Deck 29: Ensuring a Safe and Healthy Workplace

Question 1

Choose the best answer. Under the Commonwealth Work Health and Safety Act 2011, employees who engage in reckless conduct can be:

A) officially warned.
B) fined.
C) jailed.
D) fined or jailed.
E) fined, jailed or both.

Answer 1

E

Question 2

In 2011-12, what percentage of workers compensation claims involved injury to the back?

A) Ten per cent
B) Fifteen per cent
C) Twenty per cent
D) Twenty-five per cent
E) Fifty per cent

Answer 2

C

Question 3

The Commonwealth Work Health and Safety Act 2011 places on employers a duty of care to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health, safety and welfare of which types of workers?

A) Their employees
B) Their employees and self-employed people who are on their premises
C) Their employees and self-employed people and contractors who are on their premises
D) Their employees and self-employed people, contractors and voluntary workers who are on their premises
E) Their employees and all other people on their premises

Answer 3

E

Question 4

Which of the following is a hidden cost of workplace accidents?

A) Lowered employee morale
B) The cost of repairs to machinery or equipment damaged in an incident
C) The likelihood of work being held up, leading to lower output
D) The cost of training a replacement to take on the injured worker's job
E) The time taken to investigate the cause of the accident and prepare an accident report

Question 5

Organisations employing people who work from their homes do not have a legal duty of care relating to workplace health and safety (WHS), and so employers are not required to provide these workers with WHS training and information, safe work systems or a safe workplace.

Question 6

Which of the following is a notifiable incident in workplaces?

A) A death
B) A serious injury
C) A serious illness
D) A dangerous incident
E) All of these responses are correct.

Question 7

When workplace health and safety (WHS) representatives identify unsafe work, they should:

A) fix the problem themselves.
B) direct employees to cease the unsafe work.
C) consult with management to remove the hazard or protect employees.
D) directly contact WorkSafe to advise of the unsafe practice.
E) gather all employees together to take strike action (i.e. perform no work of any kind) until the unsafe work practice is addressed.

Question 8

Workplace health and safety (WHS) representatives can, following consultation with management, issue a written provisional improvement notice and display it in a prominent place near the work area affected by the notice, which an inspector then reviews and either confirms or cancels.

Question 9

Membership of a workplace health and safety (WHS) committee should include:

A) nominated members of the management team and WHS specialists such as WHS representatives.
B) nominated members of the management team and safety officers.
C) nominated members of the management team, WHS representatives and safety officers.
D) nominated members of the management team, WHS specialists and at least one union member.
E) nominated members of the management team and a cross-section of employees from all levels and areas of the organisation.

Question 10

The legislative requirement that senior management give work health and safety matters the same degree of attention as functional areas such as finance, production and supply is known as:

A) due process.
B) due deference.
C) due diligence.
D) due consideration.
E) due expedition.

Question 11

In relation to consultation on WHS matters, the Commonwealth Work Health and Safety Act 2011 requires:

A) employers to include employees in discussion related to maintaining and improving WHS.
B) employees to form their own WHS improvement strategies and present these to management at least once every four months.
C) employers and employees to agree on procedures for ongoing consultation on WHS matters.
D) employers to consult with unions on WHS matters.
E) All of these responses are correct.

Question 12

Which of the following is not a workplace health and safety (WHS) responsibility of employees?

A) Follow reasonable instructions concerning WHS.
B) Do not carry out work when they have a reasonable concern that doing so would expose them to a serious risk to their health or safety.
C) Take reasonable care to protect themselves and others around them.
D) Develop suitable training plans to meet their WHS training needs.
E) Follow safety procedures and use the equipment provided for WHS purposes.

Question 13

Which one of the following is an indirect financial cost of workplace accidents and injuries that is related to employees?

A) Insurance premiums paid by employers
B) Increases in WorkCover levies
C) Repair, replacement and disposal costs of damaged products and materials
D) Fines
E) Time lost due to worker curiosity

Question 14

In 2013-14, the most likely group of workers in Australia to be injured were:

A) men.
B) young people between 16 and 18.
C) women.
D) those with a disability.
E) those over the age of 70.

Question 15

Under the provisions of the Work Health and Safety Act 2011, regulators need to be notified of certain types of workplace incidents. These are:

A) all incidents in which someone is injured.
B) only the most serious safety incidents.
C) only incidents in which the death of a worker occurs.
D) only incidents in which it is obvious that the employer has not complied with their WHS responsibilities.
E) only similar incidents that have occurred more than three times over the course of a year.

Question 16

An employee injured at work may be eligible for workers compensation:

A) only if the injury was the employer's fault.
B) if the injury prevents the employee from working for a period of greater than five days.
C) only if the employee has medical costs associated with the injury.
D) regardless of whether the injury was the employee's or the employer's fault.
E) only if the employee suffers a permanent disability as a result of the injury.

Question 17

Which of the following is not a common duty of safety officers?

A) Testing fire and other emergency protection activities through drills and exercises
B) Investigating accidents and incidents
C) Preparing safety instructions and advising on safe working practices
D) Conducting safety audits
E) Developing written WHS policies, programs and procedures

Question 18

To remedy or prevent the contravention or likely contravention of a provision of the Work Health and Safety Act 2011, an inspector can issue:

A) an infringement notice.
B) a written improvement notice.
C) a non-disturbance notice.
D) a notice of a notifiable incident.
E) a subpoena.

Question 19

When can workplace health and safety inspectors enter a workplace?

A) Only once they have provided notice and been granted permission by the employer
B) They can do so without permission, but must provide notice to the employer.
C) With or without notifying the employer, and with or without the employer's permission
D) Only with a court order
E) Only if they suspect there is a serious risk to health and safety

Question 20

In relation to workplace health and safety (WHS) policies, programs and procedures, senior management are required to:

A) develop written WHS policies, programs and procedures.
B) make WHS policies, programs and procedures available to everyone they affect.
C) monitor the effectiveness of WHS policies, programs and procedures.
D) develop WHS policies, programs and procedures that contain considerable detail about how the organisation ensures a healthy, safe working environment.
E) All of these responses are correct.

Question 21

Regularly checking the condition of equipment, machinery and tools and promptly fixing any defects can help to prevent accidents caused as a result of:

A) human error.
B) inadequate training.
C) inadequate supervision.
D) systems failure.
E) poor housekeeping.

Question 22

The use of personal protective equipment such as ear plugs, hair protection, hard hats, and safety gloves should be the last line of defence in preventing injury from hazards.

Question 23

When you are unable to eliminate a hazard, the next best course of action to take is to:

A) use personal protective equipment.
B) introduce administrative controls.
C) introduce engineering controls.
D) provide training to staff members so that they can manage the hazard.
E) reduce the risk it poses by substitution or isolation.

Question 24

Conducting a safety audit of a workplace is part of:

A) assessing hazards.
B) identifying hazards.
C) controlling hazards.
D) eliminating hazards.
E) mitigating hazards.

Question 25

What is the correct order of measures to follow in the hazard prevention hierarchy?

A) Eliminate → use engineering controls → substitute → organise training → change to a safer working practice
B) Substitute → use engineering controls → eliminate → organise training → change to a safer working practice
C) Eliminate → substitute → change to a safer working practice → use engineering controls → organise training
D) Eliminate → change to a safer working practice → substitute → organise training → use engineering controls
E) Eliminate → substitute → use engineering controls → change to a safer working practice→ organise training

Question 26

Where a worker suffers injury as a direct result of a foreseeable and preventable event their employer could easily have put in place methods to prevent, the employer can be found guilty of:

A) trespass.
B) assault.
C) negligence.
D) misconduct.
E) defamation.

Question 27

So long as no injury or damage occurs as a result of a near miss, there is no need to investigate or analyse its cause.

Question 28

What action should you take in the event of an accident occurring?

A) Interview any witnesses to the event and the person involved to gather facts as to what led up to the event and any contributing factors.
B) Reconstruct the chain of events leading up to the event so you can pinpoint the factors that contributed to it.
C) Conduct an investigation at the site of the accident or incident.
D) Record the accident, write a report summarising your investigation and findings, and file it according to your organisation's protocol.
E) All of these responses are correct.

Question 29

When assessing a hazard's degree of risk, which of the following factors should you consider?

A) Its frequency
B) Its probability
C) Its severity
D) The effect on the risk posed by the hazard when the frequency and probability of it occurring combine with the severity of its impact
E) All of these responses are correct.

Question 30

The first step in preventing workplace death, disease and injury resulting from accidents is to:

A) analyse the cause of hazards.
B) assess the risks associated with hazards.
C) identify hazards or potential hazards.
D) control hazards.
E) None of these responses are correct.