As described by the Model Work Health and Safety Act, the primary duty of care of a person conducting a business or undertaking is to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health and safety of workers engaged, or caused to be engaged by the person; and workers whose activities in carrying out work are influenced or directed by the person, while the workers are at work in the business or undertaking. The directive further states that, without limiting those subsections, a person conducting a business or undertaking must ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the provision of any information, training, instruction or supervision that is necessary to protect all persons from risks to their health and safety arising from work carried out as part of the conduct of the business or undertaking.
These sections and subsections form part of Division 2 of the Model Work Health and Safety Act, describing the Primary Duty of Care of a person conducting a business or undertaking.
Instruction is structured, clear guidance provided by employers to workers (Bluff, 2019), such as regarding how to perform tasks safely, in an accessible format in language that can be easily understood, discussing potential risks associated with work, how workers can work safely, what safety policies and procedures are in place to protect worker safety, as well as how to raise issues and what to do when things go wrong. Instruction is not just guidance regarding work health and safety - workers require instruction regarding elements of their job roles and their tasks, which can be brief if the task requires noncomplex skills like stacking a shelf or sweeping an open area, or more involved if the task is multicomponent or otherwise complex, such as organising tools or chemicals, warmup or shutdown of plant, or technical operations.
Instruction should also be provided to orient workers in workplace policies, procedures, and practices, which may include organisation structure, practice, points of contact, where to find more information, and who to ask for help (Silber & Forshay, 2009). Information provided in this way is an organisational support that improves workers' knowledge that improves task clarity, improves worker independence, and supports sustainable participation (Goetzel & Ozminkowski, 2008). This is particularly important in the context of psychosocial health, given that signals of organisational support can have a preventative effect against psychosocial occupational health and safety hazards.
Instruction should be provided in a structured manner, ideally initially at onboarding, and should be regularly refreshed through review training, knowledge checks, and case examination, and should be organised in such a way so as to prepare a worker to perform against measurable characteristics, based on performance against outcomes (Davila & Pina-Ramirez, 2018). However, revision or clarification of instruction may cause workers to skip past or disregard instruction due to repetition or other fatigue, and so the instruction itself should be refreshed, ideally with case examples, novel outcomes, or be made more interactive with ask and response checks. It is also necessary to update and revise instruction when working methodologies change or when new knowledge and methods of work arise. In this way, instruction is used to translate the organisation's engagement with industry, legal, and operational best practice into worked procedure that can be used as a proactive protective measure for the workforce.
Each workplace is different, with different demands, methods of business, and is staffed by people whose capacities, needs, and risk profiles are different. Managing ergonomic, environmental, and occupational health and safety challenges requires a business to examine and engage with the ecosystem of factors that give rise to risk, and how that risk may affect people. Each workplace is different and so sometimes the same problem will require different solutions. This applies to workers as well - every person is different and so may require different support, supervision, or resources to perform comfortably and sustainably. Under Work Health and Safety law, consultation with the workforce, the control of risk as far as is reasonably practicable, and the provision of information, training, instruction and support to the worker by the workplace, is essential to meet obligations to provide workers with a workplace that is as free of risk as far is reasonably practicable.
In our capacity as consultants, Atlas Physio will explore and scope the business and its needs, examining how exposures, risks, and processes contribute to the hazard ecosystem, best inform the design and arrangement of procedural, policy-based, and practical risk controls. Our solutions are tailored to the needs of those with whom we work, implemented in a simple, sustainable, and supportive fashion, designed to be robust and resilient, and to support the ongoing life of the business as well as the sustainable wellbeing of the workers who undertake the day to day activities of work.
At Atlas Physio, we provide reporting, structured control, and ongoing management of risk onsite, on the road, and wherever work is done. We are open seven days a week, and are happy to offer a brief complimentary discussion to explore the needs of your business and your workers if you are an employer, and your needs if you are a worker. Reach out today to arrange a discussion and take the first step toward managing risk and working safely, supported by expertise that is practical, reliable, and designed to deliver lasting results.
References
Bluff, E. (2019). How SMEs respond to legal requirements to provide information, training, instruction and supervision to workers about work health and safety matters. Safety science, 116, 45-57.
Davila, N., & Pina-Ramirez, W. (2018). Effective onboarding. Association for Talent Development.
Goetzel, R. Z., & Ozminkowski, R. J. (2008). The health and cost benefits of work site health-promotion programs. Annu. Rev. Public Health, 29(1), 303-323.
Silber, K. H., & Foshay, W. R. (2009). Handbook of improving performance in the workplace, instructional design and training delivery (Vol. 1). John Wiley & Sons.