that the candidate:
locates and applies relevant legislation, documentation, policies and procedures
demonstrates completion of establishing and maintaining the WHS management system that safely, effectively and efficiently meets all of the required outcomes on more than one (1) occasion including:
referring to legislation, codes of practice and company policy to establish procedures for implanting strategies and activities that eliminate or reduce risk on site
identifying possible incidents and preparing procedures for unplanned incidents
providing coaching and mentoring support to others who implement and maintain WHS systems
using effective consultative mechanisms to negotiate processes and procedures appropriate to workplace safety
explaining complex WHS information to superiors/subordinates
establishing and monitoring site training plans and training occurrences
taking a leading role in initiating action and making decisions when risk is identified and needs to be controlled
maintaining clear and concise written records and documents of WHS incident and activity outcomes
establishing WHS systems audit processes
accessing and analysing archival and historical information for auditing WHS activity
demonstrating the establishment of processes, techniques and examples of continuous improvement for WHS activity on site
Evidence of Knowledge
The candidate must demonstrate knowledge of establish and maintain the WHS Management System through:
relevant WHS legislation, policies and code of practice requirements and procedures
WHS auditing procedures
duty of care principles
training design and management requirements and procedures
emergency procedures
strategic planning procedures
human resource management requirements and procedures
risk management processes and techniques
action planning methods and preparation
undertaking continuous improvement processes
Assessment Conditions
An assessor of this unit must satisfy the requirements of the NVR/AQTF or their successors; and Industry regulations for certification and licensing; and,
this unit is best assessed in the context of this sector’s work environment;
where personal safety or environmental damage are limiting factors, assessment may occur in a simulated environment provided it is realistic and sufficiently rigorous to cover all aspects of this sector’s workplace performance, including environment, task skills, task management skills, contingency management skills and job role environment skills; and,
this unit must be assessed in compliance with relevant legislation/regulation and using policies, procedures, processes and operational manuals directly related to the industry sector for which it is being assessed; and,
assessment may be conducted in conjunction with the assessment of other Units of Competency; and,
assessment must confirm consistent performance can be applied in a range of relevant workplace circumstances; and,
assessors must demonstrate the performance evidence, and knowledge evidence as outlined in this Unit of Competency, and through the minimum years of current* work experience specified below in an Industry sector relevant to the outcomes of the unit; or,
where the assessor does not meet experience requirements a co-assessment or partnership arrangement must exist between the qualified assessor and an Industry subject matter expert. The Industry subject matter expert should hold the unit being assessed (or an equivalent unit) and/or demonstrate equivalence of skills and knowledge at the unit level. An Industry technical expert must also demonstrate skills and knowledge from the minimum years of current work experience specified below in the Industry sector, including time spent in roles related to the unit being assessed; and,
assessor and Industry subject matter expert requirements differ depending on the Australian Qualifications Framework Level (AQF) of the qualification being assessed and/or Industry Sector as follows:
Industry sector | AQF** Level | Required assessor or Industry subject matter expert experience |
Drilling, Metalliferous Mining, Coal Mining, Extractive (Quarrying) and Civil Construction | 1 | 1 Year |
2 | 2 Years | |
Drilling, Coal Mining and Extractive (Quarrying) | 3-6 | 3 Years |
Metalliferous Mining and Civil Construction | 3-6 | 5 Years |
Other sectors | Where this Unit is being assessed outside of the Resources and Infrastructure Sectors assessor and/or Industry subject matter expert experience should be in-line with industry standards for the sector in which it is being assessed and where no Industry standard is specified should comply with any relevant regulation. | |
*Assessors can demonstrate current work experience through employment within Industry in a role relevant to the outcomes of the Unit; or, for external assessors this can be demonstrated through exposure to Industry by conducting frequent site assessments across various locations.
**Where a unit is being delivered outside of a Qualification the first numeric character in the Unit code should be considered to indicate the AQF level
Foundation Skills
Foundation skills essential to performance are explicit in the performance criteria of this unit. Further information is available in the Resources and Infrastructure Industry Training Package Companion Volume.