Activity+4+–+OHS+Regulation

=Activity 4 – OHS Regulation=

Task:
Go to www.legislation.nsw.gov.au and search for //Occupational Health and Safety Regulation 2001//. If you’re not in NSW substitute this Regulation with the relevant one for your State or Territory.
 * There have been numerous updates to the Regulation since 2001. See if you can find out when the current version of was **last modified**.
 * Can you see examples of things in the Regulation that are relevant to **your workplace**? If you’re not sure discuss this with a work colleague or supervisor, another student or your teacher.

Response:

 * The current version of //Occupational Health and Safety Regulation 2001// was last modified on the 1st of February, 2010. This can be seen under the heading where it says: //Current version for 1 February 2010 to date (accessed 11 May 2010 at 13:31)//
 * There are many things in the Regulation that are relevant to my workplace. One example is: **Section** **9** **"Employer to identify hazards" **

//(1) An employer must take reasonable care to identify any foreseeable hazard that may arise from the conduct of the employer’s undertaking and that has the potential to harm the health or safety of: (a) any employee of the employer, or (b) any other person legally at the employer’s place of work,//

This part of the Regulation states that an employer must identify hazards that may arise in the workplace. One example of this occurring was when I was working in retail and my manager instructed us, the employees, to always place pallets horizontally on the ground instead of leaning them against objects. This was to prevent the pallets from falling and injuring an employee, and is an example of the employer 'taking reasonable care to identify any foreseeable hazard that may arise'.

Another example that is relevant to a place I have worked is **Section 47** "**Hot working environments—particular risk control measures" **

//An employer must ensure that:

(a) adequate ventilation and air movement is provided in indoor environments that may become hot, and//

//(b) appropriate work and rest regimes relative to the physical fitness, general health, medication taken and body weight of each employee exposed to heat are implemented.// While working as a deckhand on a charter boat, I had to do routine maintenance and checks on the engine while the vessel was underway. I often had to spend a prolonged amount of time in the engine room, which could get very hot. Heat exhaustion was a very real threat so it was company policy that the engine room hatch always remain open when someone was in there, to ensure adequate ventilation and air movement.