ELEMENT 1

The scope and nature of occupational health and safety

The study of health and safety involves the study of many subjects including
sciences (chemistry, physicsand biology) engineering, psychology, sociology
and the law.
Define health, safety, welfare, hazard. . . . . . . . . . .

Definitions are:
1.Health
The absence of disease, for example asbestos creates a health risk because
if you inhale asbestosdust you may contract lung cancer.
2.Safety
The absence of risk of serious personal injury for example walking under a
load suspended from acrane during a lifting operation is not safe because if
load falls serious personnel injuries or deathcould result. Staying out of
danger area results safety.
3.Welfare
Access to basic facilities, Such as toilet facility, hand was station, changing
rooms, rest places andwhere food can be prepared and eaten in hygienic
conditions, drinking water and first aidprovision.
4.Accident
An unplanned, unwanted event which leads to injury or loss, for example a
worker on the ground isstruck on head and killed by a brick dropped by
another worker 5 meter high from scaffold or alorry driver misjudge and hit
his lorry with road side barriers. In both examples the act are notcarried out
deliberately. Any deliberately attempt to cause injury or loss will not call
accident.
5.Near miss
an unplanned, unwanted event that had the potential to lead to injury(but did
not in fact do so) forexample a worker drops a brick form 5 meter high
scaffold and it narrowly misses another workerstanding on the ground. No
injury result and brick not even broken. The only thing that separatesaccident
and near misses is OUTCOME of the event. Accident causes loss and near
miss does not.

6.Hazard
Something with the potential to cause harm. For example a lorry moving
around a site road is ahazard because it might run over a worker. Hazard can
be classified as:
1. Physical
things which cause harm because of their physical characteristics e.g.
electricity,work at height, radiation, vibration, noise, heat, trip hazards.
2. Chemical
things which can cause harm because of their chemical characteristics e.g
lead,mercury, sulphuric acid, cement dust etc.
3.Biological
living micro organism that cause disease and ill health e.g. hepatitis B
virus,legionella bacteria.
4.Ergonomic
stress and strain put on the body through posture and movement e.g.
frequentrepetitive handling of small boxes.
5.Psychological
things that have the potential to cause injury to the mind rather than
thebody e.g. exposure to highly traumatic event.

7.Risk
The likelihood that hazards will cause harm in combination with the severity
of Injury, damage or lossthat might occur for example an electrical flex
trailing across a busy corridor in a hospital creates a risk.For example an
electrical flex trailing across a busy corridor in a hospital creates a risk. The
degree of riskcan be described as high or medium depending on how likely
person might trip over that trailing flexand how badly they might be injured.
8.Dangerous occurrenceA specified event that has to be reported to relevant authority by statute
law, even if the event did notlead to fatality or major injury of a worker. For
example the failure of the load bearing parts of a crane isa dangerous
occurrence even no person hat be injured. This is reportable event.

9.Environmental Protection:
The prevention for damage to the air, land and water
10.Work related ill health
Diseases or medical conditions caused by a persons work. For example
dermatitis is a
disease of theskin often caused by work activities especially when the
handling of solvents detergents involved.
11.Commuting accident
An accident to a worker that occurs when they are travelling to or from:1.
Their work place 2. The place where they take a meal during working hours3.
Place where they collect their pay.
In order to understand health and safety issue you need to familiar with
following things,

The technical background to the issue and have relevant knowledge.

The standards that may apply to the workplace
The possible strengths and weaknesses of the various options that are
available to solvethe problem.
Why might the management of an organization not consider health and
safetyto be a priority?
The barriers to good standards of health and safety in work place are:
1.Complexity
2.Conflicting demands
3.Behavioral issues
Complexity:
workplace can be complicated. Many people involve in many different
workactivities need coordination.
Conflicting demands:
a common conflict of interest is that between the need to supply aproduct or
a service at an appropriate speed so as to make a profit, and need to do so

safely andwithout risk of people.

Behavioral issues:
good health and safety practice often relies on the perfect behavior of
peoples but sometime they do not behave in ideal way. For example a worker
on constructionsite should wear hard hats to protect form falling object but
people sometime deliberately donot wear hard hats.
Moral Social and Economic Reason for Health and Safety
Outline the Reasons why an organization should manage health and safety?
There are following main 3 reasons why an organization has to manage
health and safety
Moral, Social & Economic
1.Moral
This about moral duty that one person has to another. Many people killed,
injured by other peoplework which is morally unacceptable.
2.Social (legal)
Reason related to framework of law that governs the conduct of business and
organization. Thelegal responsibility for health and safety at work rests on
primarily on the employer. The employerhas duty to provide the following.
Safe Place of Work.
Safe Plant and Equipment.
Safe System of Work.
Training, Supervision and Competency of Staff.
3.Economic
Accident and ill health cost money. When an accident occurs there will be
direct and indirect costsassociated the event. Some of these losses can be
Insured against many of them will be uninsured.When an accident occurs
there are two types of losses that the organization may face Direct Costs
&Indirect Costs
Outline the direct & indirect costs that might arise from a workplace
accident?
The business case for health and safety

The business case of health and safety Is simply that accident and ill health
cost money. When anaccident occurs there will be direct and indirect cost
associated with event.
Direct Costs:
The measureable costs arising directly from the accident, for example first
aid treatment,worker sick pay, repairs to or replacement of damaged
equipment, fines in the criminal courts
Indirect Costs:
Those costs which are indirectly as a consequences, for example loss of staff
from productiveduties in order to investigate the incident, prepare reports,
deal with relatives attend courtproceeding, loss of staff morale, loss of
goodwill of customers and damage to public andindustrial image.
Uninsured Costs:
It has been estimated that uninsured losses are between eight and 36 times
greater than insured losses.Some examples of uninsured losses
Loss of raw materials due to accident.
Sick pay for injured workers.
Overtime to make up for lost production
Repair to damaged equipment.
The roles of national governments and international bodies:
The international labor organization (ILO) has set out convention C155 and
Recommendation R164which apply to workplace health and safety standards.
Most countries and regions have established legal standards that meet or
exceed the minimumstandards set out in C155 and R164.
Most countries and regions have established legal standards that meet the
minimum standardsset out in C155 & R164.
The international framework:
In 1981 the ILO adopted the occupational safety and health convention C155.
This describes basic policyfor health and safety at national and individual
undertaking level.The occupational safety and health recommendation 1981
R-164 supplements C155 and provided moredetails that how to comply with
policies of C155.

Outline the legal duties that an employer has to comply with?

Employers Responsibilities
1.To ensure that the workplace, machinery, equipment and processes under
their control are safeand without risk to health.
2.To ensure that the chemical, physical and biological substances and agents
under their controlare without risk to health.
3.To provide adequate protective clothing and protective equipment to
prevent risk of accident oradverse affects on health.
4.to provide appropriate instruction and training
5.to provide necessary supervision
6.to ensure that the hours of work doo not adversely affect employees health
7.to remove any physical and mental fatigue

Outline the legal duties that a worker has to comply with?

Workers Responsibilities and rights
Article 19 of c155 states that all worker and their representatives have to
cooperate with theiremployers so that he can fulfill his safety obligations
R164 says that worker should:
1.Take reasonable care of their own safety and that of other people who
might be affected by thethings that they do and the things that they fail to
do.
2.Comply with safety instructions and procedures.
3.Use all safety equipment properly and not tamper with it.
4.Report any situation which they believe could be hazard and which they
cannot themselvescorrect
5.Report any work related accident of ill health.
In addition to the basic right to safe workplace article 19 of c155 gives
workers the followingrights.

1.The right to be provided with adequate information on actions the

employer has to taken toensure occupational safety and health.
2.The right to the necessary training in occupational safety and health
3.The right to be consulted by the employer on all matters of occupational
safety and healthrelating to their work.
4.The right to leave a workplace which he has reason to think presents an
imminent and seriousdanger to his life of health and not be compelled to
return until it is safe.
Outline the consequences for an employer of non compliance with health
andsafety responsibilities?
The consequences of Non Compliance:
A breach of health and safety legislation is usually a criminal offence. Failure
to meet legal standardsmight lead employer to
1.Formal enforcement action
2.Prosecution of the organization in the criminal court
3.Prosecution of individuals such as director, managers and workers.
Formal enforcement action:
An enforcement agency might force an employer either to make
improvement within the workplace orstop carrying out high risk activities.
failure to comply considered to be an offence in itself.
Prosecution of the organization in the criminal court
Successful prosecution might result in punishment in the form of a fine
Prosecution of individuals such as director, managers and workers
Successful prosecution might result in punishment in the form of a fine or
imprisonment
As well as the criminal law consequences there is also the matter of
compensation forworkers and other injured by a workplace accident.
1.Taking legal action against their employer through the civil legal system
and have prove thatemployer had been negligent.
2.Claiming compensation from national or regional compensation schemes
witho no requirementto prove negligence or blame through the use of the

legal system.
What are the organizational requirements for effective health and
safetymanagement?
Health and safety management system:
ILO OSH 2001 safety and health system we can summaries the key elements
of this system
1.Policy
2. Organizing
3. Planning and implementing
4. Evaluation
5. Action for improvement
6. Audit
7. Continual improvement
Policy:
A clear statement has to be made to establish health and safety as a prime
commitment at all level of organization particularly at the top
Organizing:
A framework of roles and responsibilities for health and safety must be
created within the organizationfrom top management to down to the floor.
Planning and Implementing:
Detail arrangement must be made for the management of health and safety.
Central to this idea is theconcept of risk assessment and the identification
and implementation of safe systems of work andprotective measures.
Evaluation:
Methods must be developing to monitor and review the effectiveness of the
arrangements put intoplace. This might be done reactively e.g. by reviewing
accident and ill health statistics reports.
Action for Improvement:
Any identified by the review process must be corrected as soon as possible by
making any require action

Audit:
To ensure that all parts are working acceptably well by systematic and critical
examination of the safetymanagement system
Continual Improvement:
The intention is safety management system will develop over the time to
become increasinglyappropriate and useful for company.
Identify the internal and external sources of information about health
andsafety?
Internal & External Information Sources:Internal information sources:
1.Accident records
2.Medical records
3.Risk assessments
4.Maintenance reports
5.Safety representative inspections
6.Audit reports
7.Safety committee meeting minutes
External information sources:
1.National legislation (e.g. regulations)
2.Material safety data sheet from manufacturers
3.National codes of practice and guidance notes
4.Manufacturer operating instructions
5.Trade associations
6.Safety journals and magazines

ELEMENT 2

The purpose and importance of a health and safety policy

The role of the health and safety policy in decision making:
The health and safety policy of an organization is an important document that
sets out the
organizations aims with regards to health
and safety, who is responsible for achieving theseaims and how the aims are
to be achieved.
What are the aims of Health and safety policy?
1. Legal compliance 2. Meeting the requirement of management system
standards3. Clear communication 4. Continuous improvement
What are the three key elements of health and safety policy?
A policy is presenting in three sections:
1. General statement of intent 2. Organization 3. Arrangements
General Statement of intent:
This states the organization philosophy in relation to management of health
and safety.
Organization:
This section indicates the chain of commands for health and safety
management identifies roles
Arrangements:
This section outlines the arrangements that exist for effective management
of health & safety
Note:
there is no one correct format or set of content for health and safety policy.
Key features and content of a health and safety policy:
1.
General statement of intent

2.
Organization
3.
Arrangement
General statement of intent
The statement of intent will usually recognize that manager and workers at
all levels within theorganization have a part to play in implementing policy
and also state that every person mustcomply with the policy and that
negligence of policy may be treated as disciplinary offence.The general
statement of intend should signed by the person in charge of overall
organizationlike CEO, MD. The statement should also be dated. This indicates
when current statement wasprepared.
Objectives:

Meeting legal obligations

Provision of a safe workplace, safe equipment and safe system of work,

Information,training and supervision

Risk assessment of all relevant workplace activities

Performance monitoring

Provision of adequate resources such as expert health and safety advise

Effective communication and consultation with workers.

Targets:
The statement of intent may also set target for the organization to achieve.
Possible targetsmight be related to:


Accident rates

Active monitoring
Organization:
It outlines the chain of command for health and safety management and
identifies the roles andresponsibilities of staff. It is standard practice for this
section to include an organization chartshowing the lines of responsibility and
accountability. This chart also show the lines ofcommunication and the
feedback routes that exist within the organization
This section reflects the management hierarchy of organization and
allocatesresponsibilitiesCEO or Managing Director
Is responsible and accountable for the entire organization
Management at All Level

Is responsible for ensuring all safety measure are in place and being carried
out effectively.
All employees
Are responsible for acting safely at site
Competent Persons
Who have operational duties but are also considered competent to carryout
one ore more healthand safety duties like first aiders and fire marshals etc.
Specialist health and safety practitioners:
Responsible for providing advice to support management and employees to
achieving safety
General health and safety management Arrangements:
The section deal with general arrangements in policy that exist to manage
health and safetyGeneral health and safety management arrangements:1.
Carrying out risk assessments2. Identifying and supplying health and safety
information instructions and training.3. Compliance monitoring including
auditing4. Accident and near miss reporting, recording and investigation5.

Consultation with workers on safety matters6. Developing safe system of

work and permit to work system7. Emergency procedures and first aid
provision.
Reviewing Policy:Circumstances which might require a review of policy:
Policy should be review regularly so it remains current and relevant. However
there are somecircumstances which could give rise to reviews:1. Changes to
key personnel e.g. new CEO or MD.2. Changes to the management structure
of the organization3. A management take over4. Changes to the type of work
that the organization does.5. Recommended by safety audit.6. Requested by
a third party such as insurance company or client.

ELEMENT 3
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IGC-1
Organizing for Health and Safety
Outline the health and safety roles and responsibilities of employers,
manager,supervisors, employees and other relevant parties?Organizing
health and safety roles and responsibilities:Employer:
The employers
responsibilities are to ensuring that the workplace is safe and free of health
risk.
Which categories of people does an employer owe a duty to?
It is important to consider who an employer owes a duty to:

His own employees

Other workers who might be working within his workplace but are not his
directemployees

His subcontractors

Visitors in his area

People who might be outside his workplace but are affected by his work like
publicpassing by
Directors and Senior Managers:
They have duty to ensure that their organization meets this obligation. They
are responsible forsetting policy and allocating resources to allow that policy
to work effectivelySo the responsibilities of directors and senior managers are
to ensure that:

The right health and safety policy is put in place

An adequate budget is set for the implement of policy

The right organizational structures are put in place

Competent people are employed by the organization

Middle Managers and Supervisor:
Have duty to ensure that the part of organization under their control is safe
and free of healthrisk. They execute the policy of their organization
operationally
Safety specialists:
He has responsibility for giving correct advice and guidance to the
organization and its workersThe typical responsibilities of the safety specialist
include:


Promoting a positive health and safety culture

Advising management on accident prevention

Developing and implementing policy

Overseeing the development of adequate risk assessments

Identifying training needs

Monitoring health and safety performance

Overseeing accident reporting and investigations

Workers
Have duty to take reasonable care of their own health and safety and others
who might effect bything they do. They have also responsibilities to
cooperate with their employers
Controller of Premises:
They are responsible for ensuring that the premises that they control are safe
to use as aworkplace and that access of workplace is safe.
Self Employed:
They have duty to take reasonable care of their own and other who might
effect by their work.
Outline the areas of responsibility placed on people in the supply chain for
thearticles and substances which the supply to workplace?Suppliers,
manufacturers and designers: have duty to ensure that:

Any plant or equipment that they provide for us at work is safe for its

intended purposeand comes with appropriate instructions

Any substance that they provide for us at work is appropriately tested

packaged, labeledand comes with appropriate information.
Contractors:
They are responsible for their own safety and safety of others who their work
might affect.However, the client who takes on contractors is also responsible
for ensuring that thosecontractors do not endanger anyone. A client must
therefore choose contractors carefully and
must plan and monitor the contractors work to ensure safety

Client can manage contractor in three ways

1. Select the contractor 2. Plant the work 3. Monitor the work.
1. Select the contractor:
Before selecting contractor client should carefully check their health and
safety competence. Tohelp in this you can ask to see evidence of competence
such as:

A copy of their health and safety policy

Examples of risk assessments

The qualifications and training records of staff

Membership of a professional organization or certified body

Record of maintenance and test for plant and equipment

Names of previous or current clients


Accident history records

Records of enforcement action taken by authorities against them

Proof of adequate resources such as access to specialist safety advice

2. Planning Work:Contractor should carryout risk assessment on the work
involve and develop safe workingmethods to control the risks indentifies.
3. Monitoring the Work:
Client should ensure that contractor complies with safe working practice
Joint occupiers of premises:
When two or more employers share a workplace they must cooperate and
coordinate theiractivities to ensure good health and safety standards
Explain the importance and means of consulting with employee on health
andsafety issues and the means to achieve effective consultation?Consult
with employees:
Employers should consult with their workers on health and safety matters. It
is legal duties inmany countries even where there is not legal duty it is
recognized as a good practice
Consulting:
The two way exchange of information and opinion between employer and
workers
Informing :
Providing information to workers in a form they can understand. This
information flow is one wayThe two methods which employers normally use
to consult workers are:1. Direct consultation 2. Through worker
representativesConsultation is usually achieved by establishing a health and
safety committee made up of keymanagers and workers. The workers
involved in this committee are usually representing groupsof workers.
Discussed the use of a health and safety committee as a method of
consultationwith workers and looked at the various issues that must be in
order to makecommittee work effectively?

Health and safety committee:

To work effectively the committee has to be set up and run according to
agreed rules andprocedure which form part of the policy arrangements of the
organization. The following issuesshould be taken into account in these
arrangements1.
Who is on the committee

there should be balance between managers and workers2.

How often will the committee meet?

the committee should meet regularly3.

Who will act as chairperson?

all meeting need someone to take charge

4. What authority will the committee have?

Committee must be able to make decision

5. What will be discussed?

committee meeting should have a published agenda

6. How will the discussion be recorded?

MOM usually taken & posted on notice board

7.
How will issues discussed be followed up?

All agreed actions must be recordedtogether with responsible person name

for taking action and deadline.