Occupational Health And Safety - Assignment Example

Running Head; Risk management awareness Insert Name Module Tutors Name 21st December 2008 1. Identify the sources of information that will provide information on the level of change, any new hazards introduced, the level of compliance with new procedures and any other information on the effectiveness of risk controls. In the occupation health and safety, there is need to gather vital information pertaining the levels of change in the workplace. There is great need to have and undertake workplace assessment for any hazards and for the identification for the same in the workplace, doing an OHS audit and also having appropriate safety work procedures. These functions will provide with the required information on the levels of change and reveal any new hazards that might have been introduced. OHS record keeping One of the areas that is a source of information for the levels of change is for the records that are kept concerning the workplace and its OHS. There is need to have proper records, this will be as away of responding to all actual and potential hazards and incidents in the workplace. Records should be kept of the occupational health and safety qualifications and training of appropriate persons such as the general manager(s), human resources manager(s) and safety officer(s) on the issues surrounding the workplace and its safety. Records are kept on any new procedures that are introduced to the workplace to assist in the implementation for the same and also keeping records to show the progress that the new procedures introduced are making in the workplace. Workplace risk assessment Thorough risk assessment should be conducted at the workplace. Employers should be very keen to not to fail to identify the risk, inherent in allowing the production supervisor to train staff in an unauthorized procedure and have employees follow that unauthorized procedure. An organization should ensure that the ohs supervisor is appropriately trained in the workplace safe work procedures. It is also required that the employers consider in advance the potential hazards arising out of the duties that the employees are required to carryout. For instance, any informal practices employees may adopt. This process should be a continuous one and the organization should carry it out to avoid any foreseeable risk at the workplace. OHS audit Having the purpose of this activity to being assessing of the compliance of the organization’s Occupation Health and Safety management with the set requirements and also to assess/check the implementation of the organization’s operations and activities it also verifies the implementation and the effectiveness of the OHS policies and procedures. In this way ohs audit will offer information on the level of changes that have taken and any new hazards in that might have been introduced by the changes made within the workplace. 2. Recommend three "lead" or "positive" measures that could be implemented to drive the required change and facilitate evaluation of the level of implementation. Hazard Identification, Risk Assessment and Risk Control at Workplace Level Identifying hazards, the undertaking of risk assessment and the implementation of control measures are the key aspects of risk management in the drive to the required change and facilitation of evaluation of the level of implementation. The aim of OHS Risk Management being to reduce the likelihood and consequence of a workplace incident that may result in injury or disease, it is a planned and systematic process for controlling workplace health and safety hazards through examination of all aspects of the work undertaken. (Comcare OHS 10) Once risk assessment has been done, the level of risk can be established. Obviously, if the likelihood and consequences of an action will result in high levels of risk, then the action should be avoided as much as possible. Induction Education and Training It is important to provide to employees and in appropriate languages, the information, instruction, training and supervision necessary to enable them to perform their work in a manner that is safe for them and others and without posing risks to their health. (Subsection 16 OS) This will be one way of ensuring that the required changes are implemented. Establishing appropriate education and training programs for the employees will help much in the driving of these changes. Education and training will include a structured training regime for employees, encompassing. A comprehensive instruction and training must be provided on an ongoing basis. There should also be training for specific jobs and hazards. The managers or the employers should be able to show that the employees understood what was taught to them. Where employees have a first language other than English or have literacy issues, then these issues arising must be dealt with by ensuring that the policies and procedures for health and safety are communicated in a manner the employees easily understand. Employers need to be able to show that their employees applied the policies and procedures successfully in their work despite what their language needs. Induction Training There is the need to implement an induction program that will target any new employee irrespective of age or skill level so that they can be war of the required safety procedures. The induction programs gives appropriate training on OHS matters which helps the employees to be aware of their rights and obligations which is for both themselves and others in the workplace as under the OHS Act. The education means that every individual has the necessary knowledge; skills and information to ensure them go on with their duties and responsibilities in a right and safe manner. 3. Undertake activities to access and analyse the required information to identify areas for further improvement in the management of risks associated with this hazard. Ensure that stakeholders and key personnel are involved in the areas for improvement. Training Needs Analysis Training needs and analysis is one activity that helps in the Identification of organizational and staff training needs which identifies potential gaps between actual competency and the level of competency required to achieve set objectives. In identifying training needs, there comes in other factors the nature of the task for the employees, the experience they have in the field, language and literacy of the employees; the equipments and substances they will be using in their everyday work and hazards identified in the risk assessments conducted. There is the need for the managers or employers to consult with their employees about the necessary information and training that they require to undertake their work safely. By so doing there will be appropriate tool for the effective implementation of the OHS strategic plan. Hazard identification There is need to source formal and informal techniques/tools, this will help in the identification of the hazards easily. Once a suitable technique/tool is selected and modified as appropriate to identify hazards the organization will be a piece with its risks management. Another important aspect of an improvement will be involving the workers, as hazard identification technique/tool(s) are reviewed its important that its done in consultation with workers in the area, and Occupation Health and Safety specialists to ensure it is suitably comprehensive. Risk management Risks should be prioritized putting into consideration the severity and likelihood of the risks and the consequences. In this procedure, the organization needs to select a tool for risk assessment. The selected tool will be used to identify key factors that are contributing to risk. Another important improvement will be to put into apply workplace sources of information and data to help in evaluating the effectiveness of risk management. 4. Prepare an update report for the relevant manager that includes an action plan to implement the identified improvements. OHS RISK CONTROL ACTION PLAN. Search out some examples of risk control action plans from codes of practice and other sources. Prepare a risk control action plan to implement your package of risk controls. Ensure that your action plan identifies the following. short and long term actions to achieve change. Persons responsible for implementation of actions; and required resources including financial, personal and equipment requirements. This must be based on Australian workplace practices, procedures and legislation. Risk Control Action plan is a vital part of the ohs risk management and it should provide and explain the ohs risk management guidelines and templates to staff/employees. There are several important attributes of this action plane. These will include; Injuries and incidents are reported and investigated It is of great importance to have incident report forms available and completed on time. Managers/Employers/Supervisors should be able to investigate incidents in consultation with the workgroups i.e. the different departments in the organization and implementing measures to prevent recurrence of these incidents. Emergency preparedness The organization is required to be prepared for any foreseeable hazards. The employer should allocate responsibility for coordinating local emergency response. Emergency preparedness starts with the providing of training to the employees and practice emergency procedures. Training - developing skills and competencies To have an effective risk control plan the staff/employees should be in a position to know what is required of the relating to OHS. It is therefore important to identify and provide relevant OHS training and record details and also having induction of the new staff to familiarize themselves with OHS responsibilities and local procedures for managing risks. Document control Like in any other action plan, it is important to have the progress documented therefore t, the manager will need to allocate responsibility for completing and filing OHS documents. The person should be responsible for seeing to it that the all the OHS files re document to safe information that may be required in the future for maybe budget purpose or for the audit process. Hazardous substances All the substances around the workplace that the employees deal with should be well labeled to identify all hazardous substance containers correctly. Likewise, disposing of hazardous waste according to the set guidelines should be done correctly. Bibliography Comcare. (2006). The Management of Occupational Health and Safety in Commonwealth Agencies. Establishing an OHS Management System. , 17. Occupation Health and Safety Welfare 2007 Retrieved on 14th September 2008 from; http://www.unisa.edu.au/ohsw/procedures/workplaceinspection.asp Read More