2. 1.1. The Health and Safety Environment

1.1. The Health and Safety Environment 

Here in Australia, we have a set of health and safety laws that aim to give everyone who works the same basic rights with regard to the environment within which we work. Essentially we all have the right to be in a workplace that will not endanger our safety in any way. Before we move on to the specifics of the legislation, let’s examine the overall structure of the legislative framework.




Health and Safety Framework

Note that as you move down the framework – more and more details and practical advice is provided.

One of the key aspects of all health and safety legislation is that it places legal obligations on employers, managers and even you as an employee in an organisation. These obligations are aimed at ensuring that a workplace is kept as safe as possible – and they ensure that all staff at all levels of an organisation work towards building a safer and ultimately more effective workplace. 

Focusing on the Cost of Injury

Why exactly is it that health and safety is so important in the modern workplace? There are of course ethical considerations that must be taken into account – but it is also important to realise that incidents have a significant effect on the bottom line in any organisation. The costs associated with an incident include:

  • Medical compensation insurance
  • Time spent on incident investigations
  • Time lost due to injury
  • Time lost in repairs
  • Cost of replacing injured workers, and on training replacements
  • Cost of rehabilitation
  • Production costs resulting from delays in the return to normal operations
  • Loss of production due to worker absence
  • Damage to property, materials, and equipment
  • Repairs
  • Transport to hospital
  • Increase in workers’ compensation levies
  • Legal or witness fees
  • Fines.

To put these costs into perspective, consider that one in 12 individuals is likely to suffer from a work related illness or incident in the next year. This means that about 650,000 people in Australia are likely to be injured in the workplace, and that approximately 170,000 people will need to take more than five days off work.