COVID-19 BRIEFING FOR HEALTH & SAFET Y REPS ABOUT THIS - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

COVID-19 BRIEFING FOR HEALTH & SAFET Y REPS

ABOUT THIS BRIEFING

This briefing is being provided to: – update Qld HSRs on the WHS implications of the COVID-19 pandemic on workplaces – discuss appropriate ways to manage the risk of exposure to COVID- 19 in workplaces – discuss your particular concerns for your workplace – develop a Qld HSR network for communicating about WHS issues during the COVID-19 pandemic

WHAT WE’LL COVER

• Legal obligations to manage the risk of COVID-19 in workplaces
• The risk management framework, hierarchy of controls, and how to

develop control measures for different workplaces

• Rights of HSRs to minimise the risk of COVID-19 in workplaces

LEGAL OBLIGATIONS OF A PCBU/EMPLOYER

• A PCBU/employer has the primary duty under the WHS Act to ensure, so far as is

reasonably practicable, that workers and other persons are not exposed to health and safety risks arising from the business or undertaking.

– This includes exposure to the risk of COVID-19.

• Workers also have a duty to take reasonable care for their own health and safety and

that they do not adversely affect the health and safety of other persons. Workers must also comply with any reasonable instruction and cooperate with any reasonable policy

• r procedure relating to health and safety at the workplace.

EMPLOYERS DUTY OF CARE

A PCBU/employers’ duty of care includes (among other things): – providing and maintaining a work environment without the risk of exposure to COVID-19 – providing and maintaining safe systems of work that eliminate or minimise exposure risk to COVID-19 – the safe use, handling and storage of plant, structures and substances – providing adequate facilities for the welfare at work of workers in carrying

• ut work for the business or undertaking, including ensuring access to

those facilities – providing information, training, instruction or supervision necessary to protect all persons from risks to exposure to COVID-19 – that the health of workers and the conditions at the workplace are monitored for the purpose of preventing illness or injury of workers arising from the conduct of the business or undertaking [WHS Act s 19(3)].

REQUIREMENTS TO CONSULT HSR’S

• A PCBU must consult, so far as is reasonably practicable, with workers who carry out work

for the PCBU who are (or are likely to be) directly affected by COVID-19 as a WHS matter.

• Consultation involves sharing of information, giving workers a reasonable opportunity to

express views and taking those views into account before making decisions on health and safety matters [WHS Act s 47].

• Consultation must involve a HSR where workers are represented by a health and safety

representative [WHS Act s 48]. YOUR WORKPLACE:

• Have you been consulted about control measures for your workplace for COVID-19?
• Have you consulted with your work group to take their views into account?

SHARED DUTIES

• Where there is more than one PCBU for a workplace, they must consult, cooperate

and coordinate activities with each other in relation to the same matter, so far as is reasonably practicable [WHS Act s 46]. For example: where there are multiple employers sharing the same building, the building

• wner and all of the employers must consult, cooperate and coordinate their activities in

relation to minimising the spread of COVID-19. YOUR WORKPLACE:

• Ask for a copy of the procedures that have been put in place.

RISK MANAGEMENT CYCLE

• Identify the hazard
• Assess the risk
• Develop and implement control measures

– hierarchy of controls

• Review control measures
• While we have never experienced a pandemic like COVID-19 before, you should

still treat managing the risk of exposure to COVID-19 like any other hazard/risk.

COVID-19 IS A WORKPLACE HAZARD

WHA WHAT I IS S COVI VID-19? 9?

• COVID-19 is a new illness that can

affect your lungs and airways. It's caused by a virus called coronavirus.

• Use the Australian Government’s

COVID-19 Symptom Checker: https://www.health.gov.au/resources/a pps-and-tools/healthdirect- coronavirus-covid-19-symptom- checker.

WHA WHAT A ARE E THE SYM SYMPTOMS?

• Symptoms of coronavirus (COVID-19)

are coughing, a sore throat, fatigue, high temperature/fever and shortness

• f breath.
• In more severe cases, infection can

cause pneumonia with severe acute respiratory distress.

• Phone: 13 HEALTH (13 43 25 84).

IDENTIFY THE HAZARD

• A PCBU/employer has a duty to identify reasonably foreseeable hazards that could give

rise to risks to health and safety in the workplace [WHS Reg s 34].

• Human coronavirus strains are usually spread from an infected person to other people

close to that person through contaminated droplets spread by coughing or sneezing, or by contact with contaminated hands, surfaces or objects.

• Studies suggest that coronaviruses (including preliminary information on the COVID-19

virus) may persist on surfaces for a few hours or up to several days. This may vary under different conditions (e.g. type of surface, temperature or humidity of the environment). Questions for your workplace:

– What cleaning and hygiene procedures are in place for surfaces? – What types of other hazards may be present that could increase the risk of transferring the virus e.g. money, paper etc?

ASSESS THE RISK

Based on current advice governments are advising people to stay at home unless they are essential workers and for everyone to practice social distancing measures. The risk of COVID-19 needs to be assessed just like any other hazard.

What is the likelihood of people contracting the virus from the workplace? What are the consequences?

WORKERS WITH A HIGHER RISK

• Everybody is at risk of contracting COVID-19 so you need to protect yourself and others.
• Older people over the age of 60, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island people over the

age of 50, are at greater risk of more serious illness with COVID-19.

• Other people at risk include:

– people with medical conditions such as respiratory illnesses, people with chronic lung disease or moderate to severe asthma – people who have serious heart conditions – people who are immunocompromised including cancer treatment – people of any age with severe obesity (body mass index [BMI] >40) or certain underlying medical conditions, particularly if not well controlled, such as those with diabetes, renal failure, or liver disease might also be at risk

Questions for your workplace:

– How many workers are at higher risk of contracting the virus? – Is the work essential and can it be done from home?

THE HIERARCHY OF CONTROLS

• An employer has a duty to eliminate a risk unless it is not reasonably practicable to do so.
• Where it is not reasonably practicable to do so, the employer must minimise the risk by

applying the hierarchy of controls [WHS Act s 17; WHS Reg ss 35, 36]. 1) Can the hazard giving rise to the risk be substituted with something that gives rise to a lesser risk? 2) Can the hazard be isolated from workers/others who may be exposed to it? 3) Are there engineering controls? If the risk still remains the employer must: 4) What administrative controls are there to minimise the risk of the hazard? 5) What PPE can be used to minimise the risk?

• Remember administrative controls and PPE should only be used in conjunction with a

higher level control.

ELIMINATION

Working remotely/from home:

• Wherever possible, the Government is advising people to stay at home.
• In a workplace context, this means that wherever possible workers should be encouraged

to work from home to minimise the risk of the virus spreading.

– Only essential work that cannot be done from home should continue in the workplace.

Questions for your workplace:

• What arrangements have been agreed for workers to work from home?
• What communication processes are in place between the workplace and workers working

from home?

• Are there safe work practices being developed/implemented?
• Is there a working from home WHS policy?

SUBSTITUTION

Can a hazard giving rise to the risk of spreading COVID-19 be substituted for something less hazardous? FOR EXAMPLE:

• Remove the distribution of paper documents from the workplace and use electronic

materials only.

• Where workers are required to be in close contact in a vehicle with others, consider

limiting the number to two with one driver and the other worker/passenger in the rear seat.

• Organise for contactless deliveries i.e. leave deliveries outside homes without needing

to sign.

• Implement contactless payment options.

ISOLATION

• Can a hazard giving rise to the risk of spreading COVID-19 be isolated from people to

prevent exposure?

• All workplaces must implement safe distancing measures i.e. there should be a minimum
• f 1.5 metres between people and a restriction on the number of people within a

designated area applying a 4 sqm rule. FOR EXAMPLE:

• If a workspace is 12 sqm there should only be 3 people in the area at any one time with 1.5

distance between them.

• Introduce screens and barriers to ensure safe distances.
• Restrict access to work areas – workers, clients and visitors (phone, skype contact instead
• f F2F).

ADMINISTRATIVE CONTROLS

• What types of administrative controls can minimise the risk of COVID-19 within the

workplace? FOR EXAMPLE:

• Reorganise work schedules and rosters to minimise numbers of workers in designated

workplace areas

• Limit the time workers spend in restricted work areas
• Sign post restrictions and safe distance measures in designated areas
• Provide training, supervision etc in safe work practices

PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT (PPE)

What Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) can/should be used to help minimise the risk of spreading the virus within the workplace? FOR EXAMPLE:

• The latest advice from the Chief Health Officer is that face masks are only for use by

healthcare workers who are at the frontline of caring for people with the virus. More face masks have been ordered and will steadily become available for other essential workers.

– Training needs to be given to prevent the transfer of the virus from a face mask to other people and surfaces e.g. people frequently touch their face/face mask.

• Gloves to prevent the transfer of the virus from paper, money etc to workers required to

handle paper, money etc. Note: PPE should only ever be used in conjunction with a higher level order control

IMPLEMENTING, MAINTAINING & REVIEWING CONTROL MEASURES

A COVID-19 work management plan may help to minimise the risk of contracting or spreading COVID-19. It should identify what action needs to be taken, who will be responsible for taking the action, and by when. The plan should be based on the results of the workplace assessment and should also include:

• control measures across different work areas
• Training, information and supervision to ensure the controls are effectively

implemented and maintained

• timeframes and responsibilities for reviewing control measures

Note: a PCBU is also responsible for ensuring a control measure is fit for purpose, suitable for the nature and duration of the work, and installed, set up and used correctly [WHS Reg 37].

HSR’S CAN REQUEST A REVIEW OF A CONTROL MEASURE

HSRs may also request a review of an existing control measure to manage a risk to the health and safety of a member(s) of their work group if the HSR reasonably believes that: (a) a specific control does not control the risk for which it was implemented; (b) there is a change at the workplace likely to give rise to a new risk; (c) when a new hazard or risk is identified [WHS Reg s 38].

INFORMATION, INSTRUCTION & TRAINING

• Training should be provided to workers, supervisors and managers in how to

implement the control measures identified in the workplace management plan for COVID-19. FOR EXAMPLE: This could include:

– Specific control measures and how they work and are to be maintained – Changes to work tasks and activities – Cleaning and hygiene practices

WHAT CAN HSR’S DO?

• HSRs should have/be consulted in the development of WHS measures to prevent the

risk of exposure to COVID-19 in their workplaces: WHS Act s 48(2)].

• HSRs have the right to request and receive information about the risk of COVID-19

and control measures etc for workers in their work group: WHS Act s 68(2)(f).

• HSRs have the right to request a review of a control measure if a new hazard or risk is

identified OR the duty holder has not adequately reviewed control measure(s) in response to the risk: WHS Reg s 38.

• HSRs can whenever necessary request the assistance of any person including a union
• rganiser/official: WHS Act s 68(2)(g).
• HSRs can appoint a union organiser as their representative to represent them in a

dispute: WHS Act ss 80(1)(d), 81.

WHAT CAN HSR’S DO CONT…

• HSRs can issue a PIN if they reasonably believe control measures are not adequate to

address the risk of COVID-19 or that consultation has not occurred: WHS Act s 90.

• HSRs can issue a cease work direction to a worker in a work group if they have a

reasonable concern that to carry out the work would expose the worker to a serious risk to the worker’s health or safety, emanating from an immediate or imminent exposure to a hazard: WHS Act s 85. REMEMBER:

• Parties in a workplace must make reasonable efforts to achieve a timely, final and effective

resolution of the issue in accordance with the relevant agreed procedure, or if there is no agreed procedure, the default procedure: WHS Act s 81; WHS Reg ss 22, 23.

• You can ask for an inspector to attend the workplace to help with the issue resolution

process: WHS Act s 89.

• Where the issue is not resolved within 24 hours, a party may apply for resolution of the

dispute to the QIRC: WHS Act s 102B(1).

WHERE TO FROM HERE?

• Questions and answers.
• What do you need?
• How can we communicate?
• WHS Qld (the regulator) briefing?

FURTHER INFORMATION

Contact Damien McGarry HSR Coordinator on 0429 985268 OR by email info@HSRSupport.org.au.

Join our new Facebook page. Search for the HSR Support Service.