Workplace Safety & Training obligations

Do your know your obligations about training in the workplace? Any idea what ignorance of those obligations could cost you? And what it might cost employees, perhaps serious injury or even their lives? Matthew Hourn guides us through the crucial clauses.

Employees have a legal right to be sufficiently trained to undertake their role and to a safe workplace. Employers, business owners, managers, and company directors who fail to ensure that employees are sufficiently trained and have a safe workplace, can be personally liable for fines and damages claims exceeding $250,000.

When people go to work, their family expect that they will return home safely at the end of the day. However, the reality is that employees face health and safety hazards in their daily employment that expose them to the risk of illness or injury. The hazards may be present in the physical environment, may be from the material and equipment used, or may be in the work activity itself.

The Occupational Health and Safety Act 2000 (OHS Act) aims to eliminate or minimise the risk of injury and illness from hazards in the workplace. Employers and business owners have an obligation pursuant to the OHS Act and common law to ensure that people are not exposed to risks to their health and safety at their workplace. In summary, employers must provide safe premises, safe machinery and substance, safe systems of work, informative instruction, training and supervision, and a suitable working environment and facilities.

Company directors, managers and supervisors should note that pursuant to the OHS Act the responsibility to provide a safe workplace and provide proper training and supervision extends to managers and supervisors who are directly responsible for occupational health and safety within areas of their control.

Many company directors are not aware of the day-to-day management of a business, but this is not a defence. A company director may be liable for conventions of the OHS Act unless they can demonstrate that they were not in a position to influence the conduct of the corporation, or they had used due diligence. The extent of training an employee is required to undertake before performing his or her duties will depend upon the workplace. For example, apprentices or employees in what is deemed a hazardous industry will require specific training or licences.

As an employer, you have both a legal obligation and a moral obligation of good practice when training your staff. You’re legally obliged to provide a healthy and safe training environment; ensure staff don’t experience discrimination or harassment during training; provide adequate supervision during training; inform employees of their rights and responsibilities during training; and ensure that appropriate insurance policies for employees to undertake specialist training are in place.

It is good practice to create a training agreement that is signed by both the employer and employee to ensure that all parties understand what they expect from one another. Employers must also observe their usual duties and statutory obligations throughout training, such as privacy, occupational health and safety, duty to pay appropriate remuneration, anti-discrimination policies, and workers compensation.

A further requirement of employers is to provide training to all employees who could be exposed to hazardous substances at work. The amount of training and what is covered in it, should be appropriate to the level of risk to health. To ensure that employees are not exposed, it is essential that records are kept of all training. The records should include the names of employees receiving training, an outline of the course and details of the training providers. These records must be kept for a period of five years.

For further information employers should visit the Australian Safety Compensation Council website at ascc.gov.au and or Comcare at comcare.gov.au.

Training Options

It’s essential that employers, business owners, managers and company directors familiarise themselves with the company’s policies and procedures, and with the health and safety training courses available to them. As an employer, it is crucial that the training product is suitable to your staff and your business. There are many types of training, both formal and informal.

Formal training consists of four types: licences or certificate courses, accredited and approved courses, short courses, and vocational and professional courses. These are provided by employee organisations, unions, health and safety organisations, TAFE colleges, and private occupational health and safety consultants. For further assistance, your state’s WorkCover authority can provide details on the training course appropriate to your business.