For many chemicals, the MSDS will advise using only at the recommended rates of dilution, avoiding skin or eye contact, or what to do if accidentally swallowed.
This topic should provide you with the ability to:
Plan work in accordance with provisions of OHS legislation and standards
Identify and address hazards and report risk, incidents and injuries in line with organisation policies and procedures
Undertake OHS housekeeping in work area and update own knowledge of OHS issues
Manage own levels of stress and fatigue to ensure ability to work safely
Section 1.7 Maintain and update own knowledge of OHS issues as they apply to workplace systems, equipment and processes
Sources of information on work health and safety
Managing work health and safety risks is largely a matter of finding information on what to do and how to do it. A vast amount of information is readily available on health and safety. Once you are familiar with using the key sources of information, it is often easy to find out what you need to know. This learning object will give you practice in using a variety of sources of information to find out how to protect your own and others’ health and safety.
Internet resources
For anyone who has Internet access, the quickest way to get information about solving health and safety problems is to go to relevant websites.
A good one to start with is WorkCover’s website. To find out, for example, which codes of apply to a particular type of work or what guidance material is available, this website would be the first place to look. Many of these resources are available on-line, and those which are not can be ordered as hard copy publications from the organisations which produce them. Many resources are free, and provide excellent information about legal requirements, health and safety problems in different industries and occupations, and how to solve those problems.
There is the Community Services Safety Pack— a package to help community service organisations to improve the safety, health and welfare of people working in the industry. (If the link does not work, a PDF version of the pack current as of Sept 2009 is available on this DVD) .
The national occupational health and safety authority is Safe Work Australia.
These websites also feature links to other useful Internet sources of information.
By clicking on links to other organisations you can go to a listing of government OHS (occupational health and safety) authorities’ websites with links. Because work health and safety is a State/Territory responsibility, the eight State/Territory OHS authorities each produce their own set of fact sheets, codes of practice, guidelines and other training resources and reference materials.
Telephone advice/information
All of the State/Territory OHS authorities are sources of free advice and information over the phone. Many of them have databases of frequently asked questions (FAQs) and provide standard answers to these questions. If your query is not on their set of FAQs, they will usually put you through to an expert who should be able to answer the question.
Employer associations, industry organisations and unions are also often able to answer questions over the phone. For example, the Labor Council of NSW or the Workers Health Centre at Granville. Up to date contact numbers for these can be found in the telephone directory.
In-house sources of information
If you are searching for information about health and safety in the company or organisation where you work, internal records may give you the answers to what you need to know. For example, if you work with chemicals (known as ‘hazardous substances’ in health and safety), information about safe use of the chemicals can be found on the label, or on the material safety data sheet (MSDS). An MSDS is an information sheet listing the main ingredients of the product, health hazard information, and precautions for safe use. The law requires the MSDS to be readily available so that workers can get health and safety information in addition to what is on the label.
If you are, for example, a member of a workplace health and safety committee, or an OHS representative at a workplace, you should be able to access other records kept by the employer, such as accident reports and records of risk assessments for risky jobs or hazardous substances. (Because the legislation requiring employers to make risk assessments is fairly recent, many employers will probably not yet have complied with this requirement.)
Registers of injuries kept as part of first aid or workers compensation records can also be valuable sources of information about the types of injuries and accidents which have occurred in the workplace.
The law requires employers to make available certain categories of information to OHS representatives and members of health and safety committees, eg. decisions that have health and safety implications, and relevant information to enable employees to participate effectively and make informed decisions.
Workplace chemicals
Many diseases including occupational cancers are thought to result from exposure to workplace chemicals. Your health may depend on being able to find out how to use particular chemicals without putting your health at risk.
Activity 1.7
Consider the range of chemicals you use at work or at home or in relation to a hobby, eg. pesticides or fertilisers, powerful adhesives, varnishes, cleaners or solvents, photographic chemicals or flea and tick shampoos for your dog. Choose one of them, contact the manufacturer or supplier, and get a material safety data sheet (MSDS) for the product.
Special information collections
Most public libraries do not have extensive collections of OHS information. Some libraries such as that of the National Occupational Health and Safety Commission (which has now moved to Canberra), WorkCover NSW and the Workers Health Centre, however, have specialised in these subjects and have comprehensive collections of information. Government bookshops also have a wide range of health and safety information.
A number of private sector organisations also produce OHS information, such as CCH Australia, and Butterworths. The information they produce is usually in the form of subscriber services which provide comprehensive guides to what the law requires. Up to date numbers for them can be found in the telephone directory.
Journals, bulletins and newsletters
Some Australian health and safety journals and newsletters which are useful sources of OHS information are:
Australian Safety News (from the National Safety Council)
the Journal of Occupational Health and Safety—Australia and New Zealand (from CCH Australia)
Occupational Health Newsletter (from Newsletter Information Services)
For anyone who has Internet access, the quickest way to get information about solving health and safety problems is to go to relevant websites.
A number of private sector organisations also produce OHS information, such as CCH Australia, and Butterworths. The information they produce is usually in the form of subscriber services which provide comprehensive guides to what the law requires. Up to date numbers for them can be found in the telephone directory.