COURSE OVERVIEW:

Welcome to the Establishing & Maintaining a Safe Workplace course. This program will equip you with the knowledge, frameworks and operational understanding required to develop, implement and continuously improve Work Health and Safety (WHS) systems that protect workers, comply with legislation and create organisational resilience. You will explore what WHS management means, the nature and purpose of WHS policies, the components and objectives of an effective WHS workplace policy, and the broad landscape of WHS regulations, codes of practice and national standards. You will also examine core WHS concepts, the duties of PCBUs, officers and Health and Safety Representatives (HSRs), and the financial and strategic implications of WHS across organisational practice.

This course begins by examining WHS policy foundations and the regulatory environment that governs workplace safety. You will analyse what effective WHS policies include, the basic WHS concepts that must be embedded in workplace practices, and the legislative responsibilities placed on PCBUs, officers and HSRs. This section explains how WHS obligations align with organisational planning, why WHS initiatives must be evaluated against financial and strategic plans, and how records, labour resources and financial resources support WHS operations.

The next learning area focuses on worker participation, consultation and representation. You will explore the requirements for consultation under the WHS Act 2011, the role and value of WHS representatives, and the organisational benefits derived from genuine worker engagement in safety matters. This section outlines the advantages of effective consultation, the steps to resolve WHS issues collaboratively, and how shared responsibility improves compliance and strengthens safety outcomes.

Another learning area addresses hazard identification, workplace inspections and risk assessment. You will examine what PCBUs and managers must do under the WHS Act 2011, the sources of hazards, and how inspections should be conducted. This section clarifies how workplace changes create new hazards, how hazards are identified at planning, design and evaluation stages, and how to assess potential hazards associated with change. You will also study the hierarchy of controls, consequence and probability analysis, risk ranking, risk minimisation strategies and action planning.

A further learning area examines specialist advice, intervention requirements and WHS training systems. You will consider how to source, select and utilise specialist or technical advisers, the critical points to assess when determining intervention needs, and the importance of WHS induction and training. This section explains why training is most effective when delivered through a systematic approach, the benefits of structured training, and the components of sound induction and education programs.

Another learning area focuses on WHS reporting, incident classification and safety documentation. You will explore when injuries or illnesses are serious and notifiable, what constitutes a dangerous incident, and the importance of reporting and recordkeeping in WHS compliance. This section explains how incident data supports prevention, how organisations use reporting systems to identify trends, and how these processes integrate into wider organisational safety performance monitoring.

The final learning area explores WHS management systems (WHSMS) and continuous improvement. You will review the components of a WHSMS, how to evaluate and audit the system, how to ensure ongoing compliance, and how quality improvement strengthens long-term WHS performance. This section clarifies how WHSMS reviews should be conducted, how audit insights inform corrective actions, and how organisations maintain consistent alignment with legislative and operational requirements for workplace safety.

By the end of this course, you will be able to understand WHS management principles; develop and evaluate WHS policies; interpret WHS regulations, codes and standards; fulfil PCBU, officer and HSR responsibilities; implement worker participation processes; identify hazards and conduct risk assessments; apply the hierarchy of controls; engage specialist advisors; design WHS training and induction programs; report and classify WHS incidents accurately; evaluate and improve WHSMS performance; and maintain long-term compliance and continuous improvement across all WHS systems and activities.

LEARNING OUTCOMES:

By the end of this course, you will be able to understand:

• What is meant by Work Health and Safety Management?
• What are WHS policies?
• The components of an effective WHS workplace policy
• What objectives should be included in a WHS policy?
• The WHS regulations, codes of practice and national standards
• The basic concepts of WHS that need to be developed in policies and applied in the workplace
• The duties and responsibilities of the PCBU
• The duties and responsibilities of an officer
• The duties and responsibilities of the workplace health and safety representative (HSR)
• The financial implications of WHS
• Why review your wish list against financial and strategic plans?
• What is included in the records associated with the effective operation of an organisation?
• What is included in labour resources?
• What is included in financial resources?
• WHS representatives and worker participation
• What is required for consultation under the WHS 2011 Act?
• The benefits of worker participation
• The benefits of an effective health and safety consultation
• The steps to resolve a WHS issue
• Hazard identification
• What is required from the PCBUs and managers under the WHS 2011 Act?
• The sources of hazards in a workplace
• How to carry out the inspection of a workplace?
• The risk assessment process
• Why any changes in the workplace can create hazards?
• The ways of identifying hazards at the planning, design and evaluation stages
• How to identify the potential hazards related to change?
• The hierarchy of controls
• The determination of consequence, probability and risk ranking
• Risk minimisation and action planning
• The resources that can address inadequacies in existing risk control measures
• How to utilise specialist advice?
• How to select a specialist or technical adviser?
• The important points to consider when assessing the requirement for intervention
• The importance of WHS induction and training
• Why training is more effective with a systematic approach?
• The benefits of a systematic approach in training
• The induction and training programs
• The importance of reporting and recordkeeping of WHS incidents
• When should an injury or illness be considered as serious and notifiable?
• What is meant by dangerous incidents?
• How to evaluate the WHS management system?
• What constitutes a work health and safety management system (WHSMS)?
• How to review the WHSMS?
• The importance of quality improvement in the WHSMS
• How to audit and evaluate the WHSMS?
• How to maintain compliance with the WHSMS?

COURSE DURATION:

The typical duration of this course is approximately 2-3 hours to complete. Your enrolment is Valid for 12 Months. Start anytime and study at your own pace.

ASSESSMENT:

A simple 10-question true or false quiz with Unlimited Submission Attempts.

CERTIFICATION:

Upon course completion, you will receive a customised digital “Certificate of Completion”.