Elements and Performance Criteria

The range of variables places the competency in context and allows for differences between enterprises and workplaces, including practices, knowledge and requirements. The range of variables also provides a focus for assessment and relates to the unit as a whole. The following variables may be present.

This competency is to be exhibited in accordance with all relevant Occupational Health and Safety legislation, particularly:
· State/Territory/Commonwealth Occupational Health and Safety acts, regulations and codes of practice, including regulations and codes of practice relating to hazards present in the workplace or industry
· general duty of care under Occupational Health and Safety legislation and common law
· requirements for the maintenance and confidentiality of records of occupational injury and disease
· requirements for provision of Occupational Health and Safety information and training
· provisions relating to health and safety representatives and/or Occupational Health and Safety committees
· provisions relating to Occupational Health and Safety issue resolution.

Information:
for the induction of new workers
· about the nature of work, tasks and procedures
· about hazards and risk management procedures
· to assist in work tasks
· as part of providing direct supervision, for example, to inexperienced workers
· to communicate legislation and codes of practice, for example, relating to hazards in the work area
· for consultation with health and safety representatives and Occupational Health and Safety committees.

This competency is to be exhibited in accordance with all relevant workplace procedures, which are arrangements for how workplace activities are to be done. They may be formally documented or communicated verbally. They may include procedures which are:
· general to the management of the enterprise, such as:
· job procedures and work instructions
· maintenance of plant and equipment
· purchasing of supplies and equipment
· counselling or disciplinary processes
· specific to Occupational Health and Safety, such as:
· providing Occupational Health and Safety information
· consultation and participation
· emergency response
· housekeeping
· specific hazards
· identifying hazards, for example, inspections
· incident investigation
· assessing risks
· controlling risks
· personal protective equipment
· Occupational Health and Safety training and assessment
· Occupational Health and Safety record keeping
· reporting Occupational Health and Safety issues
· Occupational Health and Safety issue resolution.

Participative arrangements:
· formal and informal meetings which include Occupational Health and Safety
· Occupational Health and Safety committees
· other committees, for example, consultative, planning and purchasing
· health and safety representatives
· suggestions, requests, reports and concerns put forward by employees to management.

Identifying hazards and assessing risks may occur through activities such as:
· audits
· workplace inspections
· housekeeping
· checking work area and/or equipment before and during work
· job and work system assessment
· reviews of Occupational Health and Safety records, including registers of hazardous substances, dangerous goods, etc.
· maintenance of plant and equipment
· purchasing of supplies and equipment, for example, review of material safety data sheets and manufacturer/supplier information
· identifying employee concerns.

Controlling risks may include actions such as:
· measures to remove the cause of a risk at its source
· application of the hierarchy of control, namely:
· elimination of the risk
· engineering controls
· administrative controls
· personal protective equipment
· consultation with workers and their representatives.

Hazardous events:
· accidents
· fires and explosions
· emergencies such as chemical spills
· bomb scares
· violent incidents, for example, armed robberies.

Procedures for dealing with these:
· evacuation
· chemical containment
· first aid
· accident/incident reporting and investigation.

Occupational Health and Safety training:
· induction training
· specific hazard training
· specific task or equipment training
· emergency and evacuation training
· training as part of broader programs, for example, equipment operation.

Occupational Health and Safety records:
· Occupational Health and Safety audits and inspection reports
· health surveillance and workplace environmental monitoring records
· records of instruction and training
· manufacturers' and suppliers' information, including material safety data sheets and dangerous goods storage lists
· hazardous substances registers
· maintenance and testing reports
· workers' compensation and rehabilitation records
· first aid/medical post records.

Each unit of competency has an evidence guide that relates directly to the performance criteria and the range of variables. Its purpose is to guide assessment of the unit in the workplace and/or training program. The following components provide information to assist this purpose.

Underpinning knowledge and skills
In demonstrating competency, the following underpinning knowledge and skills should be displayed:
· the provisions of Occupational Health and Safety acts, regulations and codes of practice relevant to the workplace, including legal responsibilities of employers, employees and other parties with legal responsibilities
· principles and practices of effective Occupational Health and Safety management, such as:
· risk management (that is, hazard identification, risk assessment and risk control)
· the hierarchy of control
· elements of an effective Occupational Health and Safety management system
· participation and consultation over Occupational Health and Safety
· accident and incident investigation
· hazards which exist in the workplace including:
· the range of control measures available for these hazards
· considerations for choosing between different control measures, such as possible inadequacies of particular control measures
· organisational Occupational Health and Safety management systems, policies and procedures necessary to support organisational compliance with legal requirements, including procedures for:
· communicating about Occupational Health and Safety issues
· consulting and allowing participation over Occupational Health and Safety issues
· identifying and reporting on hazards, for example, through inspection reports
· assessing risks
· controlling risks
· monitoring risk control measures
· reporting budgetary and resource needs
· responding to, and dealing with, hazardous events
· Occupational Health and Safety training
· Occupational Health and Safety record keeping
· how the characteristics and composition of the workforce impact on Occupational Health and Safety management, including:
· literacy, numeracy, language
· communication skills
· cultural background
· gender
· workers with disabilities
· part-time, casual or contract workers
· labour market changes
· the relevance of Occupational Health and Safety management to other organisational systems, policies and procedures, including:
· business planning (especially new technology and organisational change)
· budgeting
· purchasing
· maintenance
· contractors
· training
· consultation
· human resource management
· equal employment opportunity
· ability to analyse the entire work environment in the area of responsibility in order to identify hazards, assess risks and judge when intervention to control risks is necessary
· ability to analyse relevant workplace data, such as incident or environmental monitoring data, to identify hazards, assess risks and evaluate the effectiveness of risk control measures
· ability to assess the resources needed to apply different risk control measures and make recommendations to management on that basis.

Critical aspects of competence
Assessment must confirm ability to:
· apply, organisational management systems and procedures to Occupational Health and Safety
· apply, risk management procedures (that is, undertake hazard identification, risk assessment and risk control in accordance with the hierarchy of control).

Assessment must confirm knowledge of:
· the elements of competence, of all applicable Occupational Health and Safety acts, regulations and codes of practice
· how characteristics of the workforce impact on the management of Occupational Health and Safety, and an ability to apply that understanding.

Interdependent assessment of units
Competency in this unit underpins competency in other aspects of the workplace role of employees with supervisory responsibilities. It may be appropriate to assess parts of this unit in conjunction with units relating to the performance of such aspects of the role. For example, assessment of a unit relating to supervising a work system could involve assessing that the person is able to identify and report any existing or potential hazards of the system.

Context of assessment
This unit should be assessed by a combination of workplace (or a realistic simulation) and off-the-job assessment. The context of assessment should ensure that evidence relating to the contingency management component of competency can be collected. Evidence must include observation in the workplace as well as off-the-job techniques such as interviews and simulations.

Conditions for simulations should:
· accurately simulate the range of circumstances that the individual could be expected to deal with in the workplace
· allow for discussion
· ensure that the relevant documents and resources are available.

In particular, evidence of ability to deal with a range of emergencies and hazardous events may be gathered through simulations.
The assessor should have recognised expertise in managing Occupational Health and Safety in the industry or work in an assessment team with such a person.

Method of assessment
To ensure that the contingency management component (ability to deal with irregularities and breakdowns) of competency is adequately assessed, evidence needs to be gathered across a range of work procedures and in a range of workplace circumstances. This could be either in an actual workplace or in a simulation of realistic workplace conditions. Techniques for assessment could include:
· observation
· simulation
· case studies
· interviews
· written tests
· workplace projects.

Resources required for assessment
Assessment of this unit requires access to:
· relevant Occupational Health and Safety acts, regulations and codes of practice
· enterprise Occupational Health and Safety policies and procedures
· personal protective equipment
· relevant work areas for identification of hazards and control measures.