“Workplace Health and Safety is the discipline concerned with protecting the health and safety of all stakeholders in the workplace from exposure to hazards and risks resulting from work activities (Consult Australia, 2013).” Sustainability is a vital part of creating a healthy and safe work place and it includes social inclusions and ethical values (K, Anderson 2014). The WHS&S legislation offers an outline to protect the health, safety and welfare of all employees. It also looks after the health and safety of all other people who might be affected by the work. For example all workplace should provide employers with guidance and provide a clear framework for workplace consultation. All employees, contractors, subcontractors, outworkers, apprentices and trainees, work experience students, volunteers and employers who perform work are protected by the WHS Act. The WHS Act also sets out the requirements for the following; incident notification, consultation with workers, issue resolution, inspector powers and functions and offences and penalties.
Construction is one of the broad industry groups to have been identified as national priorities for prevention activities. The construction industry was found to have high numbers and rates of injury in comparison to other workplaces. There was a 25% decrease in the injury incidence rate up to 2009–10 (safe work Australia, 2012) and this is due to the focus being on the health and safety of all workers. Employers are more determined and eager to ensure that accidents are rectified so that the risk of their employees does not arise. High-risk work includes things like includes things such as scaffolding, rigging work, fork-lifts and boom-type elevating platforms (safe work Australia, 2011). Jobs such as these are so high risk because construction work is a more labor-intensive industry for example moving heavy loads. Smith Construction claims to “considers the health and safety of its employees and clients to be of utmost importance, and it is committed to the minimisation of safety risks and hazards”. But by looking at the images of Smith Construction’s Worksite, it is clear that they are not living up to their standards. Smith Construction seems to understand that the construction industry is so high risk through their workplace health, safety and sustainability policy, however the company does not seem to be following their policy throughout the workplace. Smith Construction has the primary duty to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that workers and other persons are not exposed to health and safety risks arising from the business or undertaking.

I have first chosen to analyse the issue of the oil spill at Smith Construction. Smith Construction are not following their policy as the claim to firstly, “aim to implement best practice sustainability principles across its operations and to integrate economic, social and environmental considerations in all aspects of our activities,” and secondly “include prevention of pollution and other adverse environmental impacts, efficient use of resources and recycling of materials where possible. Smith Construction undertakes to provide the necessary resources and management support to achieve these goals.” Both the WHS Regulation and Environment Protection Act establishes requirements for the safe use, storage and handling of hazardous chemicals, this means all people conducting a business, which uses, handles, stores or generates hazardous chemicals, must now comply (Consultaustralia.com.au, 2014).

Many organisations don’t think about how they would deal with a spill until it happens and because an oil spill has already occurred at Smith Construction it is crucial for them to follow a safe procedure in cleaning up these spills. It is best if Smith Construction develops a spill prevention control and countermeasure plan is made. This plan should include operating procedures that prevent oil spills such as storage instructions,