M A N A G E M E N T O F I N T E R N AT I O N A L H E A LT H A N D S A F E T Y B A S E D O N P D C A

MODEL

Element 1:
Foundations in Health and Safety
LEARNING OUTCOME
 Outline the scope and nature of occupational health and safety
 Explain the moral, social and economic reasons for establishing
and implementing good standards of health and safety in the
workplace
 Explain the role of national governments and relevant
international organizations in effective implementation of health
and safety at the workplaces
 Outline the role of various stakeholders in effective
implementation of health and safety at workplaces
SCOPE & NATURE OF HEALTH AND
SAFETY
 Multi-disciplinary
 Barriers to good standards of health & Safety
 Definitions
MULTI-DISCIPLINARY
 Health and Safety is not an isolated Discipline
 Health and Safety requires the understanding of multi-
disciplines e.g. chemistry, physics, mathematics,
engineering, psychology, sociology etc.
Pre-requisites for good implementation of health
and safety:-
 Understanding about process and technology
 Understanding about prevailing safety culture
 Understanding about applicable and other inspection/
audit criteria
BARRIERS TO IMPLEMENTATION
 Complexity of the workplace
- Simultaneous operations requiring coordination of
activities e.g. a construction site

 Conflicting Demands
- Production versus safety
- Financial investment for health and safety
- Time consumed in documentation

 Behavioral Issue
- Non compliance with the health and safety procedures
CLASS EXERCISE

• Outline reasons why do you need to have

understanding of various disciplines to ensure
health & safety at workplace
 ANSWERS
• Safety and health requires a preventive approach
to be followed. Therefore;
• Identification of hazards is necessary to control
them
• Workplaces may be complicated e.g. a plasma
spray unit, robotic arm spraying a structure or multi
cultural employees working together etc.
• Understanding of what could go wrong, how it
could go wrong and what factors can aggravate
the situation requires understanding of various
disciplines
• Possibility of deploying control measures also
DEFINITIONS
 Safety
- Absence of risk of personal injury at the workplace

 Health
- Being well at the workplace without the risk of disease
or ill-health

 Welfare
- The availability of basic facilities at the workplace
CLASS EXERCISE

How provision of welfare facilities may contribute

to ensure safety and health at the workplace
ANSWERS

• Employees’ morale will be high

• Employees will feel ownership in the workplace
• Lesser fatigue on employees will result less
human errors
 Reasons for promoting good
standards of health and safety at
the workplace
 SIZE OF HEALTH AND SAFETY
PROBLEM
HSE has published the following statistics for 2014-15:-

1.2 million working people suffering from a work-related illness

2,538 mesothelioma deaths due to past asbestos exposures (2013)
142 workers killed at work
76,000 other injuries to employees reported under RIDDOR
611,000 injuries occurred at work according to the Labor Force Survey
27.3 million working days lost due to work-related illness and
workplace injury
£14.3 billion estimated cost of injuries and ill health from current
working conditions (2013/14)
REASONS FOR MANAGING HEALTH
& SAFETY

Moral or ethical reasons

Legal and/ or Social reasons
Financial reasons
CLASS EXERCISE

Identify the reasons an employer will ensure safety and health

on moral grounds
ANSWER

Every religion teaches about the care for humanity

Employees are responsible for business growth and profit
An earlier workplace accident had brought suffering for the
family of the casualty
 COST ASSOCIATED WITH
ACCIDENTS

Direct Cost
Indirect Cost
 DIRECT COST ASSOCIATED WITH
ACCIDENTS

First Aid Treatment

Sick pay
Repairs to damage equipment
Loss of damaged product
Lost production time
Overtime covered for injured person
Fines in criminal court
Compensation pays to victims
INDIRECT COST ASSOCIATED WITH
ACCIDENTS

Resources spent in investigation

Lost employee Morale
Cost of additional control measures
Cost on recruitment of new employee
Cost on re-training
Damage customer loyalty
Damaged public image
 ROLE OF INSURANCE COMPANIES

Insured cost
 Mandatory
 Optional

Uninsured cost
 INSURED COST
Depending on country’s laws
Mandatory
 Employer liability insurance
 Medical cost for worker

 Public liability insurance

Optional
 Damage to property or infrastructure
 Worker financial compensation
 UNINSURED COST
Criminal fines and legal fee for employer
Loss of reputation
Loss of an expected contract
Decreased employees’ morale
Cost of investigating accidents
Trained staff leaving the organization
Loss of brand/ product loyalty
Lost production material and time after the accident
 ROLE & TYPE OF ENFORCEMENT
AGENCIES
No universally accepted standard
Each country has its own laws
 Inspection of workplaces
 Advise the employer on control measures
 System to address workers’ complaints
 Investigation on such complaints
 Legally pursue the cases against employers who do not comply with the law

Fire authority may be a separate enforcement agency in some

countries
Insurance companies can also enforce health and safety
 ENFORCEMENT ACTIONS FOR NON
COMPLIANCES
Non compliance with the safety and health laws is a criminal offence
Penalties for non compliance may be:-
 Enforcement action (improvement or business closure)
 Criminal prosecution against organizations
 Criminal prosecution against Directors
Note:-
An employee (current or formal) may file a civil claim against employer for the health
or safety issue for which employee believes that the employer has not complied with
duty of care.
ROLE OF NATIONAL GOVERNMENTS
AND INTERNAL ORGANIZATIONS
 ROLE OF INTERNATIONAL
ORGANIZATIONS
International Labor Organization
 UN Agency
 Most countries are its members
 Developed Occupational health and safety Convention C155 and Recommendations R194
regarding health and safety
 Binding on member countries

International Organization for Standardizations (ISO)

 ISO has developed more than 21000 standards for management systems, products etc
 ISO 45001 Occupational safety and health management system standard has been developed
 Optional Standards for continual improvement
 DUTIES OF EMPLOYER
Article 10 of Convention C155 states following duties of employers
Safe system of work
Safe place of work
Safe plant or equipment
Training & awareness
Supervision
Provide PPE’s
Hours of duty to match with the severity of job
To eliminate extreme mental or physical fatigue
 CLASS EXERCISE
Other than his/ her own employees, who else is employer responsible
to protect for safety and health who might be affected by the activities
being carried out by the employer organization?
 ANSWER
Visitors
Contractors and contractors’ employees
Member of Public
 CLASS EXERCISE
Is employer responsible to protect its employees, visitors, contractors
and member of public for the activities at employer site only?
 ANSWER
No, he is also responsible for the following:-
 Employer own premises
 Any other premises where activities are being carried out by the employer own
personnel
 Any other premises where activities are being carried out by the contractor’s
employees on behalf of the employer.
 DUTIES OF WORKERS
Article 19 of Convention C155 states following duties of workers
Take care of their own & of others
Follow safety instructions
Do not tamper safety equipment/devices/PPE
Report incidents
 WORKERS RIGHTS
Article 19 of Convention C155 states following duties of workers
Consultation with workers or their reps
Training and supervision
Worker may be allowed to leave a workplace which may create a
significant health and safety hazard and cannot be forced to resume
duties unless hazards have been addressed
 ROLE OF NATIONAL
GOVERNMENTS
Formulation of legislations regarding Health & Safety
Establish and communicate the consequences for non compliance
Establishment of health and safety enforcement bodies
Communication of health and safety applicable requirements
Empowering enforcement agencies to ensure compliance with legal
OH&S requirements
Making employers liability and public liability insurances as mandatory
Making Medical insurances mandatory for all employers and
businesses
Allocating necessary resources for criminal proceedings