Work Health Safety Assessment Case Study

Answer

Work Health Safety Assessment Case Study

Work health safety is a fundamental right of all employees in any working environment. Regulations require organizations to establish measures and strategies for promoting the safety of employees regardless of disability, gender or race. There are numerous factors that need to be considered when assessing work health safety at an organizational level, for instance, the type of business or undertaking, the types of work, nature of risks associated with the business, assessment of measures in place targeted at minimizing risks and the environmental triggers of risks.  Work health safety regulations demand that organizations establish provisions that maintain a work environment without threats to health and safety (Straker et al., 2016). Regulations advance the ideas of safe plants and structures and secure systems of work. It is the mandate of organizations to ensure provisions of safety facilities for the welfare of workers in addition to enhancing access to information, training and instructions necessary to mitigate risks to health and safety. The generalities of managing health and safety risks in organizational environments depend on how well frameworks are established to identify hazards, assess the risks, and develop control risks and review of control measures (Xia et al., 2018). Organizations must implement the most effective control measures and promote understanding of the nature of harms that can occur due to hazards. This paper recognizes that assessment of work health safety is critical at the organizational level as it plays essential roles in reducing risks to safety. It, therefore, conducts a work health safety assessment in Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Australia.

Analysis of Hazards

The healthcare environment remains to be one of the areas of significant concerns when evaluating the risks and hazards that can undermine the safety of individuals. Healthcare settings are diverse and present exposure opportunities to risks. In assessing the scope of risks at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Australia, several aspects of work health safety come up including the need to advance frameworks that enhance the security of vulnerable individuals. Safety measures in healthcare are not excluded to occupations only, but also patients who are the most susceptible group. Understanding that safety hazards and risks are inherent in every workplace provides support in terms of how management approaches develop frameworks for prevention. Identification of hazards and risks allows better preparedness to control or eliminate injuries and accidents (Tompa et al., 2016).

Healthcare environments are associated with a range of work health safety hazards and risks, and regulations and policy approaches must focus on addressing them. Evaluating the spectrum of work health safety at Queen Elizabeth Hospital, several categories of safety hazards cab be identified. Biological hazards are commonplace aspects that influence the safety of workers and patients in healthcare settings if appropriate management and intervention measures are not adopted (Leite et al., 2018). Biological hazards in healthcare have the potential to expose medics to harm or diseases from working with people or handling infectious materials (Leite et al., 2018). Biological work health safety threats entail exposure to bacteria and viruses or blood and other body fluids. Similarly, the assessment suggests that physical hazards are common in healthcare settings; factors within healthcare environments that harm the body without necessarily touching (Leite et al., 2018).

At Queen Elizabeth Hospital, appropriate risk management and hazard prevention measures are placed to reduce and eliminate the impact of physical hazards on employees and patients. Protocols follow the prevention and reduction of exposure to harmful radiations.  The measures of work health safety in the hospital dictate that all healthcare professionals have the right to refuse to work in potentially hazardous environments (Safe Work Australia, n.d.). The evaluation of Queen Elizabeth Safety policy underlines the importance of promoting awareness of hazards in working environments. The institution recognizes that biological hazards present significant threats to employees and patients. Thus, its policy guidelines promote prevention aspects including immunization, training on biosafety and exposure control measures and use of appropriate personal protective equipment (Randolph, 2018). The hospital has a strong policy on reporting of unsafe conditions, concerns and issues that present threats to safety. It also ensures that the disposal of biohazard wastes follow safety standards of the Australian laws.

Queen Elizabeth Hospital further outlines physical hazards and risks that can undermine the safety of workers and patients within its premises, including heat, noise, lasers, X-rays and electricity. It defines prevention measures such as adherence to determining work procedures and rules and promotion of awareness regarding emergency response protocols. The chemical hazards identified include exposure to pharmaceuticals, cytotoxic drugs, gases, detergents and cleaners or exposure to laboratory chemicals (Connor et al., 2016). Table 1 below provides the hazards identified, existing controls in place, the relative risk level, and controls that are needed to further reduce the risk.

Table 1.1: Risk assessment

Policies for Maintaining a Safe Work Environment

Queen Elizabeth Hospital is committed to the provision of a safe and healthy work environment for all its stakeholders, including patients, nurses and support staff. The institution has established a safety compliance policy that reflects the strategies of the Australian Work Health Policy on Workplace Health and Safety legislation, compliance codes and appropriate standards. The Institution’s safety policy underlines the need to provide an environment that promotes and supports the physical safety of all its employees, affirming aspects of education and training on handling risks and safety hazards. It maintains a process of continuous improvement of the safety management framework, systems and processes (Safe Work Australia, n.d.). Queen Elizabeth Hospital recognizes that the focus of policy on training is fundamental in reducing employees and patients exposure to harms from hazards and thus a clause in its policy promotes the idea of appropriate training and education in the area of work health safety. It underlines the need for employees to establish accountability and responsibility in terms of taking obligations to minimize exposure to hazards. Part of the institution policy on work health safety defines the provision of facilities, equipment, resources and services to enable employees to perform their duties. The policy promotes concepts of regular communication between management and staff on issues and initiatives about work health safety (Safe Work Australia, n.d.). It allows the promotion of programs that support workplace health and safety culture. The institution recognizes that lack of appropriate measures to address workplace safety affects patients negatively. Patients are a vulnerable group within its environment and thus emphasizes on the necessity of healthcare providers to demonstrate integrity and unique code of conduct in protecting patients from potential harm as a result of hazards (Safe Work Australia).

Australian Medical Association (AMA) Policy Perspective of Work Health Safety (WHS)

The Australian Medical Association (AMA) is one of the agencies involved in the promotion of safety in the healthcare environment. It dictates that everyone in the healthcare environment has a fundamental right to receive protection from any form of harm. It is essential that organizations adopt best practices for clinical learning, provision of quality care and improving patient outcomes without compromising on the safety concerns of stakeholders. AMA articulates critical components and strategies implicit on promoting the safety of healthcare providers, including the establishment of leadership and commitment geared towards prevention of hazards and risks to employees (AMA, 2015). AMA underlines the importance of clear policies and procedures in promoting the safety and health of workers. It recognizes that safety policy supports the health and wellbeing of workers through measures including the promotion of communication, performance management and safe handling of risks. Its approach in defining strategies against hazards and risks in healthcare focus on clear articulation of roles and responsibilities, promoting awareness and education on safety measures, promotion of safety planning protocols and regular monitoring and review of risks and hazard prevention measures. Some of the provisions of AMA regarding work health safety entail the establishment of effective lighting, communication, having video surveillance to monitor risks and provision of protection from infectious risks and biohazards (AMA, 2015).

Managing Risks for Vulnerable Population

Implementation of strategies to mitigate against threats to work health safety recognize that vulnerable groups such as people with disability and minority groups, including the Aboriginal, may face higher risk exposure to hazards and risks. The threats faced by vulnerable groups that may undermine safety and health include discrimination and lack of access to personal protective equipment. The strategies considered for improving health and safety of vulnerable groups in the institution include increase and focus on diversity, provisions of diversity and inclusion training to employees and establishment of anti-discrimination policies. The institution articulates that all employees should be protected from hazards regardless of race and disability. It also emphasizes the codes of conduct on protecting the fundamental rights of employees and promotion of the concept of duty of care. It recognizes that it is the moral and legal obligation of the hospital to ensure the safety of everyone within its premises.

Recommendations

Although Queen Elizabeth Hospital has established coherent measures to mitigate risks and hazards, the following recommendations are vital to ensure enhanced work health safety of employees and patients within its environment:

• Establish strong leadership on management and control of risks. Strong leadership allows accountability and responsibility in command and control of risks and hazards that pose harm to employees and other stakeholders.

Promote risk management awareness to patients and other stakeholders. Here, the institutions need to involve all stakeholders in taking responsibility for safety.