BSBWHS401-Implement and Monitor WHS Policies

Case Study.

You are employed as a team leader of a group of seven IT staff. There has been a quick expansion of all the staff and in particular, the organisation has seen many new computers installed in the office and staff members’ cubicles. With so many computers around the office, power extension cables and network cables occasionally become loose and end up lying on the floor of the hallway and next to desks. Network switches are placed on the corner of desks with network cables in cable channelling that is not fixed to walls. Many of the network cable channels just sit on top of the floor.  

In the past three months, a number of your employees have had small incidents where they have tripped on a loose cable / channel, or they have had a near miss. 

1.To make matters worse, this morning you witnessed your senior Systems Administrator, Sheldon Hofstadter trip on a cable channel, fall, cut his hand on an open cable channel on the floor and hit his head on a chair. The cut to the hand, while not life threatening, is severe and by your untrained assessment needs some dressing and may need stitches. The head wound is also not severe, but Sheldon is feeling light headed and dizzy. The hit to the head has also given Sheldon a headache. 

2.A second team member A'ishah al Habib, has also had a slip & trip accident this morning. A’ishah has slipped on a cable lying on the floor and has fallen forwards. You assume from the angle of her wrist, and the pain she is obviously in, that she has broken it. 

The policy and procedures manual for WHS recordkeeping and consultative procedures, which are in place to ensure the organisation adheres to WHS obligations under relevant legislation, require team leaders to:

1.Conduct regular workplace inspections and submit safety inspection forms to the relevant person (your Health and Safety representative or you). This has not been done for at least five months and although not due for a further one month; something needs to be done

2.Fill in and submit incident reports for incidents involving accidents or near-accidents involving staff or visitors. These are currently recorded on paper, scanned into an admin database then filed in the WHS representatives office.

3. Compile WHS aggregate information and report on safety performance as part of the WHS management system to your Health and Safety representative.

4.Recommend any courses / presentations staff need to undertake, including Workplace Safety meetings and presentations by company trainers or external providers.

In your workplace’s operational plan, the target number of incidents or injuries requiring first aid and/or medical treatment is zero. This is a long way from what is actually happening.

Tasks

Part One 

1.Complete an incident Report[ Students should complete the information from the case study provided and use initiative to complete any sections of the form where details are not provided in the case study. ] Form for each of incidents on the form provided. This will be scanned into the Admin System and retained. 

2.Prepare a Safety Meeting presentation to inform the rest of the Team Members: of the importance of looking out for hazards and 

3.that the company has recognised that these are serious incidents, and that following the injuries to staff that a cable company will be starting at 7:00am tomorrow morning to fix and correct the cable issues. 

Part Two

You notice that the second employee A'ishah al Habib is obviously a person from the Muslim faith. This has implications, as A’ishah is a single lady that lives at home with her parents and her brothers and sisters. From your own very basic knowledge, and your sensitivity of the requirements of the Muslim faith, you realise that there are difficulties that will now arise in administering first aid. 

1.Writing at least one page, explain how this difficult issue of culture can be addressed at this time, and how matters of those where their sensitivity to their faith should be addressed in the future.