Workplace Health and Safety Arrangements Policy

1. Purpose

The purpose of the Workplace Health and Safety (WHS) Arrangements Policy is to prescribe CIT's obligations in line with legislation to meet its duty of care under the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (WHS Act 2011).

2. Scope

This policy applies to all CIT staff (permanent, temporary, and casual) and third parties (e.g. students, contractors, and visitors).

3. Principles

3.1 undertaking effective risk management activities within the work environment

3.2 complying with relevant WHS Legislation, Regulations, Codes of Practice and Australian Standards

3.3 ensuring plant, equipment and substances are safe and there is minimal risk to health when used properly

3.4 providing all staff members and students with access to wellbeing initiatives

3.5 maintaining safe systems, premises, plant, and environment

3.6 providing adequate facilities for the welfare of all staff members, students, volunteers contractors, visitors and third parties

3.7 providing appropriate information, training, instructions, or supervision that is necessary to protect all persons from risks to their health and safety, enabling them to work in a safe and healthy manner

3.8 maintaining and providing up to date information and guidance on WHS matters via the CIT Safe (CIT access only) WHS system

3.9 consulting with all staff members and relevant stakeholders in a meaningful and effective manner regarding WHS issues, and

3.10 ongoing measurement, monitoring, and continuous improvement of WHS performance.

Roles and Responsibilities

Consistent with ACTPS values, all officers and workers will promote an organisational culture that values WHS. The following roles have specific responsibilities in relation to WHS obligations under the WHS Act 2011.

Person Conducting a Business or Undertaking (PCBU)

CIT as the PCBU has the primary duty to ensure, so far as reasonably practical, the health and safety of:

• workers engaged or caused to be engaged by CIT, or
• workers whose activities in carrying out work are influenced or directed by CIT, or
• other persons so as not to put them at risk from the work carried out as part of the conduct of CIT’s business.

If CIT fails to take all practical steps regarding any of the outlined responsibilities, it may be in breach of the WHS Act 2011.

Executives and Board must complete the Due Diligence module on eLearn every 2 years with the Directors must also complete the Due Diligence module on eLearn every 2 years.

Officers

Officers within CIT must take reasonable steps to:

• acquire and keep up to date knowledge of WHS matters
• gain an understanding of the nature of the operations of CIT and generally of the hazards and risks associated with CIT operations
• ensure that CIT has available for use, and uses, appropriate resources and processes to eliminate or minimise risks to health and safety from work carried out by CIT
• ensure that CIT has appropriate and up to date information in the CIT Safe (CIT access only) WHS system
• ensure that CIT has appropriate processes for receiving and considering information regarding incidents, hazards and risks and responding in a timely way to that information
• ensure that CIT has, and implements, processes for complying with any duty or obligation of the WHS Act 2011, and
• verify the provision and use of WHS resources and processes.

If an officer fails to meet their legislated obligations under the WHS Act 2011 they can be held personally responsible. Officers must complete the Due Diligence module on eLearn every 2 years and follow the CIT Officers' Due Diligence procedure (CIT access only).

Workers

All workers must take reasonable care for their own health and safety and not to affect the health and safety of others by their acts or omissions.

Workers are responsible for contributing to workplace health and safety at CIT by:

• complying with WHS instructions, training, policies, and procedures
• reporting any workplace hazards to their supervisor and/or their Health and Safety Representative (HSR)
• maintaining the area in which they work in a safe and healthy manner for themselves, other workers and third parties
• using safe tools, equipment, and systems of work to undertake their job
• using CIT Safe (CIT access only) as their source of information and guidance on WHS issues and matters
• using equipment in accordance with the safe operating procedure (SOP) and if applicable the Safe Work Method Statement (SWMS)
• wearing all required personal protective equipment (PPE)
• actively participating in the development and implementation of SOPs, SWMSs and WHS risk identification and risk management processes
• reporting immediately to their supervisor any injury/illness/incident that occurs at work or in the course of their employment and ensuring that a Riskman report form is submitted within the required timeframes
• contributing to audits, inspections, and reviews
• cooperating with management to effectively manage WHS issues
• complying with lawful directions, and
• reporting WHS matters to facilities management when applicable.

Contractors are also considered workers under the WHS Act 2011. In addition to the above responsibilities a contractor is also responsible for:

• ensuring that their electrical power tools are regularly tested and tagged in accordance with the Australian Standard, AS3760
• providing CIT with all relevant safe work procedures (e.g. SWMS) before commencing work
• completing all required permits before commencing work (e.g. Confined Space Entry Permit)
• ensuring that safety data sheets (SDS) for hazardous chemicals are available and provided to CIT in advance of any intended use at or near a CIT workplace
• communicating any WHS concerns or issues back to the contract supervisor or project manager or facilities management, and
• reporting all incidents or injuries to the College Director or Executive or their delegate that has engaged them.

A contractor attending CIT premises must be inducted in WHS processes. This induction is provided by CIT Facilities. It is up to the College or business unit that has engaged the contractor to ensure that the induction is undertaken.

If a worker fails to meet their legislated obligations under the Work Health and Safety Act 2011, they can be held personally responsible and will be required to cease any work at CIT.

Health and Safety Representatives

Health and Safety Representatives (HSRs) and Deputy HSRs are members of a Work Group (WG) whose role is to represent, and assist, staff members within their WG on WHS related matters.

The role of an HSR involves:

liaising with management and CIT Human Resources to assist in resolving workplace health and safety issues

representing workers on health and safety issues and consulting with managers on planned workplace changes

• investigating WHS hazards
• performing inspections for the WG they are representing, and
• performing all functions in line with the HSR factsheet.

HSR (and deputy HSR) positions are held for a period of three years. At the end of this three-year period nominations are sought from members of the Work Group to fill the vacant positions. If more than one worker nominates to represent the same Work Group, then members of the Work Group elect the HSR (and deputy HSR). If an HSR moves work groups or leaves CIT, the deputy HSR takes on the role, or if one is not available then nominations are sought to fill the position.

CIT encourages, in line with best practice, HSRs (and deputy HSRs) to attend approved training within the first three months of becoming an HSR/deputy HSR.

CIT Workplace Health and Safety Team

CIT WHS team provides advice and assistance to officers and workers to support them in ensuring that they meet their legislative obligations under the WHS Act 2011.

The team is responsible for:

• providing advice and assistance to CIT managers, staff, HSRs, and First Aid Officers in relation to WHS matters
• developing, reviewing, and updating whole of CIT WHS procedures and policies and putting them into CIT Safe
• providing advice and assistance on WHS risk management principles and their implementation requirements as outlined in the WHS Risk Management procedure (CIT access only)
• investigating notifiable incidents and liaison with Work Safe ACT as required
• conduct risk assessment workshops, review of college/department and specific event risk assessments and provide guidance to staff when undertaking risk assessments.
• reporting to the CIT Board, Executive Management Committee (EMC) and the Audit Committee on WHS issues and liaising with managers on issues relevant to these committees
• facilitating assessments, inspections, and audits of the workplace
• reporting on accident, incident and hazard data and trends (including the reporting of notifiable incidents to the CEO), and
• coordinating CIT's Tier 1 and Tier 2 WHS Committees and the First Aid Officer network (Emergency Management via the Emergency Planning Committee is the responsibility of CIT Facilities).

CIT Tier 1 Workplace Health and Safety Committee

The CIT Tier 1 Workplace Health and Safety Committee is the overarching consultative body at CIT for addressing WHS issues.

The Committee aims to foster a cooperative and consultative relationship between management, staff, and unions for the purpose of developing and maintaining a high standard of workplace health and safety.

The functions of the Tier 1 Work Health and Safety Committee are to:

• Facilitate cooperation between staff and management on the development, implementation, and review of WHS policy and procedures
• Review information related to WHS performance to inform continuous improvement in the management of WHS
• Monitor the management of CIT’s WHS Risk Register
• Monitor the implementation and resolution of issues arising from Tier 2 Work Health and Safety Committee meetings via the Tier 2 WHS Committee Chairs
• Provide input and share initiatives to improve work health, safety, and wellbeing across the institute
• Coordinate engagement and strategies to promote and manage student health and safety
• Provide input and consideration of injury prevention and injury management priorities and initiatives.

Tier 2 Workplace Health and Safety Committee

Tier 2 Workplace Health and Safety Committees have been established and includes representation of CIT Bruce, CIT Gunghalin CIT Fyshwick, CIT Reid and CIT Tuggeranong staff and workgroups.

The role of the Tier 2 WHS Committee is to foster a cooperative and consultative relationship between management, staff and unions on workplace health and safety issues that arise on the campus.

The committees will:

• facilitate cooperation between staff and management in resolving campus based/workgroup WHS issues
• consider WHS matters specific to local workplace environments which remain unresolved at the local level
• consider initiatives/issues raised in the workplace for application across the campus
• assist in the development, review, and distribution of WHS practices, procedures, and policies
• review the WHS performance of the campus including workplace inspection reports and injury data
• consider initiatives/issues raised at WHSCC meetings for application across CIT
• support communication strategies aimed at promoting student health and safety
• consider proposals or changes to work or other policies, practices or procedures that impact staff and student health and safety
• for matters that are not able to be resolved the committee will either refer it to the Tier 1 WHS Committee or engage a WHS specialist to assist in resolution of the issue

Unions

CIT encourages relevant unions to contribute to and actively assist CIT and its staff to meet WHS obligations. They can do this by:

• informing CIT of WHS issues/hazards
• providing advice on resolution of WHS issues to union members
• actively encouraging members to follow agreed safe work practices
• working with managers to ensure timely election of HSRs, and
• participate as a non-voting member of the Work Health and Safety consultative committee.

WorkSafe ACT

WorkSafe ACT's role is to enforce the territory’s health and safety laws through a mixture of education and compliance activities.

ACT Work Health, Safety and Wellbeing team, Chief Minister, Treasury and Economic Development Directorate

The ACT Work Health, Safety and Wellbeing Team, Chief Minister, Treasury and Economic Development Directorate, provides specialist advice, education, and technical support to assist CIT in meeting its health and safety and workers compensation obligations.

Work Health and Safety Arrangements

Consultation

Consultation on WHS matters, occurs for all workers through the following CIT mechanisms:

• Tier 1 WHS Consultative Committee meetings
• Tier 2 WHS Consultative Committee meetings
• team meetings and toolbox talks
• information provided and issues discussed at local College/Divisional meetings
• First Aid Officer network meetings
• CIT Newsfeeds to staff for information and policy/procedure consultation/feedback, and
• focus groups as required.

Work Groups

Work Groups are set up at CIT to ensure that relevant workers can be represented regarding their WHS concerns. Work groups usually consist of workers who perform similar types of work and have similar health and safety concerns. The size and makeup of the Work Group is negotiated and agreed between CIT and its workers with the structure endorsed by the Tier 1 and 2 WHS Committee. Each work group is to be represented by an HSR and/or a Deputy HSR.

A change to the work group structure can be requested at any time by the CIT Chief Executive Officer, Executive Management Committee, Tier 1 WHS committee, Tier 2 WHS Committee, an HSR or a staff member. Requests to change Work Group structure should be notified to the Tier 1 WHS committee so that appropriate arrangements can be made to negotiate and agree on the Work Group structure.

Dispute Resolution

Any disputes in relation to WHS matters should in the first instance be resolved at the appropriate level in the WHS governance structure which is as follows:

1. Manager
2. HSR
3. Tier 2 WHS Committee
4. Tier 1 WHS Committee, and
5. Executive Management Committee

Issues should be escalated up this chain of responsibility until resolved. Where a WHS issue cannot be resolved through this mechanism the Dispute Avoidance/Settlement Procedure located in CIT's Enterprise Agreements can be utilised.

WHS Resources

Where there is an identified WHS risk that affects the entire organisation, CIT (as a whole) will provide funding to meet the costs of any measures needed to reduce or eliminate the risk.

Where the WHS risk is College, Branch or Division based, then the relevant College/Branch/Division will, in all but exceptional circumstances, provide funding to meet the costs of any measures needed to reduce or eliminate the risk.

Exceptional circumstances would include circumstances where there is an imminent and serious risk to health and safety and where the College cannot reasonably be expected to meet the cost.

Incident/Accident Notification

Reporting accidents and incidents and near misses is the responsibility of every worker of CIT.

Accidents, incidents and near misses include any event that did or could result in the death, injury, or illness of a person (including third parties).

All accidents and incidents or a hazardous situation should be reported into the ACTPS Safety Portal incident reporting system within 48 hours of the occurrence.

In the case of a serious incident i.e. one that did or could have resulted in a death or serious injury then an accident/ incident investigation may be required. The WHS team should be notified of these incidents as soon as possible.

Hazard Reporting

Where a worker identifies a hazard, the following action should be taken:

• if the hazard is minor, initially seek to rectify the hazard as soon as possible
• if the hazard is unable to be rectified or is of a more serious nature, then notify your manager and complete a report via the ACTPS Safety Portal. Where necessary also notify your HSR.
• if the supervisor or HSR is unable to rectify the hazard they should consult the CIT WHS Team.

For building related issues (air conditioning problems, equipment request, or broken infrastructure) a BEIMS request for services (located on your computer desktop and managed by CIT Facilities) should be lodged to have the situation rectified.

Workplace Health and Safety Management System

CIT has a Workplace Health and Safety Management System called CIT Safe (CIT access only) which is available on the CIT Intranet under the People and Culture area. It is available to all staff on the CIT intranet and includes policies, procedures, forms, templates, and resources to assist with the management of WHS at CIT.

CIT Safe (CIT access only) is managed by the CIT Workplace Health and Safety team and draws on the expertise of College, Branches and Division staff.

4. Documentation

4.1 Authority Source

Work Health and Safety Act 2011

4.2 Related Documents

1. Accident/incident reporting procedure
2. CIT Due Diligence Policy
3. ACTPS Safety Portal (incident reporting system)
4. CIT Safe (CIT access only)
5. WOG WHS Management system

5. Definitions

Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (WHS Act 2011) - The Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (WHS Act) is the primary governing legislation for work health and safety in the ACT. It is regulated by WorkSafe ACT.

Executive Management Committee (EMC) - EMC membership is made up of the CIT Chief Executive Officer and the executive team.

Chief Minister, Treasury and Economic Development Directorate - Directorate within ACT Government who develop and implement policies and procedures that are implemented across government.

CIT Board - The governing body of CIT established under the Canberra Institute of Technology Act 1987). Functions of the board are set out under section 77 of the Financial Management Act 1996. The Board consists of 7 to 11 members.

Worker - A person is a worker if the person carries out work in any capacity for a person conducting a business or undertaking, including work as - an employee, contractor or subcontractor, apprentice/trainee, labour hire, outworker, work experience, volunteer.

Officer - An officer is a person who makes, or participates in making, decisions that affect the whole, or a substantial part, of a business or undertaking of the Territory.

In CIT the following positions have been identified as officers;

board members, the Chief Executive and Executives. Other individuals within CIT may also, depending on the circumstances, be considered officers (e.g. College Directors).

Health and Safety Representative (HSR) - Workers who are elected by other workers to represent them in Workplace Health and Safety matters.

Person conducting a business or undertaking (PCBU) - A Person Conducting a Business or Undertaking has the primary duty of care in relation to health and safety of workers. A ‘person’ is defined in laws dealing with interpretation of legislation to include a body corporate (company), unincorporated body or association and a partnership. Accordingly, CIT is identified as the PCBU.

Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) - PPE refers to anything worn to minimise risk to workers health and safety. For example: boots, gloves, and facemasks

Work Group (WG) - A defined group of workers which is established so that those workers can be represented about their WHS concerns. It is usually comprised of workers who share similar WHS concerns and have similar work conditions. The size and makeup of the Work Group is negotiated and agreed between CIT and its workers.

6. Policy Contact Officer

For more information about this policy contact the Senior Director, WHS, People Support and Wellbeing, People and Culture Branch.

Contact CIT Student Services on (02) 6207 3188 or email infoline@cit.edu.au for further information.

7. Procedures

For staff, this policy is implemented through the associated procedures which are on the CIT Safe WHS management system on the CIT SharePoint site.

For students, this policy is implemented through the associated procedures in the Work Health and Safety Handbook (Staff & Students)