Course Title: Occupational Health and Safety Law and Rehabilitation

Part A: Course Overview

Course Title: Occupational Health and Safety Law and Rehabilitation

Credit Points: 12.00

Course Code	Campus	Career	School	Learning Mode	Teaching Period(s)
JUST2287	City Campus	Undergraduate	135H Applied Sciences	Face-to-Face	Sem 2 2008, Sem 1 2010, Sem 2 2011

Course Coordinator: Ms Gloria Kyriacou

Course Coordinator Phone: +61 3

Course Coordinator Email: gloria.kyriacou@rmit.edu.au

Pre-requisite Courses and Assumed Knowledge and Capabilities

None

Course Description

This course offers knowledge of statutory and common law requirements in occupational health and safety (OHS) that are expected of OHS professionals. The course examines other key statutes relevant to the management of occupational and environmental health and safety including the Victorian WorkCover accident compensation scheme. The course also examines strategies for successful management at the prevention, intervention and return-to-work stages of injury and ill-health in the workplace.

Objectives/Learning Outcomes/Capability Development

Upon completion of the course the student will be expected to be able to:
• Demonstrate practical knowledge of relevant statutes and supporting regulatory and standards documents in OHS and environment.
• Demonstrate a critical understanding of strengths and weaknesses of law to achieve safe and healthy workplaces.
• Demonstrate critical thinking abilities to interpret relevant statutes and regulatory documents for management of occupational and environmental health and safety.
• Outline strategies for successfully managing the workers’ compensation system, including pre-claim approaches.
• Outline successful strategies for return-to-work programmes, including intervention and prevention.

Overview of Learning Activities

The learning activities included in this course are:

• attendance at lectures where syllabus material will be presented and explained, and the subject will be illustrated with demonstrations and examples;
• completion of tutorial questions and laboratory projects designed to give further practice in the application of theory and procedures, and to give feedback on student progress and understanding;
• completion of written assignments consisting of numerical and other problems requiring an integrated understanding of the subject matter; and
• private study, working through the course as presented in classes and learning materials, and gaining practice at solving conceptual and numerical problems.

Overview of Learning Resources

Students will be provided with lists of relevant texts, library resources (Including appropriate journals) and freely accessible Internet sites. Other material will be provided in class.
The recommended text for this course is:
Students must have access to the Victorian Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004
Bates G. (1995) Environmental law in Australia. 4th Edition. Butterworths, Sydney.
Students will be directed to Victorian Government Acts, Regulations and Codes of Practice/compliance codes in occupational health and safety and to Worksafe Australia Standards, Codes of Practice and Guidance Notes. In addition Victorian WorkCover Authority publications will be provided as appropriate.

Overview of Assessment

Evidence of understanding of various forms of legislation as it applies to OH&S will be required and will be assessed by reports, presentations and assignments.