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OHS key concepts Mind Map - Coggle Diagram
OHS key concepts Mind Map
The Socio-Political context and OHS Law in Australia
Socio-political context for OHS in Australia
Legal bodies such as parliament and the government ensure that workplaces are keeping up with the OHS law to ensure that every preventative measure is in place to lessen injuries and diseases as a result of the workplace.
Quasi legal refers to what is allowable by law.
The social-political context of OHS helps to regulate OHS in the workplace. This is mainly done so by the government and the national OHS policy agency.
The laws surrounding OHS vary by state, as it falls under the jurisdiction of the state rather than the Commonwealth. However, the underlying goals remain the similar throughout the country.
Non-state institution are those who are not part of the government, but rather are part of a body such as the national OHS policy agency
Immense education and training goes into teaching individuals who work for companies who uphold OHS in order to ensure that the people in the workplace are protected.
WHS Law in Australia
Duty of Care is a prominent term used in OHS. This is present when the company is responsible for the safety of another individual. An example of this is the Donoghue v. Stevenson case whereby it was deemed that the restaurant owed its customer (Donoghue) a duty of care, after she was served a drink with a snail in it that put her in ill-health.
The state is responsible for all OHS laws, as it is not stated as a Commonwealth power in the Constitution.
OHS outcomes can be classified as legal and criminal law.
If a worker is injured at work, they may make a claim through civil law.
If a company fails to abide by the OHS laws and someone is injured, they may be charged via criminal law.
OHS laws can only be used in a workplace, where the terms workplace and worker are used, when the title and objects of the legislation are present, and it is in the expressed scope of duties.
A law refers to rules provided by the government that the whole community must adhere to, or else could receive consequence in the form of sanctions from the court system.
PCBU refers to a person or entity who checks who is undertaking the business.
The term "worker" applies to the employees, or someone who works under a PCBU.
Workplace safety is governed by specially trained staff who check the safety of a workplace. An example of this is a council worker checking the hygiene practices of a restaurant.
The Human including Biological, Psychological and Social Systems
PSYCHOLOGICAL SYSTEMS
Psychobiology is also prominent in the world of OHS, as sometimes the cause of psychological are due to to physical damages to the brain.
Psychologists are different to psychiatrists, as they do not have medical degrees, therefore cannot prescribe medicine. Psychologists work with those who suffer from mental illnesses.
One of the main associations with between psychological systems and OHS is the factor of stress and its physiological affect on the human body.
Stress has the same physiological affect on the body whether is it eustress or distress.
Stress can arise from workplaces when it's disorganised, or unsafe.
Stress can negatively impact the body as it releases the neurohormone cortisol which causes build up of plaque in veins and arteries.
Stress can also have many other physiological affects such as increased heart rate and weakening of the immune system.
The study of human behaviour can be traced back to ancient times. One of the earliest recorded cases of this was conducted by Wilhelm Wundt in 1879, who built the first psychological laboratory where he tested people's reaction time to certain stimuli.
Behavioural psychology also affects OHS. This occurs via the type of reinforcement workers may receive.
In 1949, Hebb distinguished the difference between long term and short term memory. It was found that short term memory can hold 7+/- 2 items. He also introduced the "neurons that fire together, wire together" rule, meaning that repeated actions cause the same stimulus in the same neurons, making the connection faster each time.
Atkinson adn Shifron introduced a model for memory whereby short term memory lasts up to 30 seconds. They also found that it takes roughly thirty minutes of consolidation for the storage of long term memories.
Personal characteristics can also affect OHS. This could be through their attitude towards OHS and their likelihood to do so, as explained by Alport.
SOCIAL SYSTEMS
Social psychology refers to the study of humans when influenced by the presence or implied presence of other individuals.
Human biases such as physical attractiveness, associations, and familiarity can cause biases.
Social psychology is prevalent in the workplace with relation to OHS due to competing conditions.
This means that individuals subconsciously compete to be better than the other. This can positively uphold the basis of OHS by individuals wanting to be more safe than the other. It can also have the reverse effect by people thinking that they do not need OHS, and cam do better without it
People also feel the need to be accepted into the "in group". This has relation to OHS in the case that majority of the workplace follows strict OHS rules, the "out group" will too.
This is similar to the "social" norms of the workplace, where people will conform to what is being done, if majority of the people are doing it.
The origins of this type of psychology can be traced back to Norman Triplett and Sigmund Freud.
Biases also occur in decision making.
The over-reliance on easily retrievable information bias occurs when people are influenced by how easy or frequent the event is.
The confirmation bias exists when individuals seek support from other individuals that their decision is the most correct.
The false consensus effect occurs when people think that others agree with their decision, when in reality, they do not.
Power occurs in the form of social hierarchy, therefore workers are more likely to follow OHS when it is prescribed by a person of higher power eg. a boss.
BIOLOGICAL SYSTEMS
As medical scientists became more aware after the 1800's, medicinal technology had significantly advanced. This also caused OHS to advance along with it.
Studies had shown the effects of dangerous chemicals such as asbestos, lead, and other toxic materials on the body. Though this negatively affected the lives of many people, it gave rise to many advancements in today's medical society.
OHS arises from the desire to protect the human body. This can be traced all the way back to miners in Egypt who protected themselves using makeshift sacks and masks.
The human body functions on many different levels in many different systems. Any disruptions to these systems could cause illness and death.
This can occur on a cellular, chemical, molecular, organ level.
In order to create physical safety, health professionals must first understand the human body from a biological point of view, to create preventative measures.
Despite the human body being a constant figure, other factors such as age, race, sex, lifestyle, and other environmental factors can affect the body differently, meaning that they also react to workplace environments differently.
In the workplace, the two most common ways for foreign particles to enter the body are through the respiratory system and the integumentary system.
INTEGUMENTARY SYSTEM: consists of the skin, hair, nails, and exocrine glands. Toxins can enter the body through small pores.
RESPIRATORY SYSTEM: Mostly comprised of the nose, mouth, and lungs. Toxins can easily enter the body via inhalation.
The Organisations
An organisation is said to have a hierarchy of members who communicate to each other, are influenced by outside environment, and work towards a common goal.
Organisations are encouraged to work on OHS from within, rather than it being imposed from the outside.
Workplaces that are deemed more dangerous are more likely to follow through with OHS, as it is a greater risk.
OHS is also more likely to be followed when given by a leader in the organisation.
All parts of the organisation should work towards OHS to achieve the desired outcome of health and safety for every individual.
Safety culture refers to the beliefs and beliefs of the organisation.
Organisational culture refers to the beliefs and attitudes of the organisation in relation to health and safety.
Safety climate refers to the extent of safety and its impact on the organisation.
There is no concrete model regarding safety culture.
History of OHS as a Profession and the Generalist OHS role
WORK
PRE-INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION
A lot of social, economic, and financial differences between those who worked and those who did not.
In some cases, being poor was considered discipline, as people had to work in poor conditions in able to make a living.
POST INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION (AFTER THE 1850's)
Henry Ford introduces Fordism: The idea that people work more efficiently in a production line, as experts in the select jobs they were given. He also introduced a minimum wage of $5.00 for his male workers.
Ideas like Fordism and Keynesianism were the foundations of the 20th century working industries.
This also brings about the Evolution of Management. This occurred as more people were hired, more people were put into managerial roles, as the bosses could not be everywhere at once. This also brought up the phenomenon called the "Agency Problem", meaning that managers had to be payed more, but owners did not want to pay more.
In Australia, these events brought about a set wage and safer working conditions. However, this only applied to men.
After World War II. More women were accepted into the work force, however only made about 90% of what males were making.
INDUSTRIAL AND SOCIAL REVOLUTION (1750-1850)
A lot of political and economic changes emerged from this era, particularly from France and the United States of America, which brought about more egalitarianism.
Thomas Malthus brought about the idea that with work and production, people will grow faster than supplies will be able to support them.
The industrial revolution brought about more technology as well as output.
At this stage, people did not have a good standard of living, and were not making enough money for a stable living.
In the early to mid 1800's, England introduced factory acts which regulated the system. This meant that there was an introduction of slightly safer work environments (including less air population and less toxic substances), set working hours, as well as who was able to work.
SAFETY
1950's/60's: Standardised steps were created to increase safety in systems. This included modelling before the system is put in place, analysis of pre-designs, analysis of post-designs, and post-safety procedures. These procedures were put into place in order to avoid predictable situations and lessen the likelihood of unpredictable situations.
1970s/80s: The theory of man made disasters emerged. This was characterised by large disasters during the time like nuclear explosions. According to this theory, risk accumulates and typically, no one notices, until it is too late.
1940's: Safety has a relationship with the cognitive abilities of humans. This is especially prominent in relation to to technology and systems. This also gave rise to the idea that equipment should be tailored to the strengths and weaknesses of humans.
1980's/90's: This era gave birth to the Swiss Cheese theory. This theory states that the event does not occur at the front line, but instead occurs in the lead up to the event. The concept of this aligns with safety management systems.
1930's: Herbert William Heinrich re-enforced the idea that most accidents and injuries are preventable, and can be prevented by altering the physical environment to become more safe.
2000's: Safety culture emerges. This allowed leaders to think about the safety in their workplaces. This also allowed workers to think about their safety, and build the knowledge that safety comes from their attitude towards OHS, and their ability to follow through with procedures.
1900's: People began using theories and researching into accidents. This gave rise to preventative measures as people began to realise that accidents don't "just happen".
2010's: Resilience engineering. This is the most recent thinking towards safety culture. This is the thinking that safety does not come from reducing incidents, but rather understanding how systems run safely. The resilience also refers to how well the workplace can adapt to changes in the environment.
THE GENERALIST OHS ROLE
OHS is a specialist role that works to prevent disease, ill-health, and injury in the workplace by putting in place systematic precautions.
HEALTH
Health was classified by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as the absence of injury and disease, mentally, physically, emotionally, spiritually, and socially.
Injury tends to arise from energy transferred to the body to cause damage. This definition comes from Robertson, 1998.
OHS is said to have three levels of prevention.
Primary prevention: aims to prevent injury or disease.
Secondary prevention: The steps taken after the incident has occurred.
Tertiary prevention: is given to those who are experiencing symptoms of a work-related illness or disease.
It is important to get feedback in order to keep OHS rules updated. This information is taken from workplaces via measures such as surveys.
Many different health professionals work to upkeep OHS rules. These include occupational physicians, occupational health nurses, occupational hygienists, ergonomists, and occupational rehabilitation workers.