Health, Safety and Environment (HSE)

Role
OH&S framework
Guidelines
Forms and instructions
OH&S training
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Useful OH&S links
Employee Assistance Program
Contact details
Staff health and well being
Emergency management plan

The University is committed, through its Occupational Health and Safety Policy, to provide a healthy and safe workplace for all staff, students and visitors. The Health Safety and Environment (HSE) branch has both the rights and the obligation to ensure compliance with the policy and legislation.

The HSE branch is responsible to the Vice-Chancellor for pursuing a proactive risk management approach to health and safety issues to meet the requirements of the Occupational Health and Safety policy and safety legislation. The University has developed and documented a range of effective Occupational Health and Safety management actions Occupational Health and Safety Management System providing guidance to controlling the Occupational Health and Safety risks at its workplaces.

The Manager, HSE is directly responsible to the General Manager, Human Resource Operations, People Management and Development. The Manager, HSE, is also the Rehabilitation and Employee Assistance Program coordinator.

Role

The role of HSE includes:

Providing an accident/disease management program, including staff and student accident/incident investigation
Management of Workers' Compensation and Rehabilitation
Random and scheduled inspections of the workplace to identify, assess and control the hazards at the workplace
Providing a health and safety advisory service for staff, students and visitors
Providing an advisory service for health and safety legislative requirements
Development and review of OH&S policies, processes, and guidelines for their implementation
Liaising with legislative authorities, other government departments and unions for health and safety related matters
Providing staff OH&S training
Playing an active role on all OH&S and student and staff disability committees
Providing feedback to management and staff on health and safety issues

HSE branch welcomes input from all staff members and encourages enquiries for advice on all health and safety related matters.

Note: All accidents/incidents are to be reported to HSE branch as soon as possible.

OH&S framework

This document outlines the University's Occupational Health and Safety Framework, including Terms of Reference and membership of the University Health and Safety Group, and the Workplace Advisory Groups (WAG) which represent the faculties, divisions and regional campuses.

Guidelines

The following guidelines are available to download (Note: You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to view pdf files. Get Adobe Acrobat reader.):

Forms and instructions

Please find below instructions for using Health, Safety and Environment forms. HSE forms are available to download from the PMD Forms website.

Reporting an Accident, Incident and Injury:

The Accident, Incident and Injury Report is used to report any workplace accident, incident or injury to staff, students and contractors and visitors. The form should be sighted by the supervisor and recommendations for corrective actions should be completed before being submitted to Health, Safety and Environment.

If there is a witness to the accident, incident or injury a Witness to Accident/Injury Report needs to be completed and attached to the Accident, Incident and Injury Report.

Note: If a Workers’ Compensation Claim is to be made please contact Health, Safety and Environment on 8946 6473 for further information. Only CDU staff are eligible to claim for Workers’ Compensation.

Reporting a Hazard

The Hazard Report is to be completed when reporting identified hazards.

Managing Risks

All work processes should have a completed Safework Procedure to help identify any hazards to the work being performed.

Any work which entails the use of hazardous substances requires a completed Hazardous Substances Risk Assessment form to ensure that all possible safety precautions have been taken into consideration.

The Manual Handling Risk Assessment Checklist is provided to assist the assessment of manual handling risks. It should be used as a guide when assessing manual handling tasks, and is to be used by University staff who have received training in manual handling risk identification, assessment and control

Machine Guarding Checklist should be used as an overview to check machinery.

Occupational Health and Safety checklists used for audits and inspections:

General Occupational Health and Safety Checklist
Workshop Occupational Health and Safety Checklist
Laboratory Occupational Health and Safety Checklist

Critical Incident Reporting:

Critical Incident and Debriefing Report should be completed after any critical incident in accordance with to the Critical Incident Process.

HSE Forms for New Employees:

As an employee of the University you have an obligation to follow safe working procedures at all times, and to take all reasonable precautions to prevent personal injury or injury to others or damage to plant and equipment.

HSE forms new employees receive with their Application Package:

Medical Declaration
New Employee Health and Safety Checklist
Position Risk Decriptor

The employing Faculty / Division is to complete the Position Risk Descriptor and forward to the Recruitment Officer for inclusion in the Application Pack for the vacancy.

General Ergonomic Information:

HSE encourages staff to do a quick self check on their computer station set up using the Computerised Workstation Checklist. The following document also gives some useful advice for setting up a computer workstation:

Health, Safety and Environment forms are available to download from the PMD Forms website.

OH&S training

The University has an obligation to its employees under the Northern Territory Workplace Health and Safety Act 2007. To meet its obligations the University has an Induction Program to provide you with knowledge of occupational health and safety factors in the workplace.

Compulsory Health, Safety and Environment training programs are:

Ergonomics in the Workplace

Participants are introduced to ergonomic principles and how to reduce risk of injury; participants will be able to identify risk factors and parts of the body that may be injured. Further, participants will be introduced to principles of optimal posture, including the efficient use of the musculoskeletal system. Risk controls will also be discussed. The guidelines on screen based equipment are introduced and participants will use the University’s computerised workstation checklist.

Fire Awareness Emergency Evacuation Training

Participants are introduced to basic principles of fire, and learn to recognise fire risks in their workplace. Selection of appropriate fire extinguishers is discussed. The presenter will also introduce different types of emergencies staff may encounter in the University’s workplace and discuss the University’s Emergency Management Plan. At the end of the session the presenter will offer a walk through of admin/workshop areas to identify emergency practices.

To register for these compulsory Induction training programs go to the Induction Courses .

Other recommended Health, Safety and Environment training programs are:

Workers' Compensation and Rehabilitation Overview

Participants will gain an understanding of the NT Workers' Rehabilitation and Compensation Act, including access to Workers’ Compensation, responsibilities of the injured/ill and supervisor roles in the recovery process. The administration of Workers’ Compensation and Rehabilitation process will be discussed at length. The role of the insurer and the appeal mechanism for rejection of a claim will also be discussed.

Introduction to Hazardous Subtances

Brief overview of relevant Legislation including Duty of Care, hazardous substances, and dangerous goods classifications, labelling and storage requirements, Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS), and risk management principles.

NB Also valuable for staff who want a refresher or a short introduction to this subject matter.

Hazardous Substances

Participants are given a more depth introduction to hazardous substances. Participants are introduced to relevant Legislation, including Duty of Care. Hazardous substance classification and dangerous goods classes are explained. Participants will learn about labelling and storage requirements as well as the use of Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS). Risk management principles are introduced and are applied to the use of all hazardous substances and dangerous goods.

ChemGold II

A hands-on introduction to the Chemwatch Chemical Management Database ChemGold II. This session includes searching for chemicals, Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS), introduction to the ChemGold II risk assessment and virtual stores functions.

Pre-requisite: Hazardous Substances training or equivalent.

Manual Handling in the Workplace

Participants are introduced to ergonomic principles applicable to manual handling tasks and learn how to identify risk factors and implement risk controls. The aim is to identify causes of manual handling injuries, including cause of low back pain. Principles of optimal posture and efficient use of the muscular skeletal system will be introduced. Participants will use the University’s Manual Handling Risk Assessment checklist.

Risk Management

Participants are introduced to the risk management process, discussing hazard and risk and the risk assessment and control process. The session includes activities to reinforce the discussions. The activities will include use of CDU OH&S tools such as Accident, Incident and Injury Report and Hazard Report forms, Safe Work Procedure work sheet and applying the risk matrix and hierarchy of control principles to eliminate risk or reduce risks to acceptable levels.

OH&S Course for Workplace Advisory Group (WAG) members

This course has been designed for one day attendance only, and includes a requirement for pre-workshop reading of reference materials provided by HSE. Participants will gain an understanding of OH&S issues such as Legislative requirements, hazardous substances, ergonomics and manual handling, noise and risk management, and on completion be able to apply the principles provided using CDU guidelines and check lists. This course will include discussion on the readings provided, actual inspection of workshops and provision of reports for inspections, accidents, hazards and safe work procedures.

NB Participants will benefit from prior attendance at hazardous substances, ergonomics and manual handling, and risk management training sessions.

Duty of Care and the Liable Manager

Do you understand your OH&S responsibilities as a supervisor/manager? This session provides participants with an overview of the legislative requirements of the NT Workplace Health and Safety Act and Regulations, as well as the Workers Rehabilitation and Compensation Act and Regulations, including risk management, workers compensation and rehabilitation. Discussions will include key issues affecting the health of University staff and students. Participants will practice issue resolution on scenarios.

To register for these training programs go to the Health Safety and Environemnt courses.

Frequently Asked Questions

FAQ

Useful OH&S links

ChemWatch is a Material Safety Data Base providing handling and storage information on thousands of chemical products such as solvents, paints, glues, thinners, cutting oils/fluids, cleaning chemicals and photographic chemicals.