Hazard Identification, Risk Assessment, Incident Notification and Control

Procedure

HPRM Reference D2021-47835

Document Version Number 2.0

Policy Owner Chief Operating Officer, Chief of Corporate Division

Responsible Official Manager, HR Policy and Operations

Superseded Procedures

Date Effective 19 July 2021

Next Review Date 19 July 2024

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Contents

1. Introduction .......................................................................................................................................... 3

1.1. Purpose .......................................................................................................................................... 3

1.2. Scope ............................................................................................................................................. 3

1.3. Principles ........................................................................................................................................ 3

2. Procedures .......................................................................................................................................... 4

2.1. Risk management process ............................................................................................................ 4

2.2. Consultation, cooperation and coordination .................................................................................. 5

2.3. Establishing the context ................................................................................................................. 5

2.4. Hazard identification ....................................................................................................................... 6

2.5. Provisional Improvement Notice (PIN) ........................................................................................... 7

2.6. Risk assessment ............................................................................................................................ 7

2.7. Risk evaluation ............................................................................................................................... 8

2.8. Risk control .................................................................................................................................... 8

2.9. Risk acceptance and proceeding with the activity ......................................................................... 9

2.10. Reporting ...................................................................................................................................... 9

2.11. Record keeping ............................................................................................................................ 9

2.12. Monitor and review ..................................................................................................................... 10

2.13. Incident Reporting ...................................................................................................................... 10

2.14. Notifiable Incident Notification .................................................................................................... 10

2.15. Incident Investigation ................................................................................................................. 11

2.16. Training ...................................................................................................................................... 12

3. Supporting Information ...................................................................................................................... 13

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1. Introduction

1.1. Purpose

Geoscience Australia (the organisation) is committed to providing a safe and healthy workplace so far as

reasonably practicable. This will be achieved by management and workplace participants working together

and following a program of health and safety activities and procedures which are monitored, reviewed and

audited.

The Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (Cth) (WHS Act) imposes obligations on the organisation in relation to

the health and safety of its workers and other persons including visitors whose health and safety could be

affected by work carried out as part of the organisation’s business.

The processes outlined in this document form part of the WHS management system (WHSMS) and sets out

the organisation’s hazard identification, risk assessment, incident notification and control procedures.

1.2. Scope

This procedure facilitates the management, promotion and improvement of the health and safety of workers as

defined by the WHS Act, which includes employees, labour hire workers, contractors, visitors, volunteers and

others who perform work in support of the business and undertakings of the organisation.

This procedure is to be implemented consistently in all areas of the business and it is a requirement that all

workplace participants comply with this procedure. The WHS objectives are:

to provide a safe and healthy work environment for all workers and workplace participants

to comply with all relevant legislation and codes of practice

to consult with workers on WHS matters

to identify and eliminate or reduce hazards and risks to health and safety so far as is reasonably practicable

to identify and respond to early warning signs and reports of incidents and hazards

to ensure all workers and workplace participants know their roles and responsibilities under the WHS Act

to provide ongoing education and training resources.

The organisation will seek to meet its objectives by adhering to the WHSMS.

1.3. Principles

This procedure is underpinned by the following principles:

We support and provide information, resources and procedures to our workers to support a healthy and safe workplace.

The wellbeing and safety of our workers is paramount.

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Workers actively participate in identifying, rectifying and evaluating safety issues.

We appropriately manage workplace risks.

2. Procedures

2.1. Risk management process

Aim: To ensure the organisation manages risks effectively and consistently.

Policy:

All officials are responsible for managing risks within their area of responsibility.

Workers will manage risks across all aspects of the entity, including operational risks (for example, security, WHS and financial), project and program management, work planning and strategic planning.

Risks will be reported and communicated to internal and external stakeholders

Procedures:

1. Risk management helps decision makers make informed choices, prioritise actions and distinguish

among alternative course of action.

2. These procedures are to be used in conjunction with the risk register pro-forma

3. Risk management involves six steps summarised below. Key to this process is consultation and

management commitment during all steps as illustrated:

Figure 1: Risk management process

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2.2. Consultation, cooperation and coordination

4. Consultation, cooperation and coordination on risks and communication of risk status, changes and

controls is an integral part of managing risk, to ensure that affected parties are able to provide their

input to better understand the risks being considered and the application of controls.

5. Managers must consult with workers throughout the risk management process in identifying hazards,

assessing risks and establishing risk controls. For further information on WHS consultation,

cooperation and coordination, see the procedure. There must also be consultation between duty

holders when they have a concurrent responsibility for managing a Risk.

2.3. Establishing the context

6. Establishing the context allows the person managing the risk to understand the conditions and

constraints under which the risk was originally or previously considered and to establish the scope for

the rest of the risk management process.

7. For existing risk registers, the person managing the risk reviews the content for applicability within the

context and scope of operations and updates it accordingly.

8. For new risk registers, the risk register owner ensures the context and scope of operations is

determined, defined and recorded – describing safety requirements, assumptions, dependencies and

caveats.

9. In the ‘Context’ worksheet of the risk register pro-forma list the:

a. name of the activity being assessed

b. document version number

c. HPRM reference of the Risk Register.

d. name of the official responsible for the activity (if the activity is shared with an external third party, you should also include the name of the external person/s responsible)

e. name of the official/s undertaking the risk assessment

f. date of the assessment

g. mandate or reason for undertaking the activity (for example, legislation, agreement, policy, instruction)

h. key requirements or restrictions influencing the activity (for example, major decisions or support needed, such as approvals, funding, resourcing, cooperation from other entities, infrastructure; legislative, policy, standards or contractual requirements; cultural factors)

i. the key internal and external stakeholders, especially any that share responsibility for delivering the activity and/or managing associated risks

j. the stakeholders who have been consulted in the development of the risk assessment.

k. the WHS objective/s for the activity, for example maintain health and safety of workers and visitors.’ (the risk register pro-forma is set up so that this will then carry over to the risk register on the second tab)

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2.4. Hazard identification

10. Hazard identification is an ongoing and continual process across the organisation and occurs at a

frequency and level appropriate to the general needs of the business and relevant to the specific

hazard and risk being managed.

11. Sources of information to assist in preparing and identifying hazards include:

safe work method statements (SWMS)

job safety analysis

risk assessments

incident and hazard reporting

safety tool box meetings

consultation

bi-annual workplace inspections and safety audits of the work premises

use of Acts, Regulations, Codes of Practices and Australian / New Zealand Standards

Provisional Improvement Notice (PIN)

12. Consider all potential hazard sources in relation to workers' health and safety, including but not limited

to:

manual tasks, over-exertion or repetitive movement can cause muscular strain

gravity falling objects, falls, slips and trips of people can cause fractures, bruises, lacerations, dislocations, concussion, permanent injuries or death

electricity is a potential ignition source which can cause burns from fires

exposure to live electrical wires can cause shock, burns or death from electrocution

machinery and equipment

being hit by moving vehicles, or being caught by moving parts of machinery can cause

fractures, bruises, lacerations, dislocations, permanent injuries or death

hazardous chemicals (such as acids, hydrocarbons, heavy metals) and dusts (such as asbestos and silica) can cause respiratory illnesses, cancers or dermatitis

extreme temperatures, including environmental hazards

noise exposure to loud noise can cause permanent hearing damage

psychosocial hazards (such as bullying, violence, work-related fatigue or ongoing physical injury or illness which also cause a psychosocial hazard).

13. All identified hazards that are not immediately and permanently eliminated must:

be recorded in the risk register pro-forma

have an assessment of its associated risks as soon as possible

have an owner assigned to be responsible for managing the hazard (the risk owner).

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14. Depending on the complexity of the hazards and the availability of resources, a risk owner may be

responsible for one hazard or a number of hazards.

2.5. Provisional Improvement Notice (PIN)

15. A PIN is a formal notice to the organisation advising the employer that there is a health and safety

problem in the workplace.

16. A Health and Safety Representative (HSR) can issue a PIN to the organisation if they believe there is

or has been a contravention of the WHS Act.

17. If received, a PIN will be displayed on the intranet and will be visible on all digital screens around the

workplace.

18. Further information can be found in the Corrective Actions Procedure.

2.6. Risk assessment

19. A risk assessment provides a higher-level or broader view of all operational risks across an entire project or activity. A risk assessment must be done when:

a work activity changes or a new process is used

there is uncertainty about how a hazard may result in injury or illness

the work activity involves a number of different hazards and there is a lack of understanding about how the hazards may interact with each other to produce new or greater risk

changes at the workplace occur that may impact on the effectiveness of control measures

there is uncertainty about whether workplace conditions could present a psychosocial hazard (such as workplace fatigue).

20. A risk assessment involves considering what could happen if someone is exposed to a hazard and the

likelihood of it happening. A risk assessment can help determine:

how severe a risk is

whether any existing control measures are effective

what action should be taken to control the risk

how urgently the action needs to be taken.

21. When a risk assessment has recurring activities and where the hazards are substantially the same, the official/s responsible for the activities may seek periodic acceptance of common risks by an official at the required level and the following must apply:

Acceptance of the risks must be for a specified period not exceeding one year.

Prior to undertaking activities that fall within the pre-established risk acceptance, officials must confirm the risk context has not changed materially and the present understanding of risks, as documented in the risk assessment, is correct and comprehensive.

Any material change to the risk context that will result in exposure to greater, additional or different risks will require the official responsible for the activity to conduct a new risk assessment and seek acceptance of the risks at the required level.

Any pre-established risk acceptance will cease in the event of an incident, near miss or a failure in controls.

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22. A risk assessment can be undertaken with varying degrees of detail depending on the type of hazards

and the information, data and resources that are available. It can be as simple as a discussion with

workers or involve specific risk analysis tools and techniques.

2.7. Risk evaluation

23. When conducting a risk assessment:

the worker must use the risk register pro-forma. A rating of the consequence, likelihood will prepopulate for each identified hazard both before and after the control measure has been implemented. The rating should be reduced once the control measure are in place. The risk assessment can be discussed with Human Resources before seeking authorisation if required

control measures must be explained thoroughly and written in a clear and professional manner

the risk tolerance will auto populate as ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ once the likelihood, consequence and consequence category have been entered. Geoscience Australia’s tolerances for each risk category are determined by the Chief Executive Officer

if the risk is within tolerance the activity may proceed without any extra controls to reduce the likelihood or consequence, but extra treatments may be implemented as per step 2.7.

If the activity has a risk/s not within tolerance do not proceed with the activity unless treatments can be applied to bring the risk rating within tolerance. If the risk cannot be brought within tolerance but should proceed, refer to step 2.8.

2.8. Risk control

24. Where possible, elimination of hazards is to be considered and actioned immediately. Where

elimination is not reasonably practicable, the risk must be controlled in accordance with the

Work Health and Safety Regulations 2011 (Cth) (WHS Regs) which requires workers to utilise the

hierarchy of hazard controls as illustrated in figure 2:

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Figure 2: Hierarchy of Controls - a combination of the above methods may be needed to reduce the Risk to

the lowest level.

2.9. Risk acceptance and proceeding with the activity

25. If all the activity’s risks are within tolerance, present the risk register to and have the risks accepted by an official with oversight for the activity.

26. The ‘level of official accepting the risk’ column will also auto populate to inform you of the level of official required to accept the risk.

27. Prior to accepting a risk with controls and treatments, the official must be satisfied that the treatment owner will implement and monitor the treatment satisfactorily, and the proposed treatment will be effective in reducing the likelihood and/or consequence of the risk to the level indicated.

28. If the activity still has a risk that exceeds the tolerance after controls and treatment, do not proceed with the activity, unless:

the activity is strategically critical

the relevant chief’s approval (Chief Scientist, Chief Operating Officer, Chief Scientific Information Officer or Chief of Division) if the risk level is high or below.

extreme risks can only be accepted by the CEO.

29. In the ‘official accepting the risk’ column, write name of the official accepting the risk.

2.10. Reporting

30. As regularly as required, you must report on the risks to the relevant internal and external stakeholders

identified through the process, these may include:

line managers, delegates, and/or executives

ministers

committees/boards

activity partners (for example, industry, other government entities, service providers)

other Commonwealth entities, where an identified risks could potentially impact on their business.

2.11. Record keeping

31. As required by the Information and Records Management Policy, you must create and maintain in

HPRM records of:

the risk assessment register

acceptance of risk by the relevant official

agreement by a treatment owner to implement and maintain a new risk treatment.

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2.12. Monitor and review

32. Throughout the life of the activity, regularly monitor and review the context, risk sources, controls and

treatments.

33. Control measures must be reviewed and if necessary revised if:

there has been a change to objectives

there have been material changes in the internal or external environment, such as new or emerging risk sources

a control measure is identified as not being effective in controlling the risk, so far as is reasonably practicable

a incident, near miss, new hazard or risk is identified

assurance is needed that the present understanding of risks is correct, comprehensive and within the risk criteria

the results of consultation by the organisation under the WHS Act indicate a review of the control measures is necessary

a Health and Safety Representative (HSR) requests a review.

2.13. Incident Reporting

34. It is every worker’s responsibility to report incidents. Incident reporting provides information to allow for

the appropriate response to the incident. This may include providing first aid to the worker (subject to

the worker's training and capacity to provide first aid) and others involved or contacting emergency

services.

35. Reporting incidents allows the organisation to identify key areas, risk and trends to target, with a focus

on prevention and early intervention. Reporting also provides an opportunity to understand the incident

reported so that they may be controlled, in turn preventing similar incidents from occurring in the future.

36. Incidents will be reported on the WHS Incident Reporting Tool which is managed by Human

Resources.

37. Incidents relating to inappropriate behaviour, bullying, harassment or discrimination, workers should in

the first instance report this to their manager to action. Refer to the Review, Respect and Conduct

Policy for more information.

2.14. Notifiable Incident Notification

38. A Notifiable Incident requires urgent action, it is defined in the WHS Act as a:

death of a person

a serious injury or illness of a person requiring treatment as an in-patient at a hospital or

a dangerous incident or near miss.

39. A Notifiable Incident must immediately be reported to a worker's manager or another manager in the

work area and also immediately notify:

Chief Human Resources Officer – (02) 6249 9534 or 0422 274 031

Manager, HR Policy and Operations – (02) 6249 9006

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Manager, HR Support – (02) 6249 5890

HR Helpdesk – hr@ga.gov.au – (02) 6249 9777

40. Human Resources, using the Notifiable Incident Flowchart, will assess the incident to determine whether it is notifiable to Comcare (the Regulator) and the State and/or Territory WHS Regulator if applicable under the WHS Act.

41. Notification will be provided to Comcare by Human Resources immediately after becoming aware that

a notifiable incident arising out of the conduct of the business or undertaking has occurred via the

fastest possible means. This may be:

via telephone on 1300 366 979

online at Comcare Incident Notification

by emailing the written notification form to notify@comcare.gov.au.

2.15. Incident Investigation

42. Incident investigations are conducted for all incidents that have occurred. The size and scope of the

investigation or assessment should be relative to the nature of the incident and its outcomes.

43. Following an incident, Human Resources will determine the appropriate course of action. Before an

action is taken, including the commencement of an informal or formal investigation, legal advice should

be considered given to whether an investigation should be undertaken subject to legal professional

privilege.

44. The purpose of any investigation under legal privilege is to enable the organisation to receive legal

advice on its legislative obligations and/or in anticipation of litigation, notwithstanding any other

comments in this document or other organisational documentation.

45. This may be that that a thorough investigation is conducted to identify the cause/s of the incident, to

implement appropriate control measure to prevent recurrence.

46. All investigations are to be documented on the WHS Incident reporting tool, the Investigation Report

Template is to be used in the event of a Notifiable Incident.

47. Formal investigations may be conducted where a serious incident, such as a notifiable incident, has

occurred, and will be co-ordinated by Human Resources and, if required, support from Legal Services.

48. Dependant on circumstances and resourcing, investigations may be conducted internally by an HSR or

a member of Human Resources or externally through an engaged specialist consultant. The

investigation of an incident should include a process for identifying the contributing factors, root cause

of the incident, implementing control measures and corrective actions that are subsequently assessed

for their effectiveness.

49. A WHS incident which results in no or minor injury/illness, and is not notifiable to Comcare, may only

require an assessment which may include having an informal discussion with the involved person/s

and completing a risk assessment to determine if remedial action is necessary.

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2.16. Training

50. The organisation will facilitate and support workers to complete WHS training relevant to their function

in the workplace.

51. WHS training is a fundamental requirement for any workplace to achieve a safe workplace. WHS training is categorised into three categories:

Generic WHS training - skills and knowledge which is commonly required, for example:

a. WHS Induction training through Learn@GA

b. Mental Health Capability Foundation skills training

c. Evacuation procedures.

Risk specific WHS training – training required for those persons conducting activities with a specific risk to health and safety or a verification activity, for example:

a. First aid training

b. Radiation safety training

c. Hazardous substances training

d. First Aid Officer training

e. Mental Health First Aid or Mental Health Capability Extension skills training

f. Harassment and Diversity Contact Officer training

g. Health and Safety Representative training

Task specific WHS training – required skills dependant on the specific hazards and risk (for example, local process, operating equipment and plant).

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3. Supporting Information

This section is informative.

Roles and Responsibilities

Officers A person who makes or participates in making decisions that affect the whole or substantial part of the organisation

Managers Managers include any person who has the responsibility, management or control of a Geoscience Australia workplace, team or business unit.

Workers

Workers include anyone who carries out work in any capacity for the organisation. This includes contractors, sub contactors, employees of contractors, labour hire workers, apprentices, trainees, work experience students and volunteers.

Related Procedures

Work Health and Safety Procedures

Geoscience Australia’s commitment and agreed procedures to comply with the WHS legislation.

Risk Management Procedures

Define how the Risk Management Procedures will be implemented in practice and to ensure Geoscience Australia manages risks effectively and consistently.

Related Policies

Work Health Safety Policy Policy related to the application of Work Health and Safety Act within Geoscience Australia.

Risk Management Policy Outline the specific processes we use to manage risk, including information on how to conduct risk assessments

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Definitions

Comcare The regulatory body responsible for administering the Work Health Safety Act

2011 (Cth) (WHS Act) in the Commonwealth jurisdiction

Concussion A brain injury caused by a blow to the head or a violent shaking of the head and

body.

Dermatitis General term that describes a skin irritation. Dermatitis is a common condition

that has many causes and occurs in many forms.

Hierarchy of Controls Hierarchy of hazard control is a system used in industry to minimise or eliminate

exposure to hazards. It is a widely accepted system promoted by numerous

safety organisations.

Hazard A hazard is a potential source of harm. Substances, events, or circumstances

can constitute hazards when their nature would allow them, even just

theoretically, to cause damage to health, life, property,

Incident An instance of something happening; an event or occurrence.

Manual tasks Physical work activities that can be defined as any activity requiring a person to

use a part of their musculoskeletal system in performing their work

Psychosocial Relating to the interrelation of social factors and individual thought and behaviour