Element 1 Foundation of Health and Safety

Element 1

Foundation of Health and Safety

v  The Scope and nature of workplace  Health and Safety

v  The Reasons for practicing good standard of health and safety

v  The sources of health and safety information

v  The Safety Management System.

What is health and safety?

The Term Health and safety is generally used to means

1. Promote and maintain the mental, physical and social well-being of employees

2. Protect employees and others affected by an organization activity to harm from risk.

3. Establish a management frame work to implement policies and achieve frequent improvement in health and safety.

Definitions:

Health:  A State of complete physical, mental and social well being. Or

The protection of the bodies and minds of people from illness resulting from the material, procedures used in work places.

Safety: The protection of people from physical injury.  

Safety is not just the absence of accident, but the result of all person positive action to identify accident causes and implement suitable prevention measures.

Safety	Health
Slip, trip, falls	Contact to chemicals hazardous
Falls from heights	Contact with asbestos, dust
Struck by vehicle	Repetitive strain injury ect.
Contact with electricity

Contact with moving parts

Welfare: Looking after people basic need.

Environment:  The surrounding in which an organization operates includes land, air, water, natural resources, plants, animals, human and their interrelations.

Environment protection: Arrangement to cover those activities in the workplace which affect the environment.

Accidents: An unwanted, unexpected, unplanned event that had the result to loss of some kind.

Near Miss: (Incident): An unwanted, unexpected, unplanned event that had the potential to result loss.

Dangerous Occurrence (High potential Near Miss): A Near Miss with serious injury potential.

Occupational Safety and Health: Protecting the safety, health and welfare of people engaged in work or employment.

Acute (Critical): Resulting from a single short term contact producing an immediate effect which is usually reversible (Flexible). EG: Alcohol affecting the nervous system.

Chronic: Resulting from prolong or repeated exposure producing a gradual effects that may be unrecognized for a number of years and may be irreversible (Permanent) EG: Alcohol causing damage the liver.

Hazard:  Something with the potential to cause harm.

Risk: The Chance or probability that a person will be harmed or involvement opposing health affects if unprotected to a hazard. E.g.: Tripping over cables, coming into contact with machinery.

Occupational Accident: An occurrence (happening) Arising out or in the course of work that result in fatal or non fatal accident.

Occupational injury: Personal injury or disease resulting from as occupational accident.

Occupational or work related ill health: This is concerned with those illnesses or physical and mental disorder that is caused by workplace activity.

E.G.:  1. Effect on muscle and bones of the upper limb and back.

 2) Work related stress, which can be caused by poorly organized work disease caused by contact to certain chemicals and substances.

3) Hearing loss caused by long term contact to loud noise.

Reasons of Good Health and Safety Practice.

1. Moral: Organization concerns their staff as their prime assets and they have a moral responsibility to prevent unnecessary suffering and lose of life.

2. Legal: Many countries of the world have law to ensure that employer do as much as they can to prevent people being injured as a result of their work. These laws are also there to protect the general public from workplace danger.

3. Organization wishes to avoid prosecution, since they could be fine they would receive bad publicity, and individuals within their organization could go to prison.

Economic: Good health and safety practice is also good business. Accident and ill health at work cost money. Spending money on health and safety before accident occurs will result in much bigger saving later on.

Cost to the business of accident: Accident investigation, payment to injured worker, payment to nonproductive time, labor replacement, training for replacement labor, business interruption, reputation loss, repair, or replacement of damaged plant.

Cost of accident at work

It may be to insure against some of the cost, but other like lost time and sick pay, loss of company reputation, poor publicity, will not be part of any insurance.

 Example of direct                                                              Indirect

Sick pay	Reputation loss
Lost time	Poor staff morale
Damage and repair	Bad publicity
Fine and legal cost	People being less likely to want to work for organization
Compensation to victim’s increased insurance premium.

Hidden Cost

1. Accident investigation

2. Payment to injured person

3. Payment’s for non productive time

4. Replacement labor

5. Training

6. Business interruption

7. Loss of reputation

8. Damage repair

9. Replacement plant

10.  Compensation

11.  Legal fees

12.  Insurance

Benefits of Good Health and Safety Practice

1. Improved production

2. Improved staff morale

3. Improved company reputation

4. Reduce accident

5. Reduce ill health

6. Reduce damage to equipment

7. Reduce staff complaints

8. Reduce staff turn over

9. Reduce insurance premium

10.  Reduce fines and compensation claims

11.  Decrease level of compliance with the rules and procedures.

Health and Safety law

Health and safety law is a body of law to protect the health and safety and welfare of the worker and general public.

Purpose of law

·   Control of anti social behavior

·   Regulate control relationship between individual and the state

·   Purpose of conflict (clash)

·   Setting of clear standard for behavior with penalties for non compliance.

Implementation of legislation

There is major difference in the level of enforcement throughout the world; this variation of enforcement may be caused by.

1. Difference in legislation system.

2. Power granted to the enforcing authorities.

3. Ability and knowledge of enforcing authorities.

4. Different penalties for breaches.

5. Cultural issues and religious benefits

6. Public interest and reaction.

7. Enforcing authorities reporting.

8. Political pressure.

Sources of health and safety information

There are many sources of Health and safety information which can help organization meet their health and safety requirement.

     Some of these are internal to the organization while other may be external.

Internal Sources of information                                   External source of information

Health and safety policy	Government authorities or enforcing agencies
Accident data and reports	Material safety data sheet
Risk assessment	Manufactures information
Instruction from manager and supervisor	Information from HSE inspector
Audit report	External audit
Inspection carried out by management

Safety Management System

The use of Safety Management System will enable organization to meet their Health and safety requirement.

There are number of safety management system in the use but there are their of them are most popular.

v  HSEG 65-2003, Successful Health and Safety management system.

v  ILO-OSH-2001, Guideline on occupational Safety and Health management system (ILO) International Labor Organization.

v  OHSAS 18001 – 2007, Occupational Health and Safety Management System.  (BSI)

Successful Management System

1. Policy: Health and Safety aims of the organization, HSE objective and management commitments.

2. Organization: Organization clear roles and responsibility, competence, commitments, control, cooperation, and communication.

3. Planning and Implementation: Risk assessment, Hazard identification, and decides how risk can be eliminated or control.

4. Performance Measuring:  Determining the extent to which health and safety policy and objective are being implemented.

5. Audit: Systematic critical examination of each stage of management system and procedure.

6. Reviewing:  Analyzing data gathered through monitoring to see weather performance is adequate.