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Question: Discuss about the Report on Planning WHS Management System. Answer: A Report on Planning WHS management system: Introduction GoFuel Pty Ltd workplace consists of six service stations within which other services are provided. These include retail shops and food bars, and there is a stockroom as well as the office of the store manager. The working environment primarily deals with highly sensitive products such as the fuel, gas, and oil as well as the supermarket goods, cold drinks and the hot pies; with 24-hour-a-day operations. The company's working environment has an employee base of 60 employees, who belong to different linguistic and cultural backgrounds, and the majority of them have a high school education level. It is also significant to note that some of the employees have poor English literacy which may impact on their capabilities of the service delivery. GoFuel deals in an industry that requires a high level of safety at the workplace first for the employees and then to the customers (Bega Valley Shire Council, 2014). Safety is a necessity and there are certain requirements a company need to put in place to ensure they comply with acceptable WHS measures which includes having a protected working environment, proper cautioning procedures, safety guidelines, fire extinguishers as well as protective gears. In the review of the information provided by the GoFuel Pty Ltd, a number of policies and procedures can be termed as the relevant in as far as WHS is concerned: Activities based on a daily, weekly, and yearly basis. The periodic backing of the electronic data is a good sign. Incident summary reports. Provision of the Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). The insurance policies are in place. There are first aid kits in every store and most fully stocked. Research on the Proposed Design of WHSMS Devising an effective WHS management system requires an extensive consideration of all the legal frameworks that are in place (Sparq Solutions, n.d.). It makes much sense for the management framework to consider all the available legal policies that guide all the workplace safety measures in regard to WHS rules and regulations. The close consideration of the available legal measures ensures the companys continued fulfillment of the WHS for its employees without breaching the set national standards (Safe Work Australia, n.d.). Furthermore, it also gives the company a clean bill and prevents any unnecessary complications in case of the employee complaints. For instance, the Victorian WHS legal framework comprises of the latest regulations which commenced on June of 2017 (Work Safe Victoria, n.d.). The proposed codes in relation WHS included the hazardous manual compliance codes, dangerous substance handling code, the plant compliance, demolition compliance and Noise compliance codes among other codes. The Work Health and Safety Act 2011 provide a clear framework for the protection of the welfare, health, and safety of all employees at the workplace. The WHS act provides protection for all workers including the employees, the contractors, outworkers, volunteers and even the work experience students among others. The Act also sets out the regulations for the notification of the incidents, discussions with the workers, problems around the offenses and penalties, dispute resolution and the power and functions of the inspectors (State of Queensland, 2015). The WHS management systems for a company like GoFuel require strict measures in risk management, starting from the provision of the protective gears for the workers and ensuring they use them appropriately. Also, the records in every activity within the firm, from employee information to incident and insurance records are all fundamental. Relevant Policies and Procedures Adapted from Acquiring Business The acquisition of any business entity would call for the adoption of some of the existing policies and regulations. Therefore, GoFuels acquisition of ISS meant that the company had to retain and adapt some of the regulations and procedures of the ISS. The Smoking Policy Given that the GoFuel acquisition of ISS involved the companies in the same industry and the same operation line; adapting the smoking policy is a crucial step. Fuels are highly flammable, which means that, if the smoking trends are not regulated within the working environment, then hazardous fire incidents might be inevitable. Alcohol and Drugs Policy The use of alcohol and other forms of drugs influences the actions of the workers and how they work. That is why it is a very important for the company to adopt policies that regulate the use of drugs at the workplace to enhance safety for everyone within the work environment. Emergency Procedures The relevant emergency procedures that can effectively be adopted in this case by GoFuel includes the fire emergency procedures to prevent fire incidences; the first aid procedures in case of any injuries at the workplace, the fuel spill procedure, and the armed hold up in case of an attack by the robbers or buglers at the workplace. Additional, the record keeping procedure should be prioritized, which includes records of the incidents, employee information, the insurance information, the records on the employee training and records on the workers' compensations schemes among others. The adoption of all these recordkeeping steps is to ensure that all the safety regulations of the employees are addressed effectively in relation to WHS requirements. Human, Physical and Financial Resources Required The implementation of a WHS management system requires a combination of human, physical and financial investment to realize its full implementation. Human resources are required and these involve the employees, and the management (Shen et al. 2009); the physical resources like the premises and the equipment used to implement, and most importantly, the finance, which is the most crucial determinant of all the required resources. This WHS management system framework would require inputs of the store managers, shift managers and cashiers, and WHS consultant. In addition, training rooms are required for the effective implementation. The total cost of the above-mentioned factors billed on the hourly basis would cost at an average of $250. Record Keeping Policy and Procedure Records should be kept in a more defined way which addresses all the concerns and the occurrences that happen within the working environment. These records would involve information on the hazard reports, and the incident reports among others. The template below represents a sample template in which most types of incidences are recorded. Type of the Incident Total No. The Affected Person(s) Work Days Lost Fuel Spill Fire in rubbish bin Slip on wet shop floor Falling stock in reserve Trip Burns A Report on Managing workers consultation The successful implementation of a WHS management system framework depends on the managements ability to involve the workers in the decision making since they are the primary subjects in regards to the WHS regulations. It is therefore imperative for the management to adhere to the workers plights (Hussain Ahmad, 2012; Turner, Huemann, Keegan, 2010). Successful firms give much attention to what the workers have to say in regards to what affects them, and this involves having a good human resources team within the firm. The coordination between the management and the workers will reduce unnecessary friction and the general possibility of violating WHS regulations. The eventual complaints by some section of the employees of GoFuel underline the companys need to urgently review their WHS management system. Given this is an area which directly affects the employees; it would prove a costly mistake if the management totally ignored their efforts to have their contributions considered. An effective WHS management framework considers all the organizational factors that are directly related to the worker safety measures, and in compliance with the existing set of rules, policies and legal frameworks within the country of operation. There are many ways the company can involve the participation of the employees in the WHS decision making process. Their contribution, however, has to be reviewed and evaluated to determine how effectively they can address the health and safety problems of the workers at the workplace. Some of the procedure to ensure employee participation in WHS decision making include employee training, open session consultation with the management, the use of suggestion boxes, allowing the workers elect their own representatives and addressing emerging concerns. Employee Training Employees at GoFuel are not effectively trained to deal with safety requirements that are set out in the legal frameworks for WHS. This is partly because the company has not taken the appropriate steps in offering extensive training to its employees. Therefore, employee training would equip the employee with the ability to contribute positively to the WHS goals. Open Session Consultations Once in a while, open session consultation between the top management and the employees is crucial for the involvement of all the parties in the decision making processes. It involves allowing employees to air their views about what affects them most in relation to WHS. The Use of Suggestion Boxes Suggestion boxes are good ways of letting the employees air their view without necessarily having to meet the management. The management will have a chance of reading the common employee concerns and addressing them when necessary. The down part of this technique is that an ignorant management may as well scuttle the raised concerns by the employees. Allow Workers Elect their Representatives Workers feel comfortable if they are represented with one of their own in presenting their plights. For that reason, allowing the workers to elect their own representatives in the decision-making processes could be a wise idea in ensuring the employee participation. It also increases the workers confidence in the management. Addressing the Workers Concerns Workers at the GoFuel have had concerns over poor training and the managements poor reaction to their call of action and safety measures. There is a greater need for the CEO to address these issues to ensure full worker contribution. Reviews of the Summary of the Consultation Meetings with the Workers Through the several consultative meetings with a section of the employees, there are a number of open concerns expressed by the employees. These concerns also explained the impact of expansion has had on the GoFuel company after buying the ISS stores. The meeting with Amanda Kaisig, the flagship store Manager revealed the struggles GoFuel is facing in addressing WHS requirements. Amanda outlined that the fuel spills could have a very damaging outcome on the environmental report of the company. Secondly, she is concerned by the rising burns and lack of procedures to train workers on how to use the ovens. Then lastly, she is doubtful of GoFuel's capacity to handle the expanded premises which include the bought ISS stores. These sentiments were further confirmed by Pat Lee, the worker representative formerly at ISS store. He outlines lack of technical training for the employees, poor morale from the team and the general unawareness of the WHS legal frameworks by most employees. Possible Solutions The effective implementation of the GoFuels WHS management system would require a complete address on the pertinent issues affecting the company by the management. The company, therefore, needs to urgently come up with quick solutions in offering technical training to the employees as well as addressing the worker safety problems. The company should develop a training program to equip the workers with the required technical skills. Secondly, GoFuel should, by all means, minimize on the oil spillages as this may negatively impact on their environmental responsibility. Then finally, given that most of the workers do not have basic knowledge about legal WHS measures at the workplace, the company should take the responsibility of educating and inform them about legal parameters that guide their operations as it is their right to know and exercise those regulations. An Email Communicating Solutions To: info@whsms.gofuel.com Subject: Solutions to the Raised Concerns The Team, Following your effective and elaborate expression of the problems that majorly touch on the employee training and other WHS legal frameworks; Im glad to inform you about my proposed solutions to the raised concerns ailing the GoFuel company in regards to WHS requirements: 1. The company should undertake, on a serious note, a very intensive worker training on the technical matters starting with the machine operations and basic safety measures to minimize the frequent injuries during the working process. 2. Secondly, there should be urgent mechanisms that should address the spillages of oil, as this would negatively impact on the companys image, in regards to the environmental responsibilities. 3. Thirdly, after noting that most of the employees do not understand what entails of WHS as far as their work safety is concerned, it is in the best interest of the company to inform them about these legal frameworks, as they have the right to understand and exercise. The three outlined remedies are generalized as the main sensitive issues and concerns affecting the company. However, I advise that the company to further carry out extensive analysis and provide solutions where possible to every aspect of their WHS management system. Best Regards, WHS Consultant. References Bega Valley Shire Council. (2014). Work Health Safety Management. Procedure 5.05.1. Hussain, M., Ahmad, M. (2012). Mostly Discussed Research areas in Human Resource Management (HRM) A Literature Review. International Journal of Economics and Management Sciences, 10-17. Safe Work Australia. (n.d.). Model WHS Laws. Available at: https://www.safeworkaustralia.gov.au/law-and-regulation/model-whs-laws Shen, J., Chanda, A., D'Netto, B., Monga, M. (2009). Managing diversity through human resource management: an international perspective and conceptual framework. The International Journal of Human Resource Management. Sparq Solutions. (n.d.). Work Health and Safety Management System. 0819 SPARQ. Available at: https://www.sparq.com.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0020/41348/0819-SPARQ-Work-Health-and-Safety-Management-System.pdf State of Queensland. (2015). Guide to the Work Health and Safety Act 2011. Queensland Government. Turner, R., Huemann, M., Keegan. (2010). .A Human resource management in the project-oriented organization: Employee well-being and ethical treatment. International Journal of Project Management. Work Safe Victoria. (n.d.). Compliance codes review. Available at: https://consultation.worksafe.vic.gov.au/Compliance-Codes