Unraveling Hazards and Risks: Navigating the WHS Landscape in Western Australia

1 1.1 Conduct research on relevant sections of the WHS Acts, regulations, codes of practices, policies and procedures applicable to Western Australia to identify the following sources of information and data in your workplace What is the definition of a Hazard? Hazard can be defined as anything or condition/circumstance that has the ability to cause harm on a person. What is the definition of Risk? Risk on the other hand can be defined as the likelihood that upon exposure to a hazard, a person will automatically become hurt. (Possibility of realization of harm upon exposure to a situation that has the potential to harm a person). Is there much difference between them? The two terms go hand in hand as hazard expose a person to a risk. For instance, hazard like noisy machinery expose a person to a risk of developing hearing problems. For this reason, hazard and risk only differ in their nature of occurrence as hazard enhance occurrence of risk. Which of these terms would be associated with Hazard or Risk - Biological, High, Moderate, Electrical, Ergonomic, Physical, Low, Rare, Pyscho-Social, Chemical. Terms that would be associated with hazard risk include, Biological, Physical, Chemical, Ergonomic, Electrical and Psycho-social are associated with hazard while High, rare, moderate and low are associated with risk,(30) What is the difference between Incident and Accident? An accident is always unintentional and happens as a result of error or by chance whose final results are serious damages or injuries of people and properties while Incident can be defined as an event which can be good or bad, intentional or un-intentional whose end results are not serious injuries though may also result to property damage. What are the factors that can influence the level of risk? External and internal factors which determines whether harm is gradual or else immediate. Risk assessment gauges the risk levels that a workplace experiences and may experience upon consideration of factors like: assessing risk with and without existing controls, frequency of injury, duration of exposure, people factors, outcome and effectiveness. What are the 2 things that are important to keep in mind when considering the risk level? The basics while considering risk level are risk assessment potentials and risk controls thus determine the likelihood of an incident occurring as well as the likely outcome should an incident occur as attributed to a hazard to determine the best remedy for the situation. When considering risks, we only think of injury to people, such as workers, employers and volunteers – True or False? In most instance yes thus True Other than Health Safety & Injury, what other impacts could an organisation suffer? There could be serious property damage within the organization, like damage of machineries, power among other operational tools which can negatively affect the entire organization operations. Environmental harms like excessive production of poisonous gases into the atmosphere which may affect habitation and organizational operations in future, Electricity can cause power shortage into the organization and the locality surrounding the organization, Excess noise can hamper operation of other businesses within the same area with the organization which can lead to complains that may later cause re-location or closure of the organization. What types of other resources can you access that will give you sources of WHS Information and data. Some of these resources include reliable sources like government work sites, industry and trade newsletters and journals. 1 1.2 What would happen if you failed to systematically identify the information that you need to gather? One ends up gathering the wrong information that may not provide the most effective steps in identifying and controlling risks in an organization. Such unsystematic identifications later cause information overload which compromise arrangements of information into any form of order What do you need to do regarding this? One need to consult specialists or experts to clarify the information as well as offer the effective feedbacks as required. Finish this sentence - Once you are clear on your research, you need to…. …… …. … assess what information provides you with defined abilities to identify the best ways to control and eliminate…. …. …. …………………..the risk. When making a recommendation, what do you need to be aware of? When making a recommendation, one should ensure to support the recommendations with facts. Such facts enable the decision maker to make informed decisions regarding the issue at hand. At some point, you will reach a stage where your level of expertise is not deep enough, what should you do? Such instances calls for the need to consult with other experts and specialists to clarify on the doubts that one might be experiencing. Such instances also call for thorough research on the issue at hand from credible sources to get a clear overview of its demands. What are the 3 main types of inspections done in the workplace& what are the main reasons for them? There is workplace inspection, safety surveys and safety audits. The main reasons