Dental Assisting Work Health and Safety

Question: Discuss about theDental Assistingfor Work Health and Safety. Answer: Introduction Work health and safety (WHS) act or legislation has been established in Australia in order to maintain health and safety of the workers at workplace. The main aim of this legislation is to prevent diseases and injuries at workplaces and covers all employees, volunteers, contractors, trainees, students, outworkers and employers (Work Health and Safety Act 2011, 2016). The employees working at some place has some benefits as well as responsibilities for health and safety. Some of the main duties of employees include: Taking care of ones own health and safetyNot wearing clothes and accessories that can cause injuryTaking care of other employees health and safety as wellReporting any injury or health problems arising due to work to the employerReporting all medications taken by employees to the employer Duty of care is a concept that suggests a person to take duty to care for others so that injuries or risks associated with health of people that are impacted directly or indirectly by your acts can be avoided or prevented, i.e. a person must not perform acts that can cause harm to the health and safety of other people. Emergency procedures are the plans that must be followed by all employees during some emergency conditions. It is very important that all employees must be aware of the emergency procedures such as evacuation or early warning. The management can advise the employees regarding these procedures via conducting meetings, sending emails, memos, displaying posters, distributing information booklets, etc. Control measures signify the steps or measures that are taken for preventing the occurrence of any accident that can cause health and safety problems. The concept of hierarchy in control measures refers to the process of giving priority to some control measures over others and this concept can vary at different work places. Example: In some workplaces, there might be high risk of technical injuries like suffocation while in some there might be more risk of personal injuries due to equipments. The organizations have to decide which measures they must prioritise over others. There are different factors used by different risk assessment stage; however, the four common factors used by all include identification of hazard, assessment of exposure, and assessment of dose-response and characterization of risk. These are the steps that help in identification of health risk. The hazard assessment and safety audits are necessary in order to ensure that the health and safety of people at their workplace is not under any risk. They allow in identifying potential risks at right time before they impact the health of the people. They also help in assessing whether people are following the procedures necessary for maintenance of health and safety. Safety signs and personal protective equipments (PPE) are used at workplaces in order to reduce the exposure of workers towards hazardous materials. These are particularly important for people working in laboratories and industries where harmful chemicals are used more frequently. Every person has a responsibility towards maintaining the environment as clean as possible. To enhance sustainability, it is important to reduce production of waste, minimise the usage of harmful chemicals, minimise throwing waste in water bodies, reduce the overconsumption of non-renewable sources of energy, enhancing the use of more natural products that are less harmful for environment as well as personal health, etc. Reference List Work Health and Safety Act 2011. (2016, December 12). Retrieved from https://www.worksafe.qld.gov.au/laws-and-compliance/workplace-health-and-safety-laws/laws-and-legislation/work-health-and-safety-act-2011 Employees Health and Safety Responsibilities. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/articles/employees-health-and-safety-responsibilities Raniolo, R. Ellison, M. (n.d.). Duty of Care. Retrieved from https://www.swtafe.vic.edu.au/staff/policies/docs/institute/Duty_of_Care_-_Minter_Ellison.pdf Hierarchy of Controls. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://besmart.ie/fs/doc/Hierarchy%20of%20Controls.15feb11.kb.pdf The Four Steps of Risk Assessment. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.in.gov/idem/airquality/2642.htm