Basic Occupational Health and Safety Course

Lesson 1 • Core OHS Terminology and Concepts

Defines hazard, risk, incident, and related terms used throughout the field. Precise vocabulary enables accurate communication and documentation.

Lesson 2 • Ethical Dimensions of Workplace Safety

Examines moral obligations beyond legal compliance, including equity and worker dignity. Grounds professional OHS practice in ethical reasoning.

Lesson 3 • Legal and Regulatory Frameworks

Explains the structure of OHS law, employer duties, and worker rights without referencing specific codes. Connects legal obligations to practical workplace behaviour.

Lesson 4 • History and Evolution of Workplace Safety

Traces OHS from early industrial hazards to modern regulatory frameworks. Provides context for understanding why current standards exist.

Lesson 1 • Ergonomic and Psychosocial Hazards

Addresses musculoskeletal strain, repetitive motion, and work-related stress as legitimate hazard categories. Expands hazard thinking beyond physical agents.

Lesson 2 • Hazard Documentation and Reporting

Establishes standards for recording identified hazards and communicating findings to stakeholders. Accurate documentation supports risk assessment and legal compliance.

Lesson 3 • Systematic Hazard Identification Methods

Introduces structured tools such as walkthroughs, checklists, and job safety analysis. Translates hazard knowledge into repeatable identification processes.

Lesson 4 • Chemical and Biological Hazards

Identifies toxic substances, carcinogens, pathogens, and allergens encountered at work. Links exposure routes to health outcomes for accurate classification.

Lesson 1 • Qualitative Risk Assessment Techniques

Applies descriptive scoring methods including risk matrices and expert judgment to common workplace scenarios. Suitable for most routine OHS assessments.

Lesson 2 • Communicating and Reviewing Risk Assessments

Addresses how to present risk findings to decision-makers and schedule periodic reviews. Ensures assessments remain current and actionable over time.

Lesson 3 • Specific Assessment Types

Covers task-based, chemical exposure, and ergonomic assessments as specialised applications. Connects general risk methods to domain-specific evaluation needs.

Lesson 4 • Quantitative Risk Assessment Methods

Introduces numerical probability, fault tree analysis, and event tree analysis for complex hazards. Provides tools for high-consequence or data-rich environments.

Lesson 1 • Control Effectiveness Monitoring

Establishes methods for verifying that implemented controls perform as intended over time. Connects control implementation to ongoing risk management.

Lesson 2 • Engineering Controls Design

Details ventilation, guarding, isolation, and ergonomic redesign as physical control solutions. Engineering controls reduce exposure without relying on worker behaviour.

Lesson 3 • Personal Protective Equipment Selection and Use

Guides selection, fitting, maintenance, and limitations of PPE across hazard types. Reinforces that PPE supplements rather than replaces higher-order controls.

Lesson 4 • Administrative Controls and Safe Work Procedures

Covers job rotation, permit-to-work systems, and written safe work procedures as behavioural controls. Effective when engineering controls are insufficient alone.

Lesson 1 • Work-Related Illness Recognition

Identifies common occupational diseases, their causative exposures, and latency periods. Early recognition reduces long-term harm and supports compensation claims.

Lesson 2 • Return-to-Work and Rehabilitation

Designs graduated return-to-work plans and coordinates rehabilitation for injured or ill workers. Effective programmes reduce lost time and support worker recovery.

Lesson 3 • Occupational Health Surveillance Programmes

Covers biological monitoring, health screening, and exposure surveillance to detect early harm. Surveillance data informs control adequacy and regulatory compliance.

Lesson 4 • Mental Health and Psychological Well-Being

Addresses work-related stress, burnout, and trauma as occupational health issues requiring management. Integrates psychological health into the broader OHS framework.

Lesson 1 • Scene Preservation and Evidence Collection

Covers immediate post-incident actions, scene security, and physical evidence documentation. Proper preservation protects investigation integrity and legal defensibility.

Lesson 2 • Root Cause Analysis Methods

Applies the five-whys, fishbone diagrams, and fault tree analysis to identify underlying causes. Root cause focus prevents recurrence rather than assigning blame.

Lesson 3 • Investigation Reporting and Corrective Action

Structures investigation reports with findings, causes, and SMART corrective actions. Closes the loop between investigation and measurable safety improvement.

Lesson 4 • Incident Classification and Reporting Obligations

Defines reportable incidents, near-misses, and dangerous occurrences and outlines notification duties. Accurate classification ensures regulatory compliance and data integrity.

Lesson 1 • Safety Management System Architecture

Introduces the plan-do-check-act cycle and the key elements of a recognised OHS management system. Provides the structural blueprint for all subsequent SMS components.

Lesson 2 • OHS Performance Measurement

Distinguishes leading and lagging indicators and builds a balanced OHS performance dashboard. Measurement enables evidence-based management decisions.

Lesson 3 • OHS Policy and Strategic Objectives

Guides development of an OHS policy statement and measurable safety objectives aligned with organisational goals. Policy and objectives anchor the entire SMS.

Lesson 4 • Management Review and Continual Improvement

Structures the management review process to evaluate SMS performance and drive improvement cycles. Continual improvement is the hallmark of a mature safety system.

Lesson 1 • Sustaining and Transforming Safety Culture

Applies change management principles to shift entrenched cultural norms toward safety excellence. Long-term culture change requires sustained leadership and systemic reinforcement.

Lesson 2 • Leadership Influence on Safety Behaviour

Examines how visible leadership commitment, safety walks, and communication shape worker behaviour. Leadership is the single strongest predictor of safety culture quality.

Lesson 3 • Worker Engagement and Participation

Designs mechanisms for genuine worker involvement in hazard identification, policy review, and safety decisions. Participation increases ownership and improves safety outcomes.

Lesson 4 • Understanding Safety Culture

Defines safety culture, distinguishes it from safety climate, and introduces maturity models. Culture diagnosis precedes any meaningful cultural intervention.