Workplace Health and Safety worksheet (Semester One)

TASK ONE: Complete definition and description worksheet

In terms of the Work Place Health and Safety Legislation, research the following terms and give a brief description of each.

1 (a) A workplace
A workplace can be both an enclosed or open space in which work is performed or likely to be performed by a worker, self-employed person or an employer. Workplaces are covered by the Act, even if not registered.

1. (b) Your workplace
Any set area in which I work on any allocated or self-assigned task in a number of professional and personal settings, for example, my school work space, home work space or employment work space.

2. (a) A worker
Someone who works for an employer or takes direction from an employer other than under contract for service or a person who works at a specific occupation.

2. (b) Workers in your studio
Workers implementing a number of teacher assigned and self assigned tasks under common rules, restrictions and regulations, often in an enclosed work space.

2. (c) List examples of when you would be a worker
Scenarios that would depict me as a worker include TAFE circumstances, in which I would be working towards finishing teacher assigned tasks in a work place or in my place of employment, where I perform work as assigned by an employer in my assigned work place.

3. An employer
The term ‘employer’ includes both union, shop and private business owners. A perosn or firm that employs workers. Someone who employs another to work under his/her direction.

4. A self-employed person
A term referring to any person collecting more than 24% of his/her income from a business or firm of which he or she has ownership. An independent contractor. An individual working for themselves as opposed to under the guidance of an employer.

4. (b) List three examples of when you could be considered a self-employed person
One example of when I would be considered a self-employed person would be if my occupation was an independent artist, making and selling works under my own direction and jurisdiction.

A second example of when I would be considered a self-employed person would be if my occupation was an art-gallery owner, containing the works of others. Following various financial payments required for up-keep, if I was recieving more than 24% of the business revenue I would be considered self-employed.

A third example of when I would be considered self-employed would be if, as an independent artist, I owned my own galley containing my own works, ran as a business and received mroe than 24% of the income.

Summarize the Act to complete the following questions.

1. To whom does the Act apply?
The Workplace Health and Safety Act applies to:
1. People who conduct business or undertaking
2. People in control of a workplace
3. Prinicpal contractors
4. People in control of relevant workplace areas
5. People in control of fixtures, fittings of plant included in relevant workplace areas
6. Designers, manufacturers, hirers, importers and suppliers of plant
7. Owners of plant
8. Erectors and installers of certain plant
9. Manufacturers, suppliers and importers of substances used at workplaces
10. Designers of structures
11. Workers
12. Workplace visitors including customers and visiting salespeople
13. Volunteers
- Taken from Queensland Government’s Online Guide at www.deri.qld.gov.au

2. What is the objective of the Act?
According to the electronic version of ‘Queensland Consolidated Acts’ (found www.austlii.edu.au) the Act’s objective if to “prevent a person’s death, injury or illness being caused by a workplace, a relevant workplace area, by activities, or by plant or substances for use at a workplace.

3. How is this achieved?
The Act successfully achieves the latter outcome in a number of ways. These include implementing workplace health and safety obligations on particular individuals who may affect the well being of themselves and others by their “acts or omissions”, birthing precedent for affected industries via creating regulations and through establishing a workplace health and safety board allowing industries to assist in conjuring strategies for improvement and to promote community awareness. The Act also allows for training programs for competency in Workplace Health and Safety to be developed.

4. As a self-employed artist, what are your Workplace Health and Safety obligations?
As a self-employed artist, I would be required to obide by the documented ‘code of practice’, something learned after familiarising myself with the Workplace Health and Safety Act 1995 and the Workplace Health and Safety Regulation 1997. In adittion, I must also have worker’s compensation insurance if I am a self-employed artist in the state of Queensland. To successfully minimize risk and promote my own safety, I must follow the preventative regulations and chose appropriate ways to manage my exposure to risks. In the event that a certain risk is not outlined by the Act and appears to be un-regulated and is therefore not included in the Risk Managment Code of Practice 2007, I must take “reasonable precautions and exercise proper diligence” against the risk. Summarized, as a self-employed person’s set obligation is to ensure that the relevant workplace area is safe and without risk to health.

TASK TWO: Cost of an Accident

James is a ceramist and has dropped a very hot brick on his thong clad foot, has broken two toes and has 2nd degree burns on three toes. He can not wear shoes or walk easily until the injuries have completely healed, possibly two months. Because of this injury he cannot continue to work at his part-time job as a theatre usher. His partner Fiona is a painter and is also working part time to supplement her art income. James has recently receieved a grant to attend an international conference in Japan starting in 3 weeks.

A. What emergency prodcedures should be undertaken.
James should instantly apply cold water (for at least 10-20 minutes where possible) or a dapened cloth to his burns to ease pain and prevent inflamation, this will allow him to assess the situation in a more controled manner. Avoid ice as ice can potentially increase the severity of a burn by constricting the blood vessels. He should also isolate himself from an excess of heat and direct sunlight to the injured area and, if possible, sit to relieve pressure from his broken toes. James should resist touching the broken toes and attempt to keep the area as still as possible. James should call an ambulance. If the burn is larger than a 20 cent piece, James should seek professional medical attention at the nearest possible time.

B. How will the injury impact on James, his relationship and the local community.

On James:
It’s common that people suffering with injuries that isolate them from work and activities of personal enjoyment (in James’ case, these go hand in hand) suffer from temporarily, sometimes prolonged cases of low self-esteem. This may be the result of a combination of feelings including embarrassment at having injured themselves initially, feeling like a “failure” for being unable to work and in some cases care for themselves and finance their accustomed lifestyle. The injuries may also impact on James financially, as wearing a ‘thong shoe’ in the workplace is a Health and Safety violation and James’ medical bills may not be covered. Medical bills are expensive and James may struggle financially to address payments. James may also miss out on his international conference in Japan, which may cost him career advances and the cost of airfares (pressumably paid as the trip is 3 weeks away) and may also contribute to potential low self-esteem. Things that may impact James’ post-injury may also impact his relationship and the local community.

His relationship:
James and his wife may or may not experience strain on their relatonship surrounding James’ mistake of wearing inappropriate shoes in the workplace. As financial strains become overbearingly stressful, human beings often “vent” emotion by offering blame onto others, which may be the case for James’ wife regarding the latter. Aside from emotional stresses, James’ relationship may suffer in that his wife may need to increase her part-time work load to help supplement for the temporary lack of income from James. This may begin to affect her health and well being and increase tiredness. James’ wife may then be at risk of injury herself and as stress and tiredness decrease focus, she may not be alert in her own workplaces. James and his wife may also find it necessary to employ help in their household to assist with cleaning, washing and cooking – another expense.

Local Community:
The local community may also be affected by James’ injury depending on his interaction with neighbors, etc. Given the possibility of James’ being a social and active member of his community, he may eventually feel “shut-off” from his surroundings and associations outside his home during the estimated 2 month recovery time, affecting the members of his community in a social aspect. Often, close neighbor’s and community groups assist each other, for example, car pooling, and if James was a participant in similar activities, the remaining community may have added stress in filling his place temporarily.

TASK THREE: Identify the hazards

Anthony is working towards an exhibition. He has a small studio in an enclosed garage and is making large graffiti styled works in sheets of found materials. Recently, he has discovered a good source of materials – a chicken processing plant is being demolished and there are lots of large sheets of ply and fibro being pulled down. The rent is due, the gallery wants opening fees. He is working 4×8 hour shifts in the locasl bottle shop as well as spending 10-12 hours a day on his work to get it finished for the exhibition.

Identify the hazards Anthony may face in the coming weeks.

Pscyhological
1. Anthony may become stressed under financial and exhibition pressure.
2. He may experience fatigue.
3. Anthony may become tired or over-worked and increase potential injuries.
4. He may lose focus.

Physical
1. Anthony may become physically exhausted.
2. Stress may show in his physical appearance
3. Anthony may become run-down which increases his chance of illness, eg, flu.
4. Working with large sheets of ply and entering a de-construction zone may be potentially dangerous to Anthony physically in the form of injury.

Biological
1. Anthony is working towards a deadline and for long periods of time and may eat, drink and smoke in his work space.
2. Anthony may encounter toxins when using spray chemical products.

Chemical
1. Spray cans (used to graffiti) can be harmful to Anthony if he is exposed to them for too long.
2. He may breathe dangerous and harmful chemicals.
3. Chemicals may be absorbed through his clothing and skin.

Discuss strategies to reduce Anthony’s exposure to the hazards.
Chemical – Common sense is a common factor in all the elements. A basic awareness and respect for what he is doing may prominently decrease Anthony’s exposure to chemical hazards. A use of personal and physical protection (including face/mouth masking, gloves) will decrease hazards. Gloves should be made of rubber, not cloth or leather as chemicals can easily soak through these materials. Shoes and socks should be worn when handling the spray chemicals as well as long sleeved and panted clothing to ensure the best coverage. Often, chemicals can be absored through the scalp, so head protection (a hat, cap) is neccessary for ultimate protection. Anthony may also utilize a respirator when working with a high volume of chemical/paint spray, particularly when working in an enclosed environment to ensure he does not breathe in dangerous or toxic chemicals. Anthony should research the products being used to determine toxicity.

Physcial – Physically, Anthony’s output may be greater than his input and he should prioritize his mental and physical health before others. Anthony needs to ensure he eats right and gets adequate sleep, especially when working with chemicals (spray cans) and sharp, heavy objects such as ply and fibro sheets. Being well-slept will ensure Anthony is alert in his workspace and decrease his risk of accidentally injuring himself. Eating right and sleeping will also decrease Anthony’s chances of becoming run-down and becoming unwell, which will hinder his process and delay his art making, making it difficult to reach the deadline for his exhibition. Anthony needs to investigate the demolished chicken processing plant before rummaging through for ply and fibro sheets. Often, building sites with remaining materials are indifferent to people taking the rubbish, but Anthony should check first to make sure the remaining materials are not dangerous or broken and that he has permission to do so. Anthony should also request the help of another to move the materials to ensure he does not injure himself when lifting or moving the objects. If possible, filing down sharp edges, etc, when the sheets are in his workspace will decrease the risk of cutting himself during his art making.

Psychological – Anthony needs to organize his expenses and plan ahead with a schedule to help keep himself in control of his spending, work hours and hours for his art making. Scheduling the aforementioned will help Anthony to become and stay organized and therefore alievate stress. If Anthony fails to organize his time and money, he may suffer financially and emotionally, become sleep deprived, worried and anxious and encounter fatigue. It is important for Anthony to remain positive and motivated whilst working toward his exhibition’s deadline.

Biological – When Anthony is working for such long hours on his art, he may begin to eat, drink or smoke in his workspace. Airborne particles or tiny dust particles may find their way onto and into Anthony’s food and drink, especially if the meal and drinks sit out for some time while he works. This may encourage Anthony to become ill. Instead, Anthony should take breaks during his working. If Anythony was to smoke in his workplace, he, in adition to smoking, is doubly encouraging bad health. Smoking and working with hazardous chemicals and materials (such as dust, silica, pigments) could be fatal. Inhaled smoke carrying airborne vapors and poisonous fumes deep inside Anthony’s lungs. Second hand smoke to anyone vising Anthony is also harmful.

There are various levels of Biological hazards, or Biohazards, and Anthony should emmerse himself in information about all four levels. Specific to Anthony’s case, he should look for Biohazard signage on his products (toxins) to help determine a safety strategy. Some spray paints contain Neurotoxins which affect the nervous system, in which case Anthony should ensure his skin is covered with a fabric that is durable and able to resist absorbtion. Neurotoxicity is a potentially life altering and fatal encounter, in which hightened activity of the nervous system damages nerve tissue, so Anthony should stress the importance of being safe in his workplace practices.

TASK FOUR: Management in an Arts Studio

List four hazards that exist in your workplace (studio or where you undertake your practice) under the headings of Physical, Biological, and Psychological hazards. Describe the hazard, level of risk, two methods of control (work your way down the Hierachy of controls), a description of how this control measure may be implemented and who is responsible for it’s implement.

Chemical
Hazard Description: Dermal exposure (exposure to chemicals through the skin) is a Chemical Hazard in the Art Studio.
Risk Level: Moderate
Method of Control/How to Implement: Assign particular rooms in which dangerous chemicals can be stored as opposed to having Chemicals in the same room as students are breathing/working in. Have students wear protective gear (mask, googles, gloves, extra clothing, etc) when entering the room containing the Chemicals to ensure no, or very little dermal exposure is acheived. Chemicals should be labeled in accordance with the 1990 law. Some chemicals can also be substituted with less hazardous materials or solvents. Where possible, buy safer, pre-mixed paste or liquid formulations instead of powders. Avoid using aerosol sprays and the fine mists can be inhaled. Ensure students using the chemicals work away from others. Rooms where chemicals will be used should be ventilated.
Personal Responsible: Both teachers and students.

Physical
Hazard Description:
Untidy chairs, unpacked easles and loose paper are some physical hazards in the studio.
Risk Level: High (in that room)
Method of Control/How to implement: According to course outline, students must end their work sessions by tidying and attempt to keept their work space tidy at all times. A way of ensuring students do this is by punishment. If a student leaves mess that could potentionally become dangerous to another student at some time, the student could be punished to reinforce the importance of being tidy.
Who is Responsible: Students

Psychological:
Hazard Description: A psychological hazard may be different to each student and affect them in different ways in the studio.
Method of Control: If a teacher notices a student who is not being productive or appears to be struggling, they should offer their assistance or reccommend that student to the councilor to find a way to reconcile the problem/s. The student should also investigate this on their own.
Who is responsible: Student and Teacher.

Biological:
Hazard Description: Eating in the studio
Method of Control: Because tiny dust particles can find their way onto food and eating utensils it is dangerous to eat in the studio. A way of ensuring people do not feel the need to eat in the studio is to encourage them to take short breaks in which they can drink, smoke or buy a snack, especially when working for long periods of time in the studio.
Who is responsible: Both teachers and students.

TASK FIVE: Conduct a safety inspection and audit

In this task you are required to carry out a basic safety audit of one of your practices, methods or equipment that you would employ in your artistic practice.

*Research gathered via Google search

Identify the practice, method or equipment.
The potentially hazardous piece of equipment in subject is a wooden easle used in Drawing classes. Potential hazards associated with the easle include splinters, abrasions and faulty construction that may result in more serious physical injuries if the ezle was to collapse onto any near by body part, including feet.

Analysis
The easles used in Drawing classes appear to be older and are therefore less sturdy. Splintering wood injuries are high and injuries following a possible easle collapse are moderate as judged by a carried out test – after moving the easle around the room five different times, the easle collapsed once and splinters were potential injuries each time.

Prioritizing
The level of risk associated with dismountable easle is moderate. Though the potential of injury is not frequent, it is still possible on a weekly basis (level of exposure) for students undertaking the Drawing class to become injured when using the piece of equipment.

Treatment: First Aid kits should be on hand.

Elimination: Older easles should be eliminated however the concept of an easle should not be eliminated in itself. Replacing older easles with new easles would profoundly diminish the chance of injury for students working with, or around the equipment during their Drawing class.

Substitution: Substituting wooden easles with dismantlement plastic easles may diminish all chances of splintering. Plastic easles however, may still collapse and cause bodily harm to students working with, or around the equipment. Substituting movable easles with wall-mounted plastic or steel easles will render injury levels low, however the stationary easles may hinder art-making as the student cannot move their easle toward or near a subject for drawing, if a student is participating in life drawing, they may find it difficult to work on a mounted easle. Substituting wooden easle with steel easles would decrease the chance of the equipment collapsing onto a student. A downfall to substituting the wood with steel is that the easle is not longer able to be dismantled and may take up unnecessary space around the workspace. Workplace hazards may follow subsequent to this.

Engineering and design: Easles are designed to optimize maximum room to fit all sized paper for Drawing. Easles are also designed to be dismantled and moved. The aforementioned design features are positive connotations associated with using easles as Drawing equipment. Using easles that are unable to be dismantled may result in overcrowding in a workspace and therefore increase other workspace risks. The benefits of a mounted easle do not outweigh the cons of a mounted easle as students often adopt the help of on easle when drawing from a life model or subject placed around the room our outside, a stationary easle would hinder this art making process.

Personal Protective Equipment:
According to the Workplace Health and Safety Act, anyone in this particular scenario is required to wear closed in shoes to optimize maximum protection already.

List who will be responsible and when actions will take place.
Both students and teachers are responsible for the wellbeing of themselves and others. Both students and teachers are responsible for safe art-making and proper handling and care of the ezles. Students are responsible for acting maturely and with care toward the ezles, reporting any damage or hazards to the teacher. The teacher is then reponsible for alerting the concerned people to the hazard and awaiting it’s replacement. Teachers are responsible for creating and implementing safe strategies to demote injury as a result of the equipment used in art-marking. Students are responsible for implementing the strategies and following Health and Safety regulations and procedures, such as wearing shoes and packing away ezles appropriately.

Outline the costs (+ and -), advantages/disadvantages of implementing such changes.

Advantages:
Easles are relatively light weight and are therefore easy to move around rooms and to locations considering their size.

Easles allow students to be mobile in their art marking.

Disadvantages:
Because of their size, Easles are often hard to operate (dismantle, etc) and increase the chance of injruy.

Costs:
Replacing wooden Easles with aluminumn easles to avoid splintering would increase the cost of easles and may increase the cost of course tuitions, etc.