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Workplace Safety for Clubs
If your worker has a work-related injury or illness, you have duties under the Accident Compensation Act, one of which is to ensure their safe return to work.
The employer’s obligations include:
1. Appoint a return to work coordinator
2. Develop and implement a return to work plan
WorkSafe Victoria’s role is to:
help avoid workplace injuries occurring
enforce Victoria’s occupational health and safety laws
provide reasonably priced workplace injury insurance for employers
help injured workers back into the workforce
manage the workers’ compensation scheme
The hospitality industry is the single biggest employer of young and inexperienced workers. Many of the injuries that occur in this industry are preventable if systems of work were safer.
Generally speaking, the vast majority of people working in the hospitality industry are part-time and work late nights and weekends. Staff turnover can be high, and safety training is often minimised in the rush to get staff ready to work.
Managing Working Visitors on Club Premises
- handling glassware and broken glass
- cuts and burns from preparing food
- lifting heavy or awkward objects like kegs, sacks and slabs
- repetitive work like cleaning floors
- occupational violence, sexual harassment or threats
- slips, trips and falls on wet or oily floors or in poor lighting
- noise exposure from loud music
- exposure to hazardous substances like cleaning chemicals
Bullying is another risk, especially for workers who don’t know their rights (eg young, inexperienced or those with limited English skills).
The CCV SIAG website includes a suggested bullying policy for clubs.
Making hospitality work safer
Involving your employees in health and safety issues can result in a safer workplace. That’s why consultation is an important part of risk management. In certain situations, employers must consult about health and safety issues with employees and health and safety representatives (HSRs) if they have them.
Risk management process
- Find the hazards in your workplace.
- Assess the risks associated with those hazards. You don’t have to do a formal risk assessment if there is already information about the risk and how to control it.
- Control the risks.
- Monitor and review your risk controls. Revise the controls if they are not working.
Health and Safety Legal Duties
Under Victorian occupational health and safety law, there are specific duties to ensure health and safety in workplaces.
Examples of employer duties:
- You must provide and maintain a working environment that is safe and free of risks to health, so far as is reasonably practicable.
- Employees may include contractors and agency staff.
- Give your employees the necessary information, instruction, training or supervision to enable them to do their work in a way that is safe and without risks to health.
- Ensure that the conduct of your business does not endanger other people (including customers).
- Report notifiable incidents to WorkSafe.
Examples of employee duties:
- Take reasonable care for your health and safety in the workplace. You must also take reasonable care for the health and safety of others who may be affected by what you do or don’t do.
- Cooperate with your employer about any action they take to comply with the OHS Act or Regulations. For example, use equipment properly, follow safe work policies and procedures and attend training.
- Don’t intentionally or recklessly interfere with or misuse anything at the workplace to support health, safety and welfare.
You also have specific duties in relation to hazards such as:
