Element 1 Flashcards
Health, Safety and Welfare?
Health:
The absence of disease or ill health. For example, asbestos creates a health risk because if you inhale asbestos dust you may contract lung cancer at some stage later in life (perhaps 20 or 30 years after you inhaled the dust). Health relates
not only to physical ill health but also to psychological ill health (e.g. exposure to extreme stress can lead to acute
mental collapse or a ‘nervous breakdown’).
Safety:
The absence of risk of serious personal injury.
For example, walking under a load suspended from a crane during a
lifting operation is not safe because if the load falls, serious personal injury or death could result. Staying out of the danger area results in safety.
Welfare:
Access to basic facilities such as toilet facilities, hand-wash stations, changing rooms, rest rooms, places where food
can be prepared and eaten in relatively hygienic conditions, drinking water and basic first-aid provision.
Direct and indirect costs?
Direct costs – the measurable costs arising directly from the accident.
• Indirect costs – those which arise indirectly as a consequence of the event. Indirect costs are often difficult to
quantify precisely and may be hard to identify.
Examples of direct costs:
• First-aid treatment.
• Worker sick pay.
• Repairs to, or replacement of, damaged equipment and buildings.
• Lost or damaged product.
• Lost production time while dealing with the injury.
Examples of indirect costs:
• Reduction in staff morale (which impacts on productivity, quality and efficiency).
• General difficulties in recruiting and retaining staff as a result of the accident.
• Loss of goodwill of customers following delays in production and fulfilling orders.
• Damage to public image and business reputation.
• Damage to industrial relations, perhaps leading to industrial action (e.g. strikes).
From the examples given you can see that, though more difficult to identify, the indirect costs associated with a
workplace accident can be very large indeed.
Insured and Uninsured costs?
Insured Costs:
1. Damage to plant, buildings and equipment.
2. Compensation paid to workers.
3. Medical costs.
4. Legal costs associated with a legal claim for
compensation.
Uninsured Costs:
1. Production delays or down time.
2. Loss of raw materials due to accidents.
3. Accident investigation time.
4. Criminal fines and legal costs.
5. Sick pay for injured workers.
6. Overtime to make up for lost production.
7. Hiring and training new employees.
8. Loss of business reputation.
Consequences of Non Compliance?
Failure to meet legal standards might lead to:
• Formal enforcement action: an enforcement agency might force
an employer either to make an improvement within the workplace
within a given time period, or to stop carrying out high risk activities
altogether until improvements are made. Failure to comply with formal
enforcement action is usually considered to be an offence in itself.
• Prosecution of the organisation in the criminal courts: successful
prosecution might result in punishment in the form of a fine.
• Prosecution of individuals, such as directors, managers and
workers: successful prosecution might result in punishment in the form of a fine and/or imprisonment.
Employer? Contractor? Client?
THE EMPLOYER
A person or organisation that employs people.
The employer in this context is normally an organisation, such as a company, and is sometimes referred to as the ‘corporate body’.
It is important to recognise that the employer in this context is not normally a natural person (a living,
breathing individual); instead, they are a legal person and exist only in a legal sense. For example, Apple Inc. is an employer and a legal Person
CONTRACTOR
A person or organisation engaged to undertake certain work on behalf of a client but not under the client’s
direct supervision and control.
Note that the word ‘contractor’ can be used to indicate both the company providing a contract service, and
the individual workers who work to provide that service.
CLIENT
A person or organisation who engages a contractor.
Permit to Work
A formal, documented safety procedure forming part of a safe system of work, which ensures that all necessary actions are taken before, during and after particularly high-risk work.
Civil Law?
The branch of law concerned with the right of individuals, for example, compensating people for harm that is done to them through no fault of their own.
