Harries Engineering - Safety Checklist Activity - Case Study Example

WHS report and safety checklist activity Name Professor Institution Course Date WHS report and safety checklist activity Background Harries Engineering is company that focuses on welding and panel beating with an aim to enhance the quality of engineering applications in Melbourne where it is situated. The company was started by two Melbourne university Engineering graduates James Morrison and Philip Neumann in 1998. The two started the company with eight workers and has watched the company grow to a higher level, it now has ninety eight employees. The company has now expanded and built more building for the new engineering programs and also to accommodate all the workers that has since grown in number. This has made the company to company to focus on its workplace and health safety practices. But since I joined this company as a staff, I have witnessed the company undergo a lot of challenges on these workplace and health safety practices. Since the company deals with different several tools and equipment, injuries of various nature has occurred endangering the reputation of the company (Antonakis & Barnes 1991). Both the clients and employees have questioned the level of management as far as the safety practices are concerned. However, the buck stops with both the employers and the employees. Just like in any company, effective workplace health and safety practices need the teamwork and involvement of both company and employees in health and safety programs. Table of Contents WHS report and safety checklist activity 2 Background 2 1.0 Introduction 4 2.0 Workplace health and safety information 5 3.0 Work group consultation 7 4.0 Analysis and control Hazards 8 5.0 Implementation of policies and procedures for risk controls 9 6.0 Monitoring 10 7.0 Conclusion 11 8.0 References 12 1.0 Introduction Workplace health and safety are turning out to be more critical in relation to management. Managers require being proverbial of the legal background while keeping in mind keep strategy development so as to manage workplace health and safety practices. Montgomery & Kelloway (2002) assert that at the time of setting organization’s strategies and objectives, managers should take into consideration work-related health and safety practices as a weighty factor. No degree of setting of standard and enforcement can substitute the indulging of work practices, hazards and materials that is used by both employers and employees in routine, on-the-job operations (HSE 2009). This information combined with the capacity to assess and deal with hazards first and to reward positive achievement, puts employers in an exceptional position to enhance workplace safety and health practices. This report discusses some current work place health and safety practices and concerns and how they influence management of the organization. The reports look into the state of grounds, buildings, lighting, and ventilation, floors, electrical installations and Equipment, cleaning facilities, fire protection and first aid among other practices. All these issues are analyzed in the context of workplace health and safety information, team consultation and monitoring. 2.0 Workplace health and safety information The objective of Harries Engineering is to improve the quality of engineering works especially in welding and panel beating in Melbourne. In the context of safety, the Harries Engineering aims at safeguarding the safety, welfare and health of individuals involved in employment or work. Other objective of workplace safety and health plans include fostering a safe and healthy organizational setting. All these cannot work without a proper channel of communication. While for working in Harries over the last three years I have come to a situation where an employee get injured or risk his life because of lack of information. The situation arises because and a new employ comes in the company and is not familiar with various tools work but opt to use making his life to be in danger. Effective information is also always necessary for smooth relationship with other employees (HSE 2009). Understandings how to communicate efficiently will help new employees pass across what they imply efficiently and can reduce misunderstandings and friction when dealing with people and tolls and workplace. Information is more than just making the workers up to date of what is taking place in at Harries. Even though the number of employees is rising so fast, induction is needed to help the new employees with information on the new acquired tools and equipment to avoid risks or injuries. In this way, Harries will have minimized the level of health and safety risk in the organization. The information passage concept is the successful conveyance of meaning that uses both formal and informal communication. It works in communication across, up and down the company. The company can use team leaders in various work groups in communicating information to the rest of members (HSE 2009). This is done by making the team leaders close to the management at Harries. The team leaders will then walk the new employees around the company and tell him or her about the conditions of the ground, building, lighting ventilation, tools, and protective gear and how to respond to first Aid. Harries provide information through printed guidelines/booklets. The health and safety information that are more important are printed on the wall so that the employees can access and observe them all the time. However so information that concerns group projects or assignments are normally given to group leaders to circulate them to group members in order to be at par with the rest of everyone in that particular group. It is also good to note that Harries company provide new employees with a copy of company code of ethics or conduct, rules and regulations that should all be observed by each and every employee while working. These rules are in line with the Work Health and Safety Act of 2011 requiring protection of employees and other staff against harm safety and wellbeing by doing away with or reducing of risks arising from work or from particular types of substances or plant (HSE 2009). 3.0 Work group consultation Working in a group is very important aspect of rapid task completion. Over the last three years, I have been at Harries Engineering Company assignment have been allocated according experience and professionalism. Work group consultation shows employee’s ability to communicate efficiently, share and reflect on views, create trust, evaluate the group practice, solve misunderstandings and also builds up their creativity (Roughton, 2002). However, from my experience the positive learning and useful results does not for all time come because of group work but some are individual’s creativity. A group working provides great motivation for constant working to enhance performance. They compel task to others and frequently make fellow employees to work smarter on a project as compared to sole duty where an individual operates himself. Work group have helped new employees learn on how to use some of the tools and their safety. Some of the team leaders in the groups are very helpful and ensure everybody uses the protective gear whenever they are working on assignment dealing in metal and panel beatings. They also ensure that work ethics are adhered to. However, at times the company has been too lenient on the use of protective gear therefore risking the safety of employees (Roughton, 2002). There are even those cases where these protective gears have not been replaced for the last three years have spent working for Harries Engineering Company. Some group members also assume that everybody is an adult and know how to use every tool and equipment for its rightful work. The groups are selected based on the observation, group dynamism cohesive concepts so they are normally effective to an extent that the management become reluctant on monitoring the results. Harries ensures that the skill and knowledge are maintained by hiring the professionals or the right people in the job. The organization work can be felt by looking at their huge customer base in Melbourne. Having the right people and using the group dynamism concept to pick individuals from group and made these groups so effective hence they learn to do well by combining ideas (Roughton 2002). Having skills and knowledge helps the Harries to maximize profits. This is because the groups embrace high quality, greatest efficiency, and maximum productivity. Harries have excelled in such a situation because they undertake the procedure of group formation with greatest seriousness. Therefore, the creation of fine and productive groups to tackle new health and safety measures need careful consideration. 4.0 Analysis and control Hazards The floor plan of every organization is always unique depending on the business the company is focusing on. With Harries as an engineering firm, it has a spacious floor that accommodates its big machines, metals and equipment suiting its job design (Roughton 2002). Employees also need space where they can carry out welding and panel beating while making various goods for their customers. The building has a good foundation therefore the floor is normally stable to hold big machines and tools. The company has grown and more machines, tools have been acquired to replace the old and also just to add to existing ones making the number of machines to increase. In that case, the company has been renovating the building by increasing the floor space to accommodate all its acquisitions. The floors sometimes become slippery due to the fact the company work with grease in maintenance of its machines are various products they produce. The company recommends that an employee indicates and notify other employees whenever the floor is slippery before it is cleaned. Human is to error and sometimes some employees have failed to indicate causing risk or injuries to their workmates. Most have the doors that are worn out and are under repair to adhere to government laws that all doors must be in good condition to make safe should any fire break out. This will ensure that they shut and open with ease. The company has from the establishment been having five workers at the workstation area. The number has since increased to ten being increased due to number of employees going up. The company’s furniture is maintained in good condition because most of what Harries deals in is close to furniture (Sranks 1998). As I indicated the machinery are normally maintained through various means including greasing. This has not made them to stop wearing out and becoming risk to health and safety of the employees working with them. As one of the employees who have been working in this company for quite sometimes, I can attest that the company takes a lot of time replace worn out machines citing higher cost as the problem. The fire extinguishers on the other hand are in good conditions are normally used replaced after use or when they reach expiry dates. Most of employees have been drilled about putting off the fire using fire extinguishers that might cause accident and loss to the company. Lastly, I can attest that most employees understands the process of first aid because the normally carry out training on first aid to ensure health and safety of employees. 5.0 Implementation of policies and procedures for risk controls With the new health and safety Act of 2011 in place, it is important for any organization to constitute health and safety committee to ensure accidents are minimized in the workplace. Even though Harries Engineering Company has been in existence for quite sometimes, the company is yet to set a health and safety committee that can provide knowledge to employees on the safety of the company (Sranks 1998, p. 26). The preventive measures are taken against past accidents, the management of Harries ought to hold accountable health and safety officer on duty. Although, the protective gears are normally put in place, the management should ensure that they are replaced whenever they are worn. Training on ways to make use of this equipment is also very important in making sure risks and accidents do not take place. By buying enough First Aid kits Harries will have ensured that emergency plans are put in place to control or contain the occurrence of any accident. With increase of number of doorways in place, the accidents are minimized. However, this is not enough and the management have to make the employees aware all the emergency exits and how to use them when they are evacuating the premise at the time of accident (Sranks 1998, p. 26). With regard to the fire accidents, it is critical for healthy and safety officers at Harries to ensure that fire extinguishers are placed in a visible spots for emergency use. The big shipping doors should be opened all times for ventilation purposes. Implementing these recommendations is costly but in the long run it will have saved the company a lot of money that they might use should accident like fire break out within the premises. These costs therefore should be included in as maintenance cost within the budgets. 6.0 Monitoring Regular organizational inspections should be carried out to make sure a safe working atmosphere is sustained. Even though inspections are carried out, they are not regular as required by law. Hammer & Price (2000) claims that the aim of performing inspections on a regular basis is to identify any logically happening hazards in the place of work and to reduce risks to health, wellbeing or the setting. Inspections are normally done in uniform starting with one area to another. Persons performing the inspections ought to be competent enough to do that and understand of the tangible and potential risks related to the area of inspection. Sranks (1998, p.26) argues that the inspection is supposed to cover every physical area of the premises like doors, flows, electrical appliances and roofs among others and document them. Areas that legally need tests and examinations on equipment such as fire extinguisher examination labels should also be done and documented for record keeping. To find an accurate picture of state of affairs and process in the operating environment, where suitable, inspections ought to be done when workstations are occupied by employees (Hammer & Price 2000). After inspection is carried out the results are recorded and checked against the government checklist to observe if they are in line. The company can use the record to make changes in the recommended areas to ensure health and safety of the employees. 7.0 Conclusion Better health and safety at workplace is not just important in human context, but also an effective way to make sure that the Harries Company is successful and sustainable. Especially, if the health and safety regulation laws are not adhered to by the Harries, accident hazard will increase (Roughton 2002). Harries may choose to ignore the health and safety practices because of the cost that comes with it but in the actual sense the cost that can result after the accident too big that will leads to a loss and damage the reputation of the company. In summary, it is the obligation of the company to good health and safety of its employees, because it is the employees that drive the company to generate profit. 8.0 References Antonakis, C & Barnes, R 1991, Safety is good engineering, In Safety Developments in the Offshore Oil and Gas Industry (pp. 1-6). Suffolk, Waveney Print services Ltd. Health and Safety Executive 2009, A Guide to Safety and Health Regulation in Great Britain, 4th edition, London. Hammer, W & Price, D 2000, Occupational Safety Management and Engineering, 5th ed., Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ. Montgomery, J & Kelloway, K 2002, Management of Occupational Health and Safety, 2nd ed., Nelson, Canada. Roughton, J 2002, Developing an Effective Safety Culture: A Leadership Approach (1st ed.), Butterworth-Heinemann, New York. Sranks, J 1998, Health and Safety at Work in the UK, Dublin, Betaprint Ltd. Read More