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Occupational Health and Safety Management System and Workplace

Risk Assessment

Conference Paper · November 2013

DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.1.1954.8000

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Tatjana Kobb Elisaveta Stikova

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 Occupational Health and Safety
Management System and
Workplace Risk Assessment
Prof.Dr. Elisaveta Stikova,
Prof.Drf. Doncho Donev,
Dr. Tatjana Martinoska
Medical Faculty
& Institute of Public Health of R. Macedonia
Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje, Republic of Macedonia Doha, Qatar
Outline
—  Introduction
—  Occupational Health and Safety
Management System – Specification
—  Risk Management Strategy
—  Workplace Risk Assessment –
cornerstone of OHSAS 18000
—  Different methods for WRA – qualitative
and quantitative
—  Conclusions

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Introduction
—  Thechanging nature of working life and
reorientation of occupational health
services (OHS) towards multidisciplinary,
competitive, effect-oriented teams
◦  in many countries operate on a commercial
basis in competition with other similar service
providers
◦  requires the development and implementation
of effective tools for high quality service
management.
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Risk Management Strategy
—  Determinants of quality management

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Occupational Health and Safety
Management System – Specification
—  Distinction
has to be made between the
quality management of occupational health
and safety in the enterprise and the quality
management of occupational health services.

◦  The first is related to the responsibility of the

employer with regard to company policy on
occupational health, safety and welfare of the
employees
◦  The second one deals with the quality of
occupational health services and its management.

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Workplace Risk Assessment – cornerstone
of OHSAS 18000
—  OHSAS 18000 is not obligatory standard but should help
organizations to achieve better occupational health and
safety performance
—  There are two series:
◦  8001- requirements and
◦  8002 - implementation guidelines.
—  This standard provides elements of an effective OHSMS that
can be integrated with other management requirements.
—  By 2009 it was presents as a voluntary standard in 116
countries.
—  OHSAS 18000 is addressed to 8 key areas - from workplace
risk assessment through training, awareness, competencies,
operational control to emergency preparedness and control
during the possible industrial or other type of disaster

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Workplace Risk Assessment – cornerstone
of OHSAS 18000
—  The cornerstone of this standard is a workplace
risk assessment prior to making an intervention.

—  Workplace risk assessment involves 3 processes:

risk identification, risk analysis and risk evaluation.

—  Risk assessment is main step in the process of

risk analysis

—  Many different quantitative and qualitative

methods were developed mainly based on the
risk matrices

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Risk Management Process Overview

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Different methods for WRA – qualitative
and quantitative
—  The ‘ICC approach’ to risk description (Impact, Cause,
Context)

—  Describe the potential Impact if the risk were to

materialise.

—  Describe the Causal Factors that could result in the

risk materialising.

—  Ensure that the Context of the risk is clear, e.g. is the
risk ‘target’ well defined
◦  (e.g. staff, patient, department, hospital, etc.) and is the ‘nature’ of
the risk clear (e.g. financial, safety, physical loss, perception, etc.)

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Different methods for WRA – qualitative
and quantitative
—  Risk is defined as “the chance of something
happening that will have an impact on the
achievement of organisational stated objectives”
—  Risk is measured in terms of likelihood and
impact i.e. the likelihood of an event occurring
combined with its impact (consequence).
—  The ‘ICC approach’ to risk description:
—  Impact,
—  Cause,
—  Context

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Different methods for WRA – qualitative
and quantitative
—  Two elements are determined:
◦  The likelihood that a hazard/risk may occur
or reoccur.
◦  The impact of harm to the health or the
organisation.
—  Likehood scoring (1-5)

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Different methods for WRA – qualitative
and quantitative
—  Impact scoring:

—  Impact
on health, services, compliance with
standards, business continuity, financial loss,
environment

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Different methods for WRA – qualitative
and quantitative
—  Risk
Matrix (combining Likehood and
Impact)

—  High risks - scored between 15-25 (red)

—  Medium risk - scored between 6-12 (amber)
—  Low risks - scored between 1-5 (green)

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Evaluation of the risk

— Accept the risk or

— Treat the risk by:
◦  Avoiding the risk,
◦  Transferring the risk or
◦  Controlling the risk (hierarchy)

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Workplace chemicals identified
—  There are many workplace chemicals
identified as causing cancer, reproductive
and/or developmental toxicity
—  About 20% of the workplace chemicals of
concern are used as solvents and pose
higher concern for worker exposure
—  About 40% are skin absorbable (additional
risk)
—  About 60% are high production volume
chemicals
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Permitted exposure level
—  The National list of PELs (permitted
exposure level) select workplace
chemicals listed as known to cause
cancer, reproductive and developmental
toxicity and do not have PELs or that
have PELs but not classified as a known
cancerogens
—  The methodologies for quantitative
cancer risk assessment are similar with
some specificities

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The unit risk level
—  Cancer risk is usually calculated for
inhalation exposures in the occupational
setting using a measure of carcinogenic
potency called the unit risk level.
—  The unit risk level is defined as the excess
cancer risk associated with lifetime
inhalation exposure to a unit air
concentration (e.g., 1 μg/m3) of a given
chemical.

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A workplace exposure scenario for
cancer risk assessment
◦  Assumed exposition at the PEL: 8 hours per
day, 5 days per week, 50 weeks per year for
40 years (potentially increased breathing rate
of workers would be in crease risk by a factor
1.5)
URL - Unit risk levels (mg/m3)-1.
◦  The cancer potencies in (mg/kg-day)-1
multiplied by the human breathing rate
divided by body weight (20 m3/70 kg)

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Excess Lifetime Cancer Risk

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Occupational Health and Safety Management
System and Workplace Risk Assessment
—  Occupational air concentration (Cocc in
mg/m3)

—  Cancer
risk = target cancer risk level ( 1
in 1000, 1 in 10,000 or 1 in 100,000)

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Occupational Health and Safety Management
System and Workplace Risk Assessment

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Occupational Health and Safety Management
System and Workplace Risk Assessment

—  Nominal probability coefficient for

stochastic effects after exposure to low
level of ionising radiation, by ICRP (2007)

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Conclusions
—  Quality
management of
occupational health and safety in the
enterprise is essential tool for
improvement of overall performances of
the companies

—  OHSAS 18000 is non obligatory

standard for implementation of
Occupational health safety quality criteria
in the companies
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Conclusions
—  There
are many different methods for
workplace risk assessment

—  There
is a need for continuous
improvement of the available
methods in order to simplify the
procedure and to receive reliable
measures for quantification of risk

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Conclusions

—  The
quantitative measure is basis to
accept or threat the risk through
avoiding, transferring or controlling
the risk.

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 Acknowledgment

Thank you for you time

Medical Faculty Consultancy Company

& Institute of Public Health London, UK
of R. Macedonia Doha, Qatar
Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje
Republic of Macedonia
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