End of Element Questions and Answers

IGC1 Element 1

Foundations in health and safety

1. Define the meaning of the following terms:

(a) Safety

Freedom from unacceptable risk of harm

(b) Health

A state of wellbeing.

The term health, in relation to work, indicates not merely the absence of disease or infirmity; it also
includes the physical and mental elements affecting health which are directly related to safety and
hygiene at work. (Occupational Safety and Health Convention (C155) ILO).

(c) Welfare

The term `welfare’ related to the provision of workplace facilities that maintain the basic wellbeing
and comfort of the worker.

(d) Environmental protection

A measure used to prevent harm to the environment of the world.

2. Explain the main reasons for maintaining and promoting health and safety.

Moral reasons – need to provide a reasonable standard of care to reduce injuries, pain and suffering,
ill-health and death to workers. Societal reasons - include the need to provide a safe place of work,
safe systems of work, competent workers and safe systems of work.

Economic reasons – these include the need to avoid compensation claims and criminal penalties.
Avoidance of costs of accident investigation, direct and indirect costs.

3. List the direct costs of accidents in the workplace.

insurance claims,
sick pay,
loss of production,
repairs,
product loss or damage,
public liability,
damage to equipment, buildings, etc.

4. List the indirect costs of accidents in the workplace.

business interruption,
product liability,
loss of orders,
cost of time spent on investigations,
legal fees,
loss of corporate image.

5. Outline the powers of enforcement agency inspectors.

To enter premises at any time they deem to be reasonable.

To take along a police constable if they believe they will be obstructed.
To take along another person and any equipment (perhaps a specialist inspector).
To examine and investigate.
To direct that premises and anything within them be left undisturbed.
To take measurements and photographs and make recordings.
To take samples.
To order the dismantling or testing of any article or substance which appears to have caused danger
(only damaging or destroying it where necessary).
To take possession of and detain an article or substance (for examination, to ensure it is not
tampered with and to ensure it is available in evidence for any proceedings).
To require any person to answer questions and to sign a declaration of the truth of the answers
given.
To require the production of books and documents for the purpose of inspection and copying.
To require any necessary facilities and assistance.
Any other powers which are necessary.

6. Outline the differences between International Labour Organisation (ILO) conventions and
recommendations.

The coming into force of a Convention results in a legal obligation to apply its provisions by the
nations that have ratified it. Ratification of a Convention is voluntary. Conventions that have not
been ratified by member states have the same legal force as Recommendations
Recommendations may be adopted at the same time as Conventions to supplement the latter with
additional or more detailed provisions. The intent of these recommendations is often to more
precisely detail the principles of related Conventions.

7. Outline employer’s responsibilities according to the ILO Occupational Safety and Health
Convention C155.

Article 16
1. Employers shall be required to ensure that, so far as is reasonably practicable, the workplaces,
machinery, equipment and processes under their control are safe and without risk to health.
2. Employers shall be required to ensure that, so far as is reasonably practicable, the chemical,
physical and biological substances and agents under their control are without risk to health when
the appropriate measures of protection are taken.
3. Employers shall be required to provide, where necessary, adequate protective clothing and
protective equipment to prevent, so far as is reasonably practicable, risk of accidents or of adverse
effects on health.

Article 17
Whenever two or more undertakings engage in activities simultaneously at one workplace, they shall
collaborate in applying the requirements of this Convention.

8. Explain what is meant by the following terms:

(a) Absolute

(b) Practicable

(c) Reasonably practicable

(d) Reasonable

(a) Absolute

Absolute requirements can be identified by the words `shall’ or `must’. This duty does not allow a
choice.

(b) Practicable

Where a legal requirement introduces the phrase 'so far as is practicable', then the duty that it
qualifies needs to be complied with in the light of current knowledge and invention. In other words,
we need to ask whether it is physically possible to do it at the time.

(c) Reasonably practicable

This qualification requires a balance to be made of the total cost of performing the duty, on the one
hand, and the risks to be reduced by performing the duty, on the other hand. This calculation has to
be made before an accident occurs.

Where the risks are very high, then the duty must be performed irrespective of the cost. However,
where the risks are significantly reduced and, due to the law of diminishing returns, the cost of
reducing the risks still further are disproportionately high, then the duty is not deemed to be
reasonably practicable to perform.

(d) Reasonable

A requirement normally expected by an average person taking care.

9. Outline the mission of the USA’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).

OSHA's mission is to assure the safety and health of America 's workers by setting and enforcing
standards, providing training, outreach, and education, establishing partnerships, and encouraging
continual improvement in workplace safety and health.

10. Outline the mission of the UK’s Health and Safety Executive (HSE).

The HSE's mission is to protect people's health and safety by ensuring risks in the changing
workplace are properly controlled

IGC1 End of Element 2 Questions and Answers

Health and safety management systems 1 – policy

1. List the key elements of a health and safety management system

 Policy
 Organising
 Planning and implementation
 Evaluation
 Audit
 Actions for improvement

2. Outline the key principles and objectives that should be included in an organisation’s Occupational
Safety and Health policy.

(a) Protecting the safety and health of all members of the organisation by preventing work-related
injuries, ill-health, diseases and incidents;
(b) Complying with relevant OSH national laws and regulations, voluntary programmes, collective
agreements on OSH and other requirements to which the organisation subscribes;

(c) Ensuring that workers and their representatives are consulted and encouraged to participate
actively in all elements of the OSH management system; and

(d) Continually improving the performance of the OSH management system.

3. Outline the general requirements of the Occupational Safety and Health policy.

The OSH policy should be:

(a) Specific to the organisation and appropriate to its size and the nature of its activities;

(b) Concise, clearly written, dated and made effective by the signature or endorsement of the
employer or the most senior accountable person in the organisation;

(c) Communicated and readily accessible to all persons at their place of work;

(d) Reviewed for continuing suitability; and

(e) Made available to relevant external interested parties, as appropriate.

4. Outline the three main sections of an effective health and safety policy.

The health and safety policy consists of three main sections:

1. Statement of intent. A general statement of management commitment to and the overall aims of
the organisation in terms of health and safety performance.

2. Organisation. Details of the organisation including information on the structure, roles,

relationships and responsibilities of individuals.

3. Arrangements. Arrangements to control the organisations risks - specifies the arrangements for
achieving general and specific aims for health and safety.

5. List the general arrangements that may be included in a health and safety policy:

Allocation of finance
Planning
Organising
Control of hazards
Consultation
Communication
Competence
Accident, ill-health and other incident reporting
Hazard reporting
Monitoring compliance

6. List the specific arrangements that may be included in a health and safety policy.
Arrangements for hazards relating to:
Contractors
Electricity
Fire
Maintenance
Manual handling
Stress
Substances
Transport
Work at height
Work equipment

7. Outline the circumstances which may lead to a review of a health and safety policy.

The health and safety policy should be reviewed under the following circumstances:
passage of time – when a significant period of time has elapsed. Many health and safety policies are
reviewed annually.
technological – introduction of new equipment and methods of working.
organisational changes – changes to staff, management changes, shifts patterns.
legal changes – changes to Acts, Regulations, Conventions,.
following the results and monitoring

8. Describe the purpose of the organisation section of a health and safety policy.

The employer should have overall responsibility for the protection of workers' safety and health, and
provide leadership for OSH activities in the organisation. The employer and senior management
should allocate responsibility, accountability and authority for the development, implementation
and performance of the OSH management system and the achievement of the relevant OSH
objectives.

9. Outline the arrangements that should be established for contractors working on a site.

Arrangements for contractors working on site should:

(a) include OSH criteria in procedures for evaluating and selecting contractors;

(b) establish effective ongoing communication and coordination between appropriate levels of the
organisation and the contractor prior to commencing work. This should include provisions for
communicating hazards and the measures to prevent and control them;
(c) include arrangements for reporting of work-related injuries, ill-health, diseases and incidents
among the contractors' workers while performing work for the organisation;

(d) provide relevant workplace safety and health hazard awareness and training to contractors or
their workers prior to commencing work and as work progresses, as necessary;

(e) regularly monitor OSH performance of contractor activities on site; and

(f) ensure that on-site OSH procedures and arrangements are followed by the contractor(s).

10. Outline what is meant by the term `benchmarking’.

Indicators of success should be set; however, it may be necessary to set benchmarks alongside the
aims and objectives to ensure that the policy is on track and heading in the right direction. Some
companies choose to measure the performance of their policy against the performance of a similar
company, but within the same industry.