Ensure a Safe Workplace BSBOHS509A Case Study Practice

Corporate Case Study

Six months ago Behbehani Associates were a small company with only one office in Surra. They were a business that specialized in redecorating and renovating office buildings. If you had an office that was looking a little old and worn out, you could contact them, and one of their office designers would come in, look at your office and suggest how you could modernize it. They would then redesign your office and, once you had approved the new design, they would project manage the whole renovation of your office. They would: Find you temporary office space, and relocate your office and staff there including the phones, IT, furniture, filing cabinets, etc so that you could continue business while the renovation was taking place Clean out your old office space, and manage the process of renovating it and refurnishing it When complete, they would relocate you back to your offices including everything you needed IT, phones, records, etc. Finally they would clear the temporary accommodation In summary, they were a full service provider for redecorating and renovating office buildings!! They employed designers and building project managers and they subcontracted to a variety of companies removalists, builders, painters, electricians, etc to deliver their service to their customers. They had a safety policy it clearly stated that safety at all their office and at the sites they were working on was very, very important. They had safety procedures too they clearly stated that it was important to include safety as a key issue with all their contractors. The company was astounded by its success! They got lots of customers and soon decided they needed two new offices one in Shuwaikh, the other in Omgara to provide services in the rapidly growing Jahra region. Unfortunately a few weeks later, a worker was killed in one of their work sites in Jahra. The company investigated and found that: The worker was employed by a contractor they had not used before This contractor had been employed by a new employee in their Omgara office who had not received any formal training from the manager or anyone else at their Surra Head Office The worker was electrocuted, because they tried to disconnect cables when the electricity had not been disconnected There was no written agreement between Behbehani Associates and any of the contractors. When the CEO personally visited the Omgara office and spoke to employees, he discovered that none of them had received any OHS training and none of them knew about the companys safety policy!

Ensure a BSBOHS509A Case Study 2

Safe

Workplace

Copyright ACK 2011

Page 1 of 2

V1.0 09/2011

Questions:
If you were the CEO of Behbehani Associates, what would you do next? It is obvious that the OH&S policy and procedures (quality systems) have: o o o Not worked Probably because they were not well enforced May not be suitable now for the expanded company

The CEO should: o Appoint someone (e.g. the HR Manager) to be responsible for OH&S at Behbehani Associates (the CEO cant do it he is too busy!) o Amend the OH&S policy to show this change i.e. HR Manager responsible for the operation of the OH&S Quality System o Task the appointed person to: Review the policies and procedures and ensure that they meet the needs of the expanded organization and take into account the new branches Urgently conduct OHS training of all branch managers and branch staff Develop a procedure that ensures that all contracts with contractors are put in writing, that they include a condition that contractors must abide by Behbehani OH&S policy and procedures and that contractors accept this Once developed, conduct training of all staff who employ contractors to make them aware of this procedure Develop a procedure for electrical safety at work sites that would ensure that no work can be conducted on sites until the electricity is disconnected

This OH&S manager might make recommendations such as: o Establishing an OH&S committee with a representative from every branch (participative arrangements) o Providing a monthly/quarterly report to the CEO for discussion at the senior managers meeting o Improving recordkeeping and analysis of records to provide improvement goals (continuous improvement) o o Regular reviews of policies and procedures (continuous improvement) Conducting regular OH&S refresher training for all employees

Ensure a Safe Workplace BSBOHS509A Case Study 2 - Solutions

Copyright ACK 2011

Page 2 of 2

V1.0 09/2011