Jayadeva de Silva

Practical Aspects in Health,

Safety, Welfare in the
Work Environment
Learning Objectives
All employees have the responsibility to co-operate with their
management to achieve a healthy and safe workplace and to take
reasonable care of themselves and others. Therefore the learning
objective is to create awareness relating to the management of HSE
in the areas of Health and Safety of Employees, Contractors and
those affected by your operations.

Your Building Blocks

 Sound written safety policy
 Visible management commitment to safety
 Clearly identified safety responsibilities at all levels
 Competent safety advisors
 Comprehensive written operating procedures
 Inspection and maintenance system
 Safe systems of work
 Effective safety training at all levels
 Realistic safety targets and objectives
 Safety meetings and committees
 Regular safety bulletins
 Accident reporting and recording /Near miss reporting
and recording /Potential incident reporting / recording
 Accident investigation
 Audits of equipment and procedures
 Unsafe Act Audits

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Safety Policy
In formulating a Company Occupational Health & Safety (OHS)
policy, of utmost importance and the main objective should be
the elimination of incidents with Health, Safety or
Environmental consequences. Therefore it makes good
business sense for a company to possess a comprehensive
health and safety policy.

Content of the policy statement

1. A general statement of intent. This should outline in broad
terms the organization’s overall philosophy in relation to the
management of health and safety, including reference to the
broad responsibilities of both management and workforce.

2. Responsibilities to be covered in the policy might include:

a. Making adequate resources available to implement the
policy.
b. Setting health and safety objectives.
c. Developing suitable procedures and safe systems.
d. Delegating specific responsibilities to others;
e. Monitoring the effectiveness of others in carrying out their
responsibilities;
f. Monitoring standards within the workplace; and
g. Feeding concerns up through the organization

3. Organization (people and their duties)

a. This outlines the chain of command in terms of health and
safety management.
b. Who is responsible to whom and for what?
c. How is the accountability fixed so as to ensure that
delegated responsibilities are undertaken?
d. How is the policy implementation monitored?
e. Individual job descriptions having an safety content;

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f. Details of specific safety responsibilities

g. The role and function of safety committee(s);
h. The role and function of safety representatives;
i. A management chart clearly showing the lines of
responsibility and accountability in terms of health and
safety management.

4. Arrangement (systems and procedures) The practical

arrangements by which the policy will be effectively
implemented.
a. Safety training/safe systems of work;
b. Environmental control/safe place of work;
c .Machine/area guarding/housekeeping;
d. Safe plant and equipment/noise control;
e. Radiation safety/dust control/use of toxic materials;
f. Internal communication/participation;
g. Utilization of safety committee(s) and safety
representatives;
h. Fire safety and prevention/medical facilities and welfare;
i. Maintenance of records/emergency procedures and
workplace monitoring.

Visible Management commitment to safety

Studies show that the best performing organizations is where

leaders involve everyone in the implementation of a clear and
compelling company vision that leads the team towards goals set
out in the Company HSE policy.

Stakeholders of a Business

The Employees – who want to work in a healthy and safe

environment.
The Shareholders – who want their investment protected with an
acceptable return.

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The Customers – who want safe products and services of good

quality and price.
The Contractors – who want a healthy, safe working environment.
The Societies – we work amongst, want us to benefit their
wellbeing and their environment.

Developing commitment and Importance of Leadership

Leadership and commitment is the foundation for establishing a
robust HSE in an organization. People will do what they believe
you want, based on what you say and, much more powerfully, on
your behavior. Your actions speak louder than your words. This
helps to build the trust, co-operation and communication you need
to make it work.

As you demonstrate your commitment to workforce involvement

in health and safety, it will develop your workforce's commitment.
Your employees are more likely to engage and believe in
consultation when senior managers show personal and long-term
commitment, and listen to the views of employees because they
want to hear what the workforce has to say.

Your employees are more likely to communicate with you if:

• you show them that you believe in the benefits of
consultation
• they are committed to the businesses goals, including the
health and safety goals;
• they think it is in their interests to participate;
• they trust you and find you approachable;
• your actions match your words; and you encourage your
employees to be health and safety representatives.

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Safety Responsibilities
The basics
Worker involvement on health and safety is simply a two-way
process where you and your employees:
Talk to one another, listen to one another's concerns, raise
concerns and solve problems together,
seek and share views and information, discuss issues in good
time, consider what everyone has to say and
make decisions together.

Business benefits
Talking to, listening to and involving your employees helps to
make your workplace healthier and safer, improve performance
and raise OHS standards.

Prepare
Good preparation helps you to gain the commitment of your
employees and their representatives, so that they feel involved and
enthusiastic about tackling health and safety together.

Involve your workforce by talking to employees about health and

safety.
What the law says and how it applies to the workplace
Commitment from the business and the workforce
Union appointed health and safety representatives
Workforce elected health and safety representatives

Plan
Once you have gained the commitment of everyone in the
organization, you can start planning how to work with your
employees and representatives to improve health and safety at
work.

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Consult employees on key OH&S issues

Consult and involve employees and health and safety
representatives on accident and investigation reports, risk
assessments, and emergency plans; occupational health issues and
the nature of the post, knowledge and experience suitable for the
role of your competent person (eg health and safety manager).

Provide feedback
Provide feedback to explain decisions and respond to issues raised
by employees or their representatives within a certain time. It will
demonstrate you are committed and how you have considered what
they say.
The appropriate method of responding (in writing or verbally), and
reasonable timescales for providing a response, will depend on the
nature and circumstances of the issue and the workplace. Agree
these arrangements with your employees or their representatives in
advance

Address health issues as well as safety

Employee involvement is a good way to help you address work-
related health issues such as stress or musculoskeletal disorders.

Involve employees promptly and routinely

Commit to involving employees and health and safety
representatives promptly and routinely. It develops a shared
understanding of the key issues and how to address them.
Agree to respond to the issues raised by your employees and their
representatives within certain time and share the reasons for your
decisions with them. It will demonstrate you are committed and
how you have considered what they say.

Factors to consider
Many factors affect how you can engage your employees:

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The business
• Structure of the business
• Management style
• Organizational and safety cultures
• Trade union recognition and employment relations

The workplace
• Size of workplace
• Location of sites
• Types of work done
• Degree and nature of inherent dangers

The workforce
• Size of workforce
• Diversity of the workforce
• Employment structures (for example, direct employees,
agency and contract workers)
• Work patterns (for example, shift systems, part-time
working)
• Offsite, remote or mobile workers.

Why talk to your employees about health and safety?

• Workplaces where employees are involved in taking

decisions about health and safety are safer and healthier.
Your employees influence health and safety through their
own actions. They are often the best people to understand the
risks in their workplace. Talking, listening and co-operating
with each other can help you to:
• identify joint solutions to problems;
• develop a positive health and safety culture where risks are
managed sensibly;

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• reduce accidents and ill health, plus their related costs to your
business;
• bring about improvements in overall efficiency, quality and
productivity;
• meet customer demands and maintain credibility; and
• comply with legal requirements.

Benefits of worker involvement

People who feel valued and involved in decision-making play a big
part in a high-performing workplace. Empowering your workforce,
giving them the right skills, and getting them involved in making
decisions shows them that you take their health, safety and well-
being seriously. They raise concerns and offer solutions.

Lower accident rates

Accident rates are lower where employees genuinely feel they
have a say in health and safety matters (14%), compared with
workplaces where employees do not get involved (26%).

More positive health and safety climate

Employee involvement in health and safety management relates to
a more positive health and safety climate - 77% of employees felt
encouraged to raise concerns in a good health and safety climate
compared to 20% who felt encouraged to do so in a poor health
and safety climate. In poor health and safety climates, accident
rates are highest among workplaces where employees do not feel
they can have a say.

Better control of workplace risks

Stronger employee involvement means better control of common
workplace risks such as slips and trips - very effective in 76% of
cases where employees felt they were always consulted but only
very effective in 40% of cases if they thought they were rarely, or
never consulted.

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Union-appointed representatives
Representatives are there to represent the interests and concerns of
their co-workers and respond on their behalf. They provide
valuable insight, skills and resources that help employers and their
co-workers.
All representatives, either appointed by trade unions or elected by
employees can: - represent the workforce on health and safety
generally, or make representations on potential hazards, dangers
and also attend training courses.
Workforce-elected representatives
The role of the health and safety representative is independent of
management. Representatives are there to represent the interests
and concerns of their co-workers and respond on their behalf. They
provide valuable insight, skills and resources that help you and
their co-workers. However representatives appointed by trade
unions may examine the causes of accidents, elected worker
representatives do not have perform the same function.

Joint involvement - safety committees & inspections

Joint involvement leads to joint problem solving. Where you have
both union-appointed representatives and employee-elected health
and safety representatives, it is good practice to consult both
together about health and safety matters which affect the
employees they represent through a joint health and safety
committees.

Competent safety advisors

The safety department has a vital role to play as a specialist
adviser, but it can be neither responsible nor accountable for safety
policy or performance. Management must establish a safety policy
and a HSE organization that will be responsible for implementing
policy. In implementing safety in an operational context it is
prudent to make safety a line responsibility with identified
responsibilities and accountabilities clearly defined in employee
job descriptions.

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The credibility of safety staff with adequate expertise is extremely

important and is a key factor in any Safety Management System. A
practical method to achieve this include cross posting of staff into
the safety department including high potential staff as carrier
development.

Operating Procedures
It is vital to establish safe and healthy systems of work designed to
counteract the identified risks within a business. The following
aspects should be used as a guide when preparing arrangements for
health and safety at work:
(a) The provision of health and safety performance criteria for
articles, and product safety data for substances, prior to purchase.
(b) The provision of specific instructions for using machines, for
maintaining safety systems, and for the control of health hazards.
(c) The development of specific health and safety training for all
employees.
(d) The undertaking of medical examinations and biological
monitoring.
(e) The provision of suitable protective equipment.
(f) The development and utilization of permit-to-work systems.
(g) The provision of first-aid/emergency procedures, including
aspects of fire safety/prevention.
(h) The provision of written procedures in respect of contractors
and visitors.
(i) The formulation of written safe systems of work for use by all
levels of management and workforce.
.
Plant Equipment and substances
• Maintenance of equipment such as tools, ladders, etc.
• Are they in safe condition?
• Maintenance and proper use of safety equipment such as
helmets, boots, goggles, respirators, etc.

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• Maintenance and proper use of plant, machinery and guards.

• Regular testing and maintenance of lifts, hoists, cranes,
pressure systems, boilers and other dangerous machinery,
emergency repair work, and safe methods of doing it.
• Maintenance of electrical installations and equipment. Safe
storage, handling and, where applicable, packaging, labeling
and transport of dangerous substances. Controls on work
involving harmful substances, such as lead and asbestos.
• The introduction of new plant, equipment or substances into
the workplace - by examination, testing and consultation with
the workforce.

Safe systems of work

A safe system of work maintains a safe working environment. The
system helps in identifying hazards and assessing risk.

Safe Systems
Permit to Work (PTW) – is a formal written system used to control
certain types of work, which are identified as potentially
hazardous. It is also a means of communicating between
management, plant supervisors and operators and those who carry
out the work.

Job Hazard Analysis (JHA) – The methodology is derived from the

work study technique known as Task Analysis, and is also known
as job Safety analysis, Work Safety and Health Analysis, Activity
Risk Assessment. In short it is identifying and assessing the
hazards of each element of the task and identifying appropriate
controls and recovery measure.

Toolbox Talks (TBT)- What is a “Toolbox Talk”?

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A Toolbox Talk is an informal group discussion among employees

of an individual department that focuses on a particular safety
issue.
Who can conduct a “Toolbox Talk”?
Anyone can conduct a Toolbox Talk. However, it is a good idea to
select individuals who have expertise on the given topic.

How long and often should these be conducted?

A15 minute talk duration is recommended.

Where and when should these discussions take place?

The meeting should be held in a comfortable location at the
beginning of a shift, after lunch/break.
Unsafe Act Auditing
Electrical Lockout
Confined Space Entry

Near miss reportingNEAR MISS:

“An incident that could have caused illness, injury or damage to
assets, the environment or company reputation, or consequential
business loss, but did not”.

Potential incident reporting

“An unsafe practice or a hazardous situation that could result in an
incident but the incident has not occurred - yet.
An unsafe practice is also referred to as an Unsafe Act.
A hazardous situation is also referred to as an Unsafe Condition”.

Accident investigation
The objective of ‘accident investigation’ is to prevent it from
happening again and determining “What failed in our management
system that allowed the accident to happen”.

Guide line for accident investigation:

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a. Investigate promptly
b. Involve those who have a real knowledge of the work
situation.
c. Collect and record facts, including organizational
relationships, similar occurrences and other relevant
background information.
d. Have as the objective ‘to prevent a similar incident
happening again’.
e. Identify basic causes.
f. Recommend corrective action.

Audits
It is a management tool comprising of a systematic, periodic and
objective evaluation of how well the safety organization,
management and equipment are performing with the aim to
safeguard company assets by facilitating management control of
safety, health and environment practices and assessing compliance
with established standards.

Audits should be an important aspect of key internal controls,

verifying ones action against established standards. An audit
programme needs to be in place to review and verify effectiveness
of management systems and those of the contractors. It is in effect,
a health check-up.
Audis may result in corrective actions and areas for improvement.
The organization should develop and update a corrective action
plan for continuous improvement.

Types of Audits
External – Conducted by a third party.
Internal – Corporate – by Head Office or Personnel from other
units in the same company.
Self – In house by location staff themselves.

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Risk Management Frame Work

Identification
 Identifying what is present in our activities – provide
Information/understand nature of the hazard

Assessing Risk
 Understand the risk and its potential effects
 Identify the hazard that creates the greatest risk

Control and Recovery

 Elimination of the hazard
 Substitution – products and/or processes with lower impact
 Isolation – can the hazard be separated from people/assets

Recommended additional reading

http://www.slideshare.net/Jayadeva/emergencymanagement
guideforbusiness

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