2017 Flashcards
Outline societal factors that influence health and safety standards. (10)
Economic Climate
The wealthiest countries of the world, where individuals have access to the basic necessities for life, such as food, clean water and shelter, have the funding to create and enforce good Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) standards. In countries where individuals do not have these resources, it is inevitable that OHS is given a relatively lower priority.
Government Policy and Initiatives
The government has a major influence on OHS policy through its ability to create legislation.
Industry/Business Risk Profile
Not surprisingly, higher-risk work activities require higher standards of control than those that create lower risks. For example, nuclear power stations each operate under a site licence and demand very rigorous OHS standards.
Globalisation of Business
Many businesses of all sizes operate both nationally and internationally, yet the standards demanded in the UK may be very different to those required by the overseas environment. Resolving differences in culture and communication may create different expectations and standards.
Migrant Workers
As a result of more flexible immigration policies, the proportion of migrant workers in workforces is generally increasing and cultural and communication issues may influence OHS standards.
Level of Sickness Absence
Employment and Support Allowances (which are replacing incapacity benefits) are paid to those who are unable to work because of ill health or disability.
Societal Expectations of Equality
Health and safety standards and priorities can be determined by changes in societies’ expectations of equality.
in the UK, the Equality Act 2010 aims to protect disabled people and prevent disability discrimination, requiring employers to make reasonable adjustments to the workplace to accommodate workers with disabilities.
(a) Outline how safety tours could contribute to improving health and safety performance in an organization.
(b) Outline how safety tours could contribute to improving health and safety culture in an organization.
Discussion of the specific health and safety requirements, problems, or standards that such tours may address, is not required.
(a)
§ improving health and safety Communication and consultation.
§ Helping to identify compliance or non-compliance with performance standards
§ Repeated tours in the same area can also reveal the improving or worsening trend
§ Helping to verify the implementation and effectiveness of the agreed course of actions.
§Additionally when tours carried out in different areas they can point up a common organisational health and safety problems and may identify the opportunity of improved performance through observations of the tour members or by their conversation with employees during the tour.
§When tours are carried out on unscheduled basis there are additional benefits of observing normal standards of behaviour rather than those specifically adopted for the event
(b)
Safety tours may also help to improve H&S culture of an organisation particularly if they are led on a regular basis by members of management indicating their commitment to the
cause.
§Additionally, prompt remedial action for deficiencies noted enhances the perception of the priority given to health and safety matters
§whilst the involvement of employees in the tours will again encourage ownership and improve their perception of the importance of the subject, particularly if the findings of the tours are shared with the workforce on a regular basis.
§Safety can encourage safe behaviour and criticize unsafe behaviour
§management showing commitment, taking remedial actions, communication, and removal of unsafe behaviour and also the involvement of workers in tours improving ownership.
(a) Outline key principles of the following risk management
strategies AND give an example of EACH:
(i) risk transfer;
(ii) risk reduction.
(b) When applying a risk reduction strategy, outline factors that
affect the choice of risk control measures.
(a)
Risk Transfer
The transfer involves transferring the risk to another party such as by insurance - the loss is financed from funds that originate outside the organization. The second main way is to engage a contractor who will take on the risks. is to transfer the risk to specialist contractors, e.g. for the removal of asbestos. In this way, the hazard is avoided by workers and the task is carried out professionally and in compliance with current legislation. A reputable company with suitably trained personnel and a good safety record should be used.
Risk Reduction
Often, avoidance or elimination may not be possible or reasonably practicable, or even desirable (if, for example, it would involve closing a factory with the loss of all jobs and high associated cost of redundancy). Risk reduction, while not as effective, might be a more economically viable solution.
Here the risks are systematically reduced through control measures, according to the hierarchy of risk control. This is the most common way to manage risks and aims to reduce the likelihood and/or severity of undesired consequences through preventative measures and/or contingency plans.
example using a flammable liquid with lower flash point.
(b)
Long Term/Short Term, Applicability and Costs it might be technically possible to achieve total elimination of a hazard(long-term objectives), the costs involved and the benefits achieved may mean that it does not pass the test of “reasonably practicable”.
PPE, although near the bottom of the hierarchy, may be acceptable for non-frequent exposure, such as in maintenance tasks (heir effect is of short duration).
Proportionality: Proportionality is achieved by concentrating on the real risks - those that are reasonably likely to cause a significant level of harm - and not wasting valuable time and resources on unlikely events with low-level outcomes.
Effectiveness of Controls, The more effective the control, the greater consideration should be given to its use.
Legal Requirements and Standards: In some circumstances, the legislation specifies the controls needed for a particular hazard. In these situations, any selected control measure will have to meet these standards as a minimum.
Competence of Personnel and Training Needs Some control: the user is competent to use them without them creating a risk to the worker concerned or others. This may mean the additional training and supervision which are an added cost.
Explain the domino and multi-causality theories of accident causation, including their respective uses and possible limitations in accident investigation and prevention. (10)
Single cause domino theory:
Heinrich
The major point that Heinrich makes is that a preventable injury is the natural culmination of a series of events or circumstances which occur in a fixed logical order. Heinrich’s accident sequence:
1. Ancestry and social environment.
2. Fault of person.
3. Unsafe act and/or mechanical or physical hazard.
4. Accident.
5. Injury.
If this sequence is interrupted by the elimination of even one of these factors, the injury cannot occur and the accident has been prevented.
Bird & Loftus extended Heinrich’s theory to take into account the influence of management in the cause and effect of accidents, suggesting a modified sequence of events:
- Lack of control by management.
- This permits the existence of basic causes (i.e. personal and job factors).
- In turn, this leads to immediate causes (such as substandard practices, conditions or errors).
- These are subsequently the direct causes of the accident.
- Finally, this results in a loss (which may be categorized as negligible, minor, serious, or catastrophic).
This modified sequence can be applied to every accident and is of basic importance to loss-control management..
limited to single cause linear analysis and therefore can oversimplify causation
Benefits -Structured accident investigation;
Bird & Loftus’s version encourages the search for underlying causes.
Limitations - Simplistic straight-chain thinking;
Heinrich’s model restricts the findings of underlying causes.
Multiple causations:
- There may be more than one cause of an accident, not only in sequence but occurring at the same time. For example:
a methane explosion requires:
• Methane in the explosive range of 5% to 15%.
• Oxygen, or air.
• Ignition source.
The ignition will only happen if these three events occur together. Each of the three events may, in themselves, be the end result of a number of different sequences of events. In an accident investigation, all causes must be identified.
The multi-causal model considers that there may be organizational, cultural, managerial, etc. causes that interact and result in an accident.
Benefits - Thorough accident investigation; Identification of all underlying causes including effects of managers and management systems; Encourages the use of a more systematic accident analysis such as fault tree analysis.
Limitations - a complex process, requires more time & resources to identify the full causation; practical difficulties in reaching a decision on the extent of an investigation
(a) Give the meaning of the term ‘contract’.
(b) Outline elements required for a contract to be legally
enforceable.
(c) Outline factors that make a contract potentially unenforceable.
(d) Outline actions taken by the contracted parties that make a
contract completed.
(a)
In the legal context, a contract is an exchange of promises, i.e. an agreement between two or more parties which is enforceable in a court of law.
(b)
in order for the contract to be enforceable the parties need to agree the offer
"”Offer: An offer is a promise to act or refrain from acting, which is made in exchange for a return promise to do the same. Some offers anticipate not another promise being returned in exchange but the performance of an act or forbearance from taking action. “”
and acceptance of the service Acceptance of an offer is the expression of assent to its terms with the passing of consideration (something of value) between them, Each party to a contract must provide something of value that induces the other to enter the agreement. The law calls this exchange of values “consideration.”
Competency and Capacity A natural person who enters a contract possesses complete legal capacity to be held liable for the duties he or she agrees to undertake,
Writing Requirement Not every contract need be in writing to be valid and binding on both parties. But nearly every state legislature has enacted a body of law that identifies certain types of contracts that must be in writing to be enforceable
(C)
Lack of Capacity
Capacity is a legal term meaning the mental ability to understand and be accountable for making a contract. If you make a contract with someone who lacks capacity, the individual can get out of the contract without penalty.
Three types of capacity:
Minors. A minor is someone under the legal age of consent in a state.Incompetent. Someone who is incompetent has a low IQ or is mentally disabled or has diminished capacity due to conditions like Alzheimer’s disease or dementia. Competency is presumed unless there exists a reason to declare a person as mentally incompetent
Under the Influence.
This category is for people who might usually be competent but who are under the influence of drugs or alcohol (including certain prescription drugs) when signing the contract
Duress or Undue Influence
The concept of a good contract means that both individuals are making the agreement of their own free will and that no one has been forced to sign.
Illegal Contract
in illegal contract is one that involves acts that are against the law or public policy (laws or regulations). For example, an agreement to buy and sell illegal drugs is unenforceable,
Unwritten Contract
In general, a contract doesn’t have to be in writing, but some types of contracts must be in writing to be enforceable
Misrepresentation/Fraud
Fraud is an intentional act that is intended to deprive someone of their right or to do them an injury. In contracts, it’s deception about a material (important) part of the contract. Fraud can be either positive (telling a lie) or negative (not telling the truth or the whole truth). If it can be proven that one of the parties to a contract commits fraud, the contract can be unenforceable.
D)
when all parties have fulfilled their obligations the contract can be said to have been completed, or when the parties agree to release the other of any obligations.
For a range of internal information sources:
(a) outline how EACH source contributes to risk assessment;(7)
(b) outline the limitations of these information sources.(3)
- Incident: Accident, Near-miss Reports, Ill-health data / Investigation Reports: these reports are useful information as they clearly identify hazards that either have or had the potential to cause injury / ill health. These data are useful during the risk assessment as they help in the evaluation of likelihood and severity of the injury and hence contributing to estimate the degree of risk involved;
- Proactive Monitoring data such as Inspection reports – may be useful in identifying the easily observed hazardous conditions in the workplace and also common type of control failures. This process not only aids the hazard identification process but also influence risk assessment; the effectiveness of various control options can be better estimated based on current controls
- Audit reports may be useful in similar way; in identifying hazards that have been overlooked and identifying the effectiveness / reliability of existing control measures.
- Maintenance Records – may be useful in determining the effectiveness of particular control in the workplace, such as automatic warning system, guards, PPEs, etc.
limitation
§The possibility of under reporting;
§The fact that though there are few accidents, this may not be as a result of an effective health and safety management system and additionally, in a low risk business, few accidents are not always an indicator of effective control while in a business where the risks are high, a large number of accidents may not always indicate an ineffective management system;
§Internal information is obviously very relevant to risk assessments. However, the absence of accidents is not a very good indication that all is well. Can you think why this is so?Accidents should be rare occurrences. Quite often there is a large element of chance involved in the severity of an accident. Near misses, which are usually a much larger figure, are a better indicator of risk
Outline content of typical behavioural change programmes.(20)
- Engagement, commitement, support from both employees and management, Management and workforce for the behavioural safety process is vital for the success of the programme, without the management engament there won’t be any commitmment or allocation of ressources.
- Training requirement: training in behavioural safety techniques will be required. for those who are managing the program on how to identify critical safety behaviours and how to provide feedback, either face-to-face or to a group. The number of individuals trained and the depth of the training will depend on the specific programme.
In addition to steering group training, observers needs training in how to conduct observations and how to record the information.
- Clear, concise definitions of behaviours targeted for change. The majority of behavioural safety programmes develop a list of critical safety behaviours to be included on a checklist that is completed by observers. A range of techniques can be used to identify critical health and safety behaviours to include on the checklist, These targeted behaviours are chosen from past incident reports, safety assessments, observation, and near miss data.
- An observation process.
The first stage in the process is conducting observations. In general, peers conduct observations, but in some programmes they are conducted by superiors.In general, the observer is given a checklist with a list of behaviours (e.g. wearing all correct PPE) and the observer has to indicate if the individual is safe, unsafe or the behaviour was not observed.
- A feedback process.
Positive feedback is one of the most important elements in the process, as this is the positive consequence that is introduced to reinforce safe behaviour. There are two main types of feedback, summative and formative, but formative should only be given in private or it may be perceived as a punishment.
Three factors influence the impact of feedback, these are:
Timing: Feedback should be timed so that it is useful and meaningful to the person receiving the feedback. Feedback tends to be most effective immediately after the behaviour.
Focus: The feedback should be specific and focus on the desired behaviour
Fit: The feedback should fit with the expectations of the person receiving the feedback.
- A process for identifying and remediating hazards : Modify Environment The observation and feedback process may identify unsafe conditions or barriers (antecedents) to individuals behaving safely. Improvements to the environment or systems may be required in order to improve employees’ behaviour.
Monitor Performance - Monitor Performance : The change in performance is tracked over time, to assess the impact of the programme on the critical safety behaviours. The change in the percentage of observations where a behaviour is safe indicates the effectiveness of the process
Some time trends are communicated to raise a sense of motivation.
A train driver has passed a stop signal resulting in a collision with another train. Investigation of the incident concluded that the driver had seen the overhead signal but had not perceived the overhead signal correctly. There had been a number of previous similar incidents at the signal, although the driver was not aware of this.The driver concerned was inexperienced and had not received information and training associated with that route. The signal was difficult to see being partly obscured by a bridge and affected by strong sunlight. In addition, the arrangement of the lights on the signal was a non-typical formation. The driver had approached the signal with no expectation from previous signals that it would be on ‘stop’.
(a) Givepractical reasons why the driver may not have perceived the signal correctly.
(b) Outline the steps that could be taken to help reduce the likelihood of a recurrence of this incident.
1)
•Sensation
oFailure to distinguish colour Sensory defect –colour blindness (sensory defect.)
oSignal colour affected by strong sunlight / glare
oDefective signal –too dim
•Attention
oSignal did not catch drivers attention
oShort duration
oLost amongst other information, distraction
•Perception
oMisread signal because of its unusual formation
oExpectation (perceptual set)
oEffects of drugs or alcohol, drugs oFatigue
2)
Job:
-Signal design to meet Traffic Signal Specification Requirements /signal should be located where the operator can have a clear unbsecured view of it / the maintance of signal should be inculded in the raileway maintenance program.
-Breaks/Shift patterns, breaks between shift shall respect the minimum resting hours 11-12 hours; and and shift length shall not exceed the maximum
-Cab glazing
-Automatic train Protection ATP will provide additional layer of protection by ensuring trains operate within permitted speed allowed by signalling, including automatic stop at certain signal aspects
Organisation:
- Repair and maintenance of railway facilities should be properly implemented. To ensure the safety of railway traffic, the maintenance and upgrade of facilities such as railway tracks and signals will be carried out appropriately.
- Alcohol and substance misues policy oraganisation should take all reasonable steps to ensure that all relevant personnel are made aware of this Policy statement, random screening of relevant personnel.
- improvement of the incident and near-miss reporting system
- Feedback re positive action
- In order to prevent serious train accidents, for sharing the risk information among the related parties collected and analyzed information on the incidents, will be communicated promptly to train operators.
- carry out safety audits of railway operators, either on a regular basis or in consideration of the occurrence of an accident. Based on the results of the audit, they will provide appropriate instructions to the operators regarding the maintenance and management of facilities and trains, railway operation procedures, education and training of railway crews and safety management systems.
Individual:
•Pre-employment screening, and selection of drivers to ensure capability
•Training and assessment In order to maintain the competency of railway crew, the operators will be encouraged to carry out regular scientific aptitude tests
•Ongoing supervision to oversee the effectiveness of the safety management system, and to that all the necessary requirements are complied with on a continuous basis.
•Health surveillance
(a) Outline the role of health and safety legislation in the workplace. (10)
(b) Outline the limitations of health and safety legislation in the workplace.(10)
(a) The role of health and safety legislation in the workplace is
- To provide workers with the minimum standards of health and safety which through employer compliance, prevents injuries and occupational illness
- The legislation kept up to date by the government and applies to all workplaces ensuring consistent application.
- The legislation may be prescriptive, or goal setting, supported by an approved code of practices or guidance to assist interpretation of standards required.
- Prescriptive legislation provides specific advice and rules to follow while the role of goal-setting legislation is to provide general advice and localized interpretation and ownership.
- It ensures the appointment of competent workplace inspectors and allows for penalties against those who are found to be breaking the law.
- Legislation can address any specific regional needs, may harmonize standards amongst countries, provides a civil route for obtaining compensation even if no fault liability exists in certain countries, and is a demonstration of compliance with ILO conventions.
(b)
- In the case of prescriptive legislation, it quickly becomes outdated, does not address social, technological, or economic changes, and often lacks detailed regulations to supplement its requirements while the interpretation of goal-setting legislation is variable and inconsistent.
- Much of the legislation addresses industrial safety and not occupational health.
- There are often insufficient resources available for inspecting workplaces and enforcing the legislation and often the limited penalties awarded are not a sufficient deterrent for employers caught breaking the law.
- Additionally, many employers and workers are unfamiliar with the content of the
legislation and this is not helped by the lack of involvement of employers, trade unions, and workers in the process of standard-setting. - Again, the main and often sole limitation that came to mind and was mentioned was the variety and inconsistency in the interpretation of goal setting legislation.
(a) outline the principle of fault tree analsis
(b) outline the technique of fault tree analysis
(d) Identify main cause of false alarms
(ii) remedial actions that could minimize false alarm.
a) FTA is a top down, deductive failure analysis in which an undesired state of a system is analyzed using boolean logicto combine a series of lower-level events. This analysis method is mainly used in the field of safety engineeringand reliability engineeringto determine the probability of a safety accident or a particular system level (functional) failure.Fault trees graphically represent the interaction of failures and other events within a system. Basic events at the bottom of the fault tree are linked via logic symbols (known as gates) to one or more TOP events. These TOP events represent identified hazards or system failure modes for which predicted reliability or availability data is required.
B)
(i) Definition of the scope of the analysis. It defines the purpose and extent of the assessment, as well as the basic assumptions made.
(ii) Familiarisation with the design, functions, and operations of the process. The process should be described so that all of the members of the assessment team understand it.
(iii) Identification of the top event. An event appropriate to be assessed using the fault tree methodology should be identified, and is usually the onset or existence of a dangerous condition, or the inability of the system to provide the desired performance.
(iv) Construction of the fault tree. This consists of the breakdown of the top event to identify the primary events.
(v) Analysis of the fault tree. The addition of frequencies and probabilities into the fault tree for the primary events to quantify the risk of the top event.
(vi) Documentation of the results. This should include documentary evidence of all of the work performed by the assessment team, the information required for its performance, as well as the results produced by the team with any associated conclusions.
application of control measures once new measure are implemented the probality can recalcualted.
d)
ii)
1) , A regular maintenance and cleaning regime to remove dust and insects in the vicinity of detectors.
Dust that collects in an smoke detector head could be removed by a quarterly vacuum cleaning, however, a maintenance contractor should still thoroughly service all detectors at relevant intervals
2) relocation or protection of the detector. from sun UV if it isn’t practical the possibility of changing type of sensore could be consider,
3) use battery backup should be checked annually, or after any storm related false alarm, by an alarm technician and replaced when needed.
4) test the system monthly. Always contact your alarm company before you test the system.
5) voting system can also be used to avoid it
(a) Give the meaning of the term ‘motivation’.
(b) Outline Maslow’s model of the hierarchy of human needs AND give a suitable example within EACH stage of the model.
A)Motivation – the factors that influence an individual to behave in a certain way. Most people are generally motivated to avoid accidents and ill health, although other motivators may conflict with the general principle. For example, wearing PPE may be uncomfortable and interfere with the task and so may encourage people to take greater risk by not using it. Motivation is a driving force for individual behaviour.
B) Abraham Maslow suggested five levels of human need, which he arranged in a hierarchy:
5-Self actualisation
4-Esteem : Self-confidence, respect, good reputation, etc.
3-Social :Strong bonds, love relationships
2-Safety or Security:A sense of security of the self, job security, health security, safe environment, etc.
1-Biological ood, water, shelter, sleep, excretion, etc.
The order in which the needs are listed is significant in two ways:
•It is the order in which they are said to appear in the normal development of the person.
•It is the order in which they have to be satisfied and if earlier needs are not satisfied, the person may never get around to doing much about the later ones.
From this theory, you might expect that people in a poor society will be mostly concerned with physiological and safety needs, whereas those in an affluent society will manage to satisfy those lower needs in the hierarchy and, in many cases, will be preoccupied with the need for self-actualisation.
Stage 1:Food and water are, in fact, the two basic requirements for our survival. Air, food, and water come under “physiological needs” , which must be satisfied before moving on to other needs.
Stage 2: a secured career is, in fact, the dream of everyone. For example, being fired and not having savings can make our safety needs very difficult to get fulfilled. It falls in the category of “safety needs.” Shelter, home, employees strive to get into a safe and secure work environment. It belongs to “safety needs.”
Stage 3:
To avoid problems such as loneliness, depression, and anxiety, it is important for us to have a healthy social life. Personal relationships with friends, family, and lovers play an important role, so as being associated with other groups like religious groups, sports teams, book clubs, etc. It falls into the category of “social belonging.”
Stage 4: Job Titles and Recognition, Academic Results An excellent academic result will increase her recognition in the school and society, which will increase the confidence, respect, and esteem of the student. It also belongs to “self-esteem.”
Stage 5: The need for self-actualisation refers to the person’s need to develop his or her full potentialities; the meaning varies from person to person, for each has different potentialities. For some, it means achievement in literary or scientific fields; for others, leadership in politics or the community; for still others, merely living their own lives fully without being unduly restrained by social conventions. ‘Self-actualisers’ are found among professors, businessmen, political leaders, artists and housepersons
(a) Give the meaning of the term ‘health and safety culture’.
(b) Outline organizational factors that may act as barriers to the improvement of the health and safety culture of an organization.
A ) safety cullture is “A system of shared values and beliefs about the importance of health and safety in the workplace. “An attitude to safety which pervades the whole organisation from top to bottom and has become a norm of behaviour for every member of staff from the board of
directors down to the newest juniors.”
B)
-Organisational Change:
Company reorganisations often leave individuals worried about job security and their position in the organisation. Many people fear change and, unless it is handled correctly, will mistrust management.
-Lack of Confidence in Organisation’s Objectives and Methods:
Most companies have objectives relating to productivity and safety. If productivity appears to take precedence over safety, however, then worker perception will be that the company is unethical and untrustworthy with little commitment to safety, which will lead to a subsequent deterioration in the safety culture.
-Uncertainty:
Uncertainty about the future can lead to dissatisfaction, lack of interest in the job and generally poor attitudes towards the company and colleagues.Uncertainty is often caused by management behaviour which sends mixed behaviour signals to the workforce.
– Lack of leadership and commitments:
Invisible leadership from management, not demonstrating management’s commitment to health and safety means that management is seriously discussing the issue of safety in the conference room but does not demonstrate the reality on the ground. This is the biggest obstacle to improving an organization’s safety culture.
– ineffective safety incident reporting system:
if there is no robust system for reporting incidences, including near misses, workers do not report it and hazards cannot be dealt with or can remain hidden,
– Lack of participation and consultation of workers:Risk assessment and the decision to control hazards are very important processes in any organization to do the job safely. But if workers do not participate and are not even communicated, they may not know what safety measures they should take while carrying out the work.
- Insadequate resourcing can send a wrong message to employees thinking that the management isn’t concerened with safety related issue.
IdentifyFIVE groups external to an organisation that may need to be provided with health and safety information for legal or good practice reasons AND, in EACH case, outline the type of information to be provided.(10)
1- National Governmental enforcement agencies such as UK’s HSE, USA’s OSHA, Western Australia’s worksafe. These all produce legal and best practices Guidance. Require all work-related injuries and incidents to be reported. Some of the accident data collected is used to generate the statistics required by legislation.
2- Insurance company with organization’s risk profile, work condition, equipments used so they can assess the risk to set a premium,
3- emergency service - sometimes organization provide information such as the fire fighting means , emergency evacuation plans for inspection and consultation.
4- Chemical company (suppler of) would provide information such as the types of chemicals, their effects, and properties, and this type of information is beneficial to the public living in the vicinity, emergency services,
5- Trade Associations: Trade associations are formed from a membership of companies who operate in a particular area of commerce and exist for their benefit. the information to be provided by organization to the association is Sharing of good practice, guidlines, codes of practice, and regular briefing notes on technical issues and regulatory developments
6- Customers/client - may require the company to be 45001, accredited, or incident status.
Outline the essential features of permit-to-work systems.(10)Detail of the content of permit forms is notrequired
The essential features of a PTW system include
-Clear identification of the types of work requiring PTW
-Clear roles and responsibilities of personnel involved in PTW processes
-Provision of effective training and clear instructions to all roles involved in the PTW
-Proper authorisation of designated work, based on work nature or work of any type within certain designated areas
-Clear specification of the necessary safeguards or precautions for a job activity
-Shift handover procedure: If work is carried over onto another shift, then a handover procedure should be in place. This process ensures that incoming workers are aware of any outstand-ing permit controlled jobs, the status of each job, and the status of the facility. Any work in progress should be left in a condition that can be easily communi-cated and understood by the incoming shift.
-Site surveillance and supervision of work activities are carried out as intended
-Conduct of risk assessments and implementation of risk control measures
-Complete documentation of the entire PTW system including all procedures, roles and responsibilities, training and arrangements for work activities that may interact or be incompatible with one another.
-Coordination and control of permits,It’s important to make sure that activities under a permit do not create danger for another, even if the work does not require a PTW.
-Suspensun Work may sometimes be suspended for various reasons. Whether it’s due to a conflict with other work, scope changes, or other reasons, a permit will be sus-pended until work is ready to be continued
-The hand-back: the handback procedure acts as a final checklist for any work performed under a permit, ensuring that all work performed under has been completely success-fully.
It is imperative that occupier/site management consult parties that will be involved in the PTW when developing the system. This consultative approach enhances ownership and communication, will lead to an effective PTW system.
A forklift truck is used to move loaded pallets in a large distribution warehouse. On one particular occasion the truck skidded on a patch of oil. As a consequence, the truck collided with an unaccompanied visitor and crushed the visitor’s leg
(a)Outline why the accident should be investigated.(4)
(b)The initial responses of reporting and securing the scene of the accident have been carried out. Outline actions that should be taken in order to collect evidence for an investigation of the accident.(8)
(c)The investigation reveals that there have been previous skidding incidents that had not been reported and the organisation therefore decides to introduce a formal system for reporting near miss incidents.
Outline factors that should be considered when developing and implementing such a system.(8)
1)
a) To identify the causes of the accident ( immediate & root causes ) and o establish the necessary corrective action in order to prevent a similar recurrence,
b) To identify the need to review risk assessments and safe system of work.
c) To determine compliance with relevant legislation
d) To demonstrate management commitment to H&S and to restore employee morale
e) To collect information and evidence that may be needed in the event of a civil claim,
f) To provide useful information for the costing of accidents and for identifying trends
2)
•Photographs, sketches and measurements may be taken before the scene of the accident is disturbed
- Examining and retaining any available CCTV footage,
- Checking the condition of the forklift truck and if possible determining it’s speed at the time of the accident,
- Checking the load that was being carried & the safe working load of the truck.
- Have there been any issues with visibility as the load was being carried?
- Finding the reasons of oil spillage,
- Determining whether emergency spillage procedures are there in place & why they were not followed in this occasion?
- Assessing the competence of forklift driver
- Examining the workplace to determine any contributing environmental factors e.g. adequate lighting, condition of floor?
- If possible, Interviewing relevant witness and visitors, and
- Checking existing procedures for dealing with visitors, what are reception staffs meant to do when meeting visitors?
3)
•First of all, determine what a near miss is, and ensure that everyone is clear about the meaning of it,
- Carry out consultations with employees on the purpose of the proposed system,
- Arranging necessary training and information for employees,
- Ensurethat the new reporting method is simple to understand and operate.
- Establishing a clear reporting lines
- Introducing and practicing no blame culture to encourage employees to report incidents,
- Arranging for investigation of incidents by line management to ensure identification and implementation of remedial action needed,
- A procedure for reporting back is to be established in order for affected individuals or groups to be informed of conclusions and future action to prevent recurrence.
- The introduction of a system to collate, analyse and monitor data periodically.
Outline the key elements of ILO-OSH-2001 Guidelines on Occupational Health
ILO-OSH-2001 key elements:
Policy : Developed in consultation with workers, this should be signed by a senior member of the organisation. It should commit the organisation to protecting the health and safety of employees, compliance with applicable laws and guidance, consultation with employees and their participation, and continuous improvement.
Organising: this involves establishing responsibilities and relationships which promote a positive safety and health culture throughout the company from top to bottom. specific roles should be delegated/allocated throughout the organisation, including delegation of responsibility, accountability and authority. The structure and processes need to be in place to, amongst other things:
•Actively promote co-operation and effective two-way communication in order to implement the safety management system.
•Establish arrangements to identify and control workplace risks.
•Provide supervision.
•Provide adequate resources, etc.
•Ensuring that the designated people have the relevant competencies to perform their duties on safety and health.
•Keeping full records of inspections, accident..
Planning and Implementation: This should start with an initial review to understand the organisation’s current position. (identify applicable laws, standards, guidelines; assess health and safety risks to the organisatio) ; determine if existing (or planned) controls are adequate;
The next stage is the planning, development and implementation of the safety management system This should involve the setting SMART, the creation of a plan to meet those objectives, as well as selecting appropriate measurement criteria. at the implementation stage the hierachy of control is used to eliminate and control HS risk to the organization.
As the plan should consider foreseable emergencies, management chanage to manage change in a systimic way(Risk Ass),
Procurement procedures should make sure HS requirement are an integral part of purchasing and leasing(rent) specifications HSR are considered in the selection of the contractor.
Evaluation: A procedures need to be in place to monitor, measure and record the performance of the health and safety system. which relies on a mixture of qualitative and quantitative and active and reactive performance measures.
An audit policy (scope, competen, freq, method). Audit should be done to evaluate the performance of the occupational health and safety management system elements mentioned above. as part the evaluation a management review should be carrie out to evaluate the overall OHSMS progress towards the organization’s goal.
Action for Improvement: this invloves creation of a list of corrective actions upon the evaluation process; identifying root causes of problems requireing correction, and establishing a system in place that make sure the action carried ( checks made of their effectiveness).
Continual Improvement: The organisation should strive to continually improve. It should compare itself with other similar organisations
Outline the key elements: Management Systems; OHSAS 18001:2007 Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems. (20)
Occupational Health and Safety Policy: This should state the overall health and safety objectives of the organisation and express commitment to improving health and safety performance. To demonstrate that commitment, the policy should be authorised by top management. The policy should commit the organisation to continual improvement and compliance with legislation.
Planning: This is needed for the effective identification of hazards and assessment and control of risks. This means that the organisation needs procedures to cover risks in all activities, and for identifying any applicable law. HS objective consistent with HS policy, and a managment program to achieve it to be established as part of the planing process the managment program will incules ; designation of roles/responsibilities, timescales etc.
Implementation and Operation: the necessary organisational structure and resources need to be put in place to implement the plans, people should be competent to perform their designated roles, and this may involve training and maintaining awareness. The organisation requires systems in place to make sure that health and safety information is communicated to/from employees. employees should also be consulted on health and safety matters and be involved in the development and review of policies and procedures.
t is important to document the systems and exercise control over those documents (so that they are accessible, periodically reviewed, kept up to date (version control), retained (e.g. legal requirements for document retention)). There should be documented procedures where necessary to control risks arising from the range of operations within the organisation. there should be plans and procedures (which should be regularly tested) to cover potential emergencies.
Checking and Corrective Action:
The organisation needs procedures to ensure that it regularly measures and monitors health and safety performance (proactive, reactive, qualitative, quantitative). Procedures should also be in place to record and investigate accidents/non-conformances and to make sure that remedial actions are implemented and that such actions have been effective. Occupational health and safety data (including audit and review results) should be recorded. There should be an audit programme to identify whether the occupational health and safety management system is operating as planned and is effective
Management Review:
This is the job of top management. The whole system should be periodically reviewed to make sure it continues to be effective. This relies on results gathered during the “checking and corrective action” stage. The review may, in turn, lead to changes in the policy, objectives and other elements of the management system. It should, like everything else, be documented
(a)Outline the meaning and relevance of the following terms in the context of controlling human error in the workplace:
(i) ergonomics;(2)
(ii)anthropometry;(2)
(iii)task analysis.(2)
(b)Other than ergonomic issues, outline ways in which human reliability in the workplace may be improved.(14)
In your answer, consider ‘individual’, ‘job’ and ‘organisational’ issues.
(Ii)anthropometry:
This is a study of human measurements, such as shape, size, and range of joint movements. A machine must be designed for the person. Since no two people are the same, a design is required which will suit, or can be adapted for, a wide range of sizes of individuals.
The collection of data on human physical dimensions and its application to equipment design
(iI)Task analysis
The breaking down of tasks into successively more detailed actions and the analysis of the scope for human error with each station.
(i)Ergonomics
is the study of the relationship between workers and their environment, ensuring a good ‘fit’ between people and the things they use. Essentially it involves “fitting the task to the man” rather than “fitting the man to the task”. The order of operations and work practices can be modified so that each person is working to full efficiency.
the human error at the workplace can be controlled by:
§The design of equipments
§Task and environment to take account of human limitations and capabilities
Job factors: o Allowing Appropriate rest breaks o Introduction of task analysis for the critical task in order to break the task into steps, Each step can be examined in detail to try to identify where human error might occur. o The design of work patterns o Shift organisation to minimise stress and fatigue shift workers need adequate rest beween shift as well as regular rest days " recharge their batteries". o The use of job rotation to counter monotony and boredom and maintain some form of interest o Usage of sufficient number of personnel to avoid constant time pressures, and excessive work load. o complext (calculations, decisions or diagnose)task to be broken down into simpler units to give greater clarity
Individual factors:
Training (Safety induction, Job specific and refresher) –in the absence of proper, effective training, worker will not know how to behave correctly and they will do what they see as the best.
o Incentive Scheme: if worker see some form of reward for good behaviour then they are more likely to comply with the rules, etc. and they are also more likely toexercise care when performing their duties because they have a personal reason for caring about outcomes. Incentive can be financial in nature , but may have no financial value at all (e.g; Employee of the Month scheme )
o Individual characteristics suchas personal attitudes, skills, qualifications and aptitude.
o The consideration of special needs of those who may be more vulnerable.
o Monitoring personal safety performanceo Using workplace incentive schemes.
o Assessing job satisfaction and a counselling service for those recognised as suffering from the effect of stress
Organisation factors:
o Employee selection: recruiting the right worker for the job is an important measure. For example a worker with high IQ on a monotonous job is likely to bend and break the rules to relieve the monotony.
o Supervision: The provision of adequate level of supervision. It is vital that workers are
o supervised to an adequate level in the workplace so that non-compliance and errors are detected and corrected early. This prevents bad habits from forming and sends a clear message to the workers: rule breaking will not be tolerated.
o Demonstrable Management commitment -without strong leadership workers will not feel motivated to behave correctly.
o Development of a positive health and safety culture through:
§Introduction of effective health and safety management system , policy should consider the human factor as a disting element whch must be recognized
Human error is significantly reduced by providing proper, timely feedback to the individual or group.
§Maximising employees’ involvement in health and safety issues. this can be achieved by thier involvment in the development process of the managment system.
§Ensuring effective arrangements for employees’ consultation.
§The introduction of procedures for change management.
o The introduction of good communication arrangements between individuals, shifts and groups, so that workers feel engaged in the decision making process in the workplace and therefore feel a greater level of commitment to work.
a) Outline the purpose of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) Codes of Practice.
b) Outline how International labor standards are created at the International Labour Conference.
c) Outline how the ILO can influence health and safety standards in different countries.
d) Outline how the media can influence attitudes towards health and safety.
A) The ILO Codes of Practice contain practical recommendations for those responsible for health and safety and are intended as guides for public authorities, employers and workers. They are not intended to replace the provisions of laws and regulations and are not legally binding. They do, however, provide additional information in clear language and provide support for conventions adopted by the ILO.
B) The creation of an International Labour Standard is organised by ILO and is initially the subject of an agenda item at the ILO conference. The ILO prepares a report analysing the requirements of members’ laws which is circulated to all members. The item is discussed at conference and a further report is prepared together with a proposed draft of the standard. This is again put to conference, amended where necessary and then proposed for adoption. Adoption needs a two thirds majority of members of the conference.
c) On the mechanisms by which the International Labour Organisation can influence health and safety standards in different countries, such as
- The development of international labour standards through conventions supplemented by recommendations containing additional or more detailed provisions;
- The ratification of the conventions by member states which commits them to apply the terms of the convention in national law and practice;
- The requirement for member states to submit reports to the ILO detailing their compliance with the obligations of the conventions they have ratified;
- The initiation of representation and complaint procedures against countries for violation of a convention they have ratified;
- The provision of technical assistance to member states where this is seen to be necessary and indirectly through the pressure applied internationally on non.-participating countries to adopt ILO standards.
-d) The global coverage of incidents involving health and safety by the media which may influence the perceptions of the clients, customers and other stakeholders of the companies or industries involved.
- Making the public, and in particular duty holders, aware of enforcement action such as prosecutions, convictions and civil actions, through the newspapers, TV/radio and the Internet.
- Enforcement bodies making information on good health and safety practice easily accessible to duty holders
- Companies publicising good health and safety performance to promote their services and to secure a competitive advantage by being seen as good employers.
- Adverse publicity orders are a sanction that the courts may impose against organisations that fail to comply with legal requirements. They will have an adverse effect on the perceived reputation of the organisation.
