IA1 Flashcards
Outline the purpose of the organisation and arrangements section of a health and safety policy.(4)
#The Purpose of the organisation section. - is to Identify health and safety responsibilities within the company and to ensure effective delegation and reporting lines. #The purpose of the arrangements section. - is to set out in detail the specific systems and procedures,the arrangements section aims to assist in the implementation of the general policy.
Outline why it is important that all workers are aware of their roles and responsibilities for health and safety in an organisation.(8)
#Workers roles in health and safety,will assist in defining their individual responsibilities,this will indicate the commitment and leadership of senior management,clear delegation of duties will assist in sharing out the health and safety workload and will ensure contributions from different levels and jobs. #Workers responsibilities for health and safety helps set up clear lines of reporting and communication,assist in defining individual competencies and training needs,responsibilities can increase motivation which improves morale throughout the organisation.
Identify the issues that could be included in the arrangements section of an organisations health and safety policy. (8)
-arrangements for reporting accidents and unsafe conditions.
-safe systems of work such as forklift checklists.
-arrangements for carrying out risk assessments.
-controlling exposure to specific hazards.eg.noise and manual handling.
-monitoring standards of health and safety in the organisation.eg.safety tours,inspections,audits.
-procedures for dealing with emergencies.eg fire,flooding.
-procedures for controlling and supervising contractors and visitors
re-use of personal protective equipment such as safety glasses and ear plugs.
Outline the requirements for the development of and key objectives within the policy section of a health and safety management systems such as that detailed in the ILO-OSH 2001 Guidelines on Occupational health and safety management systems (11)
- key objectives of the policy should be to protect the safety and health of all members of the organisation.
- set out in writing a policy which should be specific to the organisation.
- appropriate to its size and nature of activities.
- must be concise,clearly written,dated and made effective by the signature of the employer.
- should be communicated and made readily accessible to all persons at their place of work.
- reviewed for continuing suitability and revised when seen to be necessary.
- should be made available to relevant external interested parties as appropriate.
- prevention of work related injuries,ill-health diseases and incidents.
- aims of securing a continual improvement in the standard of the system.
- ensuring workers and their representatives are consulted and encouraged to participate actively in all elements.
- in compliance with relevant occupational health and safety national laws and regulations.
Describe how the effectiveness of a health and safety management system could be measured.(6)
A health and safety management system can be measured via pro-active measures and reactive measures.Pro-active measures performance involve carrying out activities such as safety inspections,safety tours and safety audits.Reactive measures are found through historical data via investigation of accidents and cases of ill-health,viewing and preparing incident rates.
Giving an example in each case,…Outline the format in which the data gathered on health and safety performance could be presented clearly in a companies annual report.(3)
Graphical representation.eg.Pie charts,Histograms and accident statistics.
Tabular numerical representation.eg.Number of risk assessments completed.
Textual representation.eg.Summaries of departmental initiatives and case studies.
Outline the reasons for introducing health and safety management systems.(10)
The reasons for introducing health and safety management systems include: #Moral- the concept of reasonable care,the unacceptability of putting the health and safety of people at risk,societies attitude to moral obligations,accident/incident and ill-health statistics,the effect of size of organisation on accident/incident rates. #Legal-Preventive law(prohibition notices),Punitive law( civil claims),the compensatory effects of law,the principle of self regulation #Economic- the costs associated with accidents/incidents and ill-health and their impact on society and on organisations,the insured and uninsured costs,the financial benefits of effective health and safety management.
There are wider reasons for introducing health and safety management systems to add:
-health and safety management systems are designed to enable an organisation to fulfil its health and safety objectives whilst delivering continual improvement in the effectiveness and efficiency of the system itself,supporting corporate governance,satisfying enforcement agencies and giving a potential marketplace advantage through the direct benefits of the system which should be evident through reductions in the numbers and scale of loss outcomes such as occupational illnesses, injuries and property damage incidents.
Outline the benefits of an integrated health and safety,environmental and quality management system.(10)
-consistency of format,lower cost,avoidance of duplication in procedural,record-keeping,compliance auditing and software areas.
- avoids narrow decision making.
- encourages priorities and resource utilisation that reflects the overall needs of the organisation rather than an individual discipline
-applying benefits from one area to other areas
provides scope for the integration of other risk areas such as security or product safety.
-spreads a positive culture across all three disciplines.
-encourages teamwork and equal influence amongst specialists.
Outline the benefits of a separate health,safety,environmental and quality management system. (10)
- tailored to business needs in terms of system complexity.
- existing systems may work well,integration may expend unnecessary resources.
- they may encourage a more detailed and focused approach to auditing and standards.
- seperate systems might be clearer for external stakeholders or regulators to understand and work with.
- business needs may demand systems of different complexity,bureaucracy can be more easily tailored to the needs of the subject.
An organisation is proposing to move from a health and safety management system based on the international labor organisation ILO-OSH 2001 model to one that aligns itself with ISO4500.
Outline the possible advantages and disadvantages of such a change.(10)
Possible advantages include:
- improved customer perception.
- the move from ILO-OSH 2001 model to ISO 45001 would facilitate easier integration with ISO 14001 and ISO 9001 to produce an integrated management system.
- its internationally recognized and has increased publicity value.
- precise standards for benchmarking and commitment to continual improvement.
- external registration and independent external assessment would be available and that a more prescriptive system is easier to assess.
Possible disadvantages include:
- ISO45001 can be time consuming.
- the direct on-costs of charging a system can be high.
- the likelihood of increased paperwork to satisfy assessors and the fact that the model may be too sophisticated for small to medium sized enterprises.
- additionally,since ISO45001 system is often alongside the other ISO standards of 9001 and 14001,there is a possibility that those auditing it may not be health and safety specialists.
- models like ILO-OSH are recognized by regulators which are likely to audit an organisation against this standard because much of the published guidance is often linked to the model.
Outline societal factors that influence health and safety standards.(10)
- Economic Climate
- Government Policy and Initiatives
- Union Representation
- Effects of Media
- Industry of Business Risk Profile
- Aging Workforce
- Levels of Sickness and Incapacity
- Individual Readiness
- Corporate Social Responsibility
- Equality Expectations
- Migrant Workers
- Globalisation of Business
Outline the key elements of one of the following: ILO- OSH 2001 / ISO 45001
ILO- OSH 2001 key elements include:
- Policy
- Organisation
- Planning and Implementation
- Evaluation
- Action for improvement
ISO 45001 key elements include: # Plan - Policy - Planning #Do - Risk Profiling - Organising - Implement your plans #Check - Measuring Performance - Investigating Accidents/ incidents / near misses #Act - Reviewing performance - learning lessons
