1. 1
QUIZ 1
Explain the importance of WRITTEN STATEMENT OF OSH (Section 16) at work place. How
it can helps industry to improve the standard level of Occupational Safety and Health. Refer to
your own work place.
Answer :
A policy is a written statement, usually comprises three elements:
a statement section (often a single page) detailing how safety will be managed and that
demonstrates the organisation's commitment to health and safety
an organisation section that details where responsibilities are allocated and how employees fit
into the overall safety management system
an arrangements section that contains details of how specific activities and functions are
managed.
This arrangements section could include such matters as risk assessments, fire safety, first aid,
accident reporting, electrical safety, work equipment, hazardous substances, manual handling
and other workplace issues. In larger organisations the arrangements section may refer to other
documents, such as safety manuals or safe systems of work.
The Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 The Act says that you must prepare your own
statement and bring it to the attention of all employees. The policy should be reviewed and
revised as often as necessary.
Legally, the policy only requires you to address the health and safety matters relating to
employees, but in many organisations, it is a good idea to have a policy that considers the safety
of others who might be affected by your activities, i.e. volunteers, contractors and the general
public.
With or without a written policy, all employers have a duty of care to protect their employees
and others from harm arising from work activities.
2. 2
The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, these regulations place duties
on employers to assess and manage risks to their employees and others arising from work
activities. How this is carried out should be included in the policy.
3. 3
QUIZ 2
Active SAFETY AND HEALTH COMMITTEE will helps to inculcate safety and health culture
in the work place. Please explain the potential activities could be carried out by the members in
order to achieve those results.
Answer :
The system should cover the entire gambit of an employer's occupational health and safety
organisation. The key elements of a successful safety and health management system are:
1. Policy and commitment
The workplace should prepare an occupational safety and health policy programme as part of the
preparation of the Safety Statement required by Section 20 of the Safety, Health and Welfare at
Work Act 2005. Effective safety and health policies should set a clear direction for the
organisation to follow. They will contribute to all aspects of business performance as part of a
demonstrable commitment to continuous improvement. Responsibilities to people and the
working environment will be met in a way that fulfils the spirit and letter of the law. Cost-
effective approaches to preserving and developing human and physical resources will reduce
financial losses and liabilities. In a wider context, stakeholders' expectations, whether they are
shareholders, employees or their representatives, customers or society at large, can be met.
2. Planning
The workplace should formulate a plan to fulfil its safety and health policy as set out in the
Safety Statement. An effective management structure and arrangements should be put in place
for delivering the policy. Safety and health objectives and targets should be set for all managers
and employees.
3. Implementation and operation
For effective implementation, organisations should develop the capabilities and support
mechanisms necessary to achieve the safety and health policy, objectives and targets. All staff
should be motivated and empowered to work safely and to protect their long-term health, not
simply to avoid accidents. These arrangements should be:
4. 4
underpinned by effective staff involvement and participation through appropriate
consultation, the use of the safety committee where it exists and the safety representation
system and,
sustained by effective communication and the promotion of competence, which allows all
employees and their representatives to make a responsible and informed contribution to
the safety and health effort.
There should be a planned and systematic approach to implementing the safety and health policy
through an effective safety and health management system. The aim is to minimise risks. Risk
Assessment methods should be used to determine priorities and set objectives for eliminating
hazards and reducing risks. Wherever possible, risks should be eliminated through the selection
and design of facilities, equipment and processes. If risks cannot be eliminated, they should be
minimised by the use of physical controls and safe systems of work or, as a last resort, through
the provision of PPE. Performance standards should be established and used for measuring
achievement. Specific actions to promote a positive safety and health culture should be
identified. There should be a shared common understanding of the organisation„s vision, values
and beliefs on health and safety. The visible and active leadership of senior managers fosters a
positive safety and health culture.
4. Measuring performance
The organisation should measure, monitor and evaluate safety and health performance.
Performance can be measured against agreed standards to reveal when and where improvement
is needed. Active self-monitoring reveals how effectively the safety and health management
system is functioning. Self-monitoring looks at both hardware (premises, plant and substances)
and software (people, procedures and systems, including individual behaviour and performance).
If controls fail, reactive monitoring should find out why they failed, by investigating the
accidents, ill health or incidents, which could have caused harm or loss. The objectives of active
and reactive monitoring are:
to determine the immediate causes of substandard performance
to identify any underlying causes and implications for the design and operation of the
safety and health management system.
5. 5
5. Auditing and reviewing performance
The organisation should review and improve its safety and health management system
continuously, so that its overall safety and health performance improves constantly. The
organisation can learn from relevant experience and apply the lessons. There should be a
systematic review of performance based on data from monitoring and from independent audits of
the whole safety and health management system. These form the basis of complying with the
organisation‟s responsibilities under the 2005 Act and other statutory provisions. There should
be a strong commitment to continuous improvement involving the development of policies,
systems and techniques of risk control. Performance should be assessed by:
internal reference to key performance indicators
external comparison with the performance of business competitors and best practice in
the organisation‟s employment sector.
Many companies now report on how well they have performed on worker safety and health in
their annual reports and how they have fulfilled their responsibilities with regard to preparing
and implementing their Safety Statements. In addition, employers have greater responsibilities
under Section 80 of the 2005 Act on „Liability of Directors and Officers of Undertakings‟ that
requires them to be in a position to prove they have pro-actively managed the safety and health
of their workers. Data from this „Auditing and reviewing performance‟ process should be used
for these purposes.
6. 6
QUIZ 3
An ACCIDENT happened due to various causal of incidents. It could be an error of negligence
of human being. How could explain “incident” in context of OSH at workplace.
Answer :
A major concern of safety at work is preventing accidents at work. An accident at work can be
defined in different ways depending of the context in which it is used. Often also the word
incident is used, sometimes as a broader term encompassing „an accident' as a specific type of
incident, but sometimes the words accidents and incidents refer to two different types of events.
Prevention of accidents at work focuses on the causes of accidents. Accident causation models
provide a theoretical basis for explaining how accidents at work occur. Statistical data give some
details about the accidents that occur in the workplace: the occurrence, the victims and the
causes.
The OHSAS 18001 standard focuses on the definition of an incident. An incident is referred to as
a work-related event(s) in which an injury or ill health (regardless of severity) or fatality
occurred, or could have occurred. An accident is regarded as a particular type of incident in
which an injury or illness actually occurs. A near-miss is an incident where no injury or illness
occurs. Therefore, an incident can be either an accident or a near-miss.
Although the term incident is regarded more and more as a broad term encompassing all events
causing injury or material damages and also near-miss events, this is not always the case.
Incident is often also referred to, as an event that has the potential to cause harm, but didn't.
Incident is then regarded as a synonym for a near-miss event.
7. 7
QUIZ 4
It is required by the industry safety legislation that the industry shall be ensure that (emplpyees,
contractors, visitors and other person) are safe and healthy. Explain the term :
1. Competence Person
2. Safe System of Work
Answer :
1. Competence Person
Competence can be described as the combination of training, skills, experience and
knowledge that a person has and their ability to apply them to perform a task safely.
Other factors, such as attitude and physical ability, can also affect someone‟s
competence.
A competent person is not someone who simply has the competence to carry out a
particular task safely. In general terms, the definition of a competent person is someone
who has the necessary skills, experience and knowledge to manage health and safety.
Some health and safety law describes the training, skills and experience, that someone
should have to be a competent person to perform a specific task in a particular industry or
work environment.
2. Safe System of Work.
Occupational safety and health (OSH), also commonly referred to as occupational health
and safety (OHS), occupational health, or workplace health and safety (WHS), is a
multidisciplinary field concerned with the safety, health, and welfare of people at work.
These terms of course also refer to the goals of this field, so their use in the sense of this
article was originally an abbreviation of occupational safety and health
program/department etc.
The goals of occupational safety and health programs include to foster a safe and healthy
work environment. OSH may also protect co-workers, family members, employers,
customers, and many others who might be affected by the workplace environment. In the
United States, the term occupational health and safety is referred to as occupational
8. 8
health and occupational and non-occupational safety and includes safety for activities
outside of work.
In common-law jurisdictions, employers have a common law duty to take reasonable care
of the safety of their employees. Statute law may in addition impose other general duties,
introduce specific duties, and create government bodies with powers to regulate
workplace safety issues: details of this vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction.
9. 9
QUIZ 5
Identify 5 HAZARDS found at your work place. How you rate the RISK.
Answer :
Listed below are just a few of the main hazards that are encountered on a typical construction
site:
1. Working at Height
The construction of buildings – or indeed, demolition works – frequently requires tradesmen
to work at height. Fatalities and injuries involving height relating factors account for many
accidents each year. The risks associated with working at a height are often increased by
added access and mobility restrictions. Training, including safety awareness training is
essential for employees required to work at height.
2. Moving Objects
A construction site is an ever changing environment; hazards are inherent to this industry and
only increase as a construction project progress, as things rise and expand. Construction sites
can get quite hectic what with the shear volume of constantly moving vehicles and trades
people – overhead lifting equipment shifting heavy loads, supply vehicles, dumper trucks
everywhere, manoeuvring around a usually uneven terrain.
3. Cranes
Significant and serious injuries may occur if cranes are not inspected before use and if they
are not used properly. Often these injuries occur when a worker is struck by an overhead load
or caught within the crane's swing radius. Many crane fatalities occur when the boom of a
crane or its load line contact an overhead power line.
4. Collapse
Not exactly a hazard, more a risk – an accident in waiting. Every year excavations and
trenches collapse, bury and seriously injure people working in them – precautions need to be
planned before the work starts. The risk of an unintended collapse is generally more
10. 10
associated with demolition works or when a partially completed building or scaffolding
collapses, but still accounts for a percentage of fatalities each year.
5. Electricity
On average, three construction industry workers are electrocuted each year during
refurbishment work on commercial and domestic buildings. People working near overhead
power lines and cables are also at risk. There are also a growing number of electrocutions
involving workers who are not qualified electricians but who are carrying electrical work,
such as plumbers and joiners and decorators.
11. 11
QUIZ 6
Suggest your best ways of on how you CONTROL the above risks. (Quiz 5)
Answer :
1. Working at Height
Consider using aerial lifts or elevated platforms to provide safer elevated working
surfaces;
Erect guardrail systems with toeboards and warning lines or install control line systems to
protect workers near the edges of floors and roofs;
Cover floor holes; and/or
Use safety net systems or personal fall arrest systems (body harnesses).
2. Moving Objects
All vehicles used on site should be regularly maintained and records kept.
Only trained drivers should be allowed to drive vehicles and the training should be
relevant to the particular vehicle (fork lift truck, dumper truck, etc.).
Vehicles should be fitted with reversing warning systems.
3. Cranes
Check all crane controls to insure proper operation before use.
Inspect wire rope, chains and hook for any damage.
Know the weight of the load that the crane is to lift.
Ensure that the load does not exceed the crane's rated capacity.
4. Collapse
Never enter an unprotected trench.
Always use a protective system for trenches feet deep or greater.
Always provide a way to exit a trench--such as a ladder, stairway or ramp--no more than
25 feet of lateral travel for employees in the trench.
Keep spoils at least two feet back from the edge of a trench.
12. 12
Make sure that trenches are inspected by a competent person prior to entry and after any
hazard-increasing event such as a rainstorm, vibrations or excessive surcharge loads.
5. Electricity
All extension cords have grounding prongs.
Protect flexible cords and cables from damage. Sharp corners and projections should be
avoided.
All electrical tools and equipment are maintained in safe condition and checked regularly
for defects and taken out of service if a defect is found.
Do not bypass any protective system or device designed to protect employees from
contact with electrical energy.
Overhead electrical power lines are located and identified.
Ensure that ladders, scaffolds, equipment or materials never come within 10 feet of
electrical power lines.
All electrical tools must be properly grounded unless they are of the double insulated
type.
Multiple plug adapters are prohibited.
