IDIP Que Ans UNIT A
IDIP Que Ans UNIT A
Ans: There may be a several reasons,why accident rate is different, such as:
First of all the criteria of reportable incidences may be different for instances
onecompany may be taking near miss as accident while other may not be taking.
Also nature of operation may be different for instance one company may be using
old sophisticated machine and other may be using new and protected machine.
There may be different in managementcommitment on safety such as one company
might have appointed dedicated safety manager and have safety committees while
other company may not have this resources
The two organizations might be operating in different locations resulting in
different legal requirements. As a result, the organization operating in stringent
legal environment might have higher safety standards and lower accident rate.
There may be difference in level of competence,qualification and industry of health
and safety matters like health and risk assessment,hazard identification etc.
One company might be taking H&S incident reporting as threat, as a result
employees are actually hiding accidents while in other company employees may be
encouraged to report accident.
There may be administrative issues like in one company there is no formal
procedure to report accidents resulting in low rate of accident reporting
Reward and recognition in one company may also be preventing employees to
report accidents so that they get maximum reward.
There may be difference in work place layout like space constraint, common passage
for forklift, trolley and human movement causing accidents.
There may be different formulas and structure for calculating accident rate like one
company including contractors, visitors and temporary workers in there accident
rate while other may be including only employees.
There may be different standards of safety like one company complyingwith BS
OHSAS 18001 while other may have its own standards of safety which might not be
as comprehensive as 18001.
Financial and human resources available to both organizations might be different.
Question: A worker has been seriously injured after being struck by material
transported using an overhead crane.
Outline the types of human failure which may have contributed to theaccident AND,
in EACH case, give examples relevant to the scenario toillustrate your answer. (10)
Ans: Mistakesrules
Human errorknowledge
Skillsslip of action
Routine
Violation Situational
Exceptional
There may be rule based mistakes like worker moving inside the barricaded area causing
to come in contact with crane or material being moved by crane. Or there may be mistake
by crane operator for violating the pedestrian path or not sounding the alarm before
moving the material or not following the speed limit rule.
There may be knowledge based mistake like a new worker not knowing the path of crane
or a new crane operator not knowing the pedestrian walkway or crane operator not
knowing how to operate the crane or overloading the crane over its capacity.
There may be slips of action like pressing the wrong button resulting in movement of crane
in wrong direction or pressing the wrong gear resulting in over speedy of crane or loading
the weight instead of raising it and to moving the crane instead of stopping it. There may be
a lapse of memory like forgetting to inform workers before moving the material or
forgetting to raise alarm or forgetting to carryout routine inspection of crane resulting in
breaking of rope and falling of load, forgetting to analyses the load.
There may be routine violationslike moving the crane in path of pedestrians, usage of crane
by untrained operators, not caring out routine inspections as per schedule, moving of
pedestrians too close to crane.
There may be situational violations such as pressure from management to complete the
task resulting in overloading the steps such as inspections of crane, usage of crane by
untrained operators, overloading the crane to finish the job quickly, keeping the operators
in job for prolong period of time, or working with poor land level or noise level, not using
tested ropes, wires, and sling. There may be exceptional violation such as in case the wrong
material is moved, replace it and then moving the correct material in quick time and this
overspeeding might have resulted in falling of weight.
(b) Outline additional ways to increase the reliability of the safetycritical system. (6)
(a) Several ways may be obtained to reduce likelihood of failure of safety critical system’s
component such as:
(b)
Additionally there may be standby component so that life of the component is increased
and both may be worked alternatively.
There may be periodic testing of component such as pressure testing of gas cylinder.
There may be predefined replacement program of component, after its useful life, as per
guidelines of original equipment manufacturer(OEM) to ensure that it doesn’t fail
suddenly.
There may be installation of component’s failure detection system such as cut-off of
boiler at high pressure.
There may be thermographic exams such as of an electrical panel to detect higher
temperature of cables.
There may be backup protection in case of failure such as secondary containment in case
a tank fails.
There may be a warning system like siren when a component is close to failure such as
alarm on low water level in boiler or alarm in case a pressure vessel is getting over
pressurized.
Q.4:
Ans:
Question: (a) Give the meaning of the term ‘safety culture’. (2)
(b) Outline a range of organizational issues that may act as barriers to the
improvement of the safety culture of an organisation. (8)
Several issues may cause barriers to effective health and safety culture
such as:
Question: (a)Jan 2010: (a) Outline the purpose of the ‘organisation’ and ‘arrangements’ sections of
a health and safety policy. (4)
(b) Outline why it is important that all workers are aware of their roles and responsibilities
for health and safety in an organisation. (8)
(c) Identify the issues that could be included in the ‘arrangements’ section of an
organisation’s health and safety policy giving anexample in EACH case. (8)
Ans: Organization:
Arrangement:
To take reasonable care of themselves and their colleagues such as safe working at
height compressed space.
To share the work load related to health and safety such as PEEs compliance,
lockout tangent.
To ensure active participation in health and safety matters such as safety committee
meetings.
To stay updated on health and safety matters such as new process equipment.
To take reasonable care of safety equipment such as fire extinguisher and first aid
box.
To cooperate with management on health and safety matters.
To provide feedback to management on new legislation or new system/procedure.
Such as new emergency response procedure or training requirement.
It will help to increase employee morale by giving them sense of responsibility and
ownership.
(c) Arrangement:
Question: A forklift truck skidded on an oil spill causing a serious injury to a visitor.
(b) Outline the steps to follow in order to investigate the accident. (10)
(a) To identify immediate and underline root causesof accidents and to make sure that this
should not happen in future again. To identify if there is any need to review safely policy.
To identify if there are any gaps in risk assessments and if it needs to be revised. To identify
any training opportunities. To take necessary corrective and preventive actions. It may be a
legal and/or corporate requirement to investigate accident. To report to relevant
authorities. To see if saf working procedure and systems are in place and practices.
After providing first and two injured at to restore the normal conditions, accident
investigation should be started.
Take photo graphs of the scene and such as photo graph of whole scene, photo of
lifter, photo of injured person.
Take dimensions of the location and draw sketch of the scene.
Note who else was present in the area.
Note environmental condition such as lax level at the spot of accident, noise level
whether if it was too much to make lifter horn inaudible whether it was too hot or
too cool.
Take information about lifters and its operations ,such as training record of driver ,
save working load capacity of lifter whether or not it was working with its limits
check maintenance record of lifter whether or not it was operating with defects,
check load it was carrying whether or not it had of forward visibility issues.
Check those condition was its slippery was it slopping.
After obtaining scenario, interview eyewitness such why and how it happened.
Check reason of oil spillage such as how it spilled, why it was not dealt with quickly.
Obtain information about injured person, such as his age his training record why he
was present in the path of fork lifter, was he tired, was he under influence of drugs.
Check organize issue such as lack of management commitment to health and safety,
lack of training, work pressure tempting to bypass safely procedures if there is lack
pedestrian walk way, lack of risk assessment after obtaining all this information, put
it in systematic order, analyze and draw conclusion keeping on mind that purpose of
investigation is to uncover immediate and underline causes and not to fix the blame.
The recommendation should priorities actions, action owner and timelines to
complete the action backed by regard follow up in progress
Lack of management commitment such as lack of health and safety policy, lack of
resources for safety measures.
Lack of training for fork lifter driver resulting in untrained driver driving and driver
unaware of site rules and procedures and injured persons unaware of fork lifter
path.
Lack of maintenance plan such as maintenance of fork lifters resulting in fork lifter
operated with defects.
Undue workload resulting in over speeding of lifters and possible operation of lifters
in low light and over loading the lifter beyond its capacity.
Absence of save systems of work resulting in lack of formal detailed risk assessment
particular related to folk lifter and vehicle-human interface.
Lack of procedures resulting in not informing concerned authority in case of spill
and not cleaning the spill in time.
Lack of adequate spill control which failed to prevent spill.
Absence of physical barrier between fork lifter and pedestrian path.
Poor environmental conditions such as high noise which resulted in siren of fork
lifters turn inaudible, extreme hot or cold weather dusty environment.
Physical state of fork lifters driver or injured party like being tired due to prolong
working hours, too old or young.
All legal / national /state requirements such as of ILO Health & Safety
Convention C155 or Pakistan Factory’s Act should be met.
All corporate requirements should be met so as to avoid corporate audit non-
conformities.
Person(s) who can be affected by hazards should be identified especially
vulnerable workers such as young people, pregnant ladies, workers with
disabilities etc.
Factors related to equipment such as manufactures recommendations,
maintenance procedure needs for machines guard interlock, noise level of
machine.
Factors related to material such as information provided in material safety data
sheets, flash point, flammability, made of material transportation whether
mechanical or manual, material storage condition, quality of material being
stored.
Factors related to human such as training history skill, experience, age group,
morale, motivations and perceptions.
Environmental factors such as noise level in the dust level, voc level,
temperature, weather condition found on the day of operation should be
considered.
Organizational factors such as safety culture, resources for health and safety,
guide lines set in health and safety policy, reporting channel, feedback loop.
Other factors such as accident history and ill health records, legal requirements,
severely and likelihood of exiting hazards, complain of workers regarding
current system of work.
(b) Safe system of work is the safe integration of people, equipment, material and
environment to produce acceptable level of safety in workplace.
(c) Following issues should be considered when implementing a safe system of work:
There may be several factors which cause not proper closure of work permit.
Visitors
contractors
Type of information
Take photographs
Draw sketch
Make video
Identify eye-witnesses
Interview eye-witnesses
Under workload
Installation cost
Maintenance cost
These costs should be weighed against perceived benefits such as lower number of
accidents etc.
Injured
Eye witness
First aider
Colleagues
Manager / Supervisor
Company doctor
HSE Manager
Risk Avoidance: When company avoids the risk altogether. It is best solution among all
risk management options. For example by taking steps such as substitution of manual
handling by using crane or mechanical means or by replacing conventional drill machine
with battery-operated drill machine to avoid hazard of trailing cables.
Risk Reduction:It is opted where risk avoidance is not possible. When company reduced
the level of risk such as by substituting highly flammable material with lesser flammable
material or by reducing the weight of cement bags that have to be handled manually. Risk
can be reduced either by reducing severity or likelihood or both.
Risk Transfer: When company transfer the risk to outside agency such as contracting out
waste management, arranging insurance coverage of workers or assets etc. It is to be kept
in mind that not all aspects of risk can be transferred and company still retains some
amount of risk even after risk transfer.
Risk Retention: When company retains the risk and funds the losses internally. A
company may retain risk with or without knowledge. A company retains risk when it fails
to manage risk by above three ways or decided not to manage risk at all. A company might
decide to retain risk where insurance cost is higher that amount of perceived loss.
Q: Motivation:
Monetary benefits
Identify hazards
Identify hazards
Question:
(a) Outline the role of health and safety legislation in the workplace. (10)
(b) Outline the limitations of health and safety legislation in the workplace. (10)
(a) Role of legislation in workplace:
Lack of communication
Fault tree analysis is a graphical technique that provides a systematic description of the
combinations of possible occurrences in a system which can result in failure or undesired
event. This method of analysis is probably the most powerful and accurate technique for
risk assessment, as it combines both hardware failures and human errors in the same
study.
Environmental factors
It is very easy to understand even for those who have little knowledge of technique
such as top management who needs concise information.
Once the frequencies of lower level events is known, it doesn’t take much expertise
for construction of fault tree.
Provides a visual display of how a system can malfunction in terms of fault tree,
such as how in a system oxygen, fuel and heat can combine to cause fire. It also
identified what are the possible sources of oxygen, fuel and heat in such case.
Actively seeks out failure events. Also, helps in understanding whether or not two
events should occur simultaneously for next level event to occur.
It is used where lower level events are combining up to cause a top event which is
undesirable.
Only a person with thorough knowledge of system and FTA can perform as only then he
would be able to comprehensively identify all conditions which can lead to middle and top
level events.
Partial success / failure of system is not distinguishable such as a pump can either (a)
operate as intended (b) fail to operate (c) work at low flow / pressure
In order to examine effects of hazardous failure, first it might be needed to perform FMEA.
Q: Site operator requirement
Every site operator shall report to local authorities about any hazardous installation (a)
within a fix time in case of existing installation (b) prior to commissioning in case of new
installation
Site operator shall identify all potential hazards linked with installation and carry out risk
assessment
Shall establish safe system of work, selection of material, safe working procedures etc
Nearest hospitals
Question: An organisation has decided to adopt a self regulatory model for its health
and safety management system.
(a) Outline the benefits of adopting a self regulatory model. (6)
Easy to achieve
Individual or company interest may be put ahead instead of employees’ health and safety
Question (a) In relation to workplace behavior, outline what is meant by the term
“attitude”
(b) Outline how media can influence attitudes towards health and safety, making
reference to suitable example where appropriate
Attitude may be defined as set of responses of a person to certain situation, object, person
etc which may be due to his past experience, skills and education. Person’s response may
be positive or negative.
(b) Media:
Media has strong presence globally such as through print, electronic and social media
Media can telecast coverage of health and safety conferences, seminars and events
such as Health & Safety expo
Can telecast talkshows related to health and safety
Coverage of catastrophic accidents such as Piper Alpha or Flixborough
Telecasting or publishing investigation reports of major accidents
Expert opinions on such accidents
Health and safety related legislation may be published such as Factory’s Act 1934
Health and safety related good practices
Can telecast technological developments related to health and safety
Can telecast public service messages related to health and safety
Can provide coverage to health and safety global days / events such as No Smoking
Day, Global Hand Washing Day etc.
Question: Extensive repair work is needed to the roof of the main production area of
a large factory. The factory is to remain fully operational during the work.
(a) Identify the criteria that might be used when selecting a contractor for the work
to ensure they have the necessary competence in health and safety. (8)
(b) Identify ways in which the factory management should control the work of the
contractor to ensure that risks to factory workers are minimised. (12)
(a)
Age factor
Past experience
Management pressures
New comers
Health and safety policy must be formulated after consultation with all stakeholders
Should appoint top member of management as responsible for ensuring health and safety
compliance
Compliance to standards
Compliance to legislation
Adherence to PPEs
(a) Identify the objectives of Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA). (2)
(b) Outline the methodology of FMEA AND give an example of a typical safety
application. (8)
(a)
Describe the system, its boundaries, scope of FMEA, breakdown the system into its
smaller components and tasks so that failure modes of each task / component may
be identified
Assigning severity number to each failure mode. This severity number ranges from
1 to 10 i.e. 1 represents least severity and 10 represents most severe case.
Assigning detection number. It tells how likely it is to detect the failure. 1 means
most likely and to detect and 10 is least likely.
We can apply FMEA to a tank containing flammable liquid, in order to identify and
analyze how spill / leak can occur from the tank, which can be in following ways:
Overfilling of tank
Once we have identified how spill / leakage can occur, we can analyze what can be
the effects of each failure and perform risk assessment by calculating RPN (risk
priority number) against each failure mode using formula:
(a) Give the meaning of the term ‘health and safety culture’. (2)
(b) Outline the role of an organisation in the development of a positive health and
safety culture. (12)
(c) Identify ways of measuring the effectiveness of a health and safety culture. (6)
(a): Health and safety culture is the common belief in organization regarding shared
attitude, norms, perception and behavior towards health and safety
(b) For development of positive health and safety culture, organization has to play
important role such as:
Commitment from top management should be clear and visible. If commitment from
top management is not right then it will result in poor safety standards, poor work
practices.
Management should lead by example and should walk their talk when it comes to
safety. Management should follow same rules and regulations as they expect from
staff without exceptions.
A top management representative should be responsible for health and safety,
which otherwise may result in lack of top management visibility.
There should be appropriate consultation with workers which otherwise could
result in low employee morale and ambiguous expectation in safety.
Adequate training, supervision, information and instructions should be provided to
workers, which otherwise may result in untrained workers performing critical jobs
and causing accidents.
Safety should be given equal priority as other organizational functions. This should
also be visible from all decisions taken by management.
Workers should be given adequate representation in safety committee to ensure
they are adequately consulted on health and safety matters and own the decisions
taken on safety.
Adequate financial and human resources should be provided which otherwise may
prevent health and safety practitioners from taking appropriate actions in
maintaining and improving good standards of health and safety.
Management should introduce reward and recognition program such as “Employee
of the Month” to appreciate good safety performance and likewise should
introduction Disciplinary Procedure on Safety violations to ensure check and
balance in safe behaviors in workplace.
Management should introduce periodic workplace inspection programs to identify
both safe and unsafe workplace behaviors and conditions so that same may be
timely addressedfor recognitions and disciplinary actions.
(c)
It is not mentioned whether accident details are shared with others for learning
Benefits: Benefits:
Clear guidelines for health and safety matters Much more flexible and provides room for
innovation
Ensures that all following companies are on
same procedure Different parties can apply this according to
their own requirements
No room for ambiguity
Doesn’t require high level of supervision from
Limitations: legislative body
Same instructions might not be applicable to Limitations:
all
May require high level expertise as it doesn’t
May become outdated if not updated timely provide specific instructions.
Doesn’t let Health & Safety practitioners use Members may interpret it differently
their knowledge and expertise to the fullest.
Members may opt for minimum level of
compliance and still get away.
Question:
(b) In relation to a claim for compensation, outline the meaning of the terms:
Punitive damages:
The purpose of punitive damages is to reform or deter the wrongdoer to prevent such
cases in future which caused the lawsuit.
The nature of loss which justifies the application of punitive damages is not fixed or
precise.
The damages are paid over and above the provable loss of plaintiff and all or a portion of
damages is paid to claimant.
The purpose of punitive damages is not to compensate but to prevent wrongdoer and
others from such action in future.
The purpose of no-fault liability is to compensate the claimant or injured person such that
the claimant doesn’t have to prove fault on part of defendant. The compensation will be
paid from government or insurance agency. The defendant holds the liability even if no
fault or negligence is proven on his party.
Breach of duty of care compensation is paid when there is breach of duty of care on part of
defendant and that the loss of plaintiff is due to negligence of care on part of defendant. For
this, three conditions should be met (1) defendant owed a duty of care towards claimant
(2) there was a proven breach of duty of care i.e. the person didn’t carry out his duties as a
normal person would do in similar circumstances (3) the loss or injury to claimant is due to
breach of duty of care.
Q: Express terms:
Express terms are the terms of contract which are clearly mentioned without any
ambiguity. A court is not required to interpret in case of dispute.
Implied Terms:
Implied terms are neither expressed in writing nor verbally and are based on mutual
understanding and norms. In case of dispute, court is required to interpret to settle dispute.
Question:
(b) Outline how the International Labour Organisation can influence health and
safety standards in different countries. (7)
(c) Outline how legislation may improve health and safety in the workplace. (6)
Corporate Probation:
The company has to publicize its wrongdoings which lead to health and safety violations
liking giving an ad in paper / tv etc.
Punitive damages:
The purpose of punitive damages is to reform or deter the wrongdoer to prevent such
cases in future which caused the lawsuit.Punitive damages are awarded by independent
trier such as judiciary or justice. The nature of loss which justifies the application of
punitive damages is not fixed or precise.The damages are paid over and above the provable
loss of plaintiff and all or a portion of damages is paid to claimant.The purpose of punitive
damages is not to compensate but to prevent wrongdoer and others from such action in
future.These type of cases are dealt in civil lawsuit.
Q: Outline the desirable design feature of controls AND display on a control panel for
a complex industrial process aimed at reducing the likelihood of human error:
(a) Outline the meaning and relevance of the following terms in the controlling
human error in the workplace:
(b) Excluding ergonomic issues, outline ways in which human reliability in the
workplace may be improved. In your answer, consider ‘individual’, ‘job’ and
‘organizational’ issues. (14)
Ergonomics:
The design of equipment, task and environment to take account of human limitations and
capabilities……………….
Anthropometry:
The collection of data on human physical dimensions and its applications to equipment
design……………….
Task Analysis:
The breaking down of tasks into successively more detailed actions and analysis of the
scope for human error with each action.……………….
Individual:
Job:
Organization:
Provision of adequate human and financial resources for health and safety……………….
Outline reasons for managing health and safety that you would include in the report.
(20 marks)
Answer:
On the whole, there are 3 reasons for managing health & safety in the workplace
When employees come to work, they do not expect their life or limb to be in danger.
They expect to go back home safely and spend time with their family.
If they feel unsafe, it will affect their family and social life. To prevent this, it is
essential to provide them with safe working environment.
When accidents happen, they cause pain. Not only for individual but also for their
family, as the family feels pain mentally.
Some accidents are fatal. Such accidents take loved ones away from people which is
irreparable loss.
Some accidents cause prolong medical treatment, some accidents cause fatality.
These may cease source of income for the family.
Injuries may prevent victims to live their life to the fullest and quality of their life is
affected such as in case of amputation, damage to limbs, damage to internal body
parts like lungs etc.
Some occupational ill-health cases may have irreversible effects such as deafness or
occupational asthma.
Not managing health & safety may cost a great deal to the company. There are 2
types of costs a company would have to bear due to lack of health and safety
Direct Cost:
In case of injury to an employee, the company will have to bear his treatment cost,
medication cost, transportation cost in case he required to be taken to hospital,
doctor’s fees etc.
In case of serious injury, the company will have to give the victim paid leaves,
compensation and any continual payment to his family until he is able to get back to
work.
In case he is unable to get back to work, company will have to hire new employee in
his place which consumes time and other resources.
There will be loss of production when injured person is being medical aid or being
shifted to hospital.
In case of hiring of another employee, he will require training which will consume
resources such as time and money.
There will be loss of production as other employees will leave their work and come
to rescue the injured person.
There can be loss of assets, property, tools, materials, machine parts due to
accidents such as in case of collision of truck and forklifter carrying material.
Indirect Cost:
Clients, customers and contractors might stop doing business with the company as
their own reputation might be at stake.
In case of injury, other employees would leave their work and come to sympathize /
rescue injured person. This would result in productivity loss.
There might be low productivity due to lower employee morale as they might be
feeling unsafe after accident with their colleague.Indirect cost cannot be insured
usually.
In case of legal proceedings, company might be required to hire lawyer(s) which will
incur cost to the company.
(C) Legal Reasons:
Compliance to legislation is mandatory for employers such as ILO Health & Safety
Convention or Factories Act 1934.
Government Inspectors have the right to enter any business premises any time,
bring constables with him to assist in carrying out his duties.
The Inspectors can reach any part of work premises, take photographs, take notes,
take samples of materials, search through documents etc.
The Inspector can server legal notice to organizations such as Improvement Notice,
Prohibition Notice and can cause short-term and long-term business suspension.
In order to prevent the above, it is essential to manage health and safety at work.
Benefits of IMS:
Consultancy fees as well as certification maintaining fees will also be lower in case
of integrated system, compared to separate system.
Unified procedures and work instructions helps in getting all information in single
document which is more convenient than separate systems.
An integrated QHSE / HSEQ team can be formulated which can reach best optimum
solution in case of problems and hence best expertise is available.
Low cost and time saving training in case of QHSE such as employee orientation and
contractor induction which covers requirements of quality, health, safety and
environment at the same time.
Easy retrieval and retention of documents as documents are common and are
available at same place such as QHSE / HSEQ policy of the company.
One team helps achieve optimum resources by eliminating needs for dedicated team
of Professionals for each system.
Small audit team required to perform internal audits of the management system
which will save time and other resources.
Existing systems may be working well which can become complex in case of
integration.
Each system can be focused and audited separately at convenience which increases
performance and flexibility in the organization.
Keeping in view the nature of business, all organizations don’t require to focus
equally on quality, health, safety and environment. Separate management systems
help them focus on their business aspects accordingly.
Separate training plan required for quality, health, safety and environment which
results in better focus on each area.
Separate management system requires dedicated specialists for each area which
enhance expertise of each professional in their respective area and field of interest.
The organization can go for external audit of its Occupational Health & Safety
Management System, which verifies and portrays that organization is compliant to
the requirements of OHSAS 18001.
OHSAS 18001 can help the organization improve its international reputation as
being a safe work place by going for Certification.
Disadvantages of the move:
The Certification itself will involve additional cost that will be paid for Certificate as
well as for external audit by Certification body.
The company will be required to produce additional work procedures and work
instructions will consumes time and other resources.
Company may need to hire a specialist resource who have training in OHSAS 18001
or may need to train existing resources on the standard which incurs cost.
The surveillance audit ensures that there is continuous improvement plan in place
for the organization in terms of health and safety and that the requirements of
standards are kept up-to-date.
The Certification itself will involve additional cost that will be paid for Certificate as
well as for external audit by Certification body.
The company will be required to produce additional work procedures and work
instructions will consumes time and other resources.
Company may need to hire a specialist resource who have training in OHSAS 18001
or may need to train existing resources on the standard which incurs cost.
July 2012: Outline issues that should be considered when planning a health and
safety inspection programme. (10)
Following factors should be considered when planning health and safety inspection
program:
Composition of inspection team such as number of inspection team members,
selection of inspection team leader and members along with their roles and
responsibilities during and after the inspection.
Previous inspection reports and records should be reviewed prior to the inspection
so as to identify if there are any recurring issues which need immediate attention or
to identify trends of safety observations.
Logistic support might be sought from management such as budget, time, travelling
expenses of inspection team (if applicable) etc.
Specific PPEs required for entry in area should be considered and same should be
provided to inspection team.
(b) Outline additional steps the management could take to gain the support and
commitment of workers when managing this change. (10)
(a)
Management can involve worker representatives and take them into confidence and
those representatives can talk to workers and take them in confidence.
Management can highlight the benefits for workers in new procedures and
communicate the same through notice boards, safety bulletins etc.
Management can also highlight the deficiencies of old procedure for better
understand of workers through same forums.
Toolbox talks sessions may be used to brief workers and relate new procedure with
the subject of toolbox talk.
Safety aspects of new procedure may be highlighted through visual aids such as
videos, pictorials, graphs etc.
Management can tell workers what overall improvement the new procedure will
bring to health and safety in broader perspective such as reduced accidents etc.
(b)
Management can identify what are the reservations of workers about new
procedure by face to face discussions and act accordingly.
Training sessions may be arranged for workers to train them on new procedure.
Reference to any new legislation may be made which has leaded to establishment of
new procedure.
Management can arrange benchmarking tour of other Sites which has implemented
this procedure to convince workers.
Question: A maintenance worker was asphyxiated when working in an empty fuel tank.
A subsequent investigation found that the worker had been operating without a permit-
to-work.
(b) Outline possible reasons why the permit-to-work procedure was not followed on
this occasion. (7)
Question: Outline ways in which health and safety practitioners could evaluate AND
develop their own competence. (10 marks)
Question: Outline, using appropriate examples, the possible functions of a health and
safety practitioner within a medium-sized organisation. (10)
Help the Management in formulation of health and safety policy and designing /
identification of relevant matters such as roles / responsibilities of Management ,
Staff, Contractors, Visitors etc and any specification health and safety arrangement.
To ensure that action plan is in place to reduce the risks to acceptable level based on
performed risk assessments and ensure that the plan is followed.
Advise Management on the provision and use of PPEs such as respiratory protective
equipment, safety shoes, safety harness etc.
Update and advise Management on legal compliance, gaps and improvement
opportunities.
Review health and safety related aspects of new plant, equipment, machinery,
processes, hiring, purchasing of materials etc and make recommendations.
Design and implement staff training plan of staff on various subject related to health
and safety such as fire fighting, first aid, electrical safety etc, verify effectiveness of
training and make recommendations.
Help promote health and safety culture in the organization through various
programs such as safety week, awareness campaigns etc.
To perform internal audits, surveys, inspections etc related to Health & Safety.
To prepare emergency response plans such as evacuation plan, fire fighting plan,
confined space rescue plan etc and arrange emergency drills.
Question: Outline the societal factors that influence health and safety standards. (10)
Economic climate – Rich countries have higher resources to enforce health and
safety and as a result likely to have higher safety standards and culture compared to
developing countries.
Role of media in highlighting health and safety incidents also helps in development
and promoting of safety awareness in the society.
Perception of hazards among public also shapes the health and safety standards and
culture of that society.
Globalization of business such as working with peers and counter parts in other
countries promotes awareness related to health and safety
Workers coming up in a society from different parts of the world share their
experiences and background and as a result shapes the health and safety standards
of the society.
Inflation also influences safety standards as countries with higher inflation are less
likely to invest on health and safety
Priorities
Question: (a) Outline the reasons for establishing effective consultation arrangements
with workers concerning health and safety mattersin the workplace. (4)
(b) Outline the range of formal and informal arrangements that maycontribute to
effective consultation on health and safety mattersin the workplace. (6)
(a)
(b)
The organization can go for external audit of its Occupational Health & Safety
Management System, which verifies and portrays that organization is compliant to
the requirements of OHSAS 18001.
OHSAS 18001 can help the organization improve its international reputation as
being a safe work place by going for Certification.
The surveillance audit ensures that there is continuous improvement plan in place
for the organization in terms of health and safety and that the requirements of
standards are kept up-to-date.
Working in an OHSAS 18001 certified company can be a morale-booster for the
employees.
The Certification itself will involve additional cost that will be paid for Certificate as
well as for external audit by Certification body.
Those auditing OHSAS 18001 may not necessarily be health and safety specialists,
which compromises the quality of audit. As a result, the findingsof audit are largely
based around documentation rather than of actual health and safety practices of the
organization.
Company having weak health and safety culture might face difficulties in producing
the documents in real time.
Company may need to hire a specialist resource who have training in OHSAS 18001
or may need to train existing resources on the standard which incurs cost.
(b) Outline additional steps the management could take to gain thesupport and
commitment of workers when managing this change. (10)
(a)
Management can involve worker representatives and take them into confidence and
those representatives can talk to workers and take them in confidence regarding the
new procedure.
Management can highlight the benefits for workers in new procedures and
communicate the same through notice boards, safety bulletins etc.
Toolbox talks sessions may be used to brief workers and relate new procedure with
the subject of toolbox talk.
Safety aspects of new procedure may be highlighted through visual aids such as
videos, pictorials, graphs etc.
Management can tell workers what overall improvement the new procedure will
bring to health and safety in broader perspective such as reduced accidents etc.
(b)
Management can identify what are the reservations of workers about new
procedure by face to face discussions and act accordingly.
Training sessions may be arranged for workers to train them on new procedure.
Reference to any new legislation may be made which has leaded to establishment of
new procedure.
Management can arrange benchmarking tour of other Sites which has implemented
this procedure to convince workers.
Management can arrange questions / answer session with workers and their
representatives to address their concerns.
Question: Outline, using appropriate examples, the possible functions of a
health and safety practitioner within a medium-sized organisation. (10)
Help the Management in formulation of health and safety policy and designing /
identification of relevant matters such as roles / responsibilities of Management ,
Staff, Contractors, Visitors etc and any specification health and safety arrangement.
To ensure that action plan is in place to reduce the risks to acceptable level based on
performed risk assessments and ensure that the plan is followed.
Advise Management on the provision and use of PPEs such as respiratory protective
equipment, safety shoes, safety harness etc.
Review health and safety related aspects of new plant, equipment, machinery,
processes, hiring, purchasing of materials etc and make recommendations.
Design and implement staff training plan of staff on various subject related to health
and safety such as fire fighting, first aid, electrical safety etc, verify effectiveness of
training and make recommendations.
Help promote health and safety culture in the organization through various
programs such as safety week, awareness campaigns etc.
To perform internal audits, surveys, inspections etc related to Health & Safety.
To prepare emergency response plans such as evacuation plan, fire fighting plan,
confined space rescue plan etc and arrange emergency drills.
Question: Outline ways in which health and safety practitioners could evaluate AND
develop their own competence. (10 marks)
By annual performance appraisal where management sets the objective and at year-
end gauges the performance or achievement against these set objectives
By asking feedback from his peers in the organization to find out how peers rate him
in terms of health and safety matters
Subscribing to local / international journals related to health and safety to get latest
industrial and technological updates.
Professional networking with other health and safety professionals such as through
Linkedin.com or other social networking websites are also a mean of self-
development.
Health and safety practitioner can also perform volunteer work in local community
which will not only help in self-development but also raise health and safety culture
among the community.
Formal performance appraisals from line manager can also provide good foundation
for career as well as self-development.
Health and safety practitioners can also develop and follow a self-development
action plan and self-assigned targets to continually groom themselves.
Question: Train drivers may spend long periods of time in the cab of a train and may, as
a result, experience loss of alertness. This can increase the risk of human error.
Outline a range of measures that could reduce loss of alertness in train drivers. (10)
Provide 8-hour shift duties so as to ensure that drivers have adequate rest time
Provide adequate number of rest days to ensure that they come to work fresh-
minded and have adequate work-life balance
Provide regular breaks during the shift by deploying stand-by driver so as to avoid
tiredness during driving which can cause loss of alertness.
Arrange regular health examination of drivers so as to ensure that they don’t have
health concerns working in different parts of the day
Put in place alcohol / drug abuse policy while on duty to ensure that drivers don’t
use drugs while driving and appropriate disciplinary action is taken upon violation.
Arrange random testing of alcohol / drugs to ensure compliance of drug abuse
policy and to show management’s commitment over the policy
Ensure adequate level of comfort in cabin such as adjustable seat, air conditioning,
sun protection.
Prohibition of use of mobile phone while driving to avoid distraction and hence loss
of alertness
It doesn’t indicate how many serious and close near-misses happen which could
have resulted in serious injury / fatality.
Just looking at these number doesn’t give an idea if the accident and nearmiss trend
is actually increasing or decreasing.
It also doesn’t give an idea of ill-health cases neither absenteeism caused by ill-
health / sickness.
It doesn’t give an idea about how serious the accident was and how many days the
employee(s) was absent due to accident.
It doesn’t give idea of how many days were lost due to accident / ill-health
It doesn’t give idea about adequacy of resources available for health and safety
Question: A forklift truck is used to move loaded pallets in a large distribution
warehouse. On one particular occasion the truck skidded on a patch of oil. As a
consequence, the truck collided with an unaccompanied visitor and crushed the
visitor’s leg.
(b) The initial responses of reporting and securing the scene of the accident have
been carried out.
Outline the actions that should be taken in order to collect evidence for an
investigation of the accident. (8)
(c) The investigation reveals that there have been previous skiddingincidents that
had not been reported and the organisation therefore decides to introduce a formal
system for reporting ‘near miss’ incidents.
Outline the factors that should be considered when developing and implementing
such a system. (8)
(a)
To identify if there is any need to review HSE policy as there might be deficiencies in
HSE policy which might be portraying lack of management commitment.
To identify if there are gaps in risk assessments and these needs to be revised, as
there may be hazards which might not have been covered in risk assessments.
To identify training opportunities for the employees as the accident might have
happened due to absence of or inadequate training.
Take photographs such as of the whole scene, fork lifter, injured person etc.
Note environmental conditions such as lux level, noise level, temperature, humidity
etc.
Take information about lifter and its operation such as training record of driver, safe
working Check reasons of oil spillage such as how it spilled, why it wasn’t dealt with
quickly etc.
Obtain information about injured person such as his age, induction training record,
why he was present in the path of fork lifter, was he tired, was he under influence of
drugs etc.
After doing all this investigation, put it in order systematically, draw conclusion
keeping in mind that purpose of investigation is to uncover immediate and
underlying causes and not to fix the blame.
The recommendations should prioritize action, action owner and timelines. Regular
followup of these must be done.
After this, interview the eye-witnesses such as why and how it happened.
All legal and corporate requirements should be met related to nearmiss reporting
SOP should be made as easy as a person at lowest organizational level can also
report nearmiss
(a) Giving reasons in EACH case, identify FIVE persons` whocould be interviewed to
provide information for an investigationinto a workplace accident. (5)
(a)
The injured person:can give personal opinion regarding what he was doing and
how the accident was caused, the environment at the time of accident etc
The Supervisor: can give insight about the job assigned to the injured person, his
behavior / attitude towards safety, nature of job, if there were similar accidents or
complaints in past
Eye witnesses: can describe the accident and can provide information about those
aspects which might have been overlooked by the injured person or which injured
person couldn’t see or remember
First Aider: can provide information regarding the extent injuries the injured
person suffered and what first aid was provided and after how long
(b)
Suitable date and time of interview i.e. interviewee should be free from duty at the
time of interview
Question: A large warehousing and distribution facility uses contractors for many of
its maintenance activities. Contractors make up approximately 5% of the total
workforce. However, an analysis of the accident statistics for theprevious two years
has shown that accidents involving contractorpersonnel, or arising from work
undertaken by contractors, account for20% of the lost-time accidents on site.
(a) Assuming that the accident statistics are correctly recorded,outline possible
reasons for the disproportionate number ofaccidents involving contract work. (6)
(b) Describe the organizational and procedural measures that shouldbe in place to
provide effective control of risks from the contractwork. (14)
(a)
Lack of Contractor selection criteria with the Client might have resulted in selection
of incompetent Contractor in the first place.
Lack of expertise i.e. contractor might not have previous experience of similar work
at similar scale
Inadequate supervision of Contractor’s work by the Client might have been resulting
in safety violations by the Contractor.
Lack of safe system of work (SSOW) such as standard operating procedures with the
Contractor or inadequate training of workforce on SSOW, resulting in violations and
accidents.
(b)
First of all Client should have Contractor selection criteria such as checking of past
experience of similar work at similar scale, checking references etc. Contractor should
have hiring policy to ensure that trained and skilled workforce is hired, where required.
The Client should also keep check on who is being hired by the Contractor so as to
ensure that the workforce has right knowledge and experience required for the job.
Client should provide adequate supervision to Contractor work by deploying own
Safety Inspector(s) in order to ensure that work is being performed according to agreed
procedure and PPEs are being used adequately. Client should review Contractors
accident data and investigation report to find out if there are recurring safety issues
with Contractor which needs to be addressed on priority. Client should also review
health and safety policy of Contractor to guage management commitment. Client should
also review working procedures of Contractor to check its adequacy with respect to
safety and identify gaps. Contractor safety representatives should be included in Site
Safety Committee and they should also take part in emergency drills. Safety induction
training should be given to Contractor staff before start of work such as work permit
procedure, emergency contact numbers, location of safety equipment, site route map
etc.Contractor should be encouraged to have toobox talks with his workforce
frequently. The area of Contractor work should be cordoned off and watchmen should
be deputed to avoid accidental or unauthorized access to work area. There should
system / procedure to penalize Contractor for safety violations by his workforce. If
there are more than one Contractor working at site, there should be clearly written
roles and responsibilities between them so as to avoid ambiguity. All Contractors
should have representation in Emergency Response / Evacuation Team. Site map
indicating Utilities location should be shared with Contractors such as underground
pipelines, overhead power cables etc. Joint safety inspection team should be
established, having representation of Client and Contractors, to ensure that all hazards
are addressed timely and appropriately.Similarly, risk assessment should also be
performed jointly so that all aspects of job are considered in risk assessments.
Payments should be made to Contractors timely to ensure that they continue to provide
adequate resources for safety.
Question: Describe the requirements of interview process that would help to obtain
from witness the best of information relating to a workplace accident. (10 marks)
For an investigation interview, all legal and corporate requirements must be met to protect
the rights of witness. Date and time of interview should be selected carefully and with
consent of line and senior management to prevent callout during interview, preferably out
of shift duty hours. Appropriate location of interview having comfortable environment
should be selected to keep the witness relax. The language in which interview is to be
conducted should be selected and translator should be arranged if required. Interview
should be trained in good communication and investigation skills to ensure that he greets
the witness warmly, promotes and maintain open and friendly atmosphere during the
interview. Mode of recording of interview should be selected such as written notes, audio /
video tape etc. Interviewer should also review the records previously available so that
reference can be made to those records during the interview. Interviewer can also prepare
a checklist of questions to be asked during the interview to ensure that all required
information is gathered in one go. The checklist questions should focus on “what went
wrong” rather than “who did wrong”. Interview should not ask irrelevant or biased
questions.
As the Health and Safety Adviser to a large organisation, you have decided to develop
and introduce an in-house auditing program to assess the effectiveness of the
organization's health and safety management system.
(b) Outline FIVE active health and safety monitoring methods. (5)
(c) Outline FIVE examples of reactive performance data that can be used to
benchmark health and safety performance. (5)
Active Monitoring:
The objectives of Active Monitoring are to check compliance level and likelihood of injury
or ill-health before it may occur. Its purpose is to reward good safety behavior instead of
penalty after accident. It also helps management check that how far health and safety policy
and procedures are working and if there are gaps for improvement. It pro-actively checks
compliance level with applicable laws and standards such as ILO or OHSAS 18001. It also
helps check the understanding of workers regarding health and safety matters. It helps
identify training needs for workers and management.
Reactive Monitoring:
Environmental testing methods such as noise level, dust level, lux level monitoring
etc.
Safety inspections of the area to identify unsafe acts, unsafe conditions and other
hazards of different types.
Safety survey for specific matters such as machine guarding, PPEs compliance etc.
Accident rates such as lost time incidence rate and lost time frequency rate can be
benchmarked comparing with similar industries of same scale
Trend of worker complains can be benchmarked to see if these are in line with
normal industry trend
(b) Outline possible reasons why the permit-to-work procedure was not followed
on this occasion. (7)
(a)
It may be a legal requirement to raise work permit before start of job such as in
International Labour Organization standard (ILO-OSH-2001)
To identify hazards associated with the job such as fire and explosion hazard might
be associated with hot job.
To identify PPEs requirement of the job such as hard hat, safety shoes, googles etc.
For coordination between maintenance and operations teamso that associated
hazards and required precautions are clearly understood by maintenance team.
To ensure that job requirements are reviewed at appropriate level such as by Site
Engineer, Safety practitioner etc.
(b)
There may be lack of PTW procedure due to which workers may be unaware of any
such requirement.
PTW procedure might still be in development and might not be implemented yet
due to which workers might not be following it out of ambiguity.
There may be lack of management commitment towards safety due to which work
pressures might be taking preference over health and safety requirements.
There may be lack of training on PTW procedure due to which workers might be
unaware of how and when to raise work permit and what is expected from them
when it comes to work permit.
Worker might have started work, assuming, as a result of communication gap, that
PTW has been issued, resultantly actually working without work permit
There may be management pressure due to which workers might be forced to give
priority to route operations rather than safety aspects of the job.
PTW signing authority might not be available due to which workers might be
tempted to start work without work permit. This is more likely to happen in weak
safety cultures.
There may be inadequate supervision of work and workers which might be allowing
workers to bypass safety procedures according to their own convenience.
(b) A year after the introduction of the permit-to-work system an auditshows that
many permits-to-work have not been completedcorrectly or have not been
returned.
Outline possible reasons why the system is not being properlyadhered to. (10)
(a)
All legal / corporate requirements should be met such as in HASWA 1974, ILO OSH
2001 to ensure compliance and coverage of possible audit non-conformities.
Training requirements should be considered i.e. those will raise PTW, those who
will receive PTW and those who will work under PTW should be thoroughly trained
by competent person in procedure of PTW.
Proper SOP (standard operating procedure) for PTW should be developed to ensure
that all requirements are thoroughly covered and addressed.
Consultation should be made with workers to ensure that when the SOP is in
implementation stage, workers are prepared for it and accept it without resistance.
The language in which SOP and PTW is prepared should be considered. It should be
understandable by all those who will work under PTW.
Different types of PTW should be considered such as cold work, hot work, confined
space work so as to ensure that job specific hazards are identified and precautions
taken accordingly.
It should be carefully decided that who will be the issuing authority, who should be
competent and well-versed with process as well as job specific safety requirements.
PTW should be included in internal audit program to see if the PTW procedure is
effectively implemented and permits are issued, received and closed correctly.
(b)
Workers might be forced to start without without work permit due to management
pressures to complete the job at unrealistic timelines.
There can be low employee morale due to which workers might be displaying casual
attitude towards safety, resultantly violations of work permit.
Lack of safety inspection system, resulting in absence of check and balance system
of work permit system.
Non-professional attitude
Question: A new maintenance activity is being planned.
(a) Describe the components of the safe system of work that should be considered
for the maintenance activity. (8)
(b) Outline TWO reasons why a permit-to-work may be required for the
maintenance activity. (2)
People:
The workers who have to carry out maintenance should be trained and competent in their
work, having necessary skills and experience. They shouldn’t have any disability which
might become risk to their life during maintenance. Deputing of vulnerable workers for this
job should be risk assessed such as young workers, pregnant ladies etc. PPEs should be
provided to workers where required.
Equipment:
Material:
The material to be used for maintenance should be risk assessed and safe for use. It should
be sealed in leak-free packaging. MSDS of all materials should be available. Storage,
transportation and handling should be done as per guideline laid down in MSDS. Where
possible, human-friendly materials should be used rather than hazardous materials.
Environment:
To identify and highlight associated hazards and precautions that should be taken
before maintenance work begins such as required PPEs, lockout-tagout (LOTO) etc
To ensure that required work and working conditions are checked by competent
authority such as Shift Manager / Engineer.
To keep track record of work being done such as date, time, activity performed by
etc.
A manufacturing organisation with major on and off site hazards is analyzing the
risks and controls associated with a particular process and containment failure.
Following process containment failure, a failure detection mechanism should detect
the release. Once detected, an alarm should sound and a suppressant should be
discharged.
(a) From the information provided in the table, construct an event tree that shows
the sequence of events following the process containment failure AND indicate
where an uncontrolled release may occur. (6)
(b) Outline the benefits and limitations of event tree analysis. (6)
(c) Outline the methodology for a ‘cost benefit analysis’ for theprocess described. (3)
(d) Outline the factors that should be considered to determine whetherthe frequency
of an uncontrolled release would be tolerable. (5)
Manual control measures
Release suppression
Alarm sounder
Release 4
Release 2
Release 1
(b)
Principlesof ETA:
• ETA is concerned with identifying and evaluating the consequences following the
event
Benefits of ETA:
• Easy to understand
• Easy calculations
• Ideal for situations where there are two likely outcomes i.e. success and failure
Limitations of ETA:
• Only a person with thorough knowledge of system and its components can draw an
event tree
• Cost-benefit analysis is simple tool for making decision regarding whether or not a
course of action is financially viable or not.
• A health and safety practitioner can justify cost of a risk control measure by
comparing it against the benefits the organization is likely to achieve.
• In the above example, organization will achieve several benefits by preventing the
loss of material itself, ill-health of employees resulting from exposure to material,
environmental pollution clean-up cost, possible fire incident if the material is
flammable, possible fine and penalties from court.
• These benefits can be compared against the cost of taking adequate control
measures to prevent process containment failure, to establish feasibility.
• Cost of material
• Clean-up cost
(b) Identify suitable risk controls at EACH point within the system
AND give an example in EACH case. (6)
„The company has done much better at health and safety in the last year
compared to previous years. In 2008 there were 170 accidents that required first-
aid treatment compared to 180 in 2007, 185 in 2006 and 240 in 2005. This
significant reduction is due to our new health and safety manager and a reduction
in staff numbers from 1500 in 2005 to 1400 in 2006 and 1300 in 2007 to 900 in
2008, which also helps reduce business costs. Fatalities were also reduced from
11 in 2007 to 4 in 2008, a significant decrease.‟
(b) Calculate the non-fatal accident incidence rates AND comment on the findings.
(5)
(a)
• Poor presentation of data. This could have been presented more effectively in the
form of pie-chart, histogram or line-graph.
• It is not mentioned that how reduction in staff number is relating to lower number
of accidents.
• To relate staff number and number of accidents, accident incidence rate should have
been mentioned.
• It is not mentioned that what specific measures were taken to reduce number of
accidents.
• Specific actions taken by new health and safety manager are not mentioned. It may
be a result of favourism.
• Budget spent on health and safety or details of trainings organized (if any) are not
mentioned.
In relation to health and safety, outline the status AND role of:
• All adopted ILO conventions are considered are considered international labour
standards irrespective of how many governments have ratified them.
• ILO has adopted more than 180 ILO conventions. One of its example is Occupational
Safety & Health Convention 1981.
• In other cases recommendations may be adopted separately and may address issues
separate from particular conventions.
• ILO has adopted more than 190 recommendations. One of its example is
Occupational Safety & Health Recommendation R164 1981.
(a) Outline factors that should be considered when setting health and safety
performance objectives. (8)
(c) Outline factors that should be considered when reviewing health and safety
performance.
(a)
Business nature of organization………………….
Size of organization………………….
Nature of hazards………………….
Level of risk………………….
Current control measures………………….
Severity of current hazards………………….
Available human and financial resources………………….
Past accident history………………….
Competency of workforce particularly on safety matters………………….
Legal / corporate / international / insurance company requirements………………….
Any current legal / corporate / international / insurance company non-
compliances………………….
Benchmarking of other similar organizations etc………………….
Objectives should be SMART (specific, measureable, achievable, realistic and time-
bound)………………….
(b)
It may be a legal / corporate / OHSAS 18001 requirement to review health and safety
performance
To perform health check of current management system
To check extent of completion / achievement of health and safety plans
To identify reasons in case health and safety targets were missed
To cheque adequacy of current policy and procedures
To check adequacy of current financial and human resources related to health and
safety
To identify legal non-compliance, if any
To lay foundation for setting next year / review-period objectives
To measure and reward good safety performance of individuals
To identify training opportunities
(c)
Legal / corporate / OHSAS 18001 requirements should be considered
Accident / nearmiss / ill-health data
Absenteeism / sick-leaves data
Number of safety inspections planned vs performed during the review period
Any legislative / corporate standard updates during the review period and their
compliance level
The objectives / standards against which performance is being reviewed
Organizational level at which review will be performed i.e. Managers or Directors level
Findings of internal audit
Adequacy and extent of success of Corrective and Preventive Action (CAPA) plan
Active and reactive performance measures such as…………………
Number of training hours arranged during the period can be compared against what
was set in objectives
Any notice served by enforcement agencies or fine / penalties
Any complaints from members of public or neighbor organizations
Any gaps identified in risk assessments during documentation review process
Results from 3rd party survey / testing reports such as noise level / lux level / dust
level / emissions etc
Budget spent on health and safety during this review period and budget required for
next review period
Any unsafe acts / behavior complaints related to Contractor’s work
Any issues with current infrastructure of safety such as fire hydrant, smoke detectors,
fire extinguishers etc
An employer wishes to build a new gas compression installation to provide
energy for its manufacturing processes. An explosion in the installation could
affect the public and nearby railway line. In view of this the employer has been
told that a qualitative risk assessment for the new installation may not be
adequate and that some aspects of the risk require a quantitative risk
assessment.
Explain the term “qualitative risk assessment” and “quantitative risk assessment”
(5)
Identify the external sources of information and advice that the employer could
refer to when deciding whether the risk from the new installation is acceptable
(5)
(a)
Qualitative risk assessment means that the data is not represented numerically e.g.
reports and commentaries which although useful are difficult to treat as an accurate
measure. In this case, no actual measurement is involved. Qualitative risk assessments
are based entirely on judgment, opinion and experience including approved guidance
rather than on measurements. It attempts to calculate probabilities or frequencies of
specific event scenarios. Examples are low risk, medium risk, high risk, tolerable risk,
intolerable risk etc.
Quantitative means that the data describes number e.g. the number of accident
reported. In such a case we can see whether there has been an improvement or a
reduction in standard. In quantitative risk assessment, a measurement of magnitude is
involved. Examples are risk scores which may range from 1 to 25 on 5 x 5 risk matrix or
a dust concentration of 0.01 mg/m3 in an area.
Legislation
Insurance company standards
Scientific developments
Internet
Media
Pressure groups
NGOs
Enforcement agencies / Government inspectors
(c ) Principles of HAZOP