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KindPath Collective Inc

Work Health and Safety Policy and Procedures

Version 1.0 | Effective: 29 August 2026 | Review: 29 August 2027 | Owner: Director

1. Purpose

To protect the physical and psychological health and safety of everyone working for KindPath, including family members and informal workers who may not think of themselves as “employees” but are owed the same protection.

2. Legislative and standards basis

Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (NSW) and Work Health and Safety Regulation 2017 (NSW). This applies to KindPath as a “person conducting a business or undertaking” (PCBU), which includes obligations toward workers regardless of their formal employment classification, and toward participants and others affected by KindPath’s work.

3. Policy statement

KindPath, as PCBU, must so far as reasonably practicable ensure the health and safety of workers and others. This explicitly includes psychosocial hazards (harmful interpersonal conduct, boundary violations, isolation, unclear role expectations) alongside physical hazards — psychosocial risk is not an afterthought under the current WHS Regulation, it is a defined hazard category providers must actively manage.

4. Hazard identification relevant to KindPath’s model

  • Physical: home-visit environments not controlled by KindPath (trip hazards, pets, driving risk between visits).
  • Psychosocial: working alone with a participant, with limited backup; role ambiguity for informal/family workers; boundary-testing behaviour from a participant; exposure to distressing situations without debrief support.
  • Family-member worker specific: the emotional load of managing a professional boundary with someone the worker also has a personal relationship with; reduced likelihood of a family-member worker escalating discomfort early, precisely because the relationship feels “safe” by default.

5. Procedures

  1. Induction covers WHS responsibilities alongside the Safe Environment Policy.
  2. Reporting. Any worker can report a hazard, near-miss, or injury — physical or psychosocial — to the Director without it affecting how they’re treated. This explicitly includes reporting discomfort about a participant interaction, even where nothing “went wrong.”
  3. Consultation. Workers are consulted on WHS matters that affect them, including being asked directly, not just assumed to be fine.
  4. Notifiable incidents. A death, serious injury/illness, or dangerous incident involving a worker is notified to SafeWork NSW as required under the WHS Act, in addition to KindPath’s own Incident Management Policy process.
  5. Review. WHS risks are reviewed as part of the Risk Management Policy’s quarterly cycle, with psychosocial hazards given equal weight to physical ones.

6. Roles and responsibilities

  • Director (as PCBU): primary duty holder; ensures hazards are identified and controlled, consults workers, and responds to reports without minimising psychosocial concerns.
  • Workers: take reasonable care for their own safety and others’; report hazards, including psychosocial ones, promptly.

7. Related documents

Safe Environment Policy · Risk Management Policy · Sexual Harassment and Bullying Prevention Policy · Incident Management Policy

8. Review

Annually.