Health and safety monitoring and measuring

(Candidates are advised to only take this as class notes. A detailed reading is very
important for open book examination)

Health and safety monitoring

Organisations needs to monitor their health and safety performance in the same
way that any other aspect of business is monitored

Purpose for monitoring

To identify substandard health and safety practices and conditions (perhaps
by means of workplace inspections)
To identify trends in relation to different types of incident, or incidents in
general (by analysis of relevant incident data)
To compare actual performance with previously set targets
To ‘benchmark’ the organisations performance against that of similar
organisations or an industry norm
To identify whether control measures are in use and to assess their
effectiveness
To be able to make decisions on appropriate remedial measures for any
deficiencies identified
To set priorities and establish realistic timescales
To assess compliance with legal requirements
To be able to provide a Board of Directors or safety committee with relevant
information
To reduce the human and financial costs of accidents
To improve the public image of the organisation
Two different ways an organisation can monitor its performance, Active
(proactive)monitoring and Reactive monitoring.

Active(proactive) monitoring: Involves taking the initiative before things go

wrong within an organisation in respect of health and safety issues and ensuring
appropriate health and safety systems and procedures are in place, e.g., safety
inspections, surveys, audits, sampling, environmental monitoring and health
surveillance.

Active (proactive) monitoring methods that can be used when assessing an

organisation’s health and safety performance.

Inspections – regular scheduled activities identifying existing conditions and

comparing them with agreed performance objectives,
Surveys – which focus on a particular activity such as manual handling
Audits – involving a comprehensive examination of all aspects of an
organisation’s health and safety performance against stated objectives,
Sampling – This target specific areas of occupational health and safety such as
unsafe work practices,
Tours – unscheduled workplace checks on issues such as housekeeping or the
use of personal protective equipment,
Health surveillance, using techniques such as audiometry and blood or urine
analysis, for identifying the early symptoms of illness.
Benchmarking – where the performance of an organisation in certain areas of
health and safety is compared with that of other organisations with similar
processes and risks.

Key features of Health and Safety inspection

A workplace inspection involves the straight forward physical inspection of a

workplace, and/or the activities or equipment within it. It is carried out by
supervisors and/or safety representatives at regular intervals and checklists are
often used. The inspection looks for unsafe acts and conditions and results in a
short report of its findings suggesting remedial action that should be taken.

The role of workplace health and safety inspections.

A workplace inspection is a general examination of health and safety

performance at a particular point in time. Demonstrating management
commitment, its role is to identify workplace hazards, to implement immediate
corrective action where this is possible, to ensure compliance with the law and
with laid down standards, to recommend improvements and further controls
when these are seen to be necessary, to observe employee behaviour, for
example, in the use of personal protective equipment, to listen to and consult
with workers on health and safety issues, to review previous findings and
recommendations and to provide a summary report to individual managers on
standards in their areas of control.

Strengths of using a checklist when carrying out an inspection.

• Prior preparation and planning to be made so that the inspection is

structured and
systematic
• Reduces the chance that important areas or issues might be missed
• Provides an immediate record of findings
 • Ensures a consistent approach by those carrying out the inspection
• Provides an easy method for comparison and audit.

Weaknesses of using a checklist when carrying out an inspection.

• Over reliance on a checklist may lead to a blinkered approach by

“inspectors”
with the possibility that significant risks might be missed
• That the checklist may not be reviewed and updated to account for
changes
to work processes or equipment
• There is a danger that inspections become routine with no follow up
questions being asked
• That the system is too objective and restrictive with no scope for
peripheral issues to be considered
• Untrained persons might be tempted to conduct inspections
• Procedure is subject to human error and/or abuse.

Factors that would determine the frequency with which health and safety
inspections should be undertaken in a workplace.

Compliance with statutory requirements

The activities undertaken at the workplace and their associated level of risk
The makeup of the workforce which could include vulnerable members such
as the young and/or disabled where high standards of health and safety would
have to be maintained
The results from previous inspections and audits and the company’s record
of compliance with established standards
Recommendations made following risk assessments
Accident history and the outcomes of accident investigations
 Enforcement action taken or advice given by the enforcement authority
The introduction of new equipment, processes or safe systems of work
Manufacturers’ recommendations
Requirements from insurance companies
Consultation with or as a result of complaints from workers.

Reactive monitoring: Is concerned with looking at events that have occurred in

order to learn from mistakes and establishing what systems and procedures
can and should be put in place to prevent a recurrence, e.g., accident and ill-
health statistics and reports; incidents of reported near-misses and dangerous
occurrences, property damage, actions taken by the enforcement authorities,
the number of civil claims, an analysis of absences and lost time, complaints by
workers

Different types of incidents

ill-health
Harm to person’s health caused by their work, and will include physiological and
psychological.

injury accident
Physical harm or damage done to or suffered by a person

dangerous occurrence
An incident not resulting in major personnel injury and reportable to enforcing
authority
near-miss
An incident not resulting in any apparent loss

damage-only
Those events could have caused harm to people but only caused damage to
property
Reactive monitoring using investigation

Functions of Investigation

Demonstrate management commitment

Determine cause & prevent recurrence
Identify weakness in management system
Identify weakness in risk assessment
Comply with legal requirements
Collect data to establish trends
Prevent future business losses
Provide information in case of legal action
Provide information to insurance companies & general public

The different levels of investigations: minimal, low, medium and high

• In a minimal level investigation, the relevant supervisor will look into the
circumstances of the event and try to learn any lessons which will
prevent future occurrences.

• A low-level investigation will involve a short investigation by the relevant

supervisor or line manager into the circumstances and immediate,
underlying and root causes of the adverse event, to try to prevent a
recurrence and to learn any general lessons.

• A medium level investigation will involve a more detailed investigation by

the relevant supervisor or line manager, the health and safety adviser and
employee representatives and will look for the immediate, underlying and
root causes.

• A high-level investigation will involve a team-based investigation, involving

supervisors or line managers, health and safety advisers and employee
representatives. It will be carried out under the supervision of senior
management or directors and will look for the immediate, underlying, and
root causes.
Immediate causes
The immediate causes of an accident are physical symptoms which can be
seen or sensed such as unsafe acts by individuals or unsafe conditions in the
workplace.

Underlying (root) causes

Failures in the management system or lack of management control.

The difference between leading and lagging indicators.

Typical lagging indicators include the number of incidents, injuries, days away
from work, etc. In contrast, leading indicators are proactive in nature. They
consist of safety initiatives or reported activities, with the aim of preventing
adverse events before they happen.
Immediate and longer-term actions that should be taken following an accident
at work

Isolating the scene of the accident and making the area safe
Administering first aid treatment and contacting the emergency services
Informing the next of kin and offering counselling and support
Notifying the regulatory authority if appropriate and also the insurers
Collecting initial evidence (photographs, sketches and the names of
witnesses)
Setting up the accident investigation team
Investigating the accident, determining it’s immediate and root causes
Preparing a report of the investigation
Making and implementing recommendations to prevent a recurrence of the
accident
Ensuring feedback is provided to the workforce
Collecting evidence to be used in any possible litigation following the accident
Managing the provision of information to the media.

Features of Health and Safety Audit

A safety audit is a systematic critical examination of an organisation’s health and

safety management system, involving a structured process including the use of
a series of questions and the examination of documentation, to collect
independent information with the aim of assessing the effectiveness and
reliability of the system and suggesting corrective action when this is thought to
be necessary. It is carried out by trained auditors, who may be internal or
external to the organisation.
Other types of audit include product audit, service audit, system audit,
behavioural audit etc

Purpose of auditing health and safety management systems

• The main purpose of Audit is to assess how well health and safety is
being managed compared with standards. Audit will identify the
strength and weakness and areas of vulnerability.
• The outcome of audit is a report to management and an action plan
which will allow health and safety to be managed successfully.
• The entire scope of the health and safety management system of an
organization should be subjected to an audit from time to time

Distinction between audits and inspections

Audit assess the effectiveness of the health and safety management system or
part of management system.

One of the parts which is audited is an active monitoring method like inspection.

Inspections are concerned with hazard identification and corrective actions.

Audit relates to the management system that manage the prevention and
control of hazards

External Audit

Advantage

Likely to possess the necessary auditing skills and credibility, will not be inhibited
from criticising members of management or the workforce, is more likely to be
up to date with legal requirements and best practice in other companies and will
view the organisation’s performance through a fresh pair of eyes.
Disadvantage
Not familiar with the workplace, its tasks and processes. Unfamiliarity with the
workforce, chances of work force may feel threatened an audit will be costly and
need more time to organise. Chances of seeking unrealistic targets.

Internal Audit

Advantage
Familiarity with the workplace, its tasks and processes and an awareness of what
might be practicable for the industry, ability to see improvements or a
deterioration from the last audit, familiarity with the workforce and an
individual’s qualities and attitude, the fact that the workforce might be more at
ease with someone who was part of the organisation, and an audit which was
relatively less costly and easier to arrange.

Disadvantage
May not possess auditing skill, may not be up to date with current legislation and
best practice, could be influenced by internal relationship and pressure,
Conclusions may not take seriously, Auditor may make assumptions

Health and safety review should consider:

• -- level of compliance with relevant legal and organisational

requirements
• accident and incident data, corrective and preventive actions
• inspections, tours and sampling
o absences and sickness
o quality assurance reports
o audits
o monitoring data/records/reports
o external communications and complaints
o results of participation and consultation
o objectives met
o actions from previous management reviews
o legal/good practice developments
o assessing opportunities for improvement and the need for change