Health and Safety at Work - Example

Health and Safety Management My Name Course Instructor Institution City/State Date : Introduction Health and safety management in the working environments fulfil legal responsibilities, economic responsibilities and moral responsibilities which the company and its employers must practice responsibly (Sowman 2006, p.1). Every construction site or company has the obligation to follow legal responsibilities of ensuring health and safety of the employees as well as other people involved in that kind of business. The right approach is not only taking minimum measures to of fulfilling legal requirements but also to benefit the company. A construction company with best safety measures will also be productive since little attention will be put towards attending to accident cases (Cooke B & Williams 2004, p.292). Inappropriate safety and health practices may result in accidents, illnesses and loss in time that leads to substantial costs. Unplanned activities harm both the working environment and productivity as it adversely affects profit (Work Safe BC 2013, p.1). There are some regulations in the constitution that requires construction companies to uphold certain safety and health measures which in most cases appear in the Health and Safety acts of most countries or governments. However, companies also set their rules and regulations pertaining to healthy and safety. This report presents how people can apply human factors that lead to safety work planning and finds out how people should avoid human errors in their places of work. On the other hand, it refers to health and safety issues like dermatitis and accidents in construction sites. Background information The construction and engineering sector has been leading in accidents. This sector may also include mines that employ people to do mining and construction. It is common to hear about constructors or miners who have been buried in the site. The nature of these accidents is serious such that they result in high death tolls. There is continued development and as well as regeneration of modern urban centres. Most engineers and constructors nowadays use confined site construction. This type of construction site has easily become the mew norm in the construction sector (Spillane et al 2011, p.140). However, confined constructions put people in high level of health and safety risks. One of the health issues that can easily arise in such cases is the dermatitis respiratory disease that emanates from the inhalation of silica dust that is present in concrete (Sowman 2006, p.1). There are various equipments and tools that are used in the construction and they may put the workers in great risks. Construction industries have also recorded a large number of accidents and injuries caused by improper use of equipments and tools. With high cases of health and safety issues, governments decided to come in by enacting rules and regulations pertaining to the welfare of workers. For instance, the government of UK enacted Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 guide construction works and other working environments (HSE 2013, p.1). In return, many construction companies are now obliged to respect these rules and regulations of governments when carrying out projects. Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 In the United Kingdom, the 194 Act forms the back bone of health and safety regulations. This act provided the general duties that employees must uphold to their employees (HSE 2013, p.1). The act states that employers must ensure health, safety as well as welfare of employees at work. The act requires employees to extend their duties so as to include provision as well as maintenance of the site and work systems that are safe with least health risks. Secondly, the arrangements should ensure absence of health risks by proper use, handling, transport and storage of substances. Thirdly, the act compels construction sites to provide information, instructions, supervision and training that are reasonably practicable so as to ensure health and safety of all employees. Besides, the employers have the responsibility to ensure that they provide means of repair and maintenance as a way of reducing cases of injuries and accidents. Section three of this act states that employers have the duty to prepare and revise its general policies of health and safety and make arrangements of enforcing them (HSE 2013, p.1). Moreover, the employers are required to communicate their revised general policies to the employees. The fourth section was regulations that came from the Secretary of State and recommends for the appointment of employee representatives to trade union (HSE 2013, p.1). Those employees shall, however, be representing their colleagues in consultations with the employers. On the other hand, employers shall have the duty of consulting representatives with regard to maintenance arrangements which will result in good and safety working environment. Consultations with employee representatives will also help in checking if the measures are effective. Section seven of this act states that the employers have the duty to organize a safety committee as required by the Secretary of State that will keep in check and review the health and safety measures. Human factors that contribute health and safety issues Occupational factors Human factors also play a vital role in health and safety issues in the construction places. One of them is occupation factors which directly relates to the job (Work Safe BC 2013, p.1). A person’s occupation may put him or her at high health risks or low risk situations. In this case, it is important to understand the concept of ergonomics that is a science of designing keeping in mind health and safety management by matching employees to machines, equipments and processes. Ergonomic design evaluates any possible cognitive and physical limitations of reducing human errors especially in their decision making (Work Safe BC 2013, p.1). In this case, the management must make sure that equipment controls are in comfortable and convenient positions for operators. Where possible, the construction site must have automatic switches. Moreover, it is recommended to use adjustable work places. In addition, information, training and instruction must match up to the cognitive abilities of the employees Human failures and personal factors Human failures and personal factors also contribute to health and safety issues. Personal factors in this context entail characteristics that may influence actions which are unsafe in nature (Work Safe BC 2013, p.1). Universal personal factors that lead to unsafe behaviours include low competence levels, boredom, tiredness, medical problems and low morale (Work Safe BC 2013, p.1). However, the management can improve motivation, attitude and perception amongst employees through good training, enforcement of the safety rules, Inspection and auditing. On the other hand, human failures may either be violations or errors. Error is the unintentional deviation away from acceptable standards while violation is simple means deliberate deviation. Human errors exist in three groups that include lapses, slips and mistake based knowledge or rule (Work Safe BC 2013, p.1). Lapses and slips happen due to concentration loss or limited attention. The management can reduce these types of errors minimizing distractions, redesigning jobs or work equipments. On the other hand, the construction site can reduce mistake based rules through sufficient and efficient training. The company needs competent supervisors, trainers with clear instructions to reduce such mistakes. Human violations In addition, human violations also contribute to health and safety issues (Work Safe BC 2013, p.1). Violations fall under three categories: situational, routine and exceptional. Routine violations involve the employees taking shortcuts and the company can reduce it through regular monitoring and removal of inapplicable safety rules. Secondly, situation violations occur when there is too much pressure on the employees to complete certain tasks since they have to comply with rules. In this case, any accident or injury may occur due to inappropriate arrangement of the equipments and tools or when they work under dangerous working conditions like poor weather. Finally, exceptional violations are rare happenings that occur when employees break safety rules to perform new tasks. For instance, the employees may have to attend to emergency procedures in case of fires. Exceptional violations are best addressed using the best risk assessment methods and having work permits and training procedures (Work Safe BC 2013, p.1). Case study: BAA construction of London Heathrow 5B project This paper reports on the health and safety measures that BAA followed when it was constructing London Heathrow 5B Project (Airport Technology 2013, p.1). To achieve a safety construction and complete it in budget and time, the management recognized the need to put in place a comprehensive system of managing health and safety for setting high standards. The project was under the management of a dedicated team that became the first team in the history of United Kingdom to develop safe working times without accidents. The team had to take some health and safety measures to achieve their goal. Firstly, the team appointed a fulltime health and safety leader. Secondly, the management ensured that this team engaged in high workforce consultations through engaging in health and safety. Moreover, the company engaged in daily briefings and circulated safety briefs to the employees. Most importantly, the team engaged in injury and accident free campaigns. Failure to meet safety provisions could mean that the company would be answerable to certain legislations and acts that included the following: HSWA 1974- Sec 2(1) that states that the employer must protect health and safety of their employees HSWA 1974- Sec 2(2) that states that employer must provide information to the employees, supervise them and train them on health and safety. HSWA 1974- Sec 2(4) that states that the management must consult the union of safety representatives and establish Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 where regulation requires companies to appoint competent persons and Regulation 9 that recommends for information provision to the employees Strategies that BAA management used in ensuring health and safety of the employees Construction sites need the best and effective strategies of ensuring health and safety to the workers since they expose constructors to great risks. Firstly, companies like BAA always provide welfare facilities to their employees (Sowman 2006, p.1). For instance, it provides toilets, water and properly maintained dining areas. Good facilities create good working environments and the result is positive health benefits. In construction sites, the move will prevent such health issues like Dermatitis. The management can address the issue by first appreciating the welfare arrangements that are present in the Health and Safety plan. On the other hand, the company must allocate welfare facilities at specific locations and provide maintenance facilities when the project is at planning and preparation stage (Cooke B & Williams 2004, p.294). Nonetheless, it is advisable to have facilities that fit the nature of work and size of the park. For example, concrete has been associated with dermatitis thus the working area will require more washing facilities or showers may be appropriate. A proper planning for health and safety must ensure that the management connects both the washing facilities and toilets to the main drainage for highest level of hygiene. Resting facilities in the construction sites must shelter workers from rain and wind. The other initiative that a construction site must ensure is dust control (Sowman 2006, p.1). Construction activities produce a lot of dust which are harmful to the workers. Activities like cutting the concrete slabs and stone kerbing generate a lot of dusts. These activities produce dusts that contain crystal silica that causes respiratory problems by scarring lung tissues. The construction sites may use local exhausts or ventilations where saw guards function as high velocity cover connected to the vacuum cleaner that act as the dust exhaust. While making this initiative, construction companies like BAA adhere to the legislative responsibility of Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 (Rawlinson & Farrell 2010, p.440). The regulation 14 states that companies have responsibility of making sure that their employees safely use tools and equipments. Health screening The other important measure towards ensuring safety and health measures is putting in place health screening at the site or on-site health screening (Sowman 2006, p.1). This makes it possible to gather any important information with regard to health conditions of the workers. Such information helps the management to make empirical decisions on the best practices to carry out. The tests include blood test, skin tests, ear testing, and general checkups (Cooke B & Williams 2004, p.295). Health screening is simply a preventive measure in construction sites. Frequent health check up may also help the management to know health status of its employees. It also helps the management to keep in check with acts of the government that compels companies to account for welfare of their employees. In this case, the construction company must adhere to Management of Healthy and Safety at Work Regulations 199. In this act, regulation number 6 recommends for health surveillance whenever appropriate. General strategies of effective management of health and safety in construction sites Generally, there are five key strategies that construction management can use to build a healthy and safety working environment. Firstly, the site management can implement safe work plan systems of mitigating issues that arise from health and safety (Sowman 2006, p.1). Secondly, it is important to inform the personnel of the possible issues with the help of site inductions. In this case, the management can enlighten its personnel of potential health issues like dermatitis that is caused by concrete dust. It is equally vital to inform the personnel about dangers of improper use of equipments and proper storage is also necessary to avoid accidents and injuries. Thirdly, effective communication in the site is necessary (Rawlinson & Farrell 2010, p.439). In this case, the personnel must engage in good relations with each other through proper channels of communication. For instance, when a safety committee reviews some policies and regulations, it should be communicated to all departments in a clear and comprehensive manner. The other strategy of site management is the drafting and implementing effective site layout before starting on-site activities. Health and safety management system review One of the important measures towards ensuring effective management of health and safety of the employees is reviewing the current system of handling and managing such issues (Rawlinson & Farrell 2010, p.440). It is vital for the reviewing team to compare the current health and safety practices with Requirements of health and safety legislation, Provisions in the company’s safety statement, Health and safety guidance of the company and Best practices in the company’s employment sector. To carry out the reviews, it is important to use a checklist that the team will compare against its existing health and safety measures. The checklist may seek to find out if: the safety statement is clear and readable to those working in risky situations Health and safety statement present at related work place and the management gives relevant extracts with regard to specific risks. The overall health and safety policy and internal implementation structure adequate There is a systematic hazards identification and risk assessment for work environment. There are procedures for monitoring safety systems implementation as well as control measures There is training on health and safety Conclusion In summary, health and safety management at work places strive to fulfil mainly legal responsibilities though to some extent moral responsibilities. All construction sites have the duty to ensure that their employees are working under favourable working environments through health and safety systems. One of the health and safety issues in the construction sites is accident and injuries. Besides, construction sites produce a lot of concrete dust that risk workers lives. Concrete dust has silica that causes respiratory diseases like dermatitis. However, the responsibility does not only lie with the management but workers also have the duty to ensure that they are working under less risky situations. This means that there are some human factors that contribute to health and safety issues. Human factors include personal factors, human violations and human failures. Nonetheless, there are certain acts of government that protects the welfare of all employees. One of the companies that effectively implemented the safety and health strategies and regulations is BAA Company when it was constructing the London Heathrow 5B project. Finally, construction companies must engage in health and safety system review to find out if the management complies with all requirements of health and safety. References Airport Technology, 2013, London Heathrow Airport Expansions (LHA/EGLL), United Kingdom, viewed 23 November 2013< http://www.airport-technology.com/projects/heathrow5/> Cooke B & Williams P 2004, Construction Planning, Programming and Control, 2nd Ed, London, Wiley-Blackwell Publishing. HSE, 2013, Health and Safety at Work etc 1974, viewed 223 November 2013 http://www.hse.gov.uk/legislation/hswa.htm Rawlinson, F & Farrell, P 2010, ‘UK construction industry site health and safety management: An examination of promotional web material as an indicator of current direction’, Construction Innovation: Information, Process, Management, vol. 10, no. 4, pp.435-446. Sowman, C 2006, “Safety on Sight”, viewed 23 November 2013 Spillane, P. J, Oyedele, L. O, Meding, J. V, Konanahalli, A, Jaiyeoba, B. E & Tijani, I. K 2011, ‘Confined site construction: a qualitative investigation of critical issues affecting management of health and safety’, journal of civil engineering and construction technology, vol. 2, no. (7), pp.138-146 Work Safe BC, 2013, human factors, viewed 23 November 2013 Read More