Make sure your own actions reduce risks to Health and Safety*

Overview

This Standard is for everyone at work (whether paid, unpaid, full or part-time). It is about having an appreciation of significant risks at work, knowing how to identify and deal with them.

This Standard is about the health and safety responsibilities for everyone at work. It describes the competences required to make sure that: 1 your own actions do not create any health and safety hazards 2 you do not ignore significant risks at work, and 3 you take sensible action to put things right, including: reporting situations which pose a danger to people at work and seeking advice

Fundamental to this unit is an understanding of the terms "hazard", "risk" and “control”.

Performance Critiera

You must be able to:

Identify the hazards and evaluate the risks at work:

  1. identify which workplace instructions are relevant to your job
  2. identify those working practices in your job which may harm you or others
  3. identify those aspects of your work which could harm you or others
  4. check which of the potentially harmful working practices and aspects of your work present the highest risks to you or to others
  5. deal with hazards in accordance with workplace instructions and legal requirements
  6. correctly name and locate the people responsible for health and safety at work

    Reduce the risks to health and safety at work: 

  7. control those health and safety risks within your capability and job responsibilities
  8. carry out your work in accordance with your level of competence, workplace instructions, suppliers or manufacturers instructions and legal requirements
  9. pass on suggestions for reducing risks to health and safety to the responsible people
  10. make sure your behaviour does not endanger the health and safety of you or others at work
  11.  follow the workplace instructions and suppliers' or manufacturers' instructions for the safe use of equipment, materials and products
  12. report any differences between workplace instructions and suppliers' or manufacturers' instructions
  13. make sure that your personal presentation and behaviour at work:
    P13.1 protects the health and safety of you and others,
    P13.2 meets any legal responsibilities, and
    P13.3 is in accordance with workplace instructions

Knowlege & Understanding

You need to know and understand:

  1. what “hazards” and “risks” are 
  2. your responsibilities and legal duties for health and safety in the workplace
  3. your responsibilities for health and safety as required by the law covering your job role
  4. the hazards which exist at work and the safe working practices which you must follow
  5. the particular health and safety hazards which may be present in your own job and the precautions you must take
  6. the importance of remaining alert to the presence of hazards in the whole workplace
  7. the importance of dealing with, or promptly reporting, risks
  8. the responsibilities for health and safety in your job description
  9. the safe working practices for your own job
  10. the responsible people you should report health and safety matters to
  11. where and when to get additional health and safety assistance
  12. your scope and responsibility for controlling risks
  13. workplace instructions for managing risks which you are unable to deal with
  14. suppliers’ and manufacturers’ instructions for the safe use of equipment, materials and products which you must follow
  15. the importance of personal presentation in maintaining health and safety at work
  16. the importance of personal behaviour in maintaining the health and safety of you and others