Level 3 NVQ Certificate in Occupational Health and Safety Unit: Investigate and evaluate health and safety incidents and complaints in th...
Level 3 NVQ Certificate in Occupational Health and Safety
Unit: Investigate and evaluate health and safety incidents and complaints in the workplace
Question:
Explain
the responsibilities of employers and
employees
for health and safety as defined by legislation, to include:
a)
own capabilities and scope in own job role.
b)
the work areas and job roles where the
learner is carrying out the investigation.
Answer:
a)
Employer’s
responsibilities:
· make the workplace safe.
· prevent risks to health.
· ensure that plant and machinery is
safe to use.
· ensure safe working practices are
set up and followed.
· make sure that all materials are
handled, stored and used safely.
· provide adequate first aid
facilities.
Employee’s
responsibilities:
· Take reasonable care of their own
Health & Safety.
· Take reasonable care of someone
else's Health & Safety.
· Use safety provisions correctly.
· Co-operate.
b)
Individuals
are able to investigate and report workplace incidents and complaints in
accordance with legal and workplace requirements. By establishing prior to the
investigation: the required documentation and support materials, the way people
involved will be briefed to ensure understanding of the purpose and the
expected outcome how people involved will have the opportunity to clarify any
points about the investigation. Also carry out an investigation by gathering
accurate and comprehensive information from the people involved in a supportive
way and review for inconsistencies, thereby preparing a report containing
details of incidents and complaints and forward to those requesting it in the
agreed format, timescale and accordance with legal regulations and workplace
requirements and be able to make recommendations as a result of workplace
investigations. Furthermore, recommend improvements
Explain
the workplace requirements for
conducting
and reporting investigations including:
a)
what hazards may exist in the workplace.
b)
the importance of dealing with and promptly reporting risks.
c)
workplace budgets in relation to carrying out an investigation.
A). The hazards
that may exist in Workplace includes
Exposure to Chemicals
Employees may be at risk of health hazards if their jobs include exposure to
chemicals. Substances that can harm workers which includes fumes, gases,
liquids, solids, dust, vapors and corrosives.
The Risk of Fire
Fire is a risk for any organisation, no matter what type of company one is
running. Knowing where the fire extinguishers are, holding fire drills and
informing employees of the emergency escape routes will ensure safety.
Repetitive Use Injury
When an employees repeat the same actions throughout the day, such as typing or
rolling dough, or washing windows, they are at risk of repetitive use injury.
The parts of the body that suffer from repetitive use are the back, shoulders,
forearms, wrists and hands. Ensuring adequate breaks from job duties can reduce
the risk of injury.
Injury due to Electrical Hazards
People who work directly with electricity, including electricians and
engineers, are at risk of injury; personnel who work with electrical equipment
in the office are also at risk of injury. Even an office worker making a fix
with power tools outdoors can sustain electrical injury during adverse weather.
You can minimize the risk of injuries by using one extension cord or power
strip per connection, keeping liquids clear of electrical equipment and
conducting regular safety examinations.
Accidental Falls and Falling Objects
If an employee works at elevated heights, they may be at risk of accidental
falls. Anytime objects are stored at or above head level, there is a risk of
injury caused by falling objects. Wearing safety gear including a hard hat or
harness, and installing guardrails or a safety net can reduce the risk of
injury. Instruct employees on the safe use of equipment
B.) The
importance of Dealing and promptly reporting of risk is a very vital
thing at work place. As part of managing the health and safety of your
business, one must control the risk at work place. To do this one need to think
about what might cause harm to people and decide whether one is talking
reasonable steps to prevent that harm. This process is known as risk assessment
and it is something that is required by law to carry out.
In reporting risk any paperwork one produce should help you to communicate and
manage the risk at workplace for most people this does not need to be a big
exercise. Just to note the main points down about the significant risk and what
one concluded.
A risk assessment must be suitable and sufficient i.e it should show that
A proper check was made.
You asked who might be affected
You dealt with all the obvious significant hazards taking into account the
number of people who could be affected
The Precautions are reasonable, and the remaining risk is low rate
Employees representative should always be involved in the process.
C) Workplace budgets
in relation to carrying out an investigation:
Budgets may include costs of external help and advice,
administration costs, cost of management and employee time, cost of any lost
production. While Observation of real work activities should be a prime source
of evidence
D).Roles of
external regulatory and research organisations:
While the improvement of working conditions and environment will normally
be part of national policy to further economic development and social progress
in accordance with national objectives and priorities, a measure of
international harmonization is necessary to ensure that the quality of the
working environment everywhere is compatible with workers’ health and welfare,
and to assist Member States to this effect. This is, essentially, the role of
the UN system in this field.
Within the UN system, many organizations and bodies play a role in the
improvement of the working conditions and the working environment. The
International Labour Organization (ILO) has a constitutional mandate to improve
working conditions and environment to humanize work; its tripartite structure
can ensure that its international standards have a direct impact on national
legislation, policies and practices and is discussed in a separate article in
this chapter.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has a mandate in occupational health
derived from its Constitution, which identified WHO as “the directing and
coordinating authority on international health work”, and stated WHO’s
functions which include the “promotion of ...economic and working conditions
and other aspects of environmental hygiene”. Additional mandates are derived
from various resolutions of the World Health Assembly and Executive Board.
WHO’s occupational health programme aims to promote the knowledge and control
of workers’ health problems, including occupational and work-related diseases,
and to cooperate with countries in the development of health care programmes
for workers, particularly those who are generally under serviced. The WHO, in collaboration
with the ILO, UNEP and other organizations, undertakes technical cooperation
with Member States, produces guidelines, and carries out field studies and
occupational health training and personnel development. The WHO has set up the
GEENET—the Global Environmental Epidemiology Network—which includes
institutions and individuals from all over the world who are actively involved
in research and training on environmental and occupational epidemiology. The
International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has been established as an
independent research institute, but within the framework of the WHO. The
statutes of the Agency set out its mission as “planning, promoting and
developing research in all phases of the causation, treatment and prevention of
cancer”. Since the start of its research activity, the Agency has devoted
itself to studying the causes of cancer present in the human environment, in
the belief that identification of a carcinogenic agent was the first and
necessary step towards reducing or removing the causal agent from the
environment, with the aim of preventing cancer that it might have caused. The
Agency’s research activities fall into two main groups—epidemiological and
laboratory-based experimental but there is considerable interaction between
these groups in the actual research projects undertaken.
Besides these two organizations with a central focus on work and health,
respectively, several UN bodies include health and safety matters within their
specific sectoral or geographical functions
A) Analytical
techniques to Implement a Safety Action Plan
An action plan is a checklist for the steps or tasks one needs to
complete in order to achieve the goals set.
It’s an essential part of the strategic planning process and helps with
improving teamwork planning. Not only in project management, but action plans
can be used by individuals to prepare a strategy to achieve a safe goal as well
by thus ;
Step 1: Identify all the hazards: ...
Step 2: Establish who is responsible for eliminating each hazard
Step 3: Plan a course of action to remove the hazards
Step 4: Take the necessary corrective actions to eliminate the hazards
Step 5: Establish a system to prevent the hazard from returning
B) Requirements
for maintaining confidentiality of reports.
Develop written confidentiality policies and procedures: Every
business/organization should have a written confidentiality policy (typically
in its employee handbook) describing both the type of information considered
confidential and the procedures employees must follow for protecting
confidential information. At the very least, which recommends that employers
adopt the following procedures for protecting confidential information:
Separate folders should be kept for both form I-9s and employee medical
information.
All confidential documents should be stored in locked file cabinets or rooms
accessible only to those who have a business “need-to-know.”
All electronic confidential information should be protected via firewalls,
encryption and passwords.
Employees should clear their desks of any confidential information before going
home at the end of the day.
Employees should refrain from leaving confidential information visible on their
computer monitors when they leave their work stations.
All confidential information, whether contained on written documents or
electronically, should be marked as “confidential.”
All confidential information should be disposed of properly (e.g., employees
should not print out a confidential document and then throw it away without
shredding it first.)
Employees should refrain from discussing confidential information in public
places.
Employees should avoid using e-mail to transmit certain sensitive or
controversial information.
Limit the acquisition of confidential client data (e.g., social security
numbers, bank accounts, or driver’s license numbers) unless it is integral to
the business transaction and restrict access on a “need-to-know’ basis.
Before disposing of an old computer, use software programs to wipe out the data
contained on the computer or have the hard drive destroyed.
A confidentiality policy should also describe the level of privacy employees
can expect relating to their own personal property (e.g., “for your own
protection, do not leave valuable personal property at work and do not leave
personal items — especially your purse, briefcase or wallet — unattended while you
are at work”) and personal information (e.g., “your medical records are kept in
a separate file and are kept confidential as required by law”).
Finally, all businesses/organizations should have their confidentiality
policies reviewed to ensure compliance with state law. For example, the New
York Employee Personal Identifying Information Law, which became effective
January 3, 2009, requires the creation of policies and procedures to prevent
the prohibited use of “personal identifying information” and requires employers
notify employees of such policies and procedures.
Train management and employees on confidentiality policy: Oftentimes, simply
having a written confidentiality policy is not enough. In order for the
confidentiality policy to be effective, managers, supervisors and employees
must be educated on confidentiality issues and the company’s policies and
procedures. Management and employees should be allowed an opportunity to ask
questions about the policies, and everyone should be trained to avoid putting
sensitive information in e-mails. Many companies and organizations include this
training as part of the new-hire/orientation process.
Management should also be instructed as to the proper way of communicating with
the company’s inside and outside counsel so as to ensure that certain
work-related documents and e-mails are protected by the attorney-client
privilege.
Enforce Confidentiality Policy:
This is one of the most important steps a business/organization can take to
protect its confidential information, and unfortunately, it’s oftentimes the
one step that is ignored. All the policies, procedures and training in the
world will not matter if those policies and procedures are not enforced. In
order for a confidentiality policy to have “teeth,” employees who violate the
policy must be disciplined in accordance with an employer’s corrective action
procedures.
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