By Gaby Grammeno Contributor

A new WHS Code has been released for Australia's largest industry, the one with the most injuries – healthcare and social assistance. Using the code can help reduce the toll of harm to more than two million workers. 

Safe Work Australia’s Model Code of Practice: Healthcare and social assistance industry provides guidance for duty holders such as employers in the hospitals, aged care and disability support sectors, as well as home-based settings. The model Code explains how employers can meet their work health and safety duties and manage risks in their workplaces.  

Developed in consultation with industry, union and WHS regulator representatives, the model Code takes a new approach to tackling the wide range of risks faced by workers in this industry. Unlike previous codes which focused on hazards and risks common to multiple industries or specific occupations, this Code is industry-focused. 

The healthcare and social assistance industry is expanding due to our ageing population and the strong demand for disability support. It employs more than two million workers and has the highest number of work-related injuries of any industry in Australia, with a workers' compensation claim rate more than twice that of the national average rate, according to Safe Work Australia CEO Marie Boland. 

In the Code’s Message from the CEO, Ms Boland says that common hazards in the industry include patient handling, bullying, harassment, fatigue, violence and aggression. Together with musculoskeletal conditions, slips, trips, falls and mental stress, these WHS issues accounted for a large proportion of workers compensation claims from healthcare and social assistance workers. 

She also notes that the industry’s workforce is predominantly female, older on average when compared to other industries, and includes many workers from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. 

‘Despite high levels of work health and safety risk, until now there has been a lack of guidance available to employers and workers on how to manage risks,’ she says. 

‘Many people in the industry report a focus on patient or client safety to the detriment of workers, and a general sense that work-related hazards are 'just part of the job’.  

‘This culture needs to change. Workers must be able to go home from work each day without the fear of a life altering injury. The choice between patient and worker safety is a false one: in fact, worker safety is good for patients too. No one wants to visit a hospital where nurses are at risk of violence; or be operated on by an exhausted doctor.’ 

The 107-page Code offers a step-by-step guide to help employers and workers understand their legal obligations and protections, and improve the way risks are managed in workplaces across the many workplaces in this sector. 

It’s mainly addressed to employers and other PCBUs – persons conducting a business or undertaking, including contractors, sole traders and self-employed people such as gig workers and the platforms that provide care or support workers under ‘gig’ arrangements.  

Note that PCBUs may also be designers, importers, manufacturers or suppliers of consumables, equipment, services or personnel.  

Clear definitions and examples are also provided for other duty holders, including ‘officers of a PCBU’, as well as their respective responsibilities under WHS laws. 

The main section of the model Code sets out detailed, practical guidance on common hazards and risks in the healthcare and social assistance industry, including hazardous manual tasks, fatigue, psychosocial hazards, work-related violence, aggression and harassment. 

It also covers hazards relating to biological and chemical substances, the work environment, slips, trips and falls, electrical and other equipment, and vehicles. 

With each type of risk, the Code outlines how to eliminate or minimise it, providing examples and case studies. 

The message from the CEO highlights the importance of the leadership team’s commitment, including that of Board Members. This is the starting point for a good health and safety culture that is also compliant with work health and safety laws, she says. 

‘I ask that leaders in the health care and social assistance industry use this Code to improve their work health and safety outcomes. I also ask that others who use this Code do so with one goal in mind: to create healthcare and social assistance workplaces that are free from work-related fatalities, injuries and illnesses.’  

Whether SafeWork NSW will adopt the Code in New South Wales is something we'll learn in due course.    

 

Access the Code 

Model Code of Practice: Healthcare and social assistance industry