Australia Model Code of Practice Managing the Risks of Biological Hazards at Work 10.1-RESPOND: Encourage and enable immediate reporting of exposures with clear guidance on what to report and how, respecting privacy; take reasonably practicable steps to address the risk to those exposed while keeping the workplace safe, removing people from unsafe environments and protecting first aiders and cleaners with PPE, ventilation or air cleaning; keep policies and procedures setting roles, first aid, medical assessment, follow-up, reporting and out-of-hours or remote contacts; call 000 in an emergency and notify the regulator of serious incidents

What does 10.1-RESPOND require?

Workers should be urged to report any exposure, or possible exposure, to a biological hazard straight away, and told what counts as reportable and how to tell the PCBU or their supervisor, with the PCBU mindful of privacy when it handles the personal details that come with a report. Once an exposure or possible exposure occurs, the PCBU must take reasonably practicable steps to deal with the risk to the people affected while still meeting its other WHS duties, for instance getting people out of a workplace that is no longer safe and shielding those who give first aid or clean up by supplying suitable PPE or using ventilation or air cleaning to strip hazards from the air. Written policies and procedures that assign roles and responsibilities for an exposure make the response quick and sound; they can cover first aid, when a medical assessment is needed, the follow-up to be done and the reporting required, and should say what to do and whom to call for help outside business hours (a national helpline, for example) or from a remote site. When someone has serious symptoms, 000 is called for urgent medical help, and serious incidents at or connected with work are reported to the WHS regulator immediately with the site left undisturbed (section 10.3).