Occupational Health and Safety Act 2000 - Essay Example

November 10, 2007 Dear Gary Mirtle, As the office manager of The East Coast Secretarial Service, I have noticed a prevalence of incidences of injurythat has given employees many hours of leave. Occasionally, victims who are hurt are out of the office for an indefinite amount of time considering the magnitude of the injury and the victim's healing process. These excessive time lapses can and have become a strain on my employees' work load. Also, workers on leave have precipitated revenue loss. I believe if we follow the protocol set as precedent in the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2000, incidence of injury will be less prevalent. This common reoccurrence in this department are heavily expensive in terms of revenue and employees on leave due to workplace injury. I personally think there should be a distinct appropriation sequestered for those types of emergencies. Workplace hazards are an issue within my department in which I must take care of. However, I feel there is lackluster effort on your part in aiding my cause. I pray this composition does not create strife or offend you in any sort but it is my every intention this may be read as a cordial admonishment. Work place hazard regulations have been drafted and implemented in the past few decades in Australia as well as other industrialized countries. The promulgations of such mandates are the byproduct of horrors and abuses of the industrial age. Thus, to prevent and limit the abuses and mistreatment of huge businesses and corporations for its faulty safety methods and little, if not any, precaution procedures, lawmakers has taken initiatives to protect those unable to stand against employers who usurp their less- fortunate employees. Also, labor unions grew to further protect workers hazards and wrongful dischargement. Such efforts to reform safety measures has transcended through the decades to protect workers from hazards the can affect the health of an employee. (www.ohs.annu.edu.au/ohs, 2002) In this composition, an analysis will be done of the regulations and legislations on occupational health and safety. A situation will be used a variable in which the occupational health and safety will have to be implemented. Here are the particulars: On Wednesday, October 24, 2007, our receptionist in the Administration Department of the East Coast Secretarial Service, Mary Smith, tripped over an extension cord en route away from her desk. Her misstep caused her to fall heavily on her knee which was a critical insult to her bone and joint. This trauma to her knee prompted edema accumulation. I instructed one of her colleagues who witnessed Mary misstep to accompany her to the hospital. The X-ray results revealed that a piece of the platella has been fractured off the main bone. The prognosis to insults to the body such as these prompts the immediate leave of absence. Hence on this precept, Mary Smith has been given two fortnights of leave and she will be given an extended leave of absence upon further analysis of her knee after her preliminary respite. Events such as these prompted me to address you my concerns about the status of this enterprise. The "lack of uniformity" (www.ohs.annu.edu.au/ohs, 2002) in the regulations can be an impediment toward adjusting to these laws, but I believe this gives us the opportunity to make amends on our own. The recommendations in the British Robens Report (1972) encourages enterprises like ours to use a self-regulation methodology that includes workers and management to improvise the Occupational Health and safety standards set down be the state. (www.ohs.annu.edu.au/ohs, 2002) In chapter 4, section 2, divisions 3 on the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2000 in regards to work premises, the prefect of the premises are obligated to protect employees from hazardous electrical equipment and appliances. (www.austii.edu.au, 2001) All appliances that places a potential threat to employees (i.e. fires, flaring, overheating) should to be turned off. Appliances that are open in workplace premises and can be a threat should be used appropriately. Thus, proper training should be administered to employees who work in that location or use that appliance. Training will dictate how workers will approach the workplace and will stimulate proper utilization of products. If an appliance is deemed unsafe by an employee, a written memorandum should be submitted to the manager of the district indicating as such. Communication is essential to ensure safety among our employees. Consultation is quite important because it will help the managerial regulations of the safety measures throughout the changing environment of that premises. It tends to conjure a confederate ambience so that any manager, such as I, may be approachable; I would digress from using tyrannical methods that can engender employees being held incommunicado. Employees who work in their environ are able to give apt and concise assessment on determining which regulations of Occupational Health and Safety Act 2000 should be stressed or mitigated. Their input will help me as a manager to enforce regulations that appropriately pertain to that environ. As implied in section of Occupational Health and Safety Act 2000 : Duty of employer to consult An employer must consult, in accordance with this Division, with the employees of the employer to enable the employees to contribute to the making of decisions affecting their health, safety and welfare at work. (www.austii.edu.au, 2001) That said, the pragmatic approach to this will be beneficial to any manager who wants to be effective desiring to improve the well-being of his employees. This "duty," as aforementioned, should not be regarded as a burden. Furthermore, a duty that I consider critical -to both of us- pertaining to my environ of work is risk management. "Legislation now requires all employers and others to ensure that all risks to health and safety at a place of work are identified, assessed, and eliminated or controlled." (Blake Dawson Waldron Lawyers, 2003) Management of these materials is essential for safety. Proper documentation of malfunctioning products will effectively aid our managerial duties. If these measures are not implemented, penalties will be administered, which comes in four measures- the fourth is the largest penal fee. Consideration must be given to all avenues of work.. As this analysis has shown, ensuring health and safety of our employees should be of prime importance. Their safety will in effect encourage the fluidity of this business and thus, generate revenue. Again according to Occupational Health and Safety Act 2000 , steps to ensure OHS compliance includes training, assessment on risks, consultation with employees, and cautious management of equipment being utilized. A review is in demand to see if the status of the workplace is in compliance with OHS regulations. Bibliography: Allyne and Beacon. 2002 World History: From 1815 to Present. Prentice Hall, New York About occupational health and safety regulation in Australia 2002 Retrieved on November 6, 2007 from www.ohs.anu.edu.au/ohs/ New Occupational Health and Safety Legislation 2003 Retrieved on November 6, 2007 from www.when.com.au/act.htm New South Wales Consolidated Regulations 2000 Retrieved on October 28, 2007 from www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/nws/consol_reg/ohasr2001364 Occupational Outlook Handbook 2005 JIST Works Publishing, Canada Work Cover: New South Wales Retrieved on October 28, 2007 from http://www.workcover.nsw.gov.au/default.htm Bell, A. David. "The Shorn Identity." The New Republic 28 November 2005: pg. 20-21+ 28-29 Remak, Joachim. 1995 The Origins of World War I 1871-1914 2nd Edition. Fort Worth, Texas: Harcourt Brace College Publishers. Brington, Crane, John B. Christopher, Robert Lee Wolff. 1995 A History of Civilization: 1715 to the Present Vol. II. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice Hall, Inc. Esler, Anthony, Elizabeth Gaynor Ellis. 1999 World History. New Jersey: Prentice Hall. Read More