What is Work Health and Safety Risk Management?

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WHS risk management is the systematic process of identifying hazards, assessing the risks associated with those hazards, instituting control measures that will minimise or eliminate the risks, and reviewing the control measures periodically to reaffirm they are effective. This includes physical and non-physical risks. The duty to manage risks lies with the Person Conducting a Business or Undertaking (PCBU.)

 

Every company, business, and organisation must identify reasonably foreseeable hazards and must: 

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(a) eliminate risks to health and safety so far as is reasonably practicable, and

(b) if it is not reasonably practicable to eliminate risks to health and safety—minimise those risks so far as is reasonably practicable.

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Accountabilities are:

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• The organisation must provide and operate a WHS management system for the workplace and its workers

• Directors of the business must ensure real-world actions and measures exist and are known and followed in the workplace. Directors may be personally liable for a breach. 

• Workers including supervisors and managers must ensure that they and their staff follow the protocols and controls in place for risks that have been managed (controlled.) These may include proper manual handling techniques, proper handling and storage of chemicals, using machinery and tools correctly, and wearing of appropriate PPE.​

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