ELEMENT 3

Health and Safety culture

It is the shared attitude, values, belief, and behavior in relation to health and safety. In other
words, it is the way in which all the people within the organization thinks and feels about
safety and the way it translates into their behavior.
Reasons for the negative safety culture in the organization
 Lack of commitment from the management.
 Lack of leadership from the management.
 Lack of resources allotted by the management towards safety.
 Lack of priority towards health and safety.
 Frequent or poorly communicated organizational changes.
 Lack of training.
 Lack of communication or arrangements.
 Lack of monitoring systems.
 Presence of blame culture.
 Presence of interpersonal issues like bullying, harassment.
 High staff turnover.
 Presence of poor systems and procedures.
 External influences.
 Economic climate leading to difficulty in the operating conditions.
Indicators used to assess the health and safety culture.
It is important to access whether an organization have positive or negative safety culture. The
safety culture partly defined as shared attitude, belief, values and behaviours.
All the above said items are intangible concept and difficult to measure. So the safety culture
can be measure through the combination of the following indicators like,
 Accident rate
 Absenteeism rate
 Sickness rate
 Staff turnover
 Compliance with the safety rules
 Complaint about the working conditions.
Accident rate
The accident rate of an organization shall be compared with the previous year
performance of the organization. If the organization have less accidents then the
previous year, then the organization is said to have a positive safety culture.
The accident rate of the organization shall be compared with the other organization
doing the same job or industry average this is called BENCH MARKING. If the
accident rate is less, then the other organization the organization is said to have a
positive safety culture.

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 Standard of investigation and efforts to prevent the reoccurances. In an organization
with a safety culture and in depth. Investigation will be carried out and control
measures will be introduced to prevent re occurances.
Absenteeism rate
A high level of absenteeism indicates that either people are not able to come to the job
or not willing to come to the job.
If a person not able to come to job it indicates that he is suffering from the ill health or
disease caused by the workplace.
If the person not willing to come to the job. It indicates that he is holding by the
organization for some reasons.
Low level of absenteeism indicates the organization is having a positive safety
culture.
Sickness rate
Same like accidents rate sickness rate can be used as an indicator to assess the safety
culture. Low level of sickness indicates that the organization is having a positive
safety culture.
Staff turnover
An organization with the positive safety culture is often good place to work.
The people feel safe there, their morale is high, enough trainings are provided. And
they are consulted about the working conditions.
So people want to stay for a long period of time in the organization.
An organization with less staff turnover is said to have positive safety culture.
Compliance with the safety rules
In an organization with the positive safety culture, the people want to work safely. So
they will follow the safety rules. A formal or unscheduled inspection or audit will find
that majority of the people are following safety rules.
Complaint about the working conditions
There is an obvious link between number and type of the complaints and health and
safety culture. An organization with positive safety culture will actively encourage the
complaints will be made but few will serious one.
Factors influencuing the safety related human behaviours.
The following are the factors which influences the human behavior.
 Organisational factor
 Job factor
 Individual or personal factor.
Organisational factor
The following are the character of organizational which influence the safety related human
behavior.

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 Health and safety culture of the organization
The presence of positive or negative safety culture in the organization influence the
people to behave either in a positive or in negative way.
Policies and procedures
The presence, the quality and the way how they encourage or discourage the good
safety related behaviours, will also influence the human behavior.
Commitment from the management
Which are visibly demonstrated outside the board room will also influence the human
behavior.
Peer pressure
The presence of positive or negative peer pressure in the organization will influence
the human behavior in positive or in negative manner.
Supervision
The presence, the complaint and how the poor safety related behaviours are dealt with
will also influence the human behavior.
Consultation and worker involvement
The extent to which the employees are involved in the management of health and
safety and in the decision making process will influence the human behavior.
Communication
How effective the organization is at using the different means of communication to
communicate the health and safety information and how well they check the
understanding level of employees will also influence the human behavior.
Training
How good the organization is at identifying the training needs of employees and how
well the trainings are delivered to develop a competent person will also influence the
human behavior.
Resources
It includes provision of equipment, time, efforts and resources for the training will
also influence the human behavior.
Working patterns
The shift systems, night shifts, extended hours of working will lead to fatigue and will
affects the worker’s health. So this will also influence the worker.
Job Factor
The following are the characters of job factor which influence the human behavior.
Task
Task means the work itself, particularly the ergonomic requirement. In the absence of
ergonomic design the person will carryout the job in a way which is comfortable to
him. But it may not be a safer way.
Work load
The amount of work, variety of work, targets and deadlines may influence the human
behavior.
Environmental conditions
Environmental conditions like space, lighting, ventilation, temperature and the way
how these parameters are controlled will also influence the human behavior.

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 Display and control
The well or poorly designed display and control will also influence the human
behavior either in positive or negative way.
Work procedure
The presence and quality of the work procedure will also influence the human
behavior. The complicated procedure, outdated procedure and procedure written in a
unfamiliar languages may also influence the human behavior.
Individual Factor
The following are the character of the individual which influence the safety related
human behavior.
o Attitude
o Motivation
o Competence
o Perception
 Attitude
Attitude is a tendency to behave or respond in a particular way in a given situation.
Attitude different from person to person in a situation. Attitude are developed at early
stage of his life. The attitude in the workplace are influenced by
o Health and safety culture of the organization
o Commitment and leadership from the management
o Peer pressure
o Experience level of the individual
o Qualification of the individual

The attitude of a person can be changed by the following methods

Education and training
Education and training will provide the knowledge and will make them to understand
the importance of the safety. It will also give the details of the consequences of not
following the safety. This may change the attitude of a person. But this may take time.
High impact intervention
It is a method of showing the real time videos and picture of the accident caused due
to the failure to follow the safety rules. This will create a shock and impact and the
person may change his attitude towards safety quickly.
Enforcement
It is the way of forcing the people to follow the safety through supervision, discipline,
oncourse of time following the safety will become the regular practice.
Consultation and worker involvement in the safety issues and decision making
Consulting with worker will improve their morale and create a sense of ownership.
This will makes the worker to change their attitude towards health and safety.

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 Motivation
“Motivation is the driving force behind the way a person acts.”

What are the ways to motivate the employees to behave in positive

manner or to follow the safety rules.
 The prime factor in motivating the employees is the attitude of the
management. They should show the positive attitude infront of the workers.
 They should be committed and should set an example and should lead from
the front.
 They should involve, communicate and coordinate with the employees. They
should appreciate and recognize the good behaviors of the employees in
public.
 They should provide job satisfaction. It can be achieved by allotting required
time for the safe completion of the job, provision of right equipments and
placing them in a group with positive peer pressure.
 Consulting and involving workers in a decision making process, this will
motivate the workers.
 Conducting awareness campaigns using posters, banners, short films and
videos.
 Provision of required timing and clear communication will also motivate the
employees.
 Provision of awards, incentives, bonus, increments, certifications and job
promotions are also a form of motivating the employees.
 Taking disciplinary actions against the offenders will also motivate the others
by not to violate the safety rules.

 Competence
“Competence is the combination of knowledge, ability, training and experience which
brings a person to a level where he can do the task in an acceptable standard and
aware of his own limitations.”
What are the way to assess the competency level of a person
 Knowledge of a person shall be assessed through the interview, written test
and group discussion.
 The ability of a person shall be assessed by assign a real time test and
checking how effectively and efficiently the task has been carried out.
 The ability of a person to lead a team, co-ordinate a team and work as a team
player should be assessed.
 The ability of a person shall be assessed by checking the quality of the output
and time taken to complete the job.
 The training level of the individual shall be assessed through the training
certificates.
 The experience of the individual shall be assessed through experience
certificate and through references.

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  The quality of the paper works including the technical content shall be
assessed.
 The level of the professional conferences and seminars attended by the
individual shall be assessed.
 The membership of the individuals with the recognized and professional
association should be considered.
 Perception
“The perception is the way how a person see or interpret the given condition or
situation.”
What are the factors (or) things that disturbs the perception of the
person in the workplace (or) what are the things which interrupt
with the person’s perception of hazards or unsafe conditions.
 Sensory impairment or physical health conditions may affect the perception.
 Intelligence level and mental capability may also affect the perception.
 Some hazards may be in a hidden form. So they may also affect the
perception.
 If the people are under the influence of drugs or alcohol, they may be not able
percept the or see the things correctly.
 Lack of attention towards the job will also be the reason.
 Boredom nature of the job will also affect the perception of the people.
 Distraction from the environmental condition may also affect the
perception(eg. Noise, poor ventilation, heat)
 Lack of training and ambiguous communication may also affect the
perception.
 Lack of experience or over familiarity with the similar type of situation may
also affect the perception.
 Sensory overload, fatigue and stress may also affect the perception of the
people.
 Interference caused by the ppe used may also affect the perception.
What are the methods to improve the perception

 Conduct a survey to identify the reason while people in the workplace are not
able to percept the hazards and the risk correctly.
 Provision of education and training to improve the perception.
 Conducting awareness campaigns using posters, short films, banners and
videos to improve the perception.
 Highlighting the hazard and making it obvious by posting necessary warning
signs.
 Improving the lighting conditions so that the hazards and the unsafe conditions
are correctly visible.
 Removing the distractions from the workplace. (eg. Removing the excess
noise, maintaining suitable temperature)
 Ensure strict access control to prohibit the entry of people who are under the
control of drugs and alcohol.
 Conducting regular health surveillance.

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 Communication
There are three methods of communication. They are verbal, written and graphical
representation.
What are the matters or informations that may be displayed in the health
and safety notice boards

 Health and safety policy of the organization

 Health and safety organizational chart.
 Emergency contact numbers
 Health and safety training schedules
 First aid location and first aider contact details
 Health and safety statistics including safe man hours
 Copy of employers liability insurance
 Emergency escape routes
 Mandatory ppe’s to be used
 Safety alerts regarding recent accidents
What are the steps to be taken to make the health and safety notice
boards more effective

 Placing them in a prominent locations. So that it can be viewed by everyone.

 Improving the lighting conditions so that information are clearly visible.
 Posting health and safety related information only.
 Updating the information regularly.
 Arranging the information in an orderly manner.
 Using multi colors and graphical representation to draw the attention of the viewers.
 Highlighting the important points and using the bolder fonts to stress the importance
of the message.
 Display the information in multi languages including local language. If the site
contains multi lingual work force.
Give the reason why an organization uses different means of
communications to communicate the health and safety information

 Different people responds differently to different stimuli

 To avoid over familiarity with one method of communication.
 To specify and stress the importance of the message.
 To overcome the sensory impairment barriers of the people.
 To overcome the language and literacy barrier.
 Acceptance that some critical information like emergency procedure has to be
communicated in different methods like live demo.
 It may be the quality policy of the organization to use different means of
communications to communicate the health and safety informations.

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 Training
There are different types of health and safety trainings. They are
o Induction training
o Refreshment training.
o Job specific training
o Manager and supervisory training
o Specialist training

Induction training
Induction training is an introduction training provided to the new joining employees,
visitors before they entered into the workplace. The following are the contents of
induction training:
 Health and safety policy of the organization
 Health and safety organizational chart.
 Hazard and risk levels.
 Type and function of the organization.
 Emergency procedure including escape routes, alarms types and assembly
points.
 Emergency contact details.
 Location of first aid and contact numbers of the first aiders.
 Location of welfare facilities.
 Introduction to accidents and incident procedure.
 Details of worksite layout and safe moment around the workplace.
 General site safety rules.
 Mandatory ppe should be used.
 Details of consultation arrangements available in the organization.
 Introduction to the risk assessment.
 Introduction to the safe system of work and permit to work procedure.
 Details of disciplinary actions.

Refresher training
 It is the training provided at specific intervals of time, to refresh the memory
of the people and to update about the changes

Job specific training

 It is the training provided to give detailed safety information and precaution to
be taken for a particular job.

Manager and supervisory training

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  The managers and supervisors has more responsibility and they have to
instruct and guide their team. So they should have additional knowledge and
information on health and safety.

Specialist training
 The critical and important training like first aid, fire fighting has to be
provided only by the specialist, because those trainings are directly related to
the life of the people.
What are the things the people will understand after they have attended
the health and safety training.

 They will understand about the hazard, type and function of the organization
and inherent risk associated with the workplace.
 They will understand about the correct rules and precautions to be taken.
 They will understand about the expected foreseeable emergencies and what
action they have to do during the emergencies.
 Limitations and restrictions in relation to the job.
 They will understand the consequences of not following the safety rules.
 They will know about who to contact during any issues including
emergencies.
 They will have an understanding about their responsibilities.
What are all the circumstances that need to give an safety training or
reasons has to be provide the health and safety training.

 When a person is new to job. He may not be aware of hazard, risk, time,
function, emergency procedure. So induction training has to be provided.
 When there is a change in the job or transferred from one place to another, the
person will be exposed to the new hazard and risk. So job specific training has
to be provided.
 When there is a significant process change.
 During the introduction of new technology.
 When there is a changes or when a new legislation is introduced.
 As a result of accidents, incidents, near miss trainings has to be given to the
employees.
What are the factors to be considered while developing the training
programme.

 Hazard and risk level of the organization.

 Type and function of the organization.
 Accident history of the organization.
 Competency level of the employees.
 Levels and details of previous training provided.
 Legal requirements in relation to the trainings should be considered.
 The resources required for the training including training rooms, furniture,
white board, over head projectors, should be considered.

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  The mode of delivery or training (i.e) direct training or video conference
should be considered.
 Whether the training is to be provided by internal or external experts should be
considered.
 The duration of the training and the frequency of the training should be
considered.
Why it is important to maintain the training records.

 To record that the person has attended the training to show the competency
level of the person.
 To show the progress against the training plan.
 To avoid the duplication of the training.
 To provide reference for the provision of refresher training.
 To show the regulations that the training has been provided.
 To offer evidence during the compensation claims and accident investigations,
enforcement actions.
What are the methods to evaluate the effectiveness of the training

 By assessing post training evaluation form filled by the trainee and the trainer.
 Other people asking for similar type of training.
 Reduction in accident rate.
 Improved complaints with the safety rules.
 Reduction in absenteeism.
 Increased awareness in the topics covered.
 Reduction in enforcement actions and civil claims.

Safety committee
For effective safety committee what are the arrangements should be
there or what are the factors to be considered for an safety committee.

 Who is going to be in the safety committee? In the safety committee there

should equal number of members from both employer and employees.
 How often they are going to meet? Usually safety committee should meet
regularly that is once in a month.
 Who is going to the chair person? It shall be decided by the committee on
mutual agreements.
 What authorize the committee have? If the committee is only speaking and not
taking action, it will not be effective. So there should be a senior manager in
the committee to take action and decisions.
What should discussed in safety committee

 Only health and safety related discussions should be carried out. It includes:

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  Examinations of internal and external audit findings diseases including
observation, minor non conformance report and major NCR.
 Analysis of health and safety inspection reports.
 Discussing about the concerns raised by the health and safety representatives.
 Discussing about the effectiveness of risk assessments.
 Constant appraisal about the effectiveness of health and safety trainings and
communications.
 Discussing about the establishing links with the related enforcement agencies.
 How the discussions in the safety committee meeting will be communicated.
 Minutes of meeting should be displayed in notice board and circulated it.
 How the issues discusses will be followed.
 In the beginning of next meeting the actions taken on the issues will be
discussed in the previous meetings will be reviewed and followed up.
What are the reasons or why safety committee fails.

 Irregular meetings.
 The committee members are not competent.
 Poor attendance of the committee members.
 Non safety related issues are discussed in meetings.
 Lack of respect among the team members.
 The decisions taken by the committee is not respected by the management.
 Lack of access to relevant health and safety information.
 Imbalanced representation.
 The issues discussed in the meeting are not recorded or not followed up.

RISK PROFILING
RISK PROFILING
The process used, at a strategic level, to recognise the range of risks that threaten an
organisation along with the likelihood and probably impacts of those risks. Risk profiling
takes into consideration the risk management controls that are already in place so that their
effectiveness can be assessed and further risk management controls identified and prioritised.
The risk profile of an organisation informs all aspects of its approach to leading and
managing health and safety. It is the starting point for determining the significant health and
safety issues for the organisation.
A risk profile examines the:
 Nature and level of the threats faced by the organisation.
 Likelihood of those adverse effects occurring.
 Level of disruption and costs associated with each type of risk.
 Effectiveness of controls in place to manage those risks.

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The outcome of risk profiling will be that the right risks have been identified and prioritised
for action, the right control measures have been identified and implemented and minor risks
have not been given a disproportionate priority.
Risk profile process
At heart, the process of risk profiling is quite straightforward. It involves identifying health
and safety threats to the organisation and then prioritising those threats on the basis of their
likely impacts and their probability of occurrence. This process will be briefly described here.
Identify the health and safety threats faced by the organisation
 A range of health and safety risks threaten all organisations. These risks are
created by the nature of the work that the organisation does.
 They will include things such as work at height, vehicle movements, lifting
operations, manual handling, noise, ionising radiation and work-related
violence.
Identify the health and safety impacts and the business impacts that might result
 Each threat identified will have a likely health and safety impact should it
occur. For example, if an unprotected worker falls from height it is likely to
result in a fatality.
 Each threat will also have a likely business impact. This looks beyond the
physical and health effect to look at the impact on the organisation as a whole.
Identify how well each threat is currently controlled
 The reality is that many organisations will already have a lot of control
measures in place to minimise the likelihood of these threats and reduce their
impacts should they occur.
 These control measures must be considered during the risk profiling process to
ensure that well controlled threats are not given disproportionate attention.
Identify the likelihood of each threat occurring
 One way to identify the likelihood of each threat occurring is to think about
the timescale over which that threat might happen, given the control measures
in place
Identify the priority of each threat
 The last step of the process is to prioritise the identified threats. This involves
ordering them in terms of importance based on all of the information that has
been described above.
 The intention is to recognise the threats that will have the most significant
impacts, but that are not currently well controlled, so that they receive the time
and attention that they deserve.
 While ensuring that threats that will have little impact, or that are already well
controlled, do not receive disproportionate attention.

RISK ASSESSMENT

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Risk assessment
Risk assessment is a formalized process for identify the hazard, evaluating the risk and then
either eliminating or controlling it to an acceptable level.
Hazard
Something or anything which has potential to cause harm. The hazards can be classified into
o Physical hazard
o Chemical hazard
o Biological hazard
o Physcological hazard
o Ergonomical hazard

Risk
Risk is the combination of likelihood of occurrence of harm and severity of the
consequences. Eg. Hearing loss due to excessive noise and death due to electrical shock.
The aim of the risk assessment to eliminate the hazards and minimize the risk by correct
application of the standards.
Objectives of risk assessment
 To prevent the personal injury.
 To prevent the fatality.
 To prevent the property damage.
 To prevent the environmental pollution.
 To prevent the direct and indirect cost caused as a result of accidents.
 To comply with legal requirements.
What are the all the criteria for suitable and sufficient risk assessment

 Identify the significant risk and ignore the trivial ones.

 Identify and prioritize the measures required to comply with relevant statutory
provision.
 Identify and give priority to the legal requirement.
 Remain appropriate to the nature of the job and it should be valid for reasonable
period of time.
 Identify the risk in connection to the nature of the job and the level of details should
be proportionate to the level of risk.
 Identify all the group of the people who might be affected including operator,
maintenance staff, cleaners, contractors, visitors and general public.
 Identify and give priority to the vulnerable group of people.
 Evaluate the effectiveness of the current control measures.
 Identify and recommend protective measures to bring the risk down to an acceptable
level.
 Mention the validity of the risk assessment.

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  Recording all the significant findings.
 Mention the date, time, location and details of activities.
 List the name and competence level of the risk assessors.
Principles or steps of risk assessment
o Identify the hazard
o Identify the people who might be harmed and how.
o Evaluate the risk and decide the precaution
o Record the significant findings
o Review and revise if necessary.
Identify the hazard
In this step health and safety hazards should be identified. The health and safety
hazards shall be identified by the following methods

 Inspection
It is the straight forward observation of work, workplace and work equipment.
In this method the hazards are identified by the identified hazard exist during
the work.
 Task analysis or JSA ( job safety analysis )
It is the way of identifying the hazards before the start of the job. It can be
achieved by

S - Select the task

R - Record the task into steps.
E - Evaluate the risk associated with each steps
D - Develop the safe working method
I - Implement the safe working method.
M - Monitor to whether it is effective.
 Legislation
Knowledge about the legal standard that apply to the particular work place and
work will provide enormous information about the hazards.
Legislation are accompanied with guidance documents, which will provide
more information on hazard identification.
 Consultation with the workers
The workers will have a practical knowledge, skills, and experience about the
work and the workplace. So consultation with worker will be helpful in the
hazard identification.
 Manufacturers information
The manufacture will provide the instruction manual with the equipment and
MSDS (material safety data sheet ) with the chemicals. So msds will be useful
in the hazard identification.
 Incident data
The historic data like accident investigation report and nearmiss report will be
helpful for the hazard identification. The national statistics published by the
authorities will be also be useful in the hazard identification.

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  Audit
Audit is the systematic critical and thorough examination of health and safety
management system. It will also be useful in the hazard identification.
 Health surveillance
It will be useful for identifying the health related issue and hazards.

Identify the people who might be harmed and how

All the group of people might be affected should be identify. It includes
 Operator
Operator is a person who is directly involve in the task. They are in the line of
fire and shall be at greater risk of all the time.
 Maintenance staff
During the time of maintenance the guards and enclosures have to be
removed, to provide access. They are directly exposed to the dangerous pars of
the machine. So they are at greater risk.
 Cleaners
Cleaning staff, during the cleaning they have to remove the guards. So they
will be directly exposed to the dangerous parts. So they are at greater risk. The
cleaners may need to access the higher locations, for cleaning the windows.
Also they may to work as a lone worker during night shifts.
 Contractor
The workplace created the risk to the contractor and the contractor works
creates risk to the workplace and to other places also.
 Visitors
The visitors may not be aware of hazard, risk and emergency procedure and
emergency escape route. So they will be under greater risk during the time of
emergency.
 General public
The general public may be at risk due to the reason that they are staying close
to the organization. They will be under risk due to fire, gas leak, or oil
spillages.
 It is important to consider and identify the vulnerable group of people like
young people, older people, pregnant ladies, disabled people and lone workers.

Evaluating the risk and decide the precaution

The risk assessment can be carried out through the following method
 Qualitative risk assessment
It is the way of defining the risk by using the words like very low, medium,
high and very high.
 Semi quantitative risk assessment
It is the way of defining the risk by the numerical values like numbers.
 Quantitative risk assessment
It is the way of assessing the risk by advanced technique like fault tree
analysis, event tree analysis and HAZOP ( hazardous operability study ). In
many places semi quantitative risk assessments are used. Because
o They provide clarity of thinking

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 o They provide consistency of approach
o They provide prioritizations.
While assessing the risk the existing control measures should be taken into
account. The risk which remains after the existing control measures is known
as residual risk.
If the residual risk is low, then it is known as acceptable risk, further no
control measures are required.
If the residual risk is high ti has to be decided whether it is tolerable or un
acceptable risk.
Tolerable risk means it cannot be acceptable but tolerate small period of time
until the required control measures are made.
Unacceptable risk means the risk levels are high, the work should be stopped
and control measures should be implemented.
If the risk is tolerable or unacceptable then further control measures have to be
introduced. While introducing the control measures the following hierarchy of
the control measures should be followed

Hierarchy of the control measures

 Elimination
 Substitution
 Engineering control
 Admin control
 PPE
While introducing the control measures legal standards and guidance documents
should be considered.
Also time scale and priorities should be assigned for the control measures.
Record the significant findings
In this step all the significant findings has to be recorded. It includes,
 List of team members involved in the assessments
 All the identified health and safety hazards.
 All the group of people who may be affected including the vulnerable group of
people.
 The effectiveness of the existing control measures.
 Recommendations for the further control measures.
 Timescale priorities and responsible person for implementing the
recommendation.
 Date of review of the risk assessment.

Review and revise if necessary

 The risk assessment should be reviewed periodically. Usually once in a year.
The risk assessment shall be reviewed under the following circumstances
 When there is change in the legal standards.
 When there is a change in the workplace, work equipment, work material and
work force.

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  During the introduction of new technologies or new process.
 When the audit and inspection suggest that the existing risk assessment is
ineffective.
 As a result of accident, dangerous occurrences or near miss incidents.
 After an advise from the insurance company, manufacturers and enforcement
agencies.
 When the workers raise the voice of concern.
 After an enforcement action or enforcement notices.

Vulnerable group of people

Young person are under greater risk
 General lack of experience about the work and the workplace.
 They will have a poor perception of hazard and risk.
 They will easily influenced by the negative peer pressure.
 They might having a under developed communication skills.
 They want to exhibit heroism infront of the managers.
 Mostly they are hyper active and more enthusiastic.
 They are immature physically and mentally.

Control measures
 Conduct a risk assessment specially with young workers in mind.
 Prohibit them from carrying out dangerous jobs and hazardous activity.
 Restrict their working hours and work patterns and should avoid night shifts.
 Provide them additional trainings to improve their understanding level.
 Should conduct awareness campaigns using posters, banners, short films to
improve their awareness.
 Place them in a group with positive peer pressure.
 Should ensure competent supervision.
 Should establish a clear line of reporting.

Pregnant ladies are under greater risk. Some of the jobs which can create more
risk to the pregnant ladies. They are
 The task which involves repeated manual handling. Eg. Super market check
out staffs, packing unit staffs.
 The task which involves continuous standing or sitting. Eg. Shop assistance,
IT staffs.
 The task which involves exposure to radiations. Eg. X-ray unit hospital staffs.
 The task which involves exposure to biological agents like bacteria or virus.
Eg. Hospital staffs.
 The task which involves exposure to wet floors, smoke, extreme temperature,
handling hot objects, exposure to sharp edges. Eg. Kitchen staffs.

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  The task which involves exposure to emotional situation. Eg, accident and
emergency unit hospital staffs, social service workers.
 The task which involves exposure to violence. Eg. Police and traffic wardens.
 The task which involves the people do access the height location. Eg.
Housekeeping staffs for cleaning the windows.
 The task which involves the exposure to vibration, noise, dust, smoke and
extreme temperature. Eg. Vehicle operators, machine operators, sales and
service staffs.

Control measures
 Conduct a risk assessment specially with young workers in mind.
 Prohibit them from carrying out dangerous jobs and hazardous activity.
 Restrict their working hours and work patterns and should avoid night shifts.
 Should assign them an easy and alternate jobs.
 Should provide regular break intervals and job rotation.
 Should provide resting rooms specially for these people.
 Ensuring that the welfare facilities are available close to them.
 Should conduct regular health surveillance.
 Should suspend them from work with pay.

Disabled people are under greater risk. The reasons are

 Difficulty in reaching access and egress.
 They might have reduced mobility to access the welfare facility.
 Restricted ability to reach the safe places during the time of an emergency.
 They might have delayed response particularly during the time of an
emergency.
 Reduced ability to lift carry or move the things.
 Sensory impairment like visual impairment or hearing impairment can
increase the risk level.
 Ergonomic constraint may also increase the danger levels.

Control measures
 Conduct a risk assessment specially with young workers in mind.
 Prohibit them from carrying out dangerous jobs and hazardous activity.
 Restrict their working hours and work patterns and should avoid night shifts.
 Place them in ground floor levels to enhance the easy escape.
 Place them near the escape roots so that they can easily reach the safe places.
 Provision of visual alarm and vibrating devices to alert the people with hearing
impairment.
 Assign a able bodied person to assist the disabled people during the time of an
emergency.
 Provision of emergency evacuation chairs.
 Ensuring that the escape routes are wide enough and free from obstacles.
 Developing personal emergency evacuation plan and providing training to the
disabled people.
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  Provision of tactile flooring and braille signs to guide the people with visual
impairment.
 Assigning fire marshals with the specific responsibilities of evacuating the
disabled people.
 Provision of safety shelters near the lift or the staircases where the disabled
people can wait safely until the arrival of the rescue team.
 Provision of a special lift which can be used safely even during the fire
emergency and main supply failure.

Risk Control
Hierarchy of risk control
It is the structured and systematic step by step approach to control the risk which usually
starts with the highly effective method and uses the PPE as a final resort.
o Elimination
o Substitution
o Engineering control
o Admin control
o PPE
Elimination
If the hazard is eliminated, the risk associated with the hazard will disappear. It can be
achieved by completely eliminating the activity which give rise to the risk.
Example : The welding activity in a workshop is eliminated to eliminate the inherent
risk of welding by buying pre fabricated material metal components.

Reduction or substitution
It is the method of replacing the hazard with another hazard to reduce the risk.
Eg. Replacing petrol with diesel.
Replacing corrosive chemical with the irritant one.

Engineering control
It is the control by making physical change in the workplace or work equipment.
1. Insulation or total enclosure
It is the way of isolating the hazard so that no one can enter into the area.
( Eg ) Enclosing the noise producing generator inside an acoustic enclosure.
2. Separation or isolation
It is the way of placing the hazard at un accessible location.
( eg ) Placing the live electrical line at a safe distance away from the reach of
the people.
3. Partial enclosure

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 The chemicals or hazardous substances are handled in a cabinet or few could
where the operator only can enter the hazardous gases or fumes are drawn
away from the cabinet.
4. Safety devices
To ensure that the equipment or part of the equipment operates in the safe
manner.
(eg) Provision of interlock switches in the movable gates.

Administrative control
It is the way of controlling the risk with the use of procedures.
(eg) safe system of work, permit to work, reducing the duration of exposure,
minimizing the number of person exposed ,provision of information, instruction,
training and supervision, posting warning signs.
Personal protective equipment (PPE)
When all the above control measures have been exhausted the ppe should be used as a
final resort.
Advantages of PPE
o It is economical.
o It is easy to use.
o It come in different shape and design.
o It gives immediate protection.
o In some situation ppe is the only option.
o During the time of emergency ppe may be used as a backups.
o PPE can be used temporary control until the introduction of the further control
measures.
Disadvantages of PPE
o It does not eliminate the hazard.
o It does not reduce or substitute the hazard.
o It protects only the user.
o It protects the user only if it is selected and used correctly.
o It will fail during extreme danger.
o It may increase the overall risk by impairing the senses.
o It may interfere with the ability of the worker to do the job.
o It requires dedicated storage location.
o It may not compatible with the other items used.
o The efficiency may reduced with respect to time.
o It has to be inspected and maintained regularly.

FIRST AID
First aid ( first help)

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First aid is the immediate medical attention provided to the affected or the injured person,
before the arrival of professional medical team or help.
The purpose of the first aid is 3P’s
 Preserve the life of the victim.
 Prevent the deterioration of the victim.
 Promote the recovery of the victim.
The first aid involves the following things
o Facilities
o Equipment.
o Person.

Facilities
There should be separate fist aid room or a room which can be easily connected into
first aid room. The first aid room should satisfy the following needs.
o Centrally located. So that all the people in the organization can easily access
the first aid room.
o It should be easily accessible by pedestrian and vehicle and it should be
well marked.
o It should be neat and clean.
o It should be well ventilated and well lit.
o Suitable temperature should be maintained.
o First aid room should have chair, wash basin, and clinical waste bin.

Equipment
There should be minimum one fully stocked first aid box should be available, it
depends upon the size of the workplace and manpower, first aid boxes should be
placed in all prominent locations and it should be well marked so that it can be easily
identified.
The following equipment should be available.
o Eye wash shower.
o Emergency shower.
o Stretchers.
o Wheel chair.
o Blankets.
o Resuscitation equipment ( AED – automated external defibrillator )

Person
There are two types of person
1) Appointed person.
2) First aider at work.
Appointed person
Appointed person is the person who has undergone basic level of training and they are
responsible for the following things.

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 o To check and refill the first aid boxes in the organization.
o To maintain the record of the injured persons and the type of treatment
given.
o To take the affected person under their custody.
o To contact the emergency services during the time of emergency.

First aider at work

First aider is a person who has undergone the training in the provision of first aid and
certified in providing first aid. He shall provide first aid treatment with respect to the
level of trainings received.
The required qualities of the first aider is
o He should be a reliable person with good communication skills.
o He should know his limitations and limitation of the training.
o He should have the ability to learn and observe the new things and
updations.
o He should have the ability to face the emotional situations and to take the
responsibilities.
o He should be able to quickly interpret the given situation and to take the
necessary actions.
o He should be physically and mentally fit.
o He should be kind hearted and should have gentle qualities and mentally
tough.
o He should be in the position that he can leave his job at any point of time
and attend the emergencies.
Factors to be considered while developing the first aid facilities in the workplace.
 Type and functions of the organization should be consider.
 Hazard and risk level of the organization should be consider.
 The presence and quality of the hazardous substances should be consider.
 Should consider the accident history of the organization.
 Should consider the competency level of the organization.
 Should consider the number of people present in the organization.
 Should consider the distributions of the people in the workplace.
 Should consider the shift patterns of the employees.
 Should consider the environmental condition of the workplace.
 Should consider the geographical location of the workplace. (i.e ) distance of the
workplace from the nearby hospitals should be consider.

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 SAFE SYSTEM OF WORK
Safe system of work is a formal procedure based on systematic examination of work. Inorder
to identify the hazard. It defines safe working method that eliminates the hazard or minimize
the risk.
Reasons for including the workers in development of safe system of work.
 The workers will have practical knowledge, skills and experience about the hazard
and the risk and the working methods.
 They can contribute by assessing the plants and documentations and provide feedback
about the effectiveness of the system in the progress.
 Involving the workers will enable them to understand more about the hazards, risk
and how safe system of work functions.
 Involving the worker will enhance the ownership and commitment towards the safe
system of work.
 Involving the workers rather than forcing them will enhance the positive safety
culture in the organization.
 Involving the workers will avoid the compliance issues when the system is
introduced.
 Involving the workers in the development of safe system of work is a way of
motivating them.
 Involving the workers will improve their morale.

The safe system of work should be in written form. The reason is

 To provide precis reference for the employees.
 To ensure the consistence of the approach.
 Passing the information through verbal communication is an unreliable method of
communication. And these can prone to error.
 To provide training to the people on the safe system of work.
 The safe system of work needs to updated regularly.
 The safe system of work shall be consulted and discussed in the safety committee
meeting.
 The safe system of work should be displayed in the workplace to refresh the memory
of the people.
 The written safe system of work forms a standard which can be audited and provided
with feedback to the employees.
 This will offer evidence during the accident investigation and enforcement actions.

Factors to be considered while developing the safe system of work.

The following factors should be considered
o Task
o People
o Equipment

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 o Material
o Environment or workplace.
1) Task
 For what task the safe system if work is to be developed.
 Is task analysis carried out.
2) People
 For whom the safe system of work is to be developed.
 How many people are involved in the task.
 What is the competence level of the people.
 Is there any vulnerable group of people involved in the task.
3) Equipment
 What type of equipment are going to be used.
 Is the equipment maintained and inspected periodically according to the
manufacturer information and legal standard.
 Is all the dangerous parts are guarded.
 Is the equipment has manufacturer instruction manual.

4) Material
 What type of material are used.
 Is the material handled and stored safely.
 Is the material has MSDS ( Material Safety Data Sheet )
 Is the waste of the materials are disposed properly.
5) Environment or workplace
 In what type of environment the activities are carried out.
 Does the environment factors can cause interfere or create risk to people.

EMERGENCY PROCEDURE
An emergency procedure is a plan of actions to be conducted in a certain order or manner, in
response to a specific class of reasonably foreseeable emergency, a situation that poses an
immediate risk to health, life, property, or the environment.
Reason for developing and maintaining the emergency procedure in a workplace.
 To ensure the safe evacuation of the workers during the time of emergency.
 To be prepared for all the foreseeable emergencies.
 To comply with the legal requirements in related to the emergency procedure.
 To ensure the safety and protection of all the workers including the emergency team
members.
 To ensure the safe evacuation of all the people including the disabled people and
visitors.
 To provide information and training not only to the employees but also to the nearby
public.
 To provide information to the related external agencies like fire team and medical
team.
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  To assign responsibilities to the specific group of people to act during the time of
emergency.
 To mitigate the effects of the adverse events.
 To ensure the continuity of the business.
 To restore to the normal conditions as quick as possible.
Contents of the emergency procedure
 Details of all the foreseeable emergencies.
 Means of raising of alarms and alert the people.
 Procedure to be followed for the evacuation during the time of emergency.
 Equipment required to deal with emergency.
 Combination of responsible person.
 Methods of contacting emergency services.
 Methods to dealing with media.
Reasons for review and monitoring of health and safety performance
 To check whether the health and safety aim and objectives are achieved.
 To identify the health and safety unsafe act and conditions.
 To compare the actual performance with the set targets.
 To compare the performance of an organization with another organization doing the
same job.
 To identify the hazards and to evaluate the effectiveness of the existing control
measures.
 To recommend the further control measures to reduce the risk level.
 To identify the new or changed risk.
 To assess the compliance with the national legal standards.
 To provide information to the management and safety committee.
 Review is the important element of the health and safety management system.
 To show the commitment of the management and to enhance the health and safety
culture.

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Questions you should revise in above element
1. Define health and safety culture.
2. How do a worker’s peers exert influence over their behaviour?
3. What are the main benefits and limitations of both written and verbal
forms of communication?
4. Giving an example, state why graphic symbols (such as pictograms) are
used to communicate safety
information.
5. How can workers be involved in the improvement of workplace health
and safety?
6. What should be the first priority in induction training?
7. Apart from at induction, when should training be provided?
8. Identify the three factors that impact on a worker’s health and safety-
related behaviour.
9. Outline four key job factors that can impact on safety-related
behaviour.
10. Why might workers not correctly perceive risk at work?
11. Why is the distinction between hazards and risks so important to
health and safety management?
12. What is the purpose of risk assessment?
13. What techniques are used for identifying hazards?
14. Identify two internal and two external sources of information about
health and safety.
15. What are the five categories of health hazard?
16. What are the five steps involved in risk assessment?
17. Apart from office workers, what particular people or groups might
require special consideration during a
risk assessment in an office environment?
18. What two factors are used to estimate risk?
19. What is residual risk?
20. What is the general hierarchy of control?
21. What conditions might trigger a risk assessment review?
22. When should PPE be used?
Identify five management controls that should be considered for the
control of risks created by temporary works.
25. Define the phrase ‘safe system of work’.
26. How does involving workers in the development of SSWs contribute to
strengthening the health and
safety culture?
27. What is the difference between technical, procedural and behavioural
controls?
28. Why do instruction, training and supervision form a part of safe
systems?
29. What is a permit to work?
30. What are the four key sections of a typical permit?

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31. What is the main objective of an emergency procedure?
32. Name three typical emergencies that may require the development of
emergency procedures.
33. What factors might need to be considered when determining the first-
aid facilities for a workplace?

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 ELEMENT 4
HEALTH AND SAFETY MONITORING AND MEASURING
Effective monitoring of sickness absence and workplace health can alert the board to
underlying problems that could seriously damage performance or result in accidents and
long-term illness. Appraisals of senior managers can include an assessment of their
contribution to health and safety performance.
Types of monitoring
There are two types of monitoring. They are
o Active monitoring
o Reactive monitoring.

Active monitoring
 Active monitoring is the measure of compliance with the standards.
 Active monitoring is the monitoring down before the things go wrong.
 Active monitoring is the leading indicators, it shows the current directions or
the positions of the organisation towards health and safety.
 Active monitoring is the measure of performance.
 Example for active monitoring are safety audit, safety inspection, safety
survey, safety tour, safety sampling, bench marking, health surveillance.

Reactive monitoring
 Reactive monitoring is the measure of previous failures.
 Re active monitoring is the monitoring done after the things go wrong.
 Re active monitoring is the lagging or trailing indicator as it shows where the
organisation was already there.
 Reactive monitoring is the measure of failures.
 Example for reactive monitoring is accident investigation, nearmiss ,ill health
statistics, enforcement actions, civil claims, prosecution.

INSPECTION
Systematic inspection
 One of the popular way to actively monitor the health and safety performance is
systematic inspection.
 The systematic inspection should focus on anyone or several or all of the following
four P’s.
 Plant – equipment, machineries, vehicles and their statutory inspection and inspection
and examination.
 Premises – workplace or working methods.

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  People – their behaviour and working methods.
 Procedure – safe system of work, method statement.
There are several forms of systematic inspection. They may be
I. Daily inspection – ( eg ) forklift is inspected by the operator before the use of the
forklift.
II. Weekly inspection – (eg) supervisors check whether the forklift are driven safely.
III. Monthly inspection – inspection carried out by the manager to check the general
standard of the house keeping in the ware house.
IV. Half yearly inspection – inspection carried by the competent person to check the
safety of the load bearing parts of the forklift.
V. Annual inspection – inspection carried out to check the integrity of the storage racks.

Safety inspection
Safety inspection is the straight forward observation of work, workplace and work
equipment. The purpose of the inspection is to identify the hazard and evaluate the
effectiveness and use of control measures.
The inspection are carried out by a team with a help of checklist. There are different types of
safety inspection are carried out in industries. They are
Routine inspection
The inspection is carried out to check whether the general standards of health and
safety are acceptable or if any corrective actions are required.
(eg) House keeping inspection should be carried out once in three months to assess
the general standards in the workplace.
Statutory inspection
This inspection is carried out by a authorised agencies or person inorder to comply
with legal requirements.
(eg) lifting accessories inspection should be carried out once in six months.
Periodic inspection
This inspection is carried out on plant and equipment as a part of plant maintenance
program.
(eg) inspection of a brake pads of every vehicles on every 10,000 KM.
Pre-use check
Is the check carried out by the forklift operator before the use of the forklift.

Factors to be considered before developing the inspection programme

o Type of inspection
o Frequency of inspection
o Allocation of responsibility
o Competency and objectivity of the inspector
o Training and experience
o Use of checklist
o Action planning for the problem found.

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 Type of inspection
The inspections are carried out for the several reasons to inspect the different aspects
of health and safety. So it has to be decided whether the inspection is routine or
periodic or statutory or pre use check.
Frequency of the inspection
Frequency of the inspection to be decided it depends upon the type of inspection and
hazard and risk level of the organisation. So it has to be decided whether the
inspection is daily, weekly, monthly or annually.
Allocation of responsibility
It is important to be decided who is to going to carry out the inspection and who is
going to monitor the inspection.
Competency and objectivity of the inspector
The inspector should have knowledge, ability, training and experience in the health
and safety standards. They should be objective, impartial and he should be straight
forward.
Use of checklist
The checklist enables prior planning and preparation. So that the inspection carried
out in a structured and systematic manner. So the use of checklist should be
considered.
Action planning for the problem found
The inspection which identifies the hazard by fails to recommend the corrective
actions is a flawed inspection.
The inspection should identify the following things
I. Control measures.
II. Timescale and priorities.
III. Responsible person for implementing control measures.

Advantages of use of checklist

 The checklist enables pre planning and preparation. So that the inspection goes in a
structural and systematic manner.
 It ensures that all the points are covered.
 It gives immediate record of the findings.
 In can be referred in the future.
 It offers evidence during accident investigations and during the enforcement actions.
 It can be easily customised or modified to different activities and different places.
 It allows easy comparison with the previous inspection.
Disadvantages of use of checklist
 It provides a blind approach so that the points other than the checklist might not be
covered.
 It may not be updated with the improvements or the changes made in the equipment
or workplace.
 The use of checklist may become a routine activity, without any follow of actions
taken.

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  The use of checklist may tempt the un-authorised person or less competent person to
use it. And so they may be prone to error or subjected to human abuse.

Factors which influence the frequency of inspection

 The type and functions of the organisation.
 The hazard and risk level of the organisation.
 Legal standards may dictate the frequency.
 The manufacturer may recommend to inspect frequently.
 The risk assessment may suggest inspection as a control measures.
 Previous inspection and the compliance issues may influence the frequency of the
inspection.
 The frequency and duration of the use of equipment may influence the inspection.
 The age of the equipment will influence the frequency of inspection. New equipment
will require adequate inspection.
 Competency level of the people in the organisation will influence the frequency of the
inspection.
 The presence of vulnerable group of people may influence the frequency.
 The environmental condition of the workplace may also influence the frequency.

An accident has occurred in an organisation. Inspection was carried out

before the accident has occur. Give the possible reasons why the
inspection has not identified the hazards and prevent the accidents.
 Inspection is a snapshot of time, the hazard or unsafe condition may occur after the
inspection.
 Due to the blind approach provided by the checklist, the inspector may not have
identify the hazard.
 The inspector may not be a competent person.
 The hazard or unsafe condition may be in a hidden form.
 The inspector may not have identified due to the negligence.
 The hazard and unsafe conditions may have developed after the inspection due to the
changes in the environmental conditions.
 The inspector may have identified the hazard but failed to mention in the report due to
memory loss.
 The unsafe act which lead to unsafe condition may not have happened during the
inspection.
 The inspector have identified the hazard and mentioned in the report, but the
management has failed to take action due to
a) Lack of commitment and leadership.
b) Lack of priority given to the health and safety.
c) Lack of resources allotted towards the control measures.
d) Lack of timescale to implement the control measures.
e) Unclear allocation of roles and responsibilities.

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What are the reasons for under reporting of the incident or the accident.
 Presence of complicated reporting system.
 The reporting system may not be adequately communicated to the employees in the
organization.
 The management may not take actions on the preview reports.
 Employees may get fear of being blamed.
 To avoid the time spend on the investigation process.
 To maintain the safety statistics of the organization.
 To avoid the loss of bonus or incentives.
 To maintain the prestige of the department inside the organization.
 Employees may get influenced by the negative peer pressure.
 Hesitations in receiving the first aid treatment.

What are the reasons or the purpose of reporting incident

 To trigger the provision of first aid treatment to the injured person.
 To preserve the accident scene for investigation.
 To enable the investigation, to prevent the re occurrence.
 To comply with the legal requirements of the reporting of the incident.
 To record the fact that the incident has occurred and to refer in future.
 To offer evidence during accident investigation and civil claims.

Reasons for investigating an incident

 To identify the causes of the incident including immediate and root causes.
 To identify the control measures and to prevent the re occurrence.
 To identify the financial impacts caused by the incident.
 To identify the deficiency in health and safety management system and to update
them.
 For claim management purpose. (i.e) it will be useful for the insurance company to
decide the liability issues.
 To comply with the legal standards of reporting the incident.
 To improve the morale of the employees.
 To take disciplinary actions against the offenders.
 To update the risk assessment.
 To record the fact that incident has occurred because people has very poor memory.
 To identify the trends and patterns in relation to the different types of incident.
 To offer evidence during enforcement actions.

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Give the reasons why the nearmiss incidents has to be investigated
 Today’s near miss may be tomorrow’s accident. So to prevent the future accident.
 To identify the potential areas of the concern and to introduce the control measures.
 By investigating a near miss we can learn useful lesson without a loss.
 More number of near miss occurs than the accident, so there is more learning
opportunity to improve the health and safety.
 Investigating a near miss will send a strong signal that the organization is not only the
accidents are serious, but also the near miss.
 Investigating the near miss will improve the morale of the employees and will
enhance the positive safety culture.

Steps of incident investigation

a) Collect or gather all the factual information.
b) Analyses the collected information.
c) Find the immediate cause and root cause.
d) Identify the suitable control measures.
Before conducting an investigation it is important to consider the following things.
Safety of the scene
It is important to consider whether it safe to enter into the area or not. If any immediate
actions to be taken to control the hazards.
Casualty care
It is important to arrange for first aid for the injured person. It is also important to take care of
uninjured person who may be in state of shock.
The following are the steps of investigation
Collect or gather all the factual information.
 Barricade the accident scene to avoid the evidence being disturbed.
 Collect the name and details of the witness before they start to move.
 Collect the evidences and information from the accident scene. It can be
achieved by
I. Photograph.
II. Videos.
III. Sketches.
IV. Measurements.
V. Drawings.
VI. Physical evidences.
VII. Recording the information of environmental conditions including
lighting level, temperature and wind speed.

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  Once the information has collected from the accident scene then move to the
second source of information that is interviewing the witness.
 Once the witness has been interviewed than move to the third source of
information. (i.e) reference to the documents. The following documents shall
be referred health and safety policy of the organization.
I. Health and safety organizational chart.
II. Training related records.
III. Near miss report.
IV. Employees complaint register.
V. Health surveillance report.
VI. Machineries maintenance report.
VII. PPE distribution list.
VIII. Risk assessment.
IX. Safe system of work.
X. Permit to work procedure.
XI. Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS)
XII. Manufacturer information manual.

Analysis the collected information

The collected information has to be analyzed to find the immediate and root causes.
Immediate cause
 Immediate cause are the things which occurs at the time and place of the
incident.
 The unsafe act and unsafe conditions are the reasons for the immediate causes.
 Example a person walks over the oil spillages so slips and falls down and
injured on his back. The reason or immediate cause for this accident are
I. The person walking over the oil spillage (unsafe act)
II. Presence of oil spillage in the walk space (unsafe condition)

Root cause
 Root causes are the things which lies behind the immediate causes.
 The failure of the management system will be reason for root cause.
Example
I. In adequate risk assessment
II. Lack of maintenance
III. Lack of inspection
IV. Lack of training
V. Lack of supervision
VI. Lack of reporting systems.

Identify the suitable control measures

 It is important to identify the suitable control measures for the both immediate
and root causes.
 Otherwise the cost, time and effort spent on investigation will be wasted. So
plan for the remedial actions.
 It is important to plan and implement the rectification measures. It includes

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 I. Recommend corrective actions.
II. Timescale and priorities.
III. Responsible person to implement recommendations.

What are the steps or methods to be followed by the safety officer while
conducting the interview with witness.
 Conduct the interview as soon as possible because the witness may forget the
information or morph cool stories.
 If the witness injured or in the state of shock, allow reasonable time for recovery.
 Conduct interview at separate and cool locations.
 Conduct interview for one person at a time.
 If the witness want to bring his representative means then allow them to proceed.
 Introduce yourself and develop a good rapport with a witness.
 Conduct the interview in the language in which the witness is familiar.
 Explain the purpose of the interview. The purpose of the interview is to identify the
reasons not to blame anyone.
 Ask questions starting will words like what, when, where, why, who and how.
 Record the proceedings with suitable equipment like videography.
 Ask him for his suggestions.
 Thank him for the co-operation and get signature in the witness report.

AUDIT
Audit
Audit is the critical, thorough and systematic examination of health and safety management
system. There are two types of audit. They are
o Internal audit
o External audit.

There are three stages of audit. They are

o Pre audit preparation stage
o During audit stage.
o Post audit stage.
Pre audit stage
 Co-operation and support should be guided from the management for
logistical arrangements and for accessing the information.
 The scope of the audit has to be decided that is whether it is only safety audit
or health and safety audit.

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  The area of the audit has to be decided that is whether the audit is for one
department or for total organization.
 The duration of the audit has to be decided, whether the audit is for one day or
couple of days.
 The team, composition and competency of the auditor should be decided.
 The person who is going to accompany the auditor has to be decided.
 The person who is going to accompany the auditor has to be decided.
 The information and documents required for the audit has to be gathered
arranged.

During audit stage

 The auditor starts the audit with kick of meetings and explains about the
scope, area and duration of the audit.
 The auditor collects the evidence through the following
i. Inspection of the workplace.
ii. Verification and assessment of the documents.
iii. Interview with the employer and the employee.

Post audit
 The auditor completes the audit and gives verbal feedback in the closeout
meeting. After a period of time the auditor sends report which may includes
the following things
Observation :- it is the findings made by the auditor, which the organization
can decide regarding the action.
Minor- non conformance (minor NCR) :- it is the indication of breach of
law or the standards. The organization should take corrective action. The
certification will not be refused.
Major non-conformance (Major NCR) :- it identifies the major breach of
standards the certifications issuance may be refused.

What are the issues to be considered in the review

 Legal compliances
 Legal and best practice development.
 Accident and incident data.
 Absence and sickness data.
 Audit report.
 Quality assurance report.
 Enforcement actions.
 Previous management review.
 Safety tour.
 Safety sampling.
 Communication and consultation from the external sources.
 Monitoring data reports.

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The types of events to be reported to the external agencies
 Accidents resulting in fatalities.
 Accidents results in major injury.
 Dangerous occurrences failure of an items of an lifting equipment.
 Occupational diseases including (mesothelide – form of cancer in the lining of lungs
due to exposure to asbestosis)

Reviewing Health and Safety Performance

Issues to be Considered in Reviews
Reviewing health and safety performance relies to a great extent on having good quality,
reliable information about current and past performance, which usually depends on data
gathering. One of the first steps in the review process is gathering this information and data.
There are a wide range of topics for consideration in the review, including:
Legal compliance –
 The organisation must be aware of any legal compliance issues, and therefore the
review should recognise any areas of legal non-compliance.
Accident and incident data –
 concerning injury accidents, property-damage accidents, lost-time accidents,
reportable events, etc., often taken from accident records and accident investigation
reports, together with the review of corrective and preventive actions arising from
investigations, to ensure that these have been implemented.
Safety tours, sampling and inspections –
 information and data gathered from general workplace inspection reports and
statutory inspections may provide evidence of conformance or non-conformance to
standards.
Absence and sickness data –
 concerning work-related ill health; gathered from absence monitoring records or
perhaps the occupational health department (if one exists).
Audit reports –
 findings of internal and external audits should be reviewed, which may present
detailed and comprehensive information on the safety management system and its
effectiveness.

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Achievement of objectives –
 where specific targets have been set for the organisation as a whole or parts of the
organisation, achievement towards these targets can be measured.
Enforcement action –
 such as reports from inspectors, enforcement notices and prosecutions.
Previous management reviews –
 in particular, the completion of actions identified during those reviews.
Legal and best practice developments –
 it is important that the organisation remains up-to-date with its legal responsibilities
and responds to any changes. There may also be technological or best practice
changes that can be taken into consideration to further improve the workplace.
Other sources – such as:
 Quality assurance reports.
 Results of participation and consultation.
 Communications and complaints from external sources.
 Monitoring data/records/reports.
These performance indicators can then be used to evaluate the performance of the
organisation against the required standards.
These standards might be:
Legal standards established by legislation.
Organisational standards that go above and beyond legal compliance

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Questions you should revise in the above element
1. Define reactive and active monitoring.
2. What do we mean by systematic active monitoring?
3. What types of information that might be used in reactive monitoring?
4. What is the purpose of workplace inspections?
5. What is the difference between a safety inspection and safety tour?
6. What role does senior management have in workplace inspections?
7. Why are checklists used in inspections?
8. What is the main purpose of an accident investigation?
9. What are the four steps of the investigation process?
10. Identify the categories of staff who might be considered useful
members of an internal accident
investigation team.
11. What types of record might be consulted during an accident
investigation?
12. What are the two categories of immediate cause of
accidents/incidents?
13. An employee has been hit by a reversing vehicle in a loading bay.
What are the possible immediate causes
and root causes?
14. Who is usually initially responsible for reporting accidents and safety-
related incidents?
15. What actions should be taken following a serious injury at work?
16. Define the term ‘health and safety auditing’.
17. What are the differences between health and safety audits and
workplace inspections?
18. Performance review is concerned with ensuring that incident
investigations are properly concluded. True
or false?
19. What is the purpose of reviewing health and safety performance?
20. Who should take part in reviews of the occupational health and safety
management system?
21. How often should reviews of the occupational health and safety
management system take place?
22. What typical outputs from the management review need to be
documented and maintained as a record of
the review process and as evidence of its effectiveness? 

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