CPPSEC3001A Maintain Workplace Safety in the Security Industry - Reading Material

8/12/2019 CPPSEC3001A Maintain Workplace Safety in the Security Industry - Reading Material

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CPPSEC3001A

Maintain workplace safety

in the security industry

Version 1.2 JPR CPPSEC3001A Maintain Workplace Safety in the Security Industry Nov 2011


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Maintain Safety Policy and Procedures Awareness withinthe Workplace

OHS Policies and Procedures Knowledge and Compliance

Knowing where your employers OHS policies and procedures are kept is one thing, but do

you know what is in them and do you ensure that you comply with the requirements at all

times?

Safety is the number one priority underlining all security work, and it stands to reason that

you need to be able to work safely at all times and contribute to OHS issues in a positive

manner and encourage others in your workplace to do the same.

Everyone is responsible for maintaining a safe working environment. The Worker Health and

Safety Legislation and equivalent federal legislation imposes responsibilities on each person

at the workplace and sets out the requirements for injury and dangerous occurrences,reporting, codes of practice and administration of the requirements of the Act.

Organisational policy and procedures are

written to reflect the requirements of the Act.

Therefore, the safe working procedures

need to be fully understood and followed to

the letter by all within the workplace.

Worker Health and Safety Legislation and

Guidelines outlines responsibilities that each

person has to comply with in regards to OHSin the workplace and the possible financial

costs and criminal charges that may be

taken against not only companies but

individuals who breach these legislative

requirements.

This means that you personally could be

held to account for any of your own actions

that directly or indirectly through any act or

failure to act that results in injury or loss inbreach of OHS laws.

To avoid being placed in this situation it is vital that you know and comply with all OHS

policies, procedures and legislation that you are required to adhere with in your workplace.

This could be achieved by locating, reading and following all OHS policies,

procedures and safe work instructions; and ensuring that you actively participate in

the reporting and documenting of all real and potential risks or hazards you come

across in the workplace using your organisations internal reporting systems.



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Maintaining Awareness Communicating the OHS Message

The Act applies to all work places and therefore to all employers and employees. It is

designed to provide a broad and flexible framework involving employers and their

associations, and employees and their unions in achieving a safe work place.

According to the Act, employees must be involved in all decisions affecting their own health

and safety. Members of a work group are required to participate in the development of the

policy and procedures at their workplace. This includes monitoring and improving the

policies, procedures and work place practices within the organisations OHS systems.

The duty of employers is to protect the health and safety of employees in the workplace.

They are required to provide a safe and healthy working environment. Employers are also

required to ensure that all reasonably practicable steps are taken to protect people at or near

the workplace from health and safety risks.

This requires each company to have in place policies,procedures and safe work practices that protect the

visitors to the workplace in addition to their employees.

The duty of employees is to act responsibly and perform

their work according to OHS legislation and their

employers OHS policies and procedures. They are also

required to take reasonable care to protect their own

and others health and safety at work.

This means that security staff has a responsibility for the health and safety of each other as

well as any visitors to or even clients in the workplace. Part of this responsibility is to also

communicate OHS awareness and its importance and this can be achieved by using

effective communication skills and appropriate interpersonal techniques.

This could be achieved by the reporting and documenting of all risks, making

recommendations to supervisors and management about improvements to safe

working practices / policies or contributing by assisting in the maintaining of

awareness of other workers within the workplace in the organisations OHS systems

and practices.



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Monitor Security Risk Control Procedures

Controlling Security Risks

Employers within any industry have what is termed a Duty of Care. A duty of care is a legal

responsibility owed by one person to another at common law. OHS legislation and

organisational policy and procedures are designed to ensure that employers, employees,

contractors, suppliers and others observe their common law duties in protecting people at

work and within the workplace.

The Security Industry is somewhat unique in that it actively uses security risk controls to

manage potentially negative duty of care incidents that could occur at any time. This is one

of the main reasons why it is important to have a working knowledge of your OHS

requirements relevant to your workplace; not only so you are safe, but others around you are

also safe.

To give an example;

Many people have Mobile Patrol services perform lock-up and alarm response

services as a risk control for their business:

o Depending on what type of business the client has will directly influence

what OHS considerations or procedures are required to be in place for that

Mobile Patrol service to be undertaken.

o You could be patrolling a private residence, an industrial manufacturing site,

a mining site, a shopping centre or any number of locations.o Each site may have special requirements in how you are to perform the

actual patrol of the site; you may need to undergo a site induction or

accreditation to be allowed to enter or work at the site all which need to be

detailed in your OHS policies, procedures and safe work practices.

o Some sites may have strict guidelines in how to respond to security risk

situations, alarms or warning notifications occurring at or coming from the

site as part of your duties all which need to be detailed in your OHS

policies, procedures and safe work practices.

Working contrary to OHS policies and procedures relevant to security risk situations couldpotentially have serious if not fatal consequences. Remember, you could be held liable if you

cause injury or damage as a result of you failing to comply with OHS obligations within the

workplace.

This could be achieved by ensuring that you have read and thoroughly understand

your OHS policies and procedures relating to security risk situations. If you are

unsure about what the policies and procedures mean or what you need to do when

responding; seek assistance from appropriate persons like supervisors or managers

for clarification.



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Identifying Inadequacies or Shortfalls in Resources

Without detailed procedures in the Security industry; you cannot work safely, effectively or

comply with mandatory OHS laws. Yet just simply having a policy that sits on a shelf and is

not reviewed or continuously monitored is as bad as having no system at all.

Any inadequacies or shortfalls in the OHS practices or policies or even resources designed

to deal with security risk situations or other hazards within the workplace need to be actioned

promptly by using the appropriate processes outlined within your OHS procedures.

Changes to client sites / client requirements, work practices or security risk safety issues

need to be raised promptly with the appropriate persons. Incident reports detailing

occurrences need to be collated and recorded so they can be factored into any security risk

control changes designed to meet the subsequent changes to policy, procedure or safe work

practices relevant to the specific site or workplace in general.

It is a requirement under OHS legislation to record anddocument all potential hazards and dangerous situations;

they form part of the continuous improvement cycle of

OHS. It is everybodys responsibility to report security

risks, hazards or dangerous events so these can be

minimised as security reports are a real time source of

information that can indicate risk or risk potential.

Employers must ensure that appropriate steps are

undertaken to rectify the identified real or potential

problem and take all reasonable steps to minimise the

risk of it occurring, reducing the future impact should it

occur again or to completely prevent it from happening

again in the future.

In order to do this, any incidents must be documented and this information made available to

appropriate persons so that all sources of security risks are factored into the creation of

future policies and procedures. This would also include reports regarding previous or current

situations where there are insufficient resources to perform the work safely or effectively.

This could be achieved by ensuring that you record and report to appropriate persons

all real and potential risks and hazards that you encounter in the workplace. Reports

should also address issues encountered relating to insufficient or inadequate

resources to meet OHS requirements or shortfalls in OHS policies and procedures to

meet changes within the work environment.



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Support OHS Training

OHS Inductions Identify the Needs

As previously mentioned, all employers are required to develop and maintain an OHSsystem. The system must provide policies and procedures for safe work practices and allow

for effective consultation between employer and employees in maintaining a safe and

healthy workplace.

Training in company OHS policies and procedures should

be a significant component of the organisations induction

program. A comprehensive induction program should allow

for the identification of any gaps in OHS training that may

be required to be provided in order to ensure that

employees are fully trained to work safely and maintainworkplace safety.

Those identified gaps should be addressed by relevant

OHS training as soon as practicable. Any additional training

required should be organised according to the

organisations OHS policies and procedures timetables

related to OHS training throughout the calendar year.

Any significant changes in process, procedure or the work environment should also be

addressed through regular OHS updates and relevant required training as it occurs within

the workplace.

This could be achieved by actively engaging in OHS training and encouraging others

to do the same. Seek out opportunities to expand your OHS skills and knowledge by

attending advanced OHS training.



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OHS Maintain the Tone, Everyone Wants to Go Home

Once inducted, each employee has a responsibility to stay abreast of changes to OHS

policies and procedures and actively contribute to maintaining OHS awareness and

compliance within the workplace. Opportunities for continued participation in ongoing OHS

training should be encouraged and organised training arranged based on needs or gapsidentified during the induction process or as the need arises.

OHS needs to be inclusive and all staff needs to be

encouraged to participate in the OHS culture of the

workplace. Many industries have inherent risks and

hazards, and the Security industry is one of them.

Assisting team members in maintaining workplace safety

by encouraging and mentoring them is an effective way

of limiting the potential for incidents to occur. At the endof the shift, everyone wants to go home.

Hierarchy of Hazard Controls

In many cases a range of control methods must be used to control hazards. This means thatvarious strategies to be considered in order of preference. It is known as the hierarchy ofhazard controls.

The emphasis is on controlling the hazard at the source. This is done by giving preference tothe use of the controls outlined in strategies 1 to 5.

These types of strategies should be used, where possible, because they treat the risk moreeffectively at the source.

Whichever methods you use, remember that in each case their effectiveness should bemonitored regularly.

1. ELIMINATE or try to ensure that hazards are eliminated when new equipment andwork systems are planned for the workplace.

2. SUBSTITUTE less hazardous materials, equipment or work tasks.

3. ISOLATE the hazardthrough the use of remote techniques.

4. ENGINEERING the hazard such as a trolley for lifting heavy loads.

5. EstablishappropriateADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURES such as:

Job rotation to reduce exposure or boredom; or timing the job so that fewerworkers are exposed

Standing Orders / Policy & Procedures and on-site housekeeping procedures Training on hazards and correct work procedures.

6. Provide suitable and properly maintained PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENTand training in its use.



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This is why it is important to understand your policies and procedures thoroughly across all

aspects of your operational requirements. Certain tasks you may perform will require you to

be more eyes on when undertaking them given the higher risk rating

This could be achieved by regularly reviewing your OHS policies and procedures for

changes that may affect the way you are required to perform your tasks or duties

safely. Assist others by means of coaching or mentoring and share your OHS

knowledge and skills to help contribute to the lifting of overall OHS compliance and

awareness within the workplace.


CPPSEC3001A Maintain Workplace Safety in the Security Industry - Reading Material

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