Workplace Health and Safety Foundations

This unit introduces core concepts and context for workplace health and safety, including risk thinking, common workplace hazards, and the role of legal and regulatory bodies (e.g., HSE). Students will learn how to use practical tools (risk assessments, office assessment tool) to design safe systems of work, monitor performance, and communicate the business case for safety, preparing them for deeper hazard-specific and implementation units that follow.

Learning Objectives

• Analyze workplace health and safety contexts by identifying stakeholders, legal responsibilities, and the role of regulatory bodies to explain how obligations shape organizational safety decisions
• Apply risk assessment methodologies and practical tools (including the Office Risk Assessment Tool) to identify, evaluate, and prioritize hazards such as manual handling, machinery, electrical, fire, chemical, noise/vibration, working at height, and workplace violence
• Develop safe systems of work and monitoring plans that incorporate the hierarchy of controls, behavioral and systems-based interventions, and measurable indicators to track safety management system performance
• Evaluate strategies for building and evolving a positive safety culture and justify safety decisions to stakeholders by articulating legal compliance, ethical imperatives, and business benefits