Develop procedures to safely control work operations

    Level 3 NVQ Certificate in Occupational Health and Safety Unit:   Develop procedures to safely control work operations Question:  Identi...

 

 Level 3 NVQ Certificate in Occupational Health and Safety

Unit:  Develop procedures to safely control work operations

Question: 

Identify responsibilities for health and safety as required by:

a) current legislations

b) legislation covering own job role

c) the particular health and safety risks present in own job role and the precautions to be taken

d) the specific organisational health and safety instructions for own job role.

Answer:

a) The responsibilities for health and safety as required by current legislations are to ensure,

 

·       A written Health and Safety Policy is designed and prepared in a working environment.

·       They must carry out a risk assessment as and when required.

·       Setting up emergency policies and procedures at all levels.

·       providing necessary training and procedures to all employees.

·       Must be able to implement the recommendations from the risk assessment.

·       Must take reasonable care or the H&S of themselves and others.

·       Ensure assigned tasks and duties are carried out safely in accordance with the law

·       Adequate use of correct reporting policies and procedures.

 

 

b) The legislation covering own job role includes

 

·       Comply with relevant laws and protect their own safety and health, as well as the safety and health of anyone who may be affected by their acts or omissions at work.

·       Ensure that they are not under the influence of any intoxicant to the extent that they could be a danger to themselves or others while at work.

·       Cooperate with their employer with regard to safety, health and welfare at work.

·       Not engage in any improper conduct that could endanger their own safety or health or that of anyone else.

·       Participate in safety and health training offered by their employer.

·       Make proper use of all machinery, tools, substances, etc. and of all Personal Protective Equipment provided for use at work.

·       Report any defects in the place of work, equipment, etc. which might endanger safety and health

 

c) The particular health and safety risks present in own job role and the precautions to be taken includes;

 

·       physical hazards – the most common workplace hazards, including vibration, noise and slips, trips and falls;

·       ergonomic hazards – physical factors that harm the musculoskeletal system, such as repetitive movement, manual handling and poor body positioning;

·       chemical hazards – any hazardous substance that can cause harm to your employees;

·       biological hazards – bacteria and viruses that can cause health effects, such as hepatitis, HIV/AIDS and Legionnaire’s disease. And Some of the most common health risks associated with workplace hazards include:

·       breathing problems;

·       skin irritation;

·       damage to muscles, bones and joints;

·       hearing damage;

·       reduced wellbeing.

 

While the precautions to be taken are are by;

 

·       identifying the hazard and carrying out a workplace risk assessment,

·       determining how employees might be at risk.

·       evaluating the risks.

·       recording and reviewing hazards at least annually, or earlier if something changes.

 

d) The specific organizational health and safety instructions for own job role include;

 

·       Provision and maintenance of a safe place of work for all employees.

·       Provision and maintenance of safe means of access to and egress from each part of the workplace.

·       Provision and maintenance of any article, plant, equipment or machinery for use at work in a safe manner, provision of systems of work that are planned, organized, performed, maintained or revised,  so as to be safe, particularly for safety critical process operations or services.

·       Performance of ongoing hazard identification and Risk Assessments, and compliance with the general principles of prevention as set out in the legislation.

·       Provision and maintenance of welfare facilities and PPE

·       Preparation of emergency plans and the provision of first-aid training.

·       Reporting of accidents and dangerous occurrences to the authority and their investigation.

·       Provision and dissemination of safety and health information, instruction, training and supervision as required.

·       Operation of safety and health consultation, employee participation and safety representation programmes.

·       Review and keeping up-to-date the safety and health policy in order to prevent adverse effects on the safety and health of employees from changing processes, procedures and conditions in the workplace.

·       Appointment of people responsible for keeping safety and health control systems in place and making them aware of their responsibilities.

·       Establishment of monitoring arrangements, including safety and health inspections and audits, which should be used by the employer to ensure ongoing compliance with legal duties, responsibilities and controls.

·       Development of in-house safety and health competence.

·       Employment of external safety and health experts as required.

·       Use of standards, Codes of Practice, guidelines or industry practices.

·       Co-operation required from employees and disciplinary procedures for non-compliance.

 

Question:

Explain the importance of:

a) remaining alert to hazards in the workplace.

b) dealing with and promptly reporting risks.

c) knowing the hazards that exist in the workplace.

d) knowing the different types of working practices present in the workplace.

Answer: 

a) The importance of remaining alert to hazards in the workplace is because, it prepares one’s mind to actively control or eliminate them in order to prevent accidents, injuries, property damage, and downtime. In a hazard assessment, it is important to be as thorough as possible because one can't protect oneself and other  workers against hazards you are unaware of.

  

b) The importance of dealing with and reporting risk allows the employer to identify and reduce risk in the workplace. This is very important for employee safety as demonstrated by the statistics. Accidents will not only cause harm to the employees involved, but the entire business could be subject to prosecution, fines, a hit to reputation and even imprisonment.

 

c) By Knowing the hazards that exist in the workplace, it protects the wellbeing of employers, visitors and customers. Looking after Health and Safety makes good business sense. Workplaces which neglect health and safety risk prosecution, may lose staff, and may increase costs and reduce profitability.

 

d) Knowing the different types of working practices present in the workplace ensures our working environment is not affected by factors including health and safety, security and working hours. A poor working environment can damage your health and put your safety at risk. Your employer is legally responsible for ensuring good working conditions, but you also have a responsibility to work safely.

Question:

Explain own awareness of others in the workplace to include:

a) the roles and responsibilities of others in the workplace.

b) commonly used working practices.

c) channels of communication and consultation in the workplace.

Answer:

a)

·       Following instructions for health and safety in the workplace

·       Report all accidents, incidents, injuries and illness

·       Report any risks or hazards

·       Use PPE as required

·       Ensure health and safety of others

 

b)

 

·       Prevent workplace injuries and illnesses.

·        Improve compliance with laws and regulations.

·        Reduce costs, including significant reductions in workers compensation premiums.

·       Engage workers.

·        Enhance their social responsibility goals.

•  Increase productivity and enhance overall business operations.

c)

 

The Channels of communication and consultation in the workplace used to communicate information to

employees needs to consider what access each group of workers will have to any particular method. What

needs to be considered is both the ease of the method and more importantly its effectiveness. The golden

rule is not to use a single method of communication use multiple channels and ensure the message is rich in

content. Which includes methods of communication such as;

 

·       Health and safety committee meetings

·       Toolbox talk meetings

·       Newsletters

·       Notice boards

·       e-learning programs

·       Induction training

 

Question:

Explain the need for health and safety

information in the workplace to include:

a) the instructions that may be required about health and safety in the workplace.

b) where to find the health and safety information that may be available in the workplace.

c) how to prepare and write specific instructions and procedures.

d) measures to check the different types of health and safety procedures.

Answer: 

Health and Safety Legislation is the laws and regulations that everyone should follow, all information will start here and will have to be incorporated in to the companies OHS management system. All information will have to aligned to reflect specific. 

a)

·       Safe work procedures

·       Legal appointment letters (First aider, supervisor, floor warden)

·       Policies and procedures

·       Risk assessments

·       Emergency management plan

·       Health and safety plan

 

b)

·       Health and safety information for workplace can be found in Health Safety books like, newspaper articles, flyers, pamphlets, and educational videos explaining the regulations set out by the WHS Act. Workshop manuals, risk assessment, work plan, and asking supervisors as well as visiting Health and Safety Executive (HSE).

·       Furthermore, any poster with information related to your task, and talking to the safety specialist, if there is one in your company, visit credible web sites such as the OSHA and NIOSH websites, Company OH&S guidelines and manual, Company reports, Incident reports, Staff memos, State legislation, Professional journals and organizations.

 

c)

 

·       The key business functions must be known to the persons writing the specific instructions / procedures, the business process must be followed in order to have a detailed and correct procedure.

·       The procedure should be accurate as per legislation or client requirements.

·       Revision must be done by the relevant responsible parties for entire input in to the document.

·       When everyone is satisfied with the procedure it should be signed off and communicated to workforce and incorporated in to the management system.

 

d)

·       Audit and review; Audit and review form the final steps in the health and safety management control loop, so their existence, adequacy and implementation need to be included within the measuring process.

·       Reactive monitoring; To provide opportunities for organizations to check performance, learn from failures and improve the health and safety management system.

·       Measuring the health and safety culture; measuring aspects of the safety culture forms part of the overall process of measuring health and safety performance. Many of the activities which support the development of a positive safety culture need to be measured. Which are control; · communication; co-operation; and competence.

Planning and implementing - a more detailed look; One of the key outputs of the planning process is plans and objectives to develop, maintain and improve the health and safety management system. The various plans across the different parts of an organisation need to be aligned to meet the organisation’s overall aims and to provide a coherent approach to effective risk control, which ensures an effective health and safety plans and objectives that they should be SMART, Specific; · Measurable; · Attainable; · Realistic/Relevant; and · Time bound.