This course will cover fundamental knowledge of WHS legislation.
Category
Work Health and Safety
Intended Audience
Organisers and Campaigners
Delivery Mode
Face-to-face
Duration
1 day
Cost
$270
About
This course is designed for officials looking to learn the basics of work health and safety so they can confidently help build WHS structures in workplaces and effectively represent and organise workers harnessing both work, health and safety and industrial tools.
We will explore both current and historical union campaigns around health and safety in the workplace, and the subsequent impact of these campaigns on shaping legislation.
You will learn to critique theories of work health and safety through comparing a behaviour-based approach with a systems-based approach and how to apply a systems-based approach in practising risk assessments.
Finally, you will gain a clear vision of what a powerful, organised workplace looks like and how using WHS knowledge and tools can help you realise that vision in your workplaces.
Outcomes
By the end of this course, you should be able to:
Identify key rights for workers under WHS legislation
Identify key health and safety opportunities for organising
Describe the key components of a safe management system
Apply the hierarchy of control to manage risk in the workplace
Identify the value of having a WHS entry permit for organising
Describe key WHS union campaigns, past and present, and their impact on WHS laws
Develop the WHS structures needed to organise effectively around WHS
Identify the powers HSRs have under the WHS legislation
Content
Introduction to WHS
Broad definition of WHS
History of WHS
Key WHS campaigns led by the union movement Evolution of WHS legislation through these campaigns
Approaches to work health and safety
Behaviour-based versus systems-based
The health and safety framework
Key rights of workers under the legislation Risk assessments Hierarchy of hazard control
WHS entry permits
How WHS permits can be obtained and used in issue resolution
Building powerful, organised workplaces
Establishing WHS structures Powers of HSRs Identifying threats to building power Case studies in organising drawing on WHS and industrial tools
Delivery Style
This course is designed to maximise interaction and active participation. Along with content delivery through PowerPoint slides, the course will rely heavily on teacher-led facilitated discussion, small group work and use of real case studies.
Authorised by Sally McManus, Australian Council of Trade Unions, Melbourne.
Australian Unions/The Australian Council of Trade Unions acknowledges Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the Traditional Custodians of the land, and we pay our respect to their Elders, past and present.
