Provide Workers with Information, Training, Instruction, & Supervision
The NSW Code of Practice: How to Manage Health & Safety Risks, has very useful guidance that you can use to compare with the actions that are taken, or perhaps not yet taken, in your workplace regarding the provision of information, training, instruction, and supervision.
A PCBU has to provide so far as is reasonably practicable 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 PCBU’s business or undertaking (WHS Act, Section 19(3)(f).
The content of this article is mainly from the above Code of Practice and provides focus on the actions that workers, supervisors, and managers, should be actively carrying out to contribute to compliance with Section 19(3)(f) of the WHS Act. Non-compliance with this duty often features in workplace incidents that are prosecuted by SafeWork NSW. Usually SafeWork prosecutes the PCBU.
You may like to read the following quotations from the Code of Practice and compare the advice given in these quotations with what occurs in your workplace.
“Training, instruction and information” (page 22 of the above Code of Practice)
“Train your workers in the work procedure to ensure that they are able to perform the task safely. Training must cover the nature of the work, the associated risks and the control measures to be implemented.
Training should require workers to demonstrate that they are competent in performing the task according to the procedure. It is insufficient to simply give a worker the procedure and ask them to acknowledge that they understand and are able to perform it. Training, instruction and information must be provided in a form that can be understood by all workers.
Information and instruction may also need to be provided to others who enter the workplace, such as customers or visitors.”
“Supervision”
“The level of supervision required will depend on the level of risk and the experience of the workers involved. High levels of supervision are necessary where inexperienced workers are expected to follow new procedures or carry out difficult and critical tasks.”
“Accountability for health and safety” (page 23 of the above Code of Practice)
"Managers and supervisors should be provided with the authority and resources to implement and maintain control measures effectively. Accountability should be clearly allocated to ensure procedures are followed and maintained."
“Up-to-date training and competency”
“Most control measures depend on workers and supervisors having the appropriate competencies to do the job safely. Training must be provided to maintain competencies and to ensure new workers are capable of working safely”.
And on page 23 of the Code of Practice you will find a list of questions that management could use to consult with the health & safety representatives in your workplace. Four of those questions are about training and supervision.
“Are safety procedures being followed?
Have the instruction and training provided to workers on how to work safely been successful?
Are workers actively involved in identifying hazards and possible control measures?
Are they openly raising health and safety concerns and reporting problems promptly?”
You may also find it useful to read through the content of pages 22, 23, and 24, of the Code of Practice. Those pages deal with the topics of implementing controls, how to ensure controls remain effective, and how to review controls.
Courtenell would be pleased to assist you in resolving any questions or issues you might have about these matters in your workplace.
Note
The quotations used in this article are from the SafeWork NSW Code of Practice – How to Manage Work Health & Safety Risks and are used under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial 3.0 Australia License. To view a copy of this licence, visit www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/au. You are free to copy, communicate and adapt the work for non-commercial purposes, as long as you attribute the work to SafeWork NSW and abide by the other licence terms.
7th April 2021