Why manage health and safety?

Health and safety is everyone’s responsibility.

Managing health and safety is more than that.

Just to be clear: this course is not an introduction to health and safety. And it should not be
the first health and safety training you have ever undertaken.

You should be taking this course because you have some responsibility for managing health
and safety – your own, and other people whom you manage, supervise or look after.

Your responsibilities

You are on this course because you have already identified you have some significant
responsibilities.

Those responsibilities can fall into three distinct categories. Click on each to find out more.

A moral responsibility exists because it is not right that people should be harmed by
work. Work should be a fulfilling, rewarding and beneficial activity.

A financial responsibility exists because accidents and ill health are errors that cost money, waste
resources, disrupt business and endanger the success of an enterprise.

A legal responsibility exists because the moral and financial responsibilities on their own have not
always proven to be sufficient to ensure that workplaces are safe and healthy.

Why is it important to manage safely?

To begin, we’re going to watch a short film that should get you thinking about why safety is
so important in the workplace.

What does health and safety mean to you?

Here are some of the thoughts of our students:

 ‘Health’ is just as important as safety.

 An accident is often an acute and shocking event, but health effects are chronic and
can play out over prolonged periods. Look at asbestos. The impact of that might be 40
years later.
 People really do go to jail for failing in their health and safety duties.
  Fines for health and safety are now into the millions of pounds. Businesses can’t
ignore that.
 Ignorance is no excuse. You can’t get away with saying you didn’t know about risk.
 Health and safety isn’t just about big risks like construction or manufacturing. Injuries
happen in small work places too and to office workers.

What does health and safety mean to you?

Many organisations view ‘good’ health and safety as simply the absence of any serious
accidents. But this is a very narrow definition.

Click on the safety tape to understand a wider definition of health and safety.

Health and safety

The term ‘safety’ implies ‘being safe, freedom from risk or danger’.  But health is also an
important issue at work. Everyone can recognise that, if an employee bypasses a guard to a
machine, the employee’s safety is put at risk. However, the fact that the employee may be
working in a poorly ventilated room where hazardous fumes are present may be ignored.

Also, many work-related health effects take a long time to be realised. The use of asbestos in
the 1950s and 1960s is a good example, where the ill effects of working with it did not
emerge until 20 to 30 years later.
What does health and safety mean to you?

Of course, health and safety isn’t just relevant in hazardous industries such as construction, or
where people may come into contact with dangerous substances or working practices. Health
and safety is relevant everywhere.

Consider your own working environment. What kind of a workplace do you have? What
dangers are there? Take a look at the following examples, which represent four ‘typical’
working environments.

Workplace 1

Sometimes, workplaces have obvious dangers – a piece of machinery, heavy loads, vehicles,
chemicals, and simply tasks that, if not done right, present a danger to people’s health and
safety. Construction is the most dangerous industry of all, accounting for the most workplace
deaths in the UK and across the globe. Hazards are everywhere, so it’s essential you work
safely.
workplace 2

Whilst you might not work in a typically hazardous environment, you may have a lot of
interaction with people – perhaps in difficult or emergency situations, where tensions run
high. When lots of people interact, and the job just needs to get done, health and safety can
get missed…

Workplace 3

Even what might seem like low-hazard workplaces have health and safety risks. Perhaps you
work in an office, or a shop, and have limited exposure to hazardous activities. Remember,
there are still things like electricity, and places to slip and trip. Perhaps you have a stressful
job, or difficult and demanding colleagues. Perhaps your company is too busy keeping up
with market demands to consider health and safety…
Workplace 4

When budgets are being slashed and time pressures are on, it’s easy to overlook safe working
practices. Perhaps you don’t have time to consider the ‘right’ way to do a job, and cutting
corners seems easier. Whilst health and safety might cost money, an accident will cost more...

What does health and safety mean to you?

This component is a graphical multiple choice question. Once you have selected an option
select the submit button below.

Select the workplace that you think is most similar to your own. For example, if you work in
a high risk industry, Workplace 1 would be most applicable to you. If you have a customer-
facing role, and interact with the public a lot, Workplace 2 is probably the most relevant.
Perhaps you work in an office, or a typically ‘low risk’ environment – Workplace 3 would be
your choice. Or perhaps you work in a constantly changing environment, in which many or
all of the hazards and issues in the other workplaces apply. If that’s the case, click on
Workplace 4.

The effects of a serious accident

You’ve seen from the film the significance of a serious accident, and the devastating
consequences it can have. Consider the effects a serious accident may have on:

 The injured party

 The company
 Other work colleagues

Click on each of the affected parties below to find out more.

"I was involved in a workplace accident, and have been told I’ll never be fit for work again. I’m in
pain, and I can’t do the job I loved. I have to visit the hospital regularly, and can’t do any of the
things I used to enjoy, like sport, or being active with my kids. My earnings are next to nothing. My
future isn’t particularly bright."

As a company, we’ve been prosecuted for the accident that occurred on our premises, and were
lucky to get away with a fine. I’ve heard that some directors and managers can face prison
sentences. We’ve had to take on extra staff, as well as letting people go. The costs of investigating
the accident were huge, and our insurance premium is now really high. We’re facing a personal
injury claim too. On top of this, some of our clients don’t want to work with us any more, as they’ve
seen negative things in the press. We’ve lost business, as well as a valued member of staff. The
business may well not survive."

I worked with the guy who was hurt, and saw the accident happen. I don’t really want to do the
same job now, even if safety has been improved. Everyone feels very down about it, and I know
some of my colleagues are looking for jobs elsewhere."

Reporting accidents

Accidents will be covered in detail later in the course. For now, it’s worth explaining the role
you have in reporting accidents, so that it’s clear that health and safety is everyone’s
responsibility.

In some countries it is a legal requirement to report on and record dangerous occurrences,

injuries and diseases. Reporting requirements vary, however, and in some countries there is
no legal obligation to report. Indeed, in the UK there is no actual legal requirement to
investigate accidents. Many accidents often go unrecorded even when there is a legal
obligation to do so.

Where a country does have occupational safety and health laws in place, this may include a
requirement to record and report on workplace incidents and diseases and notify the
enforcing authorities. Reportable incidents can differ, depending on local laws and
regulations, but may include:

 occupational deaths;
 specified types of non-fatal occupational injuries;
 occupational diseases; and
 dangerous occurrences.

In some countries there may also be a requirement to report injuries that involve absence
from the workplace above a specified number of days – for example, in the UK, the
Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013 (RIDDOR)
require if an employee is away from work, or unable to perform their normal work duties, for
more than seven consecutive days as the result of their injury, the accident or incident must
be reported. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) regulates and enforces safety and health,
in addition to operating a Fee for Intervention (FFI) cost recovery scheme, which charges
companies to investigate – click on the invoice to see how much.

Under The Health and Safety (Fees) Regulations 2012, those who break health and safety
laws are liable for recovery of HSE’s related costs, including inspection, investigation and
taking enforcement action.

The hourly rate of £129 is applied based on the amount of time it takes HSE to identify and
conclude its regulatory action, in relation to the material breach (including associated office
work) multiplied by the number of hours involved.

Penalties

Where health and safety laws are breached, an enforcement authority may decide to
prosecute, and if found guilty a company can face a fine or individuals a prison sentence. If
sufficiently serious, the fines can be unlimited, and may also include remedial and publicity
orders.

In England and Wales, offences that are tried in a Magistrates’ Court now carry an unlimited
fine or imprisonment up to six months. For serious matters that go to a Crown Court and are
tried before a judge and jury, an individual can be handed either an unlimited fine, up to two
years’ imprisonment, or both.

How much do you think a typical fine for an organisation might be?

Click on the coin to find out.

The level of fine will depend on a number of factors, but fines of over £100,000 are not
uncommon and insurance does not cover criminal penalties.

How might penalties affect you?

The Sentencing Guidelines for health and safety came into effect in February 2016, allowing
the Courts to apply a rigid structure of sentencing for companies falling foul of health and
safety law.

The Guidelines apply to all organisations and all types of offence, and are based on company
turnover, rather than profit.

Do you know your company’s annual turnover, over the last three years? Click on the range
below that you think is most likely, to get an idea of the type of fine your company could
expect, if the worst were to happen.
Causing a serious injury

Causing death
Turnover under £2M

For a micro company (turnover under £2M), the penalty for causing a serious injury could be
between £2,000 and £160,000.

Turnover between £2M and £10M

For a small company (turnover between £2M and £10M), the penalty for causing death could
be between £350,000 and £2.8M.
urnover between £10M and £50M

For a medium company (turnover between £10M and £50M), the penalty for causing a
serious injury could be between £20,000 and £1.3M.

Turnover more than £50M

For a large company (turnover greater than £50M), the penalty for causing a serious injury
could be between £20,000 and £1.3
Turnover under £2M

For a micro company (turnover under £2M), the penalty for causing death could be between
£180,000 and £800,000.

Turnover between £10M and £50M

For a medium company (turnover between £10M and £50M), the penalty for causing death
could be between £1.2M and £7.5M.
Turnover more than £50M

For a large company (turnover greater than £50M), the penalty for causing death could be
between £3M and £20M.

examples from around the world

Take a look at the map to see some examples of accident reporting legislation from around
the world.
Ireland

In Ireland, some accidents and dangerous occurrences are reportable under the Safety, Health
and Welfare at Work (General Application) Regulations 2007.

International

Internationally, the International Labour Organization (ILO) recommends that organisations

should have a duty to record and/or investigate the causes of work accidents, near-misses,
incidents and cases of occupational diseases. The Recording and Notification of Occupational
Accidents and Diseases code of practice is not a legally binding document and is not intended
to replace national laws, regulations or accepted standards. Its provisions are considered basic
requirements, and are not intended to discourage competent authorities from adopting higher
standards.

India

In India, the main health and safety legislation is the Factories Act 1948. However, it only
covers four industry sectors – factories, mines, ports and construction – and often only
applies to workplaces of a certain size.

Malaysia

In Malaysia, the Occupational Safety and Health (Notification of Accident, Dangerous

Occurrence, Occupational Poisoning and Occupational Disease) Regulations 2004 are part of
the Occupational Safety and Health Act 1994. These Regulations refer to the notification and
reporting of accidents and dangerous occurrences.

Employer’s Liability Insurance

Employers are required to take out sufficient insurance cover in the event of an employee
making a claim – in the UK this is the Employers’ Liability (Compulsory Insurance) Act
1969. But don’t think that insurance will cover you for everything.  Imagine that you’ve
experienced an accident at your workplace. Open the letter from the insurance company – it
may contain some surprising information.
Dear Sir/Madam

I write with regard to your recent claim, concerning an accident at your workplace. Whilst the
insurance your company has will provide adequate cover to meet any compensation claim for
the injuries received or ill health contracted, it will not cover indirect costs such as lost
productivity, training time, and the costs of resources to defend the claim.

So, if you need to hire additional staff to make up the shortfall, or your directors need to
spend weeks in Court, these costs are not recoverable.

Regrettably, like your home or car insurance policy, if you make a claim this year, the
premium for next year will likely go up. So, having a good track record with few accidents
could mean savings on the insurance bill.

Please don’t forget – if the accident has caused an injury, the injured worker may also be able
to bring a personal injury claim for their injuries. Damages are awarded on a range of factors,
including the loss of a faculty (such as sight or hearing), whether the injury is permanent, and
its effect on the claimant’s ability to earn a living. These costs can be very high.

I hope this provides enough information.

Sincerely,

The Insurance Company

Not all workers are able to bring a claim for damages. It depends on local laws and what the
claim is for. For example in Malaysia, the Occupational Safety and Health Act 1994 is seen
as an Act that imposes criminal liability but any contravention does not automatically mean
that a worker can start a civil action.

In some parts of the world worker compensation schemes are in place, but this is not standard
practice, and many injured workers have to try and obtain compensation through the legal
system. Even in countries that have the rule of law, in practice it can be difficult for workers
to obtain compensation or redress.

The way the media portrays serious accidents at work can have a significant impact on public
and commercial perception of a company and its business practices, leading to loss of
reputation and subsequently loss of business.
Take a look at the following case study, which explores an accident that might occur at a
typical workplace.

A worker using a pillar drill

1

A worker was using an unguarded drilling machine in a small engineering company

employing 15 workers. The sleeve of his jumper caught on the rotating drill, entangling his
arm. Both bones in his lower arm were broken and he suffered extensive tissue and muscle
injury.

He spent 12 days in hospital undergoing major surgery and was off work for three months.
On his return, he was placed on administrative duties for five months and he was unable to
operate machinery for eight months.

The accident was investigated by the Health and Safety Executive and in court the company
was fined £45,000.

As a result of the incident, another cost was that two employees not involved in the accident
were made redundant to prevent the company from going out of business.

A hole was dug in a concrete walkway in order to repair a leak. The walkway was a busy
access route and despite repeated requests to protect staff from the hazard, nothing was done,
and five months later a catering assistant pushing a trolley tripped, sustaining injuries that
kept her off work for several months.

There was evidence of several ‘near misses’ involving the hole prior to the accident, and
indications that repair work on the walkway was deliberately delayed so that several jobs
could be ‘batched’ together.
3

An HSE Inspector investigated the accident and concluded that the hole was an obvious and
significant hazard. The risk was known to the employer, having been brought to their
attention on a number of occasions before the incident.

The Inspector served Improvement Notices, requiring them to carry out risk assessments of
all their pedestrian traffic routes and floors. The court imposed a penalty of a fine plus costs
totalling more than £7,000.

A chef working in a hotel kitchen was carrying a box of potato peelings past a deep fat fryer
when his foot slipped from under him. As he reached out to steady himself he plunged his
arm into hot oil, sustaining burns to his hand and arm

He underwent surgery and was off work for almost five months.

An investigation found there had been problems on a daily basis with water pooling on the
floor around the dishwasher, vegetable preparation area and steamers. The company had a
slip and trips risk assessment – its monthly checks indicated that the condition of the floor
and its resistance to slips was poor.

The company was charged with failing to undertake a suitable risk assessment and put in
place a safe system of work. It was fined £14,000 and had to pay costs of £2,000. It has
subsequently installed a slip-resistant floor at a cost of £26,000.
1

A lorry driver was delivering material to a farm. The raised arm of his lorry touched an 11kV
overhead power line, just 100m from where a previous fatality had occurred on the same line,
involving a spraying contractor.

The driver suffered extensive electrical burns to his head and body and lost one of his arms
below the elbow, as well as part of his skull. He also sustained extensive burns to both legs.

There was no evidence that the power lines were under specified height, or that they were
defective in any way. The injured person was also fully aware of the overhead power lines, so
was held partly responsible.

The farmer was prosecuted and fined £5,000 plus costs of £2,983.09. Following the accident
he stated that he was so traumatised that he would no longer be carrying on the business.

Practical examples of costs

This component requires you to answer the question by selecting the relevant value. After
selecting a value select the submit button below.

With the knowledge you have gained so far in the course, consider the following examples of
accidents, and make an educated guess as to how much each one cost the company.

A tool prep technician was talking to a colleague in their workshop when he lost his balance
and put his hand on a work bench to steady himself. A set of blades had not been put away
after use and, as he balanced himself, his right hand landed on a blade, cutting into him and
damaging nerves in his hand. As a result of his injury, he had two months off work before
returning on light duties.  Take a guess – how much do you think he secured in damages?

Use the slider to select a number.

Moral, legal and financial reasons for managing safely

There are many reasons why organisations should attempt to prevent accidents from
occurring. These generally fall into three categories – moral, financial and legal.

All of us have a general moral duty of care to each other. No one likes to see other people
being injured, made ill or affected by anything that is dangerous.

A responsible employer would expect that their employees can work safely and not be
affected by their work – and that at the end of the day, the employee will return home in the
same condition in which they arrived to work. This moral duty also extends to any other
people who may be affected by the workplace or activities carried out (e.g. contractors,
visitors and members of the public). Furthermore, the duty extends to protecting the
environment.

No one intends to have an accident. All accidents are errors. Errors always cost money, in
terms of losses, damage and waste. But the worst kind of cost to a business is injury and ill
health for an employee. First there is the damage to the person; pain and suffering that affects
them and everyone around them, maybe forever. They may need complex and painful
medical treatment, perhaps for the rest of their life. 

Meanwhile, morale and productivity declines as others fear for their own safety or are
emotionally affected by what happened. Insurance may cover some costs, such as
compensation and damage. But insurance can't cover everything; and it certainly can't cover
the costs of a criminal investigation. 

Enforcement action is an immediate cost – stopping work, disrupting production and

charging fees for investigation. Then there are the necessary costs of repairing the damage
and making up for losses, training up people to cover absences. In the meantime, you may not
be able to readily restore a reputation as a responsible employer, meaning lost sales and a
company name forever known as the firm that injured someone. It is not unknown for a
serious accident to put a company out of business. 

Health and safety legislation affects all organisations. If something goes wrong, there is always the
potential for someone to be prosecuted. Prosecution results in a court appearance, and if found
guilty, a fine may be imposed. Employers also have a general duty of care to protect employees and
other persons from hazardous activities in the workplace. If an employee is injured as a result of the
work that is carried out, they may be entitled to make a claim for compensation.
Exercise 1.1 Reasons for wanting good standards of health and safety

Now let’s test your understanding of these three reasons. In the exercise below, decide
whether the reasons for wanting good standards of health and safety are moral, legal
or financial reasons.

Note: you might decide some options fit in more than one category. Some can be ambiguous,
but pay close attention to the wording and decide which is the most obvious choice.

Drag each reason to the appropriate category.

You can click on the icons for more information about each of the options.
Introduction

In general, health and safety laws apply to all businesses. As an employer, or a self-employed
person, you are responsible for health and safety in your business. Health and safety laws are
there to protect you, your employees and the public from workplace dangers.

A manager’s role in ensuring good standards of health and safety

Managers are a key link in the organisation.

Whilst you may be supported by a Health and Safety Advisor or even a Health and Safety
Department, a manager is expected to set a good example and ensure that the company’s
health and safety policies and procedures are implemented.

To do this you, as a manager, need to accept accountability for the role you have and
understand your health and safety responsibilities. In some situations, you may want to
delegate responsibility to others in your team. That’s fine, but you must ensure they have the
experience, knowledge and training to undertake the roles you are giving them.

Responsibility and accountability

Watch this short animation to learn the difference between responsibility and accountability.

Complete
Incomplete

Key actions

Managers must be ‘competent’. Competency is comprised of knowledge, training and

experience. This course will help with the training, but think about how could you go about
gaining experience and knowledge. Some possible tools to help you are as follows:

 The HSE provides all its guidance online for free. It and other enforcement bodies
such as your local authority may also be able to offer advice and guidance and are
amongst the best people to learn from.
 Toolbox talks and desktop exercises with your team are very effective ways to
collaborate and cooperate, when you are creating, developing and reviewing safe
systems of work. You can all learn from each other.
 Membership of professional organisations such as IOSH provides resources, news and
information and can lead to further training.
 Trade and industry associations and professional institutes are excellent ways to meet
and network with fellow professionals and learn from each other. You could also have
a hand in sharing best practice and contributing to standards.
 International Workplace and other similar professional organisations offer training,
consultancy and resources to help you develop your competence further.
How many of these do you think you could currently do?

Leading by example

Do you always follow the safety rules?

Identifying hazards
Understanding the hazards that may be associated with the jobs that your team members do.

Understanding risks

Have you considered how your team should be working? Do they need any safety
equipment? Do they follow any safe systems of work? Do they need any specific training?

Identifying training needs

Finding out what knowledge gaps your staff may have, and ensuring new staff receive an
induction that covers health and safety.
Implementing health and safety policy

Do you know where to find the health and safety policy, and understand what it means?

Reporting incidents
Do you know what types of incident need to be reported and who this report goes to in the
organisation? Are you made aware of any incidents that occur in those areas that you are
responsible for?

Preventing incidents from recurring

You need to ensure that any potentially dangerous situations are remedied so that no one gets
injured. Do you need to undertake an investigation to find out what has happened? It could be
that the incident has happened because people are working unsafely, and this may need to be
addressed.

Communicating health and safety information

Your company may rely on you to pass on information to your team members. Do your team
know where to find your company’s health and safety policy, or who to contact if they need
advice?

Case study

Let’s return to one of the case studies in Unit 1.1.

A worker was using an unguarded drilling machine in a small engineering company

employing 15 workers. The sleeve of his jumper caught on the rotating drill, entangling his
arm. Both bones in his lower arm were broken and he suffered extensive tissue and muscle
injury.

He spent 12 days in hospital undergoing major surgery and was off work for three months.
On his return, he was placed on administrative duties for five months and he was unable to
operate machinery for eight months.

The accident was investigated by the Health and Safety Executive and in court the company
was fined £45,000.

As a result of the incident, another cost was that two employees not involved in the accident
were made redundant to prevent the company from going out of business.

Complete

Consider what action a manager should have taken to prevent this situation from arising and
write these actions down. What other costs might be associated with this type of accident?

A manager’s role

The law requires your organisation to have a policy that includes organisations and
arrangements, not just a statement. That means that key health and safety roles in an
organisation should be stated. Have a look at the HSE’s example of a model policy and notice
how the specific responsibilities of individuals are allocated.

The role that is described in your policy organisation and arrangements needs to also be the
one in your job description. The same goes for anyone else named.

Your team members should also know what they are responsible for. Supervisors should also
understand what they have to do to ensure health and safety is properly implemented in their
areas of responsibility. How well do you think people’s health and safety roles are
communicated within your organisation?

Take a moment to ensure that your health and safety role as a manager is well documented,
well understood and well communicated.

Setting a good example

Explore the diagram to see the typical things that a manager should get involved with.
Identifying hazards

Identifying the hazards in the area you work in, both in the work you do and in the places you
have to visit. Understand who may be harmed and how and what the chances of that
happening are

Implementing a health and safety policy

Knowing where to find your organisation’s health and safety policy and procedures and what
specific duties are assigned to you.

Leading by example

Complying with your organisation’s policies and procedures yourself and insisting that your
colleagues do the same. Helping people to develop and maintain those procedures.
Reporting incidents

Ensuring that your staff  know what kind of accidents and incidents must be reported and
how this is properly done in your organisation. Making sure you are aware of incidents that
happen to your staff.

Identifying training needs

Ensuring that every new starter receives an induction that covers health and safety. Ensuring
that staff you are responsible for have received some health and safety training relevant to
their job and have undertaken refresher training where appropriate to keep their skills up to
date.

Understanding risks

Having identified the hazards, understanding what control measures should be in place to

prevent your staff from being injured or harmed.

Preventing incidents from happening again

If there has been an incident in your area, taking time to find out what happened and ensuring
that additional steps are taken to prevent a recurrence.

Communicating health and safety information

Knowing what information you need to communicate to others (including people who are not
employees) and the most effective methods to use to pass that information on.

Identifying organisational failures

Imagine you have been asked to review the circumstances of an accident.

 What kind of factors are you going to consider?

 How would you assess whether people have acted reasonably?
 Have people acted in accordance with their roles and responsibilities?
 Have the company's health and safety policies and procedures been followed?
How do you know how well you are doing?
Keeping records and gathering information is an essential aspect of management. It’s how
you know that you are:

 meeting targets and objectives;

 measuring risks and threats;
 maintaining and improving performance levels;
 dealing with requests and demands;
 learning from mistakes; and
 creating opportunities.

Every organisation should record health and safety information, in some cases by law. Some
examples of these requirements to record information include:

 Details of health and safety representatives and contacts on the statutory health and
safety at work poster.
 Significant findings of risk assessments.
 Accidents requirements under Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous
Occurrences Regulations 2013.
 Records of health and safety training.

In the space below, list some of the safety information that may be useful to you as a
manager, if you needed to show that health and safety was being properly implemented.

You may need this information in the event of an accident. You may need to find it during a
health and safety audit of your department. Or it may be useful during any appraisal of your
performance as a manager.

Now you’ve completed your list, have a look at some of the ideas
we’ve suggested.
Staff inductions.
Staff training records.
Risk assessments for tasks undertaken by your staff.
Workstation risk assessment for office based staff.
Minutes of any safety meetings you are involved with.
Maintenance records. Logs for equipment that you are responsible for.
Health and safety inspections that you have undertaken.
Emails covering health and safety matters.
Memos to staff covering health and safety information.
Information held in safety manuals or on your intranet.
Evidence that you as a manager have been trained.
Employee disciplinary records – these may be held by Human Resources / Personnel.
Unit summary
You’ve completed Unit 1.2. You should now be more familiar with:

 the roles and responsibilities of managers; and

 the key things that a manager can do to set a good example.

Summary learning points

To complete this module, you now need to answer five questions covering the things you
have learned. These questions will help you when you come to take the final Managing
Safely Assessment once you have completed all of the modules.

Before the questions, click on each of the icons below to review the main learning points
from the module.

1: A serious accident will have an effect on the injured party, on the company, and on work
colleagues.

2: It is vital that all accidents are reported so that you can prevent them from happening again, or
being more serious next time.

3: Employer’s Liability Insurance will not cover all the costs associated with an accident at work, and
the more claims you make, the more your premiums can increase.

4: There are three main reasons to have good standards of health and safety – moral, legal and
financial.

5: As a manager, you can delegate responsibility for tasks. But getting others in your team to help
does not absolve you of your accountability. It is something that can never be delegated.

6: Your roles and responsibilities as a manager should be documented in the health and safety
policy.

7: Managers should lead by example, and ensure that people are following best practice.

8: Near misses occur more regularly than accidents. Recording and addressing near misses helps you
avoid accidents.

9: Everyone is responsible for health and safety.

10: Accidents cost time and money, and are bad for your health!
Managers need to lead by example when it comes to
health and safety.
The way you lead your team on health and safety can determine how safe your site is to work
on (and the number of accidents, incidents and ill health cases that happen) because:

 your attitudes and beliefs about health and safety drive your behaviour;
 your behaviour on site sends a powerful message to your workers about how seriously
they should take health and safety; and
 the real causes of accidents on site can often be traced back to managers’ decisions.

Research in non-verbal communication indicates:

 people judge relationship quality through non-verbal cues;

 non-verbal communication is more believable than verbal communication; and
 inadvertent actions by an individual can still be meaningful to another person.

Following an accident at work, which of the following may

happen?
First and foremost, we will want to know the cause of an accident so we can prevent a
recurrence. An employee could conduct a civil claim themselves, via a lawyer, and without
needing to inform an insurer. Whether there is a valid insurance policy in place or not doesn’t
prevent their claim from proceeding.

Any claim on an insurance policy, be it for compensation from the victim of an accident, or
by a business owner for restoration following insured loss or damage, will result in an
investigation, if only to ensure the claim is not fraudulent. But the insurance investigation
will be firmly aimed at establishing liability though and deciding if it is a loss that your
policy actually covers.

Three-quarters of all accidents can be traced back to poor

management.
The immediate causes of major incidents frequently involve ‘human error’ of operators or
maintenance personnel, to a lesser or greater extent. But research involving thousands of
investigations has shown that the reasons these errors occurred in the first place was down to
those more senior in the organisation.
Which of the following is a true statement?

An accident is an event that ends in injury or ill health, and at worse, in death. It is always the
case that some aspect leading up to an accident was preventable. All the evidence suggests
accidents, and workplace incidents and errors in general, can be and are reduced substantially
– and even to zero – if the commitment is there. One famous example is the airline, Qantas,
which has not had a fatal incident since 1951. To put that record of prevention in context,
2015, the safest year ever in aviation, had 560 airliner accident fatalities.

Employers liability insurance will cover all the costs associated

with an accident at work.
Employers Liability insurance will help you pay compensation if an employee is injured or
becomes ill because of the work they do for you. It does not cover you for every cost.

Unit 2 Risk Assessment

What is risk?
We all make assessments many times each day about the potential consequences that may
arise from our actions. For example, although driving at 85mph on the motorway may make
our journey shorter by a few minutes, we run the real risk of being involved in a collision,
and increasing the severity of an injury should an accident occur.

However, in making the judgement to drive fast we have to correctly evaluate the risk –
based on such information as the road conditions, and our own driving ability. This will
depend on the likelihood and consequences of our actions and whether they are of an
acceptable level. The first part of this module will examine the definitions of all of these
terms.

Some key definitions

Let’s explore some of the key definitions surrounding risk. Watch the animation to discover
the meaning of the terms Hazard, Hazardous event and Risk. All of these key definitions can
also be found in your workbook.

Complete
Incomplete
Now you’ve watched the animation, let’s recap.
Hazard

A hazard is something with the potential to cause harm. If it can be harmful in any way, it is a
hazard.

Hazardous event

A hazardous event takes place when someone or something interacts with a hazard and harm
results.

Risk

Risk is the combination of the likelihood of a hazardous event occurring and the consequence
of the event.

This module will also look at the concepts of Consequence and Likelihood. Watch the
animation to make sure you have a really good understanding of each term. These definitions
also appear in your workbook.

Complete
Complete

Now you’ve watched the animation, let’s recap.

Risk assessment

A risk assessment is a careful examination of anything in your workplace that could cause
people to suffer injury or ill health while they are at work.

A risk assessment enables you to:

 tell whether you are doing enough to protect people from harm;
 demonstrate best business practice and improve business performance; and
 meet your legal requirements.

A risk assessment should take account of how significant the different risks are in terms of
BOTH the chance that exposure to a hazard can lead to injury or illness and also how serious
the consequences will be.

Consequence
Consequence is the outcome of the hazardous event in terms of how serious it could be. This
could range from insignificant to catastrophic.

Likelihood

Likelihood is the chance that the hazardous event will occur. This could be anything from
unlikely to very likely.

Unit summary
You’ve finished Unit 2.1. You should now be more familiar with the key terms relating to
safety and health, such as:

 Hazard, Hazardous event and Risk; and

 Risk assessment, Likelihood and Consequence.

Unit 2.2 explores what a risk assessment actually is.

The benefits of risk assessment

Risk assessment is an essential first step in planning how health and safety will be managed
at work. Risk assessment methods are used to decide on priorities and to set objectives for
eliminating hazards and reducing risks. A risk assessment helps us to do the following:

1. Identify whether risks are being properly controlled

Risk assessment requires you to identify who may be harmed by your activities and how.
This is really important since it is quite easy to forget about visitors, contractors and
temporary staff when preparing risk assessments.

You also need to take account of people’s capabilities. Additional attention should be given
to protecting children and young persons, new and expectant mothers and anyone with a
disability.

Risk assessments should also take account of normal operating conditions, occasional
circumstances such as maintenance, abnormal circumstances and emergencies.

Risk assessments will challenge ways of working and ask if the equipment is suitable to the
task. They will also challenge workers by asking if they are following a safe system or
procedure, have all the information they need and are competent to carry out tasks.
2. Meet the legal requirements
Employers have a duty of care to assess risks and control hazards in their organisations. In
the UK there are a substantial number of regulations that require employers to undertake
specific risk assessments. We’ll look at some of these later but they apply to work activities,
chemicals, plant and equipment and the tasks that people do.

Government codes of practice and guidance on these specific areas of risk give excellent
advice on how to comply with legal requirements, how to carry out risk assessments and
control risks. Failure to follow this guidance might make an employer liable to prosecution.
Legal action is costly, disruptive, and damaging to reputation.

3. Show that you are managing health and safety properly

Serious risks should always be addressed and eliminated or controlled so far as is reasonably
practicable. Risk assessment can help to prioritise risks and deal with them in an effective
and targeted way. It will help you determine how and where to deploy resources so that
investment in health and safety is efficient.

If risks are identified correctly and everyone works safely, the organisation will be more
efficient – workers should be happier at work and enjoy their work knowing that they are
safe. Money will not be wasted on dealing with incidents at work and it will hopefully ensure
the organisation does not get prosecuted

Why do a risk assessment?

In this interview, Kate explains why risk assessment is such an important process. She’ll also
give you a few tips about your IOSH project, which consists of a risk assessment you’ll carry
out of your own workplace, so make sure you watch until the end!

Complete
Incomplete

Why do a risk assessment?

In this interview, Kate explains why risk assessment is such an important process. She’ll also
give you a few tips about your IOSH project, which consists of a risk assessment you’ll carry
out of your own workplace, so make sure you watch until the end!

Complete
Complete

The IOSH project – risk assessment

At the end of this course you’ll be asked to complete a risk

assessment of your workplace, to demonstrate that you
have understood the key points of how to ensure your
working environment is safe. The link below will allow
you to access the risk assessment form. Take the time to
look at this now, and as you work your way through the
rest of this module, think about the risk assessment
project, and how you can apply these principles
throughout.

 Download the risk assessment project template.

Legal requirements for risk assessment
The ILO, in its Training Package on Workplace Risk Assessment and Management for Small
and Medium Sized Enterprises, says:

Relying on people to use their common sense works fine – until something does go wrong.

When this means that someone is killed or seriously injured, it can suddenly look like a rather
inadequate approach. Too many employers live to regret not having taken occupational safety
and health more seriously before an accident, rather than after one of their workers has been
badly injured at work. Risk assessment gives employers and businesses a way to be proactive,
to identify potential risks and to take action to remedy problems before they cause an
accident or ill-health. In other words, they can generally make their businesses safer and
healthier, and reap the benefits of improved productivity and quality.

Complete

Risk assessment is a legal requirement in many countries. Click on the scroll to see what the
UK’s Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 require.

Every employer shall make a suitable and sufficient assessment:

a. Of the risks to the health and safety of his employees, and

b. Of the risks to the health and safety of persons not in his employment.

Legal requirements for risk assessment

In practical terms this means carrying out assessments of all work activities and areas where
there is a risk of someone being injured. Where people work from home, outdoors or at
another employer’s site, then a risk assessment of their particular activities and locations
should also be carried out.

According to UK law, where there are five or more employees, the significant findings of
the risk assessment must be recorded and made available to employees who are identified as
being particularly at risk. Note that it doesn’t mean every single aspect of the risk assessment
needs to be recorded. The level of detail depends on the complexity and seriousness of the
risk. It is important that risk assessments are in plain language that can be easily understood
and readily followed.
Here are some examples of UK regulations that require specific risk assessment.

 Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations (COSHH)

 Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations
 Health and Safety (First Aid at Work) Regulations
 Health and Safety (Display Screen Equipment) Regulations
 Manual Handling Operations Regulations
 Control of Noise at Work Regulations
 Control of Asbestos Regulations
 Work at Height Regulations
 Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order

Take a few minutes to look at a couple of these pieces of legislation, and see what they say
about risk assessment. You’ll notice that they all include the words ‘suitable and sufficient’ –
you’ll learn a bit more about this later.

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There are other regulations that explicitly require risk assessments to be carried out. There are
also implied requirements. For example, the following Regulations require that regular
inspection, examination and maintenance is carried out by expert engineers (for instance,
against a written scheme or design).

 Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998 (LOLER)

 Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 (PUWER)
 The Pressure Systems Safety Regulations 2000 (PSSR)

This is because the risks with equipment change over time. Each interval is a form of risk
assessment.

Examples from around the world

Where occupational safety and health legislation or labour laws exist, employers are required
to provide a safe workplace. To do this, the employer may be required to assess the risks in
the workplace. Take a look at the map to see some examples from around the world.

If you want to look at further examples, the ILO website provides a wealth of international
health and safety information.
International
The ILO’s Occupational Safety and Health Convention, 1981 (No.155) requires an
organisation to satisfy themselves that, so far as is reasonably practicable, the machinery,
equipment or substance does not entail dangers for the safety and health of those using it
correctly.
Ireland
In Ireland the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005 requires that employers and
those who control workplaces must identify the hazards in the workplaces under their control
and assess the risks presented by these hazards.

Saudi Arabia
In Saudi Arabia, the requirement for risk assessment is included in Labour Law (Royal
Decree No. M/51).

India
In India, the Factories Act 1948 states a duty towards providing safe and secure work
premises to workers that pose no risks to their health and their wellbeing.

Malaysia
In Malaysia, assessing risk is covered in the Occupational Safety and Health Act 1994.

Health risks

Risk assessment is not just concerned with injuries in the workplace, but should also consider
the possibility of occupational ill health. Health risks fall into four categories.

Chemical risks

...such as those found in paint, solvents and exhaust fumes.

Physical risks

...for example, noise and vibration.

Psychological risks

...such as stress.

Biological risks

...such as bacteria and moulds.

'Suitable and sufficient'

Risk assessments can seem daunting at the outset. To make them easier, it is best to be
systematic.  They should be suitable for the purpose, and go into a sufficient amount of detail.
The level of detail will depend very much on the level of risk. The greater the risk, the more
detail that you are likely to need to record.

Make sure your risk assessments are relevant to the site you are assessing. Where you have a
number of similar workplaces – for example a chain of convenience stores or a number of
regional offices – then you can re-use a risk assessment for each. Just remember to ensure
that site-specific assessments are carried out for particular hazards that occur in each
workplace.

Don’t forget that the findings of any assessment must be followed by an action plan showing
how you are planning to implement the changes to improve health and safety in the
workplace.
Convenience store hazard spotting
Later on in this module, you’ll look at risk ratings for an imaginary convenience store, to help
you become more familiar with what’s involved in the process of risk assessment. Before you
do that, let’s have a look at the store, and some of the hazards you are likely to find there.

The store sells a range of products, which are all stocked and replenished on a daily basis.
The manager employs five part-time staff who work morning, afternoon and early evening
shifts (shop hours are 7.30am to 9pm). At the rear of the shop is the staff toilet, rest area,
kitchenette and the store room.

Click each of the hot spots to reveal more information.

lick each of the hot spots to

reveal more information.

Hazard category: Deliveries

Typical hazard: Vehicle

deliveries, visits to
wholesaler

Consequences: Staff or
members of the public could
be struck by the vehicle

Hazard category: Manual handling

Typical hazard: Deliveries, stacking shelves

Consequences: Staff may suffer strains or bruising injuries from handling heavy or bulky
objects

Hazard category: Fire

Typical hazard: Smoking, faulty electrics, arson

Consequences: If trapped, staff could suffer from smoke inhalation or burns

Hazard category: Work at height

Typical hazard: Stacking shelves, changing light bulbs, changing displays

Consequences: Staff may suffer falls from any height causing bruising and fractures
Hazard category: Violence and threatening behaviour

Typical hazard: Verbal abuse, shoplifting, armed attack

Consequences: Staff may suffer assaults, threats and abuse from members of the public

Hazard category: Slips, trips, falls

Typical hazard: Doorways, spillages, stock on floor, uneven surfaces

Consequences: Staff and customers may suffer injuries from tripping over objects such as
stock or slipping on spillages

Introduction

The process of risk assessment requires a person to step back and evaluate how serious the
risk is. There are five important questions to consider. Your risk assessor will explain what
these questions are.

 Which activities are being performed?

 What equipment is being used?
 Where are the activities taking place?
 Who is involved in these activities?
 How often, and for how long, do these activities take place?

Complete

Risk assessment doesn’t have to be a complicated process – what is important is that it should
concentrate on those significant hazards that could cause serious harm or affect a number of
people.

Complete

Who should complete the assessment?

Competent people must be given the task of completing the assessments. A competent person
has the appropriate qualifications, knowledge and experience to identify the risks arising
from a situation and the measures needed to control them.

Utilising local managers not only gets them involved in health and safety, but uses their
knowledge of working practices to complete the assessments. Many organisations use a team
approach, which provides extra assurances that all foreseeable events have been considered.
For any assessment to be useful, employees must be involved either directly in the
assessment process itself, or indirectly through discussions.

Risk assessors should be given some practical training so they understand:

 The requirement for risk assessments.

 The difference between hazards and risks.
 How to undertake an assessment, including how to complete any forms.
 Where they should get help from if they are unsure.

Complex work processes and hazards that require special measurement techniques will
almost certainly require specialist risk assessment. These include:

 using ionising radiation;

 exposure to toxic dust;
 chemical manufacturing; and
 working underground.

Where there are highly technical risk assessments it is vital that workers are very well trained
and highly competent. Information, instruction and supervision must be clear, unambiguous
and precise. All activities in such workplaces must be well planned and integrated to avoid
clashing and potential emergencies anticipated and planned for.

Where a number of different people are to be involved in the assessment process, it is

essential that a standard approach is used. The key to this is to develop a risk assessment
procedure that everyone can follow. We’ll look at this procedure now.
The steps of a risk assessment
The risk assessment process is broken down into a series of steps. These steps will allow you
to develop a standard procedure that can be followed by everyone who needs to carry out risk
assessments.

Click on the steps to find out more.

1. Identify the hazards

2. Estimate the risks
3. Evaluate the risks

4. Record your findings

5. Review your findings

The steps of a risk assessment

Step 1: Identify the hazards
1. Walk around your workplace and look at what could reasonably be expected to cause
harm.
2. Ask other people what they think. They may have noticed things that are not obvious to
you.
3. Visit the HSE website. HSE publishes practical guidance on where hazards occur and how
to control them. There is much information on the hazards that might affect you.
4. If you are a member of a trade association, contact them. Many produce very helpful
guidance.
5. Check manufacturers’ instructions or data sheets for chemicals and equipment as they can
be very helpful in spelling out the hazards and putting them into perspective.
6. Remember to think about long-term hazards to health (e.g. high levels of noise or
exposure to harmful substances) as well as safety hazards.
7. Make sure you cover all areas of your workplace, including shared areas, such as corridors
and stairs. Think about what happens routinely, and in exceptional circumstances.
 The steps of a risk assessment
Step 2: Estimate the risks and who they affect

For each hazard you need to be clear about who might be harmed; it will help you identify the
best way of managing the risk. That doesn’t mean listing everyone by name, but rather
identifying groups of people (e.g. ‘people working in the storeroom’, or ‘passers-by’).

1. Some workers have particular requirements, e.g. new and young workers, migrant
workers, new or expectant mothers and people with disabilities may all be at particular
risk. Extra thought will be needed for some hazards.
2. Cleaners, visitors, contractors, maintenance workers etc. who may not be in the venue all
the time.
3. Members of the public, if they could be hurt by your activities.
4. Ask others if they can think of anyone you may have missed.
5. Once you’ve identified who might be harmed, you need to decide how serious each risk is,
and how likely it is that it might occur. You’ll look at risk ratings later, but consider how
likely the hazard is to occur (from low to high), and the seriousness of the consequences
(again, from low to high).

The steps of a risk assessment

Step 3: Evaluate the risks and decide on precautions

Having spotted the hazards, you then have to decide what to do about them. The law requires
you to do everything ‘reasonably practicable’ to protect people from harm – you’ll learn more
about this term later. You can work this out for yourself, but the easiest way is to compare
what you are doing with good practice.

First, look at what you’re already doing. Think about what controls you have in place, and
how it is organised. Then compare this with the good practice and see if there’s more you
should be doing to bring yourself up to standard.

In asking yourself this, consider:

1. Can I get rid of the hazard altogether?

2. If not, how can I control the risks so that harm is unlikely?
3. When controlling risks, apply the principles below, if possible in the following order:

 Try a less risky option (e.g. a less hazardous chemical).

 Prevent access to the hazard (e.g. by guarding).
 Organise work to reduce exposure to the hazard (e.g. put barriers between pedestrians
and traffic).
  Issue personal protective equipment (e.g. footwear, goggles etc.).
 Provide welfare facilities (e.g. first aid and washing facilities).

Improving health and safety need not cost a lot.

 For instance, placing a mirror on a dangerous blind corner to help prevent vehicle
accidents is a low-cost precaution considering the risks. Failure to take simple
precautions can cost you a lot more if an accident does happen.
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