1. Determine Workplace Health & Safety
This presentation has been produced by Ausintec Academy (Online Horse College) for purpose of Educational Training. It is not for sale and may not be used or reproduced without prior written permission from the Director of Ausintec Academy
The workplace health and safety act (or WHS) is a framework set out by the Commonwealth and state and territories to protect the health and safety of workers and people affect by the work. There are also regulations and codes of practice that provide practical guidance on how to meet the standards set out in the act whilst performing work duties.

2. Workplace Health & Safety Legislation
WHS legislation is designed to protect the health, safety and welfare of everyone in the workplace, therefore you will need to know and be aware of legislation relevant to your workplace an industry. The purpose of WHS legislation is to:-
Protect the health and safety of workers
Improve workplace safety outcomes
Reduce compliance costs
Improve efficiency
Each state and territory (in Australia) has its own regulating body for WHS. The website ‘Safe Work Australia” ( has links for finding the regulator in your state. Whilst there may be some variation between state legislation, the objective of creating and maintaining a safe and healthy working environment through the provision of a safe workplace, adequate training, supervision and the control of workplace hazards and risks remains the same throughout.
The duty of care that WHS legislation imposes applies to employers, employer’s representatives and employees.
There are a number of regulations, codes of practice, standards, guides, policies, procedures and laws that go into making up the WHS legislation.
WHS regulations supplement the WHS act by providing more detailed information about WHS obligations and the duties that apply in relation to particular hazards. They will contain some information about the procedural or administrative processes that must be in place for the WHS act to be met. Some matters that are covered by the WHS regulations include:-
Managing risks to health and safety and general workplace management
Hazardous work (e.g., noise, manual handling, confined spaces)
Plant and structures
Hazardous chemicals
Representation and participation
Codes of practice provide practical guidance on how to meet the standards contained in WHS acts and regulations. They provide guidance on matters such as duty of care, hazard identification, risk assessment and risk control and are usually developed by representatives, workers, employers, special interest groups and government agencies relevant to the particular industry.
There are a number of codes of practice relevant to the horse industry including:-
‘Horse Safe’ from the Australian Horse Industry Council (
‘Horse riding schools, trail riding establishments & horse riding establishments’ from Workplace Health & Safety Qld (
‘Welfare of land transported horses’ from the CSRIO/Australian Government Department of Agriculture (
‘Welfare of the horse’ Federation Equestrian International (
Whilst codes of practice are not enforceable by law they should be followed unless there is and alternative course of action that offers the same or better standards, your obligations under the WHS act will not be met if methods which aren’t as safe as or safer than the code are used.
Standards are specifications and procedures designed to ensure that products, services and systems are safe, reliable and consistent in performance. There are 3 types of standards that may be relevant to you:-
Australian standards. Applicable in Australia.
Industry standards. Standards which are relevant to specific industries.
International standards. Standards that have a worldwide application and can be recognised irrespective of location.
Guidelines provide comprehensive directions, initiatives and safety information to deal with particular hazards and risks specific to an industry. These guidelines provide assistance to workers to understand how to work safely and meet requirements in WHS legislation. Guidelines can be used as a starting point to addressing WHS issues within the workplace.
Some guidelines relevant to the horse industry include:-
‘Guidelines for keeping horses in urban areas’ NSW Department of Primary Industries (
‘Biosecurtiy guidelines for organisers & competitors’ NSW Department of Primary Industries
‘Environmental guidelines for horse facilities and activities’ Government of Western Australia Department of Water (
WHS policies, procedures and processes are developed by employers in consultation with employees to help to ensure a safe and healthy workplace. Consultation with employees helps to ensure policies, procedures and processes are relevant and practical. The number of policies and procedures a business has will depend upon the nature of the work and the hazards in the workplace.
Policies outline how management will achieve workplace safety and specific responsibilities of management and employees in clear and simple terms. WHS policies may include:-
Organisation statement to providing a safe and healthy working environment
The objectives of the policy
Strategies that will be used to achieve the objectives
Roles and responsibilities of personnel (e.g., supervisors, senior employees, coaches, strappers etc)
The function of the health and safety committee
The review process for the policies effectiveness
Areas that may be included in a policy are hazard identification and management, induction, training and supervision, incident reporting, emergency planning and response, bullying and harassment, alcohol, drugs and smoking, environmental management and manual handling.
WHS procedures should reflect the unique health and safety needs of the particular workplace. A range of areas will need to have procedures:-
Induction and training
First aid
Emergencies
Accident and incident reporting
Issue resolution
Hazard identification and risk assessment
General work issues (e.g., hazardous substances, manual handling, personal protective equipment (PPE), electrical and vehicle safety)
Workplace specific issues (e.g., working at heights, plant safety)
By having safe work procedures organisations can document the risks associated with a work task and apply appropriate control measures for completing the task safely. Consultation with workers experienced in a particular task will ensure that procedures are developed to be effective and reasonable to that task. Workers should be trained and supervised to ensure that procedures are understood and followed.

3. Workplace Health & Safety Knowledge
Through understanding the relationship between WHS legislation you can begin to identify which WHS obligations apply to your workplace. The legislative requirements in the workplace can include:-
The duties and responsibilities of employers and employees
The duties and responsibilities of the health and safety committees and representatives
Hazard and risk identification
Strategies to minimise or eliminate hazards and risks
Strategies to maintain a safe and healthy workplace
Procedures to address staff illness and workers compensation
Record keeping
Example:-
For a horse riding school the pyramid on the previous page might include the following documents and information.
Act: Work Health & Safety Act 2011
Regulations: Model Work Health & Safety Regulations 2011
Codes of Practice: Horse Riding Schools, Trail Riding Establishments and Horse Hiring Establishments Code of Practice 2002
Australian Horse Industry Council Horse Safe Code of Practice
Guidelines: Helmet standards

4. Duty Holders
A duty holder is anyone in the workplace whom has a responsibility to maintaining health and safety in the workplace. More than one person can have or share the same duty of care (the legal obligation to anticipate and act on possible causes of injury and illness that may exist in the work environment or as a result of their actions) but a duty of care cannot be transferred to another individual.
Duty holders can be:-
Persons conducting or undertaking a business (PCBU’s) - employers, corporations, associations, partnerships, sole traders
Officers - Directors, chief executive officers, managers and supervisors
Workers - Employees, contractors, apprentices, work experience students, trainees and volunteers
Others - Visitors, customers
A principle that is used frequently in health and safety legislation is ‘reasonably practicable’. It is often used in regard to taking action to managing or minimise risks in a manner that is reasonably practicable. The following criteria or factors are used to determine what is reasonably practicable:-
The likelihood of a person being exposed to harm due to a hazards or risk occurring
How serious the injury or harm might be if the hazard or risk occurs
What the individual knows, or should be expected to know about the hazard or risk and how to eliminate or minimise it
How accessible the ways to eliminate or minimise the risk are
The cost of eliminating or minimising the hazard or risk
These factors along with the position of a duty holder can determine duty holder’s responsibilities in their duty of care.
PCBU’s
The primary duty of care of all PCUB’s is to (so far as reasonably practicable):-
Provide and maintain a safe working environment
Provide and maintain safe plant and structures
Provide and maintain safe systems of work
Ensure safe use, handling and storage of plant, structures and substances
Provide adequate facilities for welfare at work of workers and access to facilities
Provide information, training, instruction or supervision
Monitor the health of workers and conditions in the workplace
Consult, co-operate and co-ordinate between duty holders
Officers
Officers must carry out their role with perseverance and care. They must take reasonable steps to:-
Keep their knowledge of WHS up to date
Understand how the business operates and the workplace’s hazards and risks
Have processes in place for receiving and responding to information in a reasonable time frame
Allocate appropriate resources to eliminate or minimise risk
Put in place processes for monitoring that the business is complying with WHS
Workers
This is an individual whom carries out work for a PCBU. A worker’s duty of care includes:-
Taking reasonable care of their own safety
Co-operating with any reasonable policy or procedures they have been notifies of that relates to WHS
Complying with any reasonable instruction given by the PCBU
Taking reasonable care to make sure their conduct does not adversely affect the safety of others
Others
Like workers these people have a similar duty of care:-

5. Legal Obligations for Consultation
To maintain a healthy and safe working environment it is important to have effective consultation and training measures in place. WHS laws set out PCBU’s obligations to put consultation processes in place and provide access to training. This requirement is part of the PCBU’s duty of care to consult with all other duty holders. By drawing on and sharing the knowledge and experience of those involved in the work, a safer workplace is more likely to be achieved.
Consultation is seen as being essential for effective safety management as a means to provide information, obtain the view of others, consider and explore possible solutions and new ideas and to receive feedback. Also because PCBU’s may not have the understanding or work being undertaken or of the general working conditions it is important they consult with people who do (e.g., workers) before making changes that could impact on WHS. Bear in mind though the PCBU’s and workers do not have to be in agreement for a change to take place.
PCBU’s must consult with other duty holders, manufacturers, designers, workers and health and safety representatives on matters that affect WHS. Consultation must take place when:-
WHS hazards are being identified and risks assessed
Deciding how to control risks
Deciding on facilities for worker welfare
Proposing changes that may affect worker’s health and safety
Deciding on procedures for resolving WHS issues, monitoring workers’ health, monitoring workplace conditions and providing information and training
This consultation process can take many forms and the process used will be depend upon some varying factors including the size of the business, the number of duty holders, whether there are or are not health and safety representatives, whether there is a health and safety committee and the communication available. Large organisations may conduct more formal consultation processes whilst smaller businesses may consult by talking regularly with workers.
Legislation does not require all organisations to have a Health and Safety Committee (HSC). However if one is requested by at least 5 workers or by a health and safety representative (HSR - Health and safety representatives identify WHS issues that need to be resolved by management through consultation with workers by informal and formal discussions at staff meetings and via surveys)then a HSC must be set up. HSC are required by WHS legislation to meet every 3 months. Because a WHC member numbers must be made up of at least half workers from the organisation PCBU’s must allow workers time to attend scheduled meetings. A HSCs role will include:-
Facilitating co-operation between the PCBU and workers on WHS
Discussing identified WHS problems
Consulting with workers and making recommendations to improve health and safety in the workplace
Assisting in developing health and safety standards, rules and procedures
Monitoring and reporting on WHS performance, including compliance with legislation and workplace policies and procedures
PCBUs have obligations to induct, train, give instructions and supervise workers so they can do their job safely. This falls under their duty of care and includes all workers such as employees, casuals, labour hire, contractors and volunteers. To comply with WHS legislation training may include:-
Inductions in evacuations and emergency procedures, hazards workers may be exposed to, the use, storage and maintenance of PPE, hazard reporting, incident/accident reporting procedures, alcohol and drug policies and anti-bullying policies.
Obligations under WHS laws
Task specific training related to a person’s work role (i.e., manual handling technique, PPE, standard operating procedures (SOP), identify and control hazards)

6. Non-Compliance
WHS non-compliance is the failure to conform to the obligations specified in the relevant WHS act, regulations or failure to meet the same or better standard as those described by relevant codes of practice.
Failure to comply with WHS laws can result in fines, lost production time, reputation damage, prosecution, imprisonment, injury and death. Workplace accidents have a massive impact on both the physical and mental health of injured workers.
The cost to individuals, workmates, families, businesses, the community and the economy is extensive too sometimes meaning the difference between ongoing viability and bankruptcy. The cost to the business will involve replacing the injured worker, training the new worker, a decrease in workplace moral, loss in productivity and an increase in workers compensation premiums.
When a worker is seriously injured investigations and in some cases legal action on employers or workers is standard practice if they believe the provisions of the WHS acts or regulations have been contravened. These investigations are undertaken by a state regulator and if the regulator believes a breach has been committed action is taken within the appropriate legal jurisdiction.
There are penalties for PCBUs, officers and workers found to be in breach of their legal responsibilities under the WHS acts and regulations; there are 3 categories of offences:-
Category 1 is the most serious breach where a duty holder recklessly endangers a person to risk of death or serious injury.
Category 2 is a failure to comply with a health and safety duty that exposes a person to risk of death, serious injury or illness.
Category 3 is a failure to comply with a health and safety duty.
Common areas of non-compliance are:-
Failure to meet legal requirements
Inadequate systems of information, instruction, training or supervision
Plant, equipment or substances not maintained. Or used and stored in unsafe conditions
Poor consultation practices
Poor design
Workplace hazards not identified or controlled
Workplace systems not in place or inadequate
One of the most common causes of workplace injury is defective or poorly maintained equipment and machinery. If equipment and machinery are mot regularly maintained or stored correctly they can pose a danger to users. Businesses should have comprehensive maintenance schedules in place and machinery which is identified as unsafe as indicated as unsafe by placing on it a temporary notice.
Poorly designed equipment can also be a major hazard such as:-
Poorly designed seating (e.g., computer desks and chairs)
Poorly placed lighting
Poor access to and from buildings (e.g., uneven footing, obstacles)
Inappropriate layout and design of work areas
Poorly designed hand tools (e.g., shovels, manure forks)
Contact with electricity (e.g., damaged power cords, sockets, plugs)
Inadequate or missing machine guards (e.g., on mowers, whipper snippers, chainsaws)
Inadequate fall protection
Inadequate roll over protections (e.g., tractors, forklifts)
Exposure to airborne hazards (e.g., dust from arenas, stables, fumes from mowers, tractors)
PCBUs have a legal obligation and a duty of care to provide systems of work that contribute to a safe and healthy work environment. PCBUs should provide:-
Policies and procedures that are documented and in an easily accessible format
Comprehensive maintenance schedules
Comprehensive induction programs
Training programs and refresher courses for plant machinery and equipment
Regular safety audits
HSC and HSR appointed to consult with staff

7. For more information see your course workbook.

8. For more information see your course workbook.

9. For more information see your course workbook.