7 Consultation

7/29/2019 7 Consultation

1/10

GRETTI JAILANI 152966

7.0 Consultation

7.1 Definition of consultation

Consultation can be defined as seeking and giving of advice, information, and/or opinion,

usually involving a consideration. In order to produce an effective management system

including the safety and health at places of work, consultation is needed in both sides

between the employer and employee. Consultation must involve sharing of information and

opportunity to express both sides views and taking those views into account in making the

final decision.

7.1.1 Requirement to consult

Under the Occupational Health and Safety Act 1994 (Act 514), Part VII, Subsection

30(3) of the act, Every employer shall consult the safety and health committee

with a view to the making and maintenance of arrangements which will enable

him and his employees to co-operate effectively in promoting and developing

measures to ensure the safety and health at the place of work of the employees,

and in ch ecking the effectiveness of such measures.

From the enactment above, the committee functions as a platform for

cooperation between employer and employees to promote and develop measures in

enhancing the safety and health in workplace and to ensure the effectiveness of these

measures.

7.1.2 Purpose of consultation

The purpose of the above enactment is to ensure there is meaningful and

effective consultation about matters that may affect employees health, safety and

welfare as well to reduced injury and disease. Consultation between employers and

employees can result in healthier and safer workplaces, better decisions on health and


2/10


safety matters, a stronger commitment by everyone to implementing decisions, and

greater cooperation and trust between employers and employees.

7.1.3 Important of consultation

Consultation is important to be done and has many advantages. By

consultation, a safe workplace can be easily achieved as everyone involve in the work

communicates with each others to identify hazards and risks, talks about any health

and safety concerns and works together to find solutions. This includes cooperation

between the people who manage or control the work and those who carry out the

work or who are affected by the work. By drawing on the knowledge and experience

of the workers, more informed decisions can be made about how the work should be

carried out safely. There are some benefits or advantages of effective consultation.

Firstly, it gives greater awareness and commitment because workers who have been

actively involved in how health and safety decisions are made will better understand

the decisions. Secondly, it creates positive working relationships because

understanding the views of others leads to greater cooperation and trust.

The requirements to consult, to cooperate and to coordinate activities with

other duty holders will help deal with any gaps in managing health and safety risks.

The gaps that occur may due to the lack of understanding of how the activities of each

person may give hazards and risks to others which may be exposed, assumption of

duty holders that someone else is taking care of the health and safety matter and the

person who takes action is not the best person to do so. Therefore, by consulting,

cooperating and coordinating activities with other duty holders, it gives understanding

on how the activities may impact on health and safety and select the best control

measure to deal and prevent the hazard.


3/10


7.2 When to consult

Employers are required to consult employees (and their health and safety representatives)

about health and safety matters that could directly affect them.

This includes when:

1. Identifying hazards, assessing risks and deciding how to control risks.

In deciding how to control risks, employer must consult with employee who will be

affected by this decision, either directly or through their health and safety

representative. Employee experience may help the employer to identify hazards and

choose practical and effective control measures.

2. Assessing the adequacy of workplace welfare facilities.

Facilities may include the washing facilities, toilet, change room, personal storage and

first aid. Employer has to consult with employee about any changes that may affect

the adequacy of the facilities which help to determine whether the facilities need to be

change or expanded.

3. Determining the membership of any health and safety committee.

Consultation is needed as to determine the most suitable persons to be appointed as

members of safety and health committee. The person appointed has to be responsible

and can cooperate with the workers to produce a safe and healthy working place.

4. Deciding on health and safety policies and procedures.

Idea and opinion from all the members needs to be considered when doing the health

and safety policies and procedure as these will become the guidance for all the people

in the workplace.

5. Proposing changes to the workplace that could affect the health and safety of

employees, including changes to the equipment or substances used or how work

is done.


4/10


To propose change in the workplace such as change in the equipment, substances or

building, the employer should consult with employee and take consideration on how

the changes will affect them in term of safety and health. Sharing information will

lead to better solution in proposing the changes as there is agreement with both parties

and at the same time take into account the other persons that may be affected in the

changes.

Under Subsection 15(1) of the act, It shall be the duty of every employer and every self-

employed person to ensure, so far as it is practicable, the safety, health and welfare at

work of all his employees.

Consultation is needed here to ensure the safety, health and welfare at work of all the

employees by employer. In order for the consultation to take place, the hazard must be

identified first as been explained in Chapter 4. So far as it is practicable used means

practicable having regard to the severity of the risk in question, knowledge about the risk and

ways to remove or reduce it, the availability and suitability of ways as well as costs to remove

or reduce it. Employer must be aware of the hazard or risk in the workplace and two ways

communication must be done between the employer and employee to give a knowledge about

the safety and accident that may occur from the hazards to ensure the employee safety. In

Bioreactor Laboratory, some equipments used for the research such as the laboratory fume

cardboard is used to remove any fumes produced from the chemical substances as been listed

in Table 2, within the box. To ensure the safety of students that use the equipment, the

technician must explain the right way to use the fumes cardboard so that the student do not

exposed to the chemical which can cause harm to the human body.

Employee that has limited knowledge about the effect of the hazard in workplace may

have high probability to be exposed to the hazards. Therefore, every technician shall know

how to identify hazard and ensure all students that doing their research in the laboratory has


5/10


safe working condition. It is really advisable for students to read the safety precaution, rules

and procedure when handling the equipment in the laboratory to prevent any accident that

may affect themselves and other persons in the laboratory. If the students are not sure about

the procedure, they shall consult the technician to guide them and show them the right way of

using it.

Employee must cooperate with his employer when doing any work in a working area

that has hazards. When the employer has set up a safe system of work and the employee

endanger himself through unsafe act, this is considered as non-cooperative. This is same for

student doing their work in the laboratory as they must obey the laboratory rule and not doing

any unsafe act that may endanger themselves which also cause problem for others. They also

must consult to the technician if they find any hazard in the laboratory so that the technician

can act faster following certain procedure to eliminate or mitigate the hazard.

When handling chemical hazardous to health, personal protective equipment such as

goggle, safety shoes or apron are very important as it is used as a control measure to prevent

the hazard. Students that handle the chemical such as hydrochloric acid and sulphuric acid

must wear the protective equipment to ensure their safety. If there is no protective equipment

supply, students must consult the technician to provide the protective equipment to be used

when doing the experiment.

7.3 Who to consult

Consultation is important to be done between employer and employee to provide a safe and

healthy working environment. Employee can talk about the hazards or problem in the

workplace enable the employer to be aware of the hazard and safety issues experienced by

employees. Employees can provide suggestions to solve the health and safety problems. The

participation of employee in determining the hazards and risk in workplace give opportunity


6/10


for them to express their view about the occupational safety and health issues. Employee may

share their opinion based on their experience and knowledge and employer should take value

and take into account about their opinion.

For the employer, they shall identify decisions that have health and safety

implications. Employer also should consider how they can ensure effective and meaningful

consultation. Employer can provide employee with information which enable them to come

to discuss the consultation option.

Employee has their duty to consult their employee about the hazards and safety issues

in workplace. They must be aware of their duty to report the hazard to the employer. Before

that, employee must become familiar on how to identify hazards and the principles for

controlling risk. Employee also should understand about their rights to be consulted about

decisions that may have implication in their health and safety. They should become familiar

with the safety and health organization such as the safety and health committee in the

workplace.

7.3.1 Employer representative

The employer representative which is Dr. Nazli is responsible to the safety and health

in the laboratory. When doing a meeting with the technicians in charged for all

laboratories in Department of Process and Food Engineering, they must discuss and

identified the hazardous conditions or operations in the laboratory and determine safe

procedures and controls which can be implemented in the laboratory. To provide a

safe and healthy environment working condition, consultation is needed to

minimizing potential hazards and provides a safe environment for repairs and

renovations for any damage machines. As a committee member, Dr. Nazli is

responsible to do the laboratory inspection every three months.


7/10


7.3.2 Head of laboratory

The Head of the laboratory which is Dr.-Ing. Mohd. Noriznan Mokhtar has

responsibility for the health and safety of all personnel working in his laboratory. The

head of the laboratory also need to check the laboratory needs and he also needs to

conduct periodic self-inspections of laboratory or facility and maintaining records of

inspections. To provide the personnel under him equipped with the knowledge about

the safety and health when in the laboratory, he need to consult the personnel to go for

training which include information of the location and availability of hazard

information. The head of the laboratory also has to ensure the availability of all

appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) such as gloves and eye protection

and ensuring the PPE is maintained in working order.

7.3.2 Employee representative (Technician)

All workers in a laboratory should consult with their supervisor regarding protective

equipment appropriate to the individual laboratory. Mr. Shahrul as the employee

representatives and also all the technicians has to ensure that the laboratory is in good

and safe conditions. If there is facility damage in the laboratory such as lamp not

functioning or problem in the air conditioner, Mr. Shahrul will consult the

Development and Asset Management Office to ask for the facility to be repair by

filling in a maintenance form. The maintenance form is shown in the Appendix. In

terms of the first aid kit, if the items in the first aid kit is not enough or has expire, Mr.

Shahrul will consult with the university health centre using certain procedure to

resolve the matter. If Mr. Shahrul wants to make a complaint related to occupational

safety and health, he needs to follow the procedure specified. The procedure is shown

in flowchart below.


8/10


Flow chartStart

Re ort com laint

Receive com laint

Investigate

Pre ared a reliminar re ort

Send re ort to PGH

Should refer to

OHD

Medical examination

Further investi ation

Valid poisoning/

Illness?

Submit re ort to PGH

Provide a detail re ort

Fill JKKP 7

Suggestion new action

Submit and resent re ort

Take corrective and revention action

Monitor action

U date record

Effective?

End

Yes

No

Yes

Yes

No

No

PPS

PGH/Coordinator

Complainer

PGH

Coordinator

OHD

Coordinator

PTJ leader/relevant parties

PGH

OHD/OHN

Coordinator

OHD/OHN/Investigation team

Action by:


9/10


7.4 How to consult

Consultation can be done using few ways such as conducting staff meeting,

suggestion boxes, posters, noticeboards, email, committees, safe operating procedures,

instruction and training, surveys, questionnaires, brainstorming and focus groups.

7.4.1 Health and Safety Committees

A key function of health and safety committees (HSC) is to facilitate cooperation

between employers and employees on health and safety matters. HSC assist the

employer to develop, implement and review measures to protect employees health

and safety at work. In order to review the effectiveness of the measures taken, a

survey or questionnaire can be distributed to the workers to find their response to the

safety measurement which have been implemented in the workplace. Various

activities also can be done by the committee to expose the workers about occupational

safety and health such as training, briefing and safe workplace competition.

7.4.1 Staff meeting

Consultation when doing staff meeting with health and safety representative must

include sharing information with the safety health representative which is Dr. Nazli

and Mr. Shahrul for the Department of Process and Food Engineering. Information

must be made available in a timely way and must be provided in a form that can be

understood by them. Every staffs has the opportunity to express their views about the

safety and health issues and the representatives shall take those views into account. To

provide a safe working environment, staffs can discuss about the safe operating

procedure of the equipment available in the workplace as well as discuss about the

hazards and risk in the workplace.


10/10


Abbreviation

OHD - Occupational Health Doctor

OHN - Occupational Health Nurses

PGH - Director

PPS - Assistant Science Officer

PTJ - Responsibility Centres

Reference

Minister for Education and Industrial Relations, (2011). Work health and safety consultation,

co-operation and co-ordination. Queensland Government Gazette. Accessed Disember 13,

2012 from http://www.deir.qld.gov.au

7 Consultation

Documents

Transcript of 7 Consultation