Task 1: Workers’ responsibilities in the workplace

Some duties and responsibilities have been imposed on workers by International labour
organisation(ILO) convention C155 and recommendation R164 for workers safety but the
two workshop apprentices had contravened these responsibilities the following
contravened are mentioned below :-
As per article 19 of C155 -
 Proper training has to be provided to the workers about their job in the workplace
but due to the lack of training in health and safety, the apprentice was met with an
accident.
 Adequate information and instructions has to be given to the workers to maintain
health and safety, but in this case there was no certain knowledge provided.
 Workers and representatives must cooperate with the employer by following safety
and health rules, but here the organisation did not cooperate with the workers by
not providing any safety policy or guidelines.
 The employee can consult the employer regarding all the aspects of health and
safety related to their work. But here as per the scenario, the employer is not
implementing and prioritizing occupational health and safety and totally avoiding
it & ignoring their concerns.
As per article 16 of R164 -
 Workers should take care of their safety and health and also the safety of other
people around them, but as per the scenario, the apprentice neither cares about his
health and safety nor care about others. Because of his unsafe behaviour by using
mobile while walking on the walkway resulted in tripping over the trailing cable
which forced him to move outside of the dedicated walkway and into the path of
steel beam, resulting in this accident.
 Because of the things that they do and they fail to do, the apprentice who was
operating the overhead crane with steel beam has no training regarding the
operation of the crane can also endanger himself or the people around him.
 The employer must provide safe working equipments to the employee, but as per
scenario the overhead crane operation alarm was not working.
 The workers should report to the supervisor immediately about health and safety
issues, but the complaints regarding the crane working conditions were ignored by
the manager and also many other concerns regarding the safety of the workers
written through email or by verbal communication were ignored by the GWM.
 The workers have to comply with safety instructions and precautions. But as per
the scenario, the employer has neglected many of the safety aspects, thus the
apprentices has also avoided safety rules by using mobile phone in prohibited area
and not reporting about hazards in the workplace which caused the accident

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Task 2: Financial arguments for the GWM to improve health and safety

Following financial arguments can be discussed to improve health & safety:-

From the segregated records of injuries over the past years and the recent accidents of the
apprentice the company has to face several direct, indirect, insured and uninsured costs
following an accident
Direct cost :-
 First aid treatment was given to the apprentice at the site of the accident.
 Sick pay that has to be given to the worker during the recovery time from injury
while he is off from the work. As in this case worker may take six to eight weeks
to recover from the initial injury and due to complications following surgery the
time off work was extended.
 Hospitalization cost has to be paid for the surgery
 If existing workers may be asked to do overtime to cover the lost time then over
time cost will be applied.
 Legal cost to be paid in the form of compensation to the victim.
 Financial loss of company as to repair the damaged products and then it might
remain unsold or may be sold at low price or may need to be discarded
Indirect cost :-
 Damage to the public image and business reputation of the company, since the
company has not met the minimum safety requirements of the workers.
 Damage to the industrial relations.
 Loss of customers trust and good will due to delay and the productivity and orders.
 Reduction in the staff morale as they believe that management is not committed to
their health and safety may also impact quality and the productivity.
 As the recovery time of the victim can be extended due to surgery ,replacement
worker needs to be hired in his place on temporary basis which leads to additional
cost for hiring, or retaining.
 Disruption in the business while dealing with the injury in form of lost time injury
and then due to investigation process.
 Penalties for meeting delivery dates.

Medical costs, compensations paid to the victim, property damages these all comes under
insured cost, while all the others comes under uninsured cost.

So by taking all these discussed points into consideration, company has to take health and
safety seriously and implement required recommendations.

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Task 3: Suitability of the generic risk assessment

Managements negative approach to assessing health and safety risks in the fabrication
workshop
 There was only one generic risk assessment with low risk activities was performed
before three years ago and not revised again
 Proper personal protective equipments were not provided for the worker
 Regular inspections need to be performed but in this case it is not performed
 Maintenance of the equipment need to be performed at a regular basis to avoid any
incidents caused by machinery
 Trainings were not provided regarding the operation of the machinery
 Hazards should be identified which are present while doing an activity, or a piece
of equipment or in a location.
 Material and manual handling trainings need to be provided to the workers at
regular intervals as refresher trainings.
 Slips, trips, and falls need to be given importance and safety signs must be
included where ever applicable
 Training on emergency procedures should be provided as a written form or as a
mock drill forms.
 Mechanical hazards such as entanglement with unguarded moving parts on a
machine must be avoided by having barricade around them
 Proper supervision should be there while handling heavy objects moving objects
and no other unauthorised personal must enter the area of the work

Task 4: Management failures

Management failures contributing to the accident are:-

 Based on the scenario, the General Workshop Manager (GWM) does not believe
that they should be responsible for health & safety and he considered it as time
taking & cost-effective process which resulted in the accident.
 The GWM was also not interested in proving any training regarding health and
safety or implementing it and also pressurizes the workers to complete the tasks
quickly by following shortcut methods which are unsafe resulting in an accident
 The cranes which were used in the workshop had signs that only trained workers
can operate it but the apprentices were not trained in the use of crane contributed
to accident
 There are no written records at any near misses and also the negligence in the
complaints regarding workshop working conditions such as crane alarm which was
not working resulting in an accident
 Only one generic risk assessment with low risk activities which was carried out
before three years ago is the main failure of management contributing to the
accident
 In the workshop no representatives were present to raise the safety concerns of the
workers to the higher authorities
 Many injuries were recorded over the years which led to the workers absences but

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 health and safety of the workers was not given any priority leading to the accident
 On overhead crane accidents of an apprentice was occurred recently and repetition
of the similar accident shows the failure of the management
 No PPE safety policy written documents emergency exits safety posters or any
other basic health and safety related information was provided in the workshop
premises
 No proper housekeeping was maintained resulting in the hazardous mess such as
scrap metals in the walk ways and also trailing cables on the walk ways was the
main reason for this accident

Task 5: Reporting the accident

Question 5 (a)
The accident should be reported by the employer to competent authorities because :
 This accident report is a formal document that specifies the details of the facts
related to the workplace. It is the responsibility of the employer and also a legal
requirement to report it to the top management and external authorities.
 It will prevent the accidents from occurring again in the future.
 By gathering all the information regarding the accident root cause can be identified
and investigated so that the issue can be addressed
 It will show the competence of the management and helps to promote a positive
health and safety culture where everyone fulfils their responsibilities.
 It will show that management is concerned with workers safety and thus staff
morale can be boosted and increases their active participation in the productivity
and quality
 It will encourage the manager to carryout risk assessments, and thus other type of
accidents can also be addressed, thus saving resources and time.

Question 5 (b)
Accident reporting to the competent authority :
 Details of the victim shall be provided, like the victims name, address, date, time
and location of the accident
 Details of the injury must be included and the first aid treatment given to the
victim. Shall be included
 Description of the event causing the injury shall be explained
 Details of the equipment causing the injury is explained
 If any witnesses’ were present at the site during the accident then their names and
contact details would be included
 A formal investigation process with the victim and the employees at the work area
shall be included.

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Task 6: Health and safety management systems

The following are observed in an organisation with a negative health &safety culture :
 Management provides poor health and safety leadership. Managers are typically
concerned with ensuring that productivity and sales targets are met, even if it
engaging in risky behaviour or ignoring the established procedures, although
concerns about health and safety are raised.
 Near misses and worker complaints are either ignored or dismissed. Not reported
or not thoroughly investigated there aren’t any. Policies are either ineffective or
poorly implemented.
 Workers have no awareness on training, and the companies procedure are
ineffective. Are not adequately communicated to them they examine the managers
to lead them and follow their bad habits behaviours. There may be some
employees who are concerned about their safety
 Negative culture leads to workers and managers breaking the rules, poor or non
implementation of risk control measures , and a high number of incidents
 Unsafe acts and conditions that are not reported investigated. This increases the
number of accidents and illnesses. Thus effecting the organisations health and
safety.
 The management didn’t have a health and safety culture , so both the manager and
the employees were unaware of their safety responsibilities and didn’t pay
attention to safety issues.
 The management lacked commitment and leadership when it came to safety.
 Because of peer pressure, workers didn’t report previous near misses which is also
a poor safety management system implemented by peer.
 Young and new workers don’t care about safety, unsafe working has become
common practice indicating poor safety behaviour.
 Work place violence can be avoided by portraying workplace accidents as normal
 The high rate of near misses and accidents is the primary indicator of a poor safety
culture. Workers revealed that such accidents occur frequently indicating an
increase in the number of accidents.
 A high turnover rate also indicates that employers are dissatisfied with their
workplace and, as a result, do not stay for long because they do not feel safe.
 A high volume of complaints from workers about poor working conditions is
another indicator of a negative culture, and the method of reporting was not
formal, and management didn’t listen to their concerns, indicating a lack of
seriousness in addressing issues,
 Management prioritises the smooth operations of the business, and due to the risk
of business disruption, management is hesitant to issue a budget for health and
safety improvements.
 Workers complained that managers rarely visited the workplace, indicating the
management is not setting a good example and is uninterested in improving or
assessing safety standards.
 Management didn’t make consultation arrangements there is no safety
representative despite the fact the workers concerns should be addressed

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Task 7: Near misses

An investigation is a process of searching for facts particularly that are hidden or must be
sorted out in a complex situation. The following are the goals of near-miss investigations:-
 Near miss investigation will permit management to take the right action to prevent
the recurrence of the accident. In this case, if the previous near misses at the
workshop had been thoroughly investigated by addressing the problem, then the
worker’s accident could have been avoided.
 If the previous near misses were investigated, it would have improved the morale
of the workers.
 It is also a legal requirement to conduct a proper documented investigation
regarding near-misses, incidents & accidents.
 A near miss investigation will reveal that monitoring is a necessary control
measure before any major accident occurs, in this scenario, if the previous near
misses were investigated, proper control measures would have been implemented.
 The previous investigations of near misses will promote the most recent training
programme for all employees, which is exactly what is required.
 Near miss investigation will assist to undertake new machinery required to avoid
great injuries due to the existing equipments.
 It will also help to focus on wherein the risk assessment needs to be studied and
highlights the areas where the risk assessment should be modified
 The investigation of the near miss will aid in the improvement of health and safety
management ,ensuring that such an incident does not occur again
 Near miss investigation will protect the management from direct and indirect
losses that could occur if the same type of near miss turns into a major accident.
 A near miss investigation will alert experienced workers to a potentially hazardous
event that may occur in future , prompting them to take appropriate corrective and
preventive action

Task 8: Prioritising health and safety issues

 Poor health and safety culture was observed in the workplace premises providing a
safe and healthy workplace is a responsibility of the management
 The employee must consider both physical and mental health factors of the
employee because both are equally important
 Training must be provided regarding health and safety policy, operation handling
of equipments
 Lack of supervision, safety policy, tool box talks, mock drills etc related to health
and safety
 The workers must be provided a friendly and a healthy working environment
without any work pressure that can lead to injuries or major accidents
 Absence of SSOW ( safe system of work) which has lead to high risk of injuries
accidents and absenteeism
 There needs to be a commitment from the management which will produce
motivation and commitment throughout the organisation and increases the workers

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 morals
 No recorded documents were found regarding the details of previous near misses,
and proper investigations were not done, thus root cause cannot be identified and
risk will not be eliminated which leads to recurrence of the accidents
 Behaviour of the manager also highly influence the workers behaviour, so
everyone in the workplace must be aware of their own roles and responsibilities.
 Review of the risk assessment needs to be performed to eliminate the risk which
causes the accident.

Task 9: Training

Information on the induction pack should prioritize:

 Training regarding safe handling and operation of equipments will be included in
the training
 Each and everyone in the workplace are responsible for their own health and
safety and also for the people around them so knowledge, awareness and
importance of occupational health and safety will be included.
 There was no proper documentation found regarding the near misses data , so
procedure for good documentation practices will be included in the training.
 Only one generic risk assessment of low risk activity has been carried out in the
workplace before three years, so training will also include introduction to risk
assessment procedures.
 Housekeeping issues must be addressed in the training as it created a mess at the
workplace such as scrap metals and trailing cables on the walkways due to which
the accidents occurred
 Workers were unaware of hazards, risks, and their controls in the workplace, so it
will be included in training.
 All the training must be provided for handling and usage of fire safety equipments
 Training should be given on electrical management system.
 Companies health and safety policy must be revised as per guidelines &
regulations at regular intervals and training shall be provided to the individual
 Do’s and Don’ts at a site shall be briefly explained during induction training such
as prohibition of alcohol at work place premises, prohibition of mobile phones,
cigarettes.
 A safe system of work and safe practices must be properly addressed in training,
as the workers at the workshop did not know how to work properly following
safety rules.

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