Effective Workplace Inspection - Research Paper Example

Running Head: EFFECTIVE WORKPLACE INSPECTION Inserts His/Her Inserts Grade Inserts Effective Workplace Inspection In the current era of technological advancements, improved method of working and modern procedures, the workplaces have been progressing towards adopting flexibility and resilience. For this purpose, they are inspected on a constant basis so that a check can be kept on the maintenance and improvement of the place. This paper shall elaborate upon the significance of the workplace inspection, its purpose, planning, and the involvement of any hazards during inspection, and the principles involved in it. Workplace Inspection The concept of workplace inspection is very important in managing any business organization or factory floor for conducting production and operation works. An inspection refers to the function of observation undertaken in any organization in order to identify and account for the potential and existing perils or hazards which can possibly lead to the occurrence of any accidents and mishaps at the workplace. The activity of workplace inspection is an important practice for maintaining health and safety and is undertaken on regular basis. It is referred to as the foundation stone to implementing a successful health and safety program at the workplace. The potential or actual hazards are detected, and the suggested remedial actions are implemented to remove the hazards form the working area (OSACH, 2003). There are identifiable and definable factors in every organization which become the reason of occupational illnesses and workplace accidents. A hazard is any circumstances or conditions which bear the probability of causing the negative effects or damages to the health of people. The risk level to the health inclines with the strength of hazards and the frequency and interval of the people’s contact with the hazard. All the functions and activities within the organization demand the requirement of strategic management of the occupational safety and health hazards. This demand is thus, fulfilled through the application of workplace inspection practices. Importance The practices of workplace inspection are of vital importance in the organizations. The major significance of such practices lies in the fact that they provide a necessary support in preventing the illnesses and injuries to the employees. With the help of critical examination and observation of the workplace, the inspections tend to detect and keep track of hazards for the adoption of remedial actions. The planning, conducting, monitoring and reporting of the inspections are undertaken by the joint occupational health and safety committees. Regular undertaking of the inspection activities are a major part section of the general programs relating to the occupational health and safety standards. Purpose It is one of the essential requirements of the health and safety programs that the workplaces should be thoroughly inspected at regular intervals. The inspections are very important and execute the following purposes: To prevent accidents The basic purpose of conducting the inspections of workplace is to make sure that any actual or potential dangers or damages present at the workplace are identified and corrected before they can become a reason of any mishap, injury or accidents to the workers and other people present at the workplace. In order to maintain the health and safety at the workplace, the prevention of accidents is the basic element which also contributes positively to the decreasing of absenteeism, workers’ injuries and increasing the morale and satisfaction of the workers at job. To meet Legal requirements The workplace inspection is also one of the major legal requirements for the companies under the Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA), Section 9 (23) to (30). The Act requires that the worker members of the workplace Joint Health and Safety Committee (JHSC) should observe the place of work minimum once every year and various parts of the workplace should be inspected every month. To improve productivity, operation efficiency and worker morale In various situations, the organizations take actions to eradicate the hazards from workplaces in order to enhance the efficiency of operations, and improve the worker productivity and morale. For instance, the fatigue and pain of the workers during an entire eight-hour shift can be lessened and eased by placing an ergonomic floor mat at an assembly line workstation. This proves to be an obvious advantage for both the employer and the worker. Moreover, the workplace inspections can also assist the organizations in many minor problems that might occur. They can provide the management with a further and clearer understanding of the tasks and jobs. Along with the identification of the potential and existing hazards, the inspection activity can determine the underlying reasons of hazards and suggest corrective ways to control and monitor them in future. Plan In order to conduct an effective inspection of the workplace, the element of planning plays an important part. Aspects to Examine The planning includes the examination of what, who, when, where and how of the workplace inspection. The plan should involve a special consideration for the articles at workplace which can most possibly develop unhealthy or unsafe conditions due to the fact that wear, tear, stress, vibration, impact, corrosion, heat, misuse, and chemical reaction does take place during the operational activities at the place. Moreover, an effective plan should include the adequate inspection of the entire workplace area every time the inspection is being conducted. Even those areas where no such activity is frequently performed, such as rest areas, parking lots, locker rooms and office storage should also be included in an effective inspection plan. Workplace elements The workplace plan should include the looking at all the elements at the workplace. This would take into account the equipment, the environment, the processes, and other related aspects of the workplace area. The environment would consider various hazards like vibration, noise, temperature, lighting, and ventilation. The plan for equipment would include the inspection of tools, materials, and apparatus for the purpose of producing a product or service. The process inspection would comprise of all the procedures through which the workers communicate and interact with the other operations and tasks at the workplace. In order to undertake this inspection, the inspection team can make use of the audit tools which should be utilized one of eth yearly inspections undertaken by the company. Types of Hazards The term ‘hazards’ pertains to anything that can become a cause of harm, injury or illness to someone (Safe Work, n.d.). There are various types of hazards at the workplace which need to be identified, corrected for and monitors constantly before they could cause harm to the workers. The hazards at workplace include the following types: Physical This class of hazards includes stairs, floors, steps, work platforms, slippery surfaces, falling objects, manual handling (lifting, pushing, pulling), ladders, fire, heat and cold, vibration, ventilation, excessively loud and prolonged noise, air quality, radiation, poor lighting, and others related to these hazards. Mechanical and/or Electrical The mechanical and electrical class of hazards includes machinery, dangerous goods, hoists, forklifts, pressure vessels, equipment, electricity, and cranes. Chemical The chemical hazards include all those chemical substances such as poisonous or acidic and also those that could lead to a possible risk of explosion or fire. Other hazards in this category include cleaning agents, fumes and dust from different chemical processes such as welding. Biological The biological hazards at a workplace include mould, vermin, bacteria, mildew, viruses, insects, and other animals. Psychosocial Environment These hazards include the various stressors at the workplace which may occur because of different sources of activity. Ergonomic hazards These hazards at the workplace may be caused by physiological, anatomical, and psychological burden on the worker which might include the temperature extremes, forceful and awkward postures, repetitive movements, and vibration arising from improper work methods and improperly designed workstations, tools, and equipment. Safety Hazards These hazards would include inadequate or inefficient machine guards, unsafe practices of working, or unsafe conditions of the workplace. Conducting Inspection The successful inspection of the workplace relies heavily upon the obtaining of vital information. There needs to be a general management controls system which is adequately flexible so that any changes, if necessary, can be made in work practices or equipments. In order to conduct a proper identification of the hazards, the person conducting the inspection should be sufficiently trained with the following elements: The layout of plant: a floor plan should be formulated which could be beneficial in the preparations for inspections and recordings of the findings obtained; The possible hazards that could occur with the equipments, machinery, processes and materials at the workplace; Applicable regulations, standards and the existing controls; Utilization of information from the Ministry of Labour Inspection orders/reports; Findings of the previous accidents, mishaps and inspections data; Reports of maintenance. It is always helpful to develop the checklists in order to ensure that all the items are provided enough attention and coverage during the workplace inspection. All the hazards can also be taken down in the form of a checklist to assist the inspection process. These checklists can then be revised or reviewed only when necessary. Principles of Inspection An effective workplace inspection is carried out with various principles in consideration. These principles take into account the relationship and interaction between the equipment, people, procedures, and environment in the particular workplace. They determine the fact whether the standards which have been agreed for inspection can be maintained and achieved or not. The principles include the following: The checking of existing performance against the targeted standards in order to decide upon the achievement of the safety and health conditions. Monitoring and assessing the policy and performance against each other, along with an evaluation of the related legal requirements and the guidelines for best practices. Detecting the workplaces practices and hazards which posses a potential reason of being injurious or harmful to the employees. The Inspection Team The workplace inspection is conducted through an inspection team which comprises of an RES or safety adviser, a Union representative, a supervisor or local manager, and might also engage the group manager for the purpose of inspection of the entire workplace area. It is the responsibility of the inspection team to identify and evaluate the hazards linked with the possible dangers at workplace. Moreover, the team needs to suggest the possible actions that should be adopted to minimize or eradicate the presence of the risk at the workplace. The RES or safety advisors assigned the task of recording the results of inspection in the System Applications Policy (SAP). The inspection team is specifically responsible for the following: Executing a sophisticated and systematic inspection of the workplace area, equipments and plant. This should include the inspection of pavements, parking lots, public footpaths, and other related premises, Identification of the risks and hazards, and the assessment of conditions observed, Utilizing the checklists of inspection which mention the types of hazards and areas to inspect, Completing the checklists and making them ready for the availability at the time of audit, Keeping the records of inspection for the next three years from the time the inspection was conducted, Grading the inefficiencies relative to their worth, Recommending for the remedial measures, Identification for any good practice which could possibly assist in obtaining a safety culture and good health of the workplace, Reference to the next phase of management for acting upon any essential safety and health issue which might be above the experience and expertise of team. Recording Observations Once the inspection work has been completed, it is essential that all the information obtained is reviewed and ranked with respect to the significance of the issue. All the hazards which have been identified for existing or potential risks should be recorded in the form of classes A, B and C as described below: Class A Hazard This class denotes that the hazard is an activity which could most probably become the cause of loss of body part or life, permanent disability, and a general loss of material, structure or equipment. This could include, for example, an unguarded machine. Class B Hazard This class includes the condition which can become a reason for a serious illness or injury, which may result into a brief damage of property or disability which might be troublesome but not broad. This could include spilled oil around the area which might make the premises slippery. Class C Hazard The class C hazard would include a situation which might become a reason for the non-disabling, minor illness or injury, or a non-disruptive damage to the property of the workplace. For example, working with the solvents without wearing proper gloves could be recorded under Class C Hazard. Through there is no particular form and standard of reporting specified by any law, however, a good reporting form can be of much value in guaranteeing the management of the workplace that the inspection has be properly conducted and recorded. Moreover, through a systematic and sophisticated reporting, the other people who might be responsible for the follow-ups, are informed properly and made fully familiar with the potential and existing problems. Such a form of recording the evaluations of inspections can also serve the purpose of a worthy reference for the periodic checks and spot inspections by the supervisors later at any point in time. Besides this, the joint safety and health committee can easily review the health and safety standards of the workplace at any time. Thus, the recording of the corrective actions is made easier during the process of inspection. Work Cited OSACH, Workplace Inspection: Resource Manual, Ontario Safety Association for Community & Healthcare (OSACH), 2003, Print. Safe Work, Workplace Hazards Know the hazards – no problems, Web, Retrieved on April 20, 2012 Read More