OHS Basics Month 2022

Welcome to VTHC's first OHS Basics Month!

Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) is all about keeping workers safe and healthy at work. Every single worker has a right to a safe and healthy working environment - no matter what. 

Unions have always fought for healthier and safer workplaces. Safety is union business. 

The aim of OHS Basics Month is to empower health and safety representatives (HSRs), delegates, and workers with OHS knowledge and skills that they can use in their workplaces. 

If you can't make it to any of these events, don't worry! They'll be streamed live to our We Are Union: OHS Reps Facebook page. Make sure to like our page so you don't miss out.

As part of OHS Basics Month, VTHC has also published "Getting OHS Representation Right: A Workers' Guide to Occupational Health and Safety" Share it with your coworkers or leave a copy next to your union noticeboard. It could save lives!

 

 

OHS Fundamentals

Every worker deserves a safe and healthy workplace. 

Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) is all about keeping workers safe and healthy at work. Every single worker has a right to a safe and healthy working environment - no matter what. 

Our OHS Fundamentals Seminar featured expert guest speaker, Renata Musolino, and was designed to empower workers to save lives by teaching the fundamentals of OHS.

In this seminar, covered:

  • What is OHS and why it's important
  • What your OHS rights are
  • Employers' OHS duties
  • The importance of workers' voices in OHS
  • How to collectively create a safer workplace

Click to download resources:

 

You can re-watch the livestream here.

You can also access the slides from Renata and Dave Clements presentation here.

 

 

Safety Consultation 101 Seminar

Proper consultation is vital to a safe workplace.

But often, employers don't adequately consult with HSRs and employees on safety matters that impact them. When employers don't properly consult, it's up to HSRs to hold them accountable. The first step is knowing your OHS rights. 

During our Safety Consultation 101 Seminar, we were joined by consultation expert, Dr. Gerry Ayers, who walked us through the ins and outs of safety consultation. 

Click to download resources:

Safety_Consultation_101_-_Liveshow_(1).png

You can re-watch the livestream here. 

You can also access the slides from Gerry Ayers presentation here. 

 

 

Using HSR powers to win

HSRs are the most important piece in the OHS puzzle and have a whole host of powers that can be used to secure substantial wins for workers. 

In this event for OHS Basics Month, we were joined by Adrian Lindsey who shared his story and gave his tips on how HSRs can use their powers to win better conditions at work and save lives.

Click here to access resources:

Seminar is not available to watch online.

 

 

Tips for top inspections

One of the key powers the HSR has is to conduct inspections of their workplace for hazards. This power is one of the most important in the HSR toolkit. It allows you to identify hazards before anyone gets hurt and hold employers to account.

For Tips for Top Inspections we were joined by Paula Reid who walked us through how to the make the most of the power to inspect - what to look for and how to follow up.

Click here to download resources:

You can access the recording of the event here.

You can also access the slides from Paula's presentation here.

 

 

Managing Conflict

When employers refuse to listen to workers' voices, HSRs have the power to escalate to ensure worker safety. We were joined by Clayton Larkin, an Inspector from WorkSafe Victoria.

For this seminar, we went through options HSRs have when they want to manage conflict around safety in the workplace, including: 

  • dispute resolution
  • issuing the perfect PIN
  • when and how to cease work

Click here to access resources:

 

You can access the recording of the event here. Please keep in mind there were some tech difficulties and so the audio kicks in at around 2 minutes.

You can also access the slides from Clayton's presentation here.

Last amended July 2022.