Work, Health & Safety: The Urgent Issues to Address
Workplace health and safety is the lynchpin of the re-opening of the economy and an area growing concern. Explore the hottest topics in the WHS arena right now including current risks, responsibilities and liabilities inside & outside the workplace and how to manage them. Identify psychosocial health hazards in the workplace that are taking foothold and gain the knowledge necessary to deal with prosecutions and compensation concerns so you can minimise risk for your organisation or clients. WEB223N24
Description
Attend and earn 4 CPD units including:
0.5 unit in Professional Skills
3.5 units in Substantive Law
This program is applicable to practitioners from all States & Territories
Chair: Nick Read, Barrister, Denman Chambers; Recommended Health and Safety Law Junior Counsel, Doyle’s Guide 2021
9.00am to 9.05am Opening Comments from the Chair
MANAGING WORKPLACE RISKS INSIDE AND OUTSIDE OF THE WORKPLACE
9.00am to 9.45am Employer’s Responsibilities for the Remote Workforce: The Legal Implications and Consequences
- Obligations on persons conducting a business or undertaking
- Obligations on workers
- Obligations on officers
- Consequences for breaching obligations
- Practical ways to best meet obligations and implement a robust WHS system, including with a growing remote workforce
Presented by Stephen Hardy, Partner, K&L Gates
Professional Skills
9.45am to 10.30am Rethinking Health and Safety for a Hybrid Workforce
- Types of working models
- Key physical and non-physical risks associated with hybrid working models
- Employer responsibilities
- Practical risk control measures and opportunities in these new models of work
Presented by Sue Chennell, Director, Shared Safety and Risk
10.30am to 10.45am Morning Tea
10.45am to 11.30am Managing Onsite Health and Safety Risks
- Employee and staff fatigue
- COVID-19 compliance and infection control
- Workplace density
- Managing spikes in demand
Presented by Caroline Mense, Principal Lawyer, Legal Enablers
11.30am to 12.15pm Identifying and Dealing with Psychosocial Hazards in the Workplace
- Risks and hazards that have been traditionally regarded as purely employment/ HR issues (e.g. bullying and harassment)
- Adopting a systematic risk-based approach
- NSW Code of Practice: What does it say and what are the implications for employers within and outside of NSW?
- Managing such hazards in the COVID-19 era
Presented by Dominic Fleeton, Partner, K & L Gates
MANAGING PROSECUTIONS AND WORKERS COMPENSATION CONCERNS
12.15pm to 1.05pm Health & Safety Prosecutions
- Pleas of guilty
- Not guilty
- Enforceable undertakings
Presented by Sebastian McIntosh, Barrister, 13 Wentworth Chambers
1.05pm to 1.15pm Final Q&A and Closing Comments from the Chair
Presenters
Nick Read
Nick has a broad practice focussing on workplace, personal injury and criminal law.
Nick represents businesses, individuals and government departments in federal and state courts. He also appears in conciliation and arbitration processes before the Fair Work Commission and NCAT. Prior to commencing at the bar Nick was a Senior Associate in the Workplace Relations team at Holman Webb Lawyers. From 2008 to 2010 Nick worked for the government legal service in London where he litigated employment and organised tax fraud disputes. Nick has also worked with Moray & Agnew Lawyers in Sydney and WorkCover NSW (now SafeWork NSW).
Stephen Hardy
Stephen Hardy is a partner in the labour, employment and workplace safety practice. Stephen is an established practitioner who represents Australian and international clients on a variety of employment matters. These include human resources, industrial relations, executive, business protection and complex compliance related matters, the employment aspects of mergers and acquisitions, workplace restructuring and business transformation. This work is undertaken for clients across a wide range of industries including banking and financial services, insurance, retail, transport, waste management, manufacturing, information technology, leisure, media and entertainment, property, and professional services.
Sue Chennell
Sue Chennell started professional life as a Physiotherapist and quickly moved into working with elite sports teams and professional athletes where maximising individual and team performance was always the goal. When sore thumbs drew her into injury prevention and ergonomics, Sue quickly saw that the workplace was not dissimilar to the sports field. Creating healthy and safe workspaces and people not only amplify human potential but also that of teams and organisations more broadly. Fast forward 17 years in the health and safety industry and as Director of the bespoke consultancy Shared Safety and Risk, Sue’s passions still lie in people. Observing, collaborating with and coaching individuals, teams and her clients to solve problems and integrate health and safety management into the day to day. Sue’s other passions are the ocean, the environment, taking the odd (calculated) risk and adventuring with her young family. As a skilled people manager, Sue has built an experienced, mature yet dynamic team of associate WHS consultants committed to Shared Safety Risk’s collaborative approach.
Caroline Mense
Caroline is an experienced commercial and employment lawyer. She has acted for and against family businesses, company directors, ASX listed companies, government and multinationals. She is the founder of Legal Enablers and enjoys giving back to the community.
Her presentations are always well researched and thought provoking, speckled with humor, stores and practical scenarios so her audience leaves the room feeling refreshed and well equipped.
Dominic Fleeton
Dominic is an experienced industrial relations, safety and employment adviser and litigator.
Whether a client is seeking proactive assistance to shape a strategy for a project, transaction or emerging issue, or seeking representation in responding to an active claim or proceeding, Dominic identifies the client’s objectives and priorities, works with them to formulate options that are geared towards achieving them, and then pursues the chosen course of action with energy, efficiency and enthusiasm. Dominic takes great pride in assisting clients to develop and successfully implement industrial relations strategies.
Sebastian McIntosh
Sebastian is a barrister at Thirteen Wentworth. He specialises in employment, industrial and work health and safety law.