Your service station and all the others around the country have health and safety obligations that they must keep up with. These obligations make for a safe and healthy work environment – a place where your employees can grow, learn and succeed.
Such obligations aren’t set in stone. Especially in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, they are likely to change frequently. This can make it difficult to know what your WHS obligations are, but this article will clear up any confusion surrounding the subject.
A WHS Failure in Action
A useful example of consequence after WHS obligations are not met happened at an aged care facility in Victoria. This facility was charged with the State Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004 because they had nine breaches to their workplace health and safety, and these breaches caused a COVID-19 outbreak and 45 deaths.
This happened because, in July 2020, a facility worker tested positive for COVID-19. After they tested positive, their employer did not:
- Require workers to wear PPE
- Train workers how to wear/put on/take off PPE
- Verify staff’s competence using PPE
- Inform staff about what situations PPE should be worn
- Supervise PPE use
Because of these failures, a huge outbreak occurred. 94 staff tested positive along with 94 residents, and this outbreak caused the death of 45 residents due to complications from COVID-19.
WHS Obligations
This care facility in Victoria is a tragic example of how staying up-to-date on WHS obligations can save lives. Doing the opposite will have detrimental effects on your business and your staff.
As an employer, to ensure workplace health and safety, you need to:
- Provide a safe and healthy workplace
- Provide your employees with proper safety instruction and supervision
- Ensure your workplace is devoid of health risks
- Ensure that your customers are safe as your employees follow WHS guidelines
It’s important to remember that WHS obligations extend beyond your staff – much like the care facility in Victoria, where the failures affected the residents, failed obligations can affect your customers in much the same way.
Your WHS policies should be reviewed and updated regularly according to current safety procedures. Managing risk as soon as possible will help you get ahead of the problem instead of doing damage control after the worst has already occurred.
Keeping Your Service Station Safe and Healthy
The health and safety of your staff and customers ensure a high-functioning service station. ServoPro members are reminded that they can contact our Safety Helpdesk for help with any safety-related areas. To learn more about how to keep your service station moving as it should, contact us.