Did you know you can be fined $600,000 or spend five years in prison if you fail to carry out your duties as a Club Officer? Under the Work Health Safety Act 2011, you are considered to be an ‘Officer’ if you are a part of making decisions that affect your licensed venue.
Supervisory staff and administration employees of a venue can be considered to be an Officer, depending on their involvement of decision-making, that affects the operation of the venue. This can include processes such as staff rosters to more involved decisions, such as installing a Co2 monitor in your cold room. Even the most basic processes can have a huge impact on your workplace health and safety compliance.
The following example outlines the need for all venues to ensure that their staff are aware of their obligations and are trained to carry out their due diligence requirements.
Scenario at Club X
You are an Operations Manager at Club X and part of your job includes rostering workers to cover shifts for the Club. This includes rostering maintenance workers who are responsible for transferring full beer kegs when they arrive at the loading dock to the designated cold room.
Due to a recent risk assessment, the safest practice for Club X is to employ two workers once a week to manage the storing process of 30 kegs with the aid of an appropriate trolley. As this procedure has been developed in consultation with the workers involved in the process, it has been implemented, monitored and managed without incident.
One morning, your General Manager suggests removing one of the two workers from this job to cut back on the cost of wages, disregarding the risk assessment that was carried out recommending the job be carried out by a minimum of two employees. Without consulting a qualified risk specialist, you roster only one of the workers required for this task.
The next day, the employee begins transferring the kegs and suffers a back injury as a result of your decision.
Question: Who will be held liable for the employee’s injury?
Answer:
a) Club X
b) The General Manager
c) You
Individuals who carry out actions and behaviours which determine health and safety procedures in accordance with venue’s obligations under the WHS Act 2011 are considered to be ‘Officers’. These individuals can include; general managers, operation managers, executive chefs and maintenance mangers, or any individual that can influence the culture of the organisation or are accountable for it.
As an officer, you can be prosecuted for failing your due diligence obligations!
What Must You Do as a Venue Officer?
The health and safety duty of an Officer requires you to exercise due diligence to ensure compliance with health and safety obligations. You must ensure that the venue has appropriate systems of work in place and must actively monitor and evaluate health and safety management. As an Officer, your duty is to ensure the sustainability of health and safety work process for your venue at all times.
5 Steps an Officer Should Take to Fulfil Their Due Diligence (further detail can be found in Section 27(5) of the WHS Act 2011)
Officers must maintain an up-to-date knowledge of work health and safety matters by finding out what the WHS Act requires in regards to strategies and processes that can eliminate or minimise hazards and risks. They should also consider the folllowing 5 points:
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Understand what risks and hazards can affect your venue. Get the right advice from one of our qualified and experienced Risk Consultants.
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Ensure you have the appropriate resources and processes to eliminate or minimise risks to health and safety. This requires an understanding of what is needed for health and safety, making decisions about procedures and resources, and ensuring that they are used correctly.
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Develop processes for responding quickly to hazards and risks. You can do this by reporting incidents, emerging hazards and risks as far as reasonably practical. Ensure these steps are taken by the venue.
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Make sure your venue complies with duties outlined in the WHS Act 2011. This can include implementing compliance procedures with licensing and registration obligations, union right of entry requirements and the duty to consult, co-operate and co-ordinate activities with Officers.
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Cross check your responsibilities. The verification of the provision and use of the resources and processes can be found in Sections 3 to 5 of the WHS Act 2011.
Need Assistance? Contact Us Today!
Creating a workplace health and safety strategy which goes beyond compliance and ensures the growth of your venue and the safety of your employees is a complicated process and should be undertaken by a qualified specialist.
Contact our DWS Hospitality Specialists’ Risk consultants for a confidential discussion today on (07) 3878 9355.
