A6: Allocated Questions

Question 1: PATRICE
Using examples, explain the difference between proactive and reactive systems for monitoring
health and safety performance. (6)

Proactive is creating or controlling a situation rather than just responding to it after it has
happened. Proactive safety management is all about keeping ahead of the game, resolving any
issues before an incident or an accident occurs. Whereas the definition of reactive systems is
defined as an architectural style that allows multiple individual applications to blend into one unit,
reacting to their environment, while staying aware of each other. Reactive health and safety
management is about dealing with issues, accidents and incidents when they occur. Unlike
proactive safety management, it's too late to stop them. Reactive safety measures are about
putting things right.

In the clinical setting, examples of proactiveness Inspections, Interviewing Audits, Monitoring

performance, monitoring behavior, Checking procedures and Safety sampling. Proactive safety
inspections, regular auditing, ongoing training, near-miss reporting and active supervision will all
form part of a proactive safety management structure. The benefits of a proactive safety regime
are that it will enforce a positive safety culture, help to prevent accidents from occurring, and
improve health and safety budgeting.

Reactive safety measures include:

Accident reporting, Accident investigation, Incident investigation, Ill health and sickness reviews
and Identifying trends. With reactive health and safety measures, you are taking action after things
have gone wrong. This often means that there is more pressure to take action quickly so that work
can re-commence and people can be assured that there is no risk of reoccurrence.

There may also be external pressure from insurance companies, clients, and the HSE if the
incident is serious.

In the long term, reactive safety measures tend to be more costly, because you will need to put in
place many of the same things that could have been done before an accident occurred, plus
having the extra expense and costs associated with an accident.
Question 2: TANVIR
A national campaign aimed at improving standards of health and safety in a particular industry has
been deemed a failure due to a significant increase in the rate of reported accidents over the
period of the campaign. Explain why accident rates may have provided a poor measure of the
campaign’s effectiveness and identify other measures that might have been used. (10)

Question 3: VARSHA
An advertising campaign was used to promote improvement in safety standards within a particular
organisation. During the period of the campaign the rate of reported accidents significantly
increased, and the campaign was deemed to be a failure.
a) Suggest, with reasons, why the rate of reported accidents may have been a poor measure of
the campaign’s effectiveness. (2)
b) Describe four proactive (active) measures which might have been used to measure the
organisation’s health and safety performance. (8)
Question 4: INDIREN
a) Explain the purposes and benefits of collecting ‘near miss’ incident data. (6)
b) Outline the factors to consider when developing and implementing a system for reporting ‘near
miss’ incidents. (6)
c) Outline the limitations of using accident/incident data as a means of measuring health and
safety performance. (8)

a) Explain the purposes and benefits of collecting ‘near miss’ incident data. (6)

 The investigation of near-miss incidents and the identification of their underlying causes
might allow preventive action to be taken before something more serious occurs.

 It also gives the right message that all failures are taken seriously by the employer and not
just those that lead to injury.

 Additionally, it is generally accepted that near-misses far outnumber incidents resulting in

injury and can therefore produce more data from which a greater understanding of the
deficiencies in existing management systems such as risk assessments and safe systems
of work can be identified and rectified.

 It would be good for delegates to briefly refer to Bird‟s or Heinrich‟s triangle.

 It help in increasing safety awareness and improve safety culture of the organisation.

b) Outline the factors to consider when developing and implementing a system for
reporting ‘near miss’ incidents. (6)

 In order to complete a near-miss incident report, information which should be collected

includes:

 Details of the activity being carried out at the time with any history of previous similar
incidents;

 The immediate causes of the incident with a description of the prevailing environmental
conditions such as levels of lighting;

 Drawings or photographs of the site of the incident with details of witnesses and copies of
their statements;
  Copies of relevant risk assessments and safe systems of work together with existing
maintenance records;

 Records of training received by the employees concerned;

 An indication of possible breaches of legislation;

 An estimation of the cost implications of the incident;

 Recommendations for the action to be taken to prevent a recurrence including a proposed

timescale and the allocation of responsibility for completion of the work to a named
individual or individuals.

c) Outline the limitations of using accident/incident data as a means of measuring health

and safety performance. (8)

 The obvious limitations of using accident/incident data as a means of measuring health and
safety performance is the problem of under reporting.

 Other limitations include the fact: that incident data is a measure of failure not success and
therefore focuses on the negative rather than the positive aspects of health and safety
performance.

 Historic measures of performance cannot predict future performance and the incident data
measures the effectiveness of previous safety measures not new measures in the short
term.

 The data is subject to the fluctuation or the number of accidents in a workplace is often too
small to be used as a reliable performance indicator.

 And the absence of accidents does not necessarily indicate that procedures are safe and
data based solely on injury severity without considering the potential seriousness of an
accident must be treated with caution and that additionally, incident data cannot be used to
identify high consequence but low probability risk nor does it reflect chronic health issues.
Question 5: ADISH
Outline the factors which should be considered in the planning of a health and safety inspection
programme.
Information on the specific workplace conditions or behaviours that might be covered in an
inspection is not required. (10)

A health and safety inspection programme should be an efficient and effective measure towards
improving the health and safety standards. The following factors should be considered:

1. Firstly, senior management support and commitment should be obtained for the inspection
programme.

2. It is important to consider who is conducting the health and safety inspection. The
competence and the composition of the inspection team shall highly influence the quality of
the inspection. For example, an inspection team may consist of the health and safety
officer, a representative of the top management and a representative of the employee. The
inspection team may also consider employees or experts in specific fields or competencies
for certain inspection. For example, the electrical manager for inspection in electrical rooms.

3. It cannot be always possible to conduct a health and safety inspection on the whole site,
therefore specific areas of the site or the workplace should be chosen. The Inspection team
should be brief on the chosen areas for inspection and the routes to follow.

4. With respect to the chosen sites, it should be important to consider the nature of the
hazards specific to those sites and consider the possible need to provide personal
protective equipment for the inspection team. Sometimes, it can be important to notify and
consult with the production lead or relevant staff on the inspection to gather information on
potential works and new hazards on sites. It can be interesting to gather information on new
equipment on those sites or presence of a new recruit or new external workers on those
sites.

5. The inspection team should also review previous inspection reports to monitor improvement
actions which can also represent the commitment of the management and the operational
team on health and safety issues.
6. The Inspection team should also consider the timing and the frequency of the inspections.
Inspections should not be a threat to employees, therefore intensive inspections should be
avoided. However, inspection timing can be varied as such not to meet the same team at all
times and frequency can be varied as such to keep the surprise element.

7. The Inspection team should be well versed to existing relevant legislation and standards
against which the results of the inspection would be judged. A briefing can be done, to
orient inspection towards specific standards or to requirements from new legislations.

8. Checklists can be prepared prior inspection to facilitate inspections. Interview Questions for
floor workers can also be prepared and discussed between inspection team prior
inspection.

9. The inspection team should agree with the management on the medium for the output of
the inspection report. As such a written report can be submitted to the management and a
presentation can be done. The report should be able to demonstrate the health and safety
performance against agreed standards, health and safety policy and OHS objectives. The
report should recommend actions under specific time frames for line managers for
improving on poor health and safety practices. A review date for the action plan should also
be specified.
Question 6
Outline the issues that should be considered when planning a health and safety inspection
programme. (10)
Information on the specific workplace conditions or behaviors that might be covered in an
inspection is not required.
Question 7: STEVIE
Four previously independent companies, all manufacturing the same type of product, have been
bought by a holding company. It is intended that the companies will continue to operate largely
autonomously but will be required to comply with corporate standards, particularly in relation to
health, safety, environmental and quality issues. The lost-time accident rates of the four
companies currently vary considerably, with the rates of one company consistently more than
double those of the one appearing to be the best performer.
a) Describe the range of factors that might account for the variation in accident rates. (14)
b) Review the strengths and weaknesses of accident rates as a measure of health and safety
performance. (6)

a) The different factors which may account for the variation in the accident rates of the four
companies would include:

 Variation in the level of accident reporting. The employees from one company may find an
accident worth being reported to the management, while those from the other companies
may think differently, hence resulting in varying accident rates.

 The production volumes, as well as the number of working hours for each company. In this
regard, longer working hours, together with heavier workloads, may give rise to work
fatigue, and hence lead to higher accident rates.

 The difference in competence and training received by the employees from each company.
Less competent workers, as well as receiving ineffective training may give rise to higher
accident rates.

 The difference in the management commitment regarding health and safety. The
inadequacy of carrying out suitable and sufficient risks assessments, implementing suitable
control measures or giving appropriate warning to practical jokers at work may give rise to
more accidents.

 The difference in the cultural and morale values of the employees. The attitude of the
employees regarding health and safety, for instance, encouraging horseplay at work, may
result in higher accident rates.
  The difference in the work arrangements provided by each company. The different types of
equipment available, the effectiveness of the maintenance performed, as well as the
provision of suitable PPE may affect the accident rates.

 The difference in the way of calculating the accident rate. The multiplier used by each
company to calculate the accident rates may give rise to significantly different values.

b) The strengths of using accident rates as a measure of health and safety performance include
the provision measurable values that could be used for comparison between different
departments or different companies. In addition to that, accident rates may be used to identify
accident trends relating to specific work activities, equipment or departments.

As for the weaknesses, the use of accident rates as a measure of health and safety
performance does not provide a measure of the actual severity of an accident. Also, low
accident rates values does not necessarily mean that there has been an improvement in the
health and safety culture. Instead, it could mean that there is a poor reporting procedure in
place. Furthermore, accident rates only provide an indication on the effectiveness of previous
health and safety performance, and not on the current one.
Question 8: PASCAL
As the Health and Safety Adviser to an automotive retailer, comprising head office and ten
showrooms with vehicle servicing facilities, you are responsible for the introduction of an in-house
health and safety audit programme. Prepare structured briefing notes for use at a presentation to
the organization’s senior management team on:
a) The reasons for introducing the audit programme to the organization. (4)
b) The strategic issues to be addresses before the programme starts. (6)

a) Reasons for introducing the audit program into the organization is for the evaluation of:

 Compliance with health and safety programme procedures. (e.g., safe system of work)

 Compliance with set occupational health standards. (e.g., ISO, HASAWA, HSG 65)

 Compliance with physical safeguards (health and safety hardware). (e.g., policies,
procedures)

 Compliance with fire prevention/control standards. (e.g., risk assessments)

b) Strategic issues that need to be addressed before the program starts:

The gathering of information: Creating a check list providing that the information is complete
and up to date. This may include (risk assessments, accident reports, H&S policy insurances,
training records etc.) A lot of time is lost gathering these details.

The notification and interviews need to be planned accordingly to get the right people.

The decision must be taken on which standards an audit needs to be carried out. Hence
meaning more documentation needs to be provided.

May cause interference with work as the responsible personal of each station will need to
provide records, documentation and preparation prior to the audit.

Timing should be addressed, as it might cause work to be interrupted. Hence a period where
work is less should be chosen.
Question 9: MITRAJEET
The accident rates of two companies or similar size and producing identical products are found to
vary significantly. Suggest possible for this variation. (10)
Question 10: DARYL
As the Health and Safety Adviser to a large organisation, you have decided to introduce an in-
house auditing programme to assess the effectiveness of the organisation’s health and safety
arrangements.
Outline the issues to be addressed in the development of the audit system (20)

Sufficient time should be made available to the auditors since it is a difficult process, the process
is time consuming but also the pre audit preparation and hence timing is important as well as
resources made available such as a proper server for work storage and even a proper place of
work.

The pre audit preparation should be well considered for instance proper information gathering,
standardise interviews with a reminder in order not to disturb the planning of the audit.

The types of auditing whether it is considering the organisation as a whole or even only part of the
organisation, if badly considered they may audit a part of an organisation which may present less
defects and thereby audit is unsuccessful.

The personnel implications resulting from an internal audit system whereby the internal auditors
may be badly viewed by their colleagues due to their critics towards their colleagues work and
hence they may be subjective towards their work in order to maintain a peaceful work
environment.

The competency of auditors and those assisting them shall be considered since this is a critical
examination of a system, this process should be objective and only competent persons are able to
perform this or even admit which has led them to be subjective in order for corrections to be made.
Question 11 (STEVIE)
Outline how safety tours could contribute to improving health and safety performance and to
improving health and safety culture within a company.
Discussion of the specific health and safety requirements, problems or standards that such tours
may address, is not required. (10)

The possible contributions of safety tours to improve health and safety performance and health
and safety culture within a company include:

1) Ensuring compliance with health and safety requirements

Conducting safety tours provides an opportunity for an organization to monitor and verify its
employees’ level of compliance with safety rules and procedures. Moreover, safety tours
enable senior management to discuss with the employees, and answer any of their queries or
difficulties regarding the control measures implemented.

2) Demonstrating commitment of management

Conducting regular and planned safety tours is an effective way for the management to
demonstrate their commitment to the management health and safety. In addition to that, it also
shows a sign of caring from the management’s side, which eventually may help to improve the
health and safety culture of the organization.

3) Providing direct contact between employees and senior management

Safety tours provide an opportunity for the senior management to get into direct contact with
the employees. In this regard, these latter may share their point of view, regarding their health
and safety, to the management without to firstly go through the usual channel of
communication.

4) Identification of trends
Continuous safety tours in particular zones or departments may help in gathering useful
information and identify any particular trend, whether good or bad. Analysis of these friends
may help in determining the health and safety performance of the company, and improve or
implement any control measures.
5) Observing employees’ natural work behaviors
Unplanned safety tours is an effective way for the senior management to observe the normal
work behavior of their employees. As a result, appropriate steps can be taken, for example
issuing warning notices in case of unsafe behaviors such as horseplay.
 Question 12 Jul 08
a) Explain the difference between accident incidence rate and accident frequency rate. (2)
b) A site is divided into a small number of large departments and the number of employees in
each department is variable. You have been asked to collate details of first-aid treatment cases
for the site and to present on a monthly basis, data in graphical and / or numerical format, in a
way that would be helpful to site and departmental management.
Describe how you could present this data indicating clearly the types of graphical presentation you
would use AND in EACH case the data it would contain. (8)

Question 13
a) Explain the purposes and benefits of collecting ‘near miss’ incident data. (6)
b) Outline the factors to consider when developing and implementing a system for reporting ‘near
miss’ incidents. (6)
c) Outline the limitations of using accident/incident data as a means of measuring health and
safety performance. (8)