Chapter 3. WHS, Supervision and Incidents

Supporting Documents for this Chapter:

• Competent Person Register Template

• Public and Products Liability Incident Report

• WHS Employment Assistance Program Incident Report

• WHS Incidents and Insurance Readers Guide – Providers

• Workforce Australia Guidelines – Part A: Universal Guidelines

This Chapter outlines the Work, Health and Safety, Supervision and Incident requirements while delivering the Services.

The purpose of the Risk Assessment process is to:

• determine whether an Outbound Employer Visit is suitable to proceed (an Activity Risk Assessment)

• identify if the Outbound Employer Visit is suitable for the relevant Participant(s) who will be attending, including identifying any risks that may arise from a Participant’s personal circumstances (a Participant Risk Assessment).

The Provider must ensure a Competent Person conducts and documents the Risk Assessment before an Outbound Employer Visit commences.

If Providers do not have a Competent Person, they must engage a Competent Person to undertake Risk Assessments.

Documentary evidence — Providers have discretion over how Risk Assessments are documented, including whether the Activity Risk Assessment and Participant Risk Assessment components are combined in one document.

Risk Assessments must include:

• details of the activity and/or tasks to be undertaken by Participants

• the risks of the activity and/or tasks and the appropriate actions to mitigate the identified risks

• the risks for each Participant and the appropriate actions to mitigate the identified risks

• the name and signature of the Competent Person who undertook the Risk Assessment

• the date the Risk Assessment was undertaken.

Providers must seek all relevant information from a Participant for a Competent Person to undertake a Risk Assessment. If a Participant was Referred by a Referring Provider, Providers must also seek all relevant information from the Participant’s Referring Provider for a Competent Person to undertake a Risk Assessment.

Providers must work with Employers to ensure appropriate actions are applied to mitigate the identified risks, including ensuring Participants are provided with any necessary tools and resources required to undertake the activity and/or tasks safely, for example, Supervision, training and/or personal protective equipment.

If Providers identify significant risks with the Outbound Employer Visit that cannot be mitigated to ensure Participants can undertake the activity and/or tasks in a safe environment, Providers must not allow the Outbound Employer Visit to proceed.

Similarly, if Providers identify significant risks for a Participant in an Outbound Employer Visit that cannot be mitigated to ensure the Participant can undertake the activity and/or tasks safely, Providers must not allow the Participant to participate in the Outbound Employer Visit.

Providers must review risks regularly and take appropriate actions to address any changes. If there are any changes to an Outbound Employer Visit, and/or if there are any changes to the risks for a Participant, Providers must use a Competent Person to update the Risk Assessment as required and take appropriate actions to address any changes.

• Work health and safety — If Providers are transporting Participants to or from Outbound Employer Visits, the transport must be included in the relevant Risk Assessment.

• Documentary evidence — Providers must retain copies of Activity Risk Assessments, Participant Risk Assessments and Records of the controls applied to mitigate the identified risks. Risk Assessments for Outbound Employer Visits must include the ID and name of the Course that is offering the Outbound Employer Experience.

The Provider must create and maintain a Record identifying any Competent Person(s) that it engages to conduct any Risk Assessment. Providers must maintain a structured register of Competent Person(s) engaged.

This record must contain:

• the full name of the Competent Person

• a description of the qualification, training or experience (and its relevance, if this is not clear from the qualification, training title, or experience) held by the Competent Person, including:

  • the qualification they hold, including course ID (if formal qualification undertaken)

  • internal or informal training name, and/ or

  • the number of years of relevant experience

  • date of qualification/training completion (if applicable)

  • refresher due date (if relevant)

  • the Employment Region/s the under which the Competent Person can undertake Risk Assessments

Providers must provide a Record of this format to the Department upon request.  A Competent Person(s) Register Templatesign-in required (sign-in required) is available on the Provider Portal, however, use of this template is not mandatory. If the template is not used, Providers must use their own structured register which includes at a minimum all the same headings as in the template.

(Deed Reference(s): Clause 105)

Multiple Location Outbound Employer Visits

Separate Activity Risk Assessments are not required where a single Outbound Employer Visit has multiple locations but only involves one Employer. In these cases, the Activity Risk Assessment must clearly identify the multiple locations and corresponding hazards and risks at each of the different locations.

Separate Activity Risk Assessments are also not required where an Outbound Employer Visit is re-occurring and is of the same or similar nature.

Providers must ensure:

• they or the Employer, as relevant, provide adequate and appropriate Supervision so that Participants are undertaking appropriate tasks and operating in a healthy and safe environment

• the Supervision provided is continuous over the entire duration of the Services where:

  • the Services include engagement with people who are elderly, disabled or otherwise vulnerable, or Children (excluding other Participants)

• the Provider otherwise considers that Supervision should be continuous having regard to the nature of the tasks to be undertaken, the potential Participants in the Services, and any risks identified in the relevant Risk Assessments

• all Supervisors:

• are fit and proper persons to be involved in the Services

• have a high level of skill/knowledge, training and/or experience in:

• the part of the Services in which they are engaged

• working with, training and supervising individuals in such activities.

(Deed Reference(s): Clauses 72, 107)

Before arranging for any Personnel, potential Supervisors and/or Participants to be involved in the Services, Providers must confirm any relevant background checks have been conducted to ensure contractual and legislative requirements, as well as industry standards are met.

Example: Police checks must be conducted for activities that require individuals to not have been convicted of particular crimes, and Working With Children Checks must be conducted for activities that require individuals to have regular or unsupervised contact with Children.

The results of checks are personal and confidential. Providers must not disclose the results to other parties unless given permission by the individual for whom the check was undertaken. Additional information regarding disclosure of information and privacy considerations can be found in Part A Guidelines: Privacy Chapter.

If a relevant check shows that a Participant must not be involved in an Outbound Employer Visit, Providers should arrange an alternative Outbound Employer Visit for the Participant.

(Deed Reference(s): Clauses 72.1, 72.2, 72.8, 72.9)

Providers must Notify the Department and where relevant, the Referring Provider, as soon as possible, and on the same day, of any incident involving the Services, including direct travel to and from the Services, for example:

• any accident, injury or death occurring during or as a result of the Services, including in relation to Personnel, Supervisors, Participants or members of the public

• any incident or near miss which relates to a WHS issue

• any incident that may negatively impact upon the Department or bring the Provider or the Services into disrepute.

Providers must Notify the Department of any incident that may result in a liability claim by completing the Public and Products Liability Incident Reportsign-in required (sign-in required) and submitting it to the Department in accordance with the WHS Incidents and Insurance Readers’ Guide - Providers,sign-in required (sign-in required) regardless of whether a claim is being made at the time.

Providers must ensure Personnel, Supervisors, Employers and Participants:

• understand their obligations to report incidents and near misses

• have access to reporting mechanisms.

• Documentary evidence — Providers must retain copies of Public and Products Liability Incident Reports.

  Work health and safety — (Deed Reference(s): Clauses 83.1, 106.1)

Providers must manage incidents involving Participants demonstrating challenging behaviour in accordance with Part A Guidelines: Servicing Participants with Challenging Behaviours Chapter.

Providers must Notify the Department and where relevant, the Referring Provider, as soon as possible and on the same day of any WHS incident or near miss involving the Services.

• The DSCC does not need to be notified of an incident involving a Participant in Online Full Services.

• System step — If an incident or near miss relating to a WHS issue involves a Participant, Providers must create a WHS Incident in the Department’s IT Systems as soon as possible and on the same day of the incident or near miss.

If Providers are unable to create a WHS Incident in the Department’s IT Systems due to technical issues, Providers must complete the WHS Employment Assistance Program Incident Reportsign-in required (sign-in required) and submit it to the Department and where relevant, the Referring Provider, in accordance with the WHS Incidents and Insurance Readers’ Guide - Providerssign-in required (sign-in required) and the Key Contacts Protocol, and create a WHS Incident in the Department’s IT Systems at the earliest opportunity.

• Documentary evidence — Providers must retain copies of WHS Employment Assistance Program Incident Reports.

For Critical WHS Incidents, Providers must notify the Department via telephone as soon as possible and within one hour of the critical WHS incident, in addition to providing written Notification to the Department, in accordance with the WHS Incidents and Insurance Readers’ Guide - Providerssign-in required (sign-in required) and the Key Contacts Protocol. A Critical WHS Incident has the same definition as a Notifiable Incident under the WHS Act and means an incident that results in the death of a person, a serious injury or illness of a person, or a dangerous incident.

A dangerous incident is an incident that exposes a person to a serious risk to health or safety due to an immediate or imminent exposure to electric shock, spillage or leakage of a substance, uncontrolled implosion, explosion, or fire.

Examples of critical WHS incidents include:

• injuries requiring immediate treatment as an in-patient in a hospital

• a serious head or eye injury

• a serious burn

• a spinal injury

• an amputation of any part of the body.

Providers must support affected individuals and manage WHS incidents in accordance with the WHS Incidents and Insurance Readers’ Guide – Providers.

For Participants who are Referred by a Referring Provider, Providers must work with the Referring Provider to support the affected Participant after a WHS incident.

Providers must update the Risk Assessment as required.

(Deed Reference(s): Clause 106)

The insurance policies purchased by the Department are detailed in the WHS Incidents and Insurance Readers’ Guide – Providers,sign-in required (sign-in required) and copies of the insurance policies are available on the Provider Portal.

If an activity and/or task is excluded from the Department’s insurance policies, Participants may only undertake the activity and/or task if additional insurance that covers the activity and/or task is in place. Alternatively, Providers should modify the activity and/or task so that it is not excluded from the Department’s insurance policies.

• Documentary evidence — Providers must retain copies of the insurance policies relied upon by the Provider to be compliant with the requirements for additional insurance. 

(Deed Reference(s): Clauses 44, 105.5(e), 106.3)