Unit of competency

Modification History

Application

This unit of competency describes the skills and knowledge to implement and monitor the work health and safety (WHS) and environmental management systems for a work group or laboratory, within the scope of a 'head officer's' responsibilities as defined in AS/NZS 2243 Set: 2006 Safety in laboratories. Where the WHS management system is already established then this unit of competency may apply to the review of the system.

The unit of competency applies to personnel in a senior technician or laboratory supervisor role. Personnel work in accordance with work instructions and standard operating procedures (SOPs) which incorporate all relevant aspects of WHS legislation and the codes, guidelines, regulations and Australian standards applying to environmental hazards and dangerous goods. This unit assumes that expert WHS and environmental advice is available, as required, either internal or external to the workplace.

No licensing or certification requirements exist at the time of publication. However, regulations and/or external accreditation requirements for laboratory operations exist, so local requirements should be checked. Relevant legislation, industry standards and codes of practice within Australia must also be applied.

Pre-requisite Unit

Nil

Competency Field

Work health and safety

Elements and Performance Criteria

Foundation Skills

This section describes those language, literacy, numeracy and employment skills that are essential to performance.

• Writing skills to prepare accessible summary reports for the WHS committee, WHS representatives, managers and supervisors.

Other foundation skills essential to performance are explicit in the performance criteria of this unit.

Unit Mapping Information

Equivalent to MSL946001 Implement and monitor WHS and environmental management systems, Release 1.

Links

MSL Laboratory Operations Companion Volume Implementation Guide is available from VETNet - https://vetnet.gov.au/Pages/TrainingDocs.aspx?q=5c63a03b-4a6b-4ae5-9560-1e3c5f462baa

Assessment requirements

Modification History

Performance Evidence

There must be evidence the candidate has completed the tasks outlined in the elements and performance criteria of this unit, and:

• effectively implemented and monitored the work health and safety (WHS) and environmental management systems for 1 laboratory, or 1 work group working in a laboratory.

Knowledge Evidence

There must be evidence the candidate has knowledge of:

• definitions and workplace examples of risk, hazards, control measures, hierarchy of control and risk management
• principles and practices of effective WHS and environmental management
• AS/NZS 2243 Set:2006 Safety in laboratories
• WHS and environmental workplace policies and procedures for:

• procedures for handling, storage and disposal of hazardous materials, hazardous goods manifest and substance register
• waste minimisation, recycling, by-product collection and waste disposal
• purchase and maintenance of safety-related supplies and equipment
• minimisation of environmental threats
• emergency, fire and environmental incident response
• selection and use of personal protective equipment (PPE)
• safe work

• workplace counselling/disciplinary/issue resolution processes/roles and responsibilities under WHS and environmental legislation of employers and employees, including supervisors and contractors
• legislative requirements for WHS information and consultation, WHS, environmental and waste status record keeping and infection control
• sources of WHS and environmental management information, including specialist advisors and key personnel within workplace
• typical participative processes conducted with employees and their representatives:

• consultations with workers and committees (such as WHS and planning)
• employee and supervisor involvement in WHS activities, such as inspections, audits and risk assessments
• procedures for reporting hazards and raising and addressing WHS issues
• identification of hazards, assessment of level of risk, implementation of risk control measures and review of their effectiveness
• review of WHS records and statistics, injury and incident investigations
• job safety analysis (JSA), development/revision of policies and procedures
• audits and workplace inspections, and review of registers of hazardous substances and dangerous goods

• typical hazard identification processes:

• review of hazard and incident reports and workplace inspections
• pre-purchase risk assessments
• review of relevant internal documentation, including material data sheets (SDS), manufacturer manuals and minutes of meetings
• review of legislation, codes of practice, standards and guidelines
• review of online and printed WHS publications, journals and newsletters produced by WHS regulators, industry bodies

• typical risk assessment processes:

• analysing the risk to identify factors influencing the risk and the range of potential consequences
• assessing the effectiveness of existing controls, the likelihood of each consequence and combining these to obtain a level of risk
• comparing the determined risk with pre-established criteria for tolerance (or as low as reasonably achievable) and ranking risks requiring control

• management system data types:

• hazard, incident and injury reports
• workplace inspections
• audit reports
• formal and informal input of employees.

Assessment Conditions

Skills must have been demonstrated in the workplace or in a simulated environment that reflects workplace conditions and contingencies. The following conditions must be met for this unit:

• use of suitable facilities, equipment and resources, including:

• relevant WHS and environmental legislation and regulations
• codes of practice
• workplace procedures

• modelling of industry operating conditions, including:

• interactions with managers and laboratory staff.

Assessors must satisfy the NVR/AQTF mandatory competency requirements for assessors.

Links

MSL Laboratory Operations Companion Volume Implementation Guide is available from VETNet - https://vetnet.gov.au/Pages/TrainingDocs.aspx?q=5c63a03b-4a6b-4ae5-9560-1e3c5f462baa