Occupational Health and Safety - Admission/Application Essay Example

Occupational Health and Safety Question The following are some events that could be used to effectively measure OHS performance: Time taken to correct deficiencies noted in inspections compared to an agreed benchmark Workplace hazard identification and risk assessment Effectiveness of hazard controls Compliance audits, regulations, standards, etc. Dissemination of information Consider your workplace now (or a past workplace). Select three (3) of the above and design for each of the three a Positive Performance Indicator to be presented to the Management that clearly shows what is to be measured and how it will be measured. Ensure in each case that the PPI is: controllable or able to be influenced relevant assessable and measurable accepted as true indicators of performance reliable, providing the same measures when assessed by different people; and sufficient to provide accurate information Answer 1 Performance indicators are used to measure to what extent are occupational health and safety procedures (OHS) are being complied with. To test effectiveness of hazard controls in place, the organization should consider injury frequency rates of employees, especially those working in high risk areas. This would help in verifying that hazard controls are adequate enough to mitigate occurrence of injuries to a significant extent. If injuries are too frequent, then we can ascertain that hazard controls are weak and ineffective, after ensuring that no unusual circumstances exist in working fields. Logbooks of reported injuries should be reviewed and interviews be held with a small sample of employees. Similarly, workplace hazard identification and risk assessment can be measured by computing number of workplace inspections completed as a percentage of total number of planned inspections for a specific period. This would exhibit management’s commitment towards hazard and risk mitigation policies and initiatives taken by it to scrutinize physical aspects of workplace that may project threats to working conditions for employees. If percentage is substantially low, then reasons for variation must be investigated (Blewett et al., 32). Finally, effectiveness of compliance audits, standards and other regulations can be measured by analyzing proportion of recommendations implemented by management as compared to total recommendations given during precedent OHS systems audit conducted by external specialists or in-house auditors (Comcare, 2004). Through observation, performance of walkthroughs and other analytical procedures over weaknesses noted previously by auditors, the extent of adoption of such suggestions can be measured. For areas where implementation is a long-term process, periodic monitoring shall be adequate. Question 2 Identify 2 OH&S measurable outcomes where although the company you work for has met the base legislative requirements you believe a higher level of compliance would be more appropriate. What prevented a more rigorous approach? Answer 2 The company in view has a moderate communications framework in place for OHS activities and instructions. As a result, most of the employees are trying to meet the ends by fulfilling minimum safety requirements whereas remaining workforce is unaware completely of any such practices. Organization must put greater emphasis on this area since strict recording and coordination of OHS activities in the workplace establishes sound ethical and quality stance amongst management and employees. Immediate feedback is provided to employees and managers regarding compliance with health and safety standards. This provides a measure of optimal performance that is expected from staff in order to be considered for positive appraisal and other acknowledgements. Parent company provides quarterly budgets to management, identifying each head of expense and its allocation. As a result, management falls short of funds to spend on providing adequate OHS training to its manpower and establishing a sound network of OHS communications. Secondly, the company has selected an obsolete standard for implementing OHS procedures. Consequently, it is able to meet minimum requirements but is out of touch with latest amendments and changes in this regard. Instead, the company should incur expenditure on research activities to identify international best practices and globally recognized OHS frameworks to benchmark itself with. It should modify its OHS policies and keep up to date with recent voluntary initiatives. The company has no dedicated staff that may be devoted to conducting such research surveys. Thus, everyone is flowing along with the existing system as no one is officially responsible for updating OHS standards and manuals. Question 3 Submit an OHS procedure that you have written. In the Notes section, discuss how it will be integrated into the organization and what implications it has beyond the OHS realm. What training and additional resources will be required as a result of the procedure? Answer 3 Zoller suggested that OHS procedures can only be successfully implemented if the management has support of employees through their participation in designing the procedure and taking initiatives on their own motion and their disciplined effort in a single direction (Zoller, pp. 118). This organization lacks proper documentation, tagging and coding of data. As a result, it is unable to have access to reliable information on a timely basis. Therefore, I have focused my attention on possible implementation of an OHS procedure that supports modern technology and creates better opportunities for it to grow in. Coding of data is aimed at improving the comparability of statistics with benchmarks and enhancing quality of internal documentation. Moreover, this OHS technique increases the capability of organization to be adaptable to changing working environment, legislative modifications and technological updates (National OHS Data Action Plan, pp. 5). Coding of data enables the management to be in strong position to collect information on occupational injuries and hazards beforehand to deploy preventive measures. Implementation of this procedure, however, is complex and needs radical improvements in existing facilities, management’s commitment and employees’ participation. Management must accept replacement of conventional methods and must conduct various surveys and trainings for employees to make them well aware of new system or policy adopted. Procedure must be discussed with key personnel and they must b requested to brief it to existing employees, requesting them for their cooperation and facilitation in implementing OHS procedure. They must be educated about benefits of this approach to their own workforce so their support is gained. Question 4 For your current (or a past) workplace there may be circumstances where specialist OHS advice may be sought. What are those circumstances? Answer 4 Employees of any organization are entitled to a workplace that is materially risk-free and practically safe. To prevent or mitigate any casualties, injuries and diseases of workforce, often these entities require the expertise of a OHS specialist who has appropriate qualification and relevant sufficient experience in this regard (Pryor, 2012). Our organization was planning to obtain certain quality standard certifications from authorities in order to establish an enhanced reputation amongst public and customers. The authorities were sending an inspection team to conduct thorough physical survey of working conditions prior to attesting a certificate. In-house OHS committee was of the view that certain areas were loaded with building materials that were risky. For this purpose, it required the help of an expert to conduct an evaluation of workplace safety and identify traces of any hazardous building material that may cause hindrance in routine work or pose threats to employees’ safety and health. A specialist firm was hired, which was responsible for preparing a hazardous building materials report containing exhaustive lists and details of materials that might be required to be removed from premises. Specialists provided our management with a report, highlighting all such areas requiring renovations and weaker areas needing immediate action. Committee took notice of recommendations and implemented on them promptly and also started maintaining a building materials register that contained all specifications and locations of various building materials placed within vicinity. This recommendation proved out to be helpful in similar future situations without need for involvement of a specialist again (Department of Education and Early Childhood Development, pp. 13). Question 5 Prepare a summary of how ethics applies in your workplace with respect to 2 or more of the following: 1) You have rated a hazard as catastrophic (will lead to at least one fatality) and your manager tells you to redo your calculation and "get it right!" 2) Your health and safety representative has given a number of hard to dispute "What if …" scenarios that in the context of the workplace and management environment are likely to be actioned, but you as the health and safety manager believe that these events and outcomes are not likely to happen. 3) As the health and safety representative, due to no response to ameliorate a health and safety issue, you have the option to set an improvement notice, which will likely cause severe disruption to a fragile industry and lead to the loss of jobs. 4) You have a basic first aid certificate and a worker has a small grain of glass in the eye. The manager asks you to wash the eye so as to remove the grain of glass but you believe there might be serious legal ramifications if the person is blinded from your actions. Answer 5 OHS has various ethical implications; in the simplest and most common form, an entity is said to depict unethical OHS policies if it ignores welfare of its human capital and continues to make profits at cost of misery of injured and stressed workforce (Brooks, pp. 2). My organisation had some loopholes in its ethical framework and informal overriding of moral values. During my period, I identified a potential hazard that was capable of causing atleast one casualty. When I informed my manager, I was told to reconsider the case and make adjustments in assumptions to make it look less severe. This meant that I should window-dress the case before presenting it so that it doesn’t adversely affect the reputation and performance-based emoluments of managers. Generally, the ethical stance of senior management in this workplace was casual, carefree and profit-driven. Monetary benefits and materialistic aspects were preferred over voluntary practices that could enhance health and safety of employees. OHS activities were termed to be ‘non-value adding’ and therefore were neglected and impaired. In another instance I was expected to act outside my capacity by being asked to give basic treatment to worker who had a grain of glass in his eye. In the absence of proper first aid department, the manager wished to get rid of the situation and offered an irrational advice that could’ve drastic consequences and legal implications for worker’s safety. Every employee is entitled to proper first aid and in-house medical treatment by qualified professionals to ensure their health and safety but the organization had not established any such arrangements as part of its ‘cost-cutting’ measures. Question 6 Give two reports using one example from your workplace where: REPORT 1: the monitoring of OHS data brought about significant change REPORT 2: external legislation brought about significant change PLEASE ensure that in either or both of these reports you have shown: Detailed one example where a change in how work was done in your organisation had significant OH&S implications. Described how you identified at least one target for improvement in the management of OHS within your organisation. What recommendations did you make for improvement? How was the change communicated throughout the organisation? Answer 6 Report 1 Monitoring of OHS procedures and potential hazards in workplace act as a strong tool for management to control occurrence of casualties and provide optimal working conditions for employees. In this organization, I was responsible for surveillance of field for identifying any disturbances or risks. I noticed that the outdoor arena vicinity, representing a busy working field, had uneven surface which was hardly visible due to overcrowding of workers. Consequently, three employees tripped and hurt their toes seriously. No complaints were filed as none of them felt that management will be interested in their petty concerns. However, monitoring revealed the issue and I took immediate steps to rectify the situation. I incorporated identification of low steps or uneven areas in the mandatory risk checklists for staff. Additionally, I filed a report to OHS committee, recommending that for all such heavy traffic areas, warning signs be placed and uneven area shall be barricaded, giving a detour to workers around it. Report 2 OHS activities are regulated through various legislative frameworks, varying for different territories and industries. My organisation’s psyche was revenue-oriented and only aimed at meeting minimum legal OHS requirements with no voluntary initiatives. Therefore, any amendments to the law were reluctantly adopted by it. None of key personnel were interested in implementing strong OHS policies. However, prior to obtaining quality certifications, it appointed OHS auditors to attest on its compliance procedures. As expected, auditors pointed out numerous observations and weaknesses and management had to act on their recommendations in order to meet legal requirements. It turned out to be most fruitful for employees working in hazardous field areas where no safety equipment and proper gadgets were provided to them formerly. However, subsequent to audit, management incurred heavy costs to purchase such kits to facilitate employees and be branded as a ‘safe and healthy’ corporation. Moreover, it integrated OHS activities in subsequent periodic budgets to reserve funds needed to maintain reputation in this regard. References Blewett, Verna, and New Horizon Consulting. "Beyond Lost Time Injuries: Positive Performance Indicators for OHS, Summary Paper." Positive Performance Indicators: Beyond Lost Time Injuries: Part 1—Issues (1994): 1-55. Brooks, Adrian. Guidebook to Australian occupational health & safety laws. CCH Australia, (1988): 1-795. Comcare – Australian Government. Positive performance indicators – Measuring safety, rehabilitation and compensation performance, Publication 10 – SRC Commission, extracted from http://www.comcare.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0018/41346/Positive_performance_indicators_PUB_10_sept04_v3.pdf, accessed on June 26, 2013 (2004). Department of Education and Early Childhood Development. OHSMS implementation guide, Employee health unit and Marsh Pty Ltd., State of Victoria (2009): 1-25. National Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Data Action Plan. Accessed on 26 June 2013, 1-7. Pryor, P., Capra, M. The generalist OHS professional with appendix. In HaSPA (Health and Safety Professionals Alliance), The Core Body of Knowledge for Generalist OHS Professionals. Tullamarine, VIC. Safety Institute of Australia (2012). Zoller, Heather M. "Health on the line: Identity and disciplinary control in employee occupational health and safety discourse." Journal of Applied Communication Research 31.2 (2003): 118-139. Read More