3S LIFE SAFE AKADEMIE

Element 3
Managing Risk – Understanding People and Process

This Chapter shall cover following NEBOSH learning objectives.

3.1 Health and Safety Culture

 Meaning of the term ‘health and safety culture’
 Relationship between health and safety culture and health and
safety performance
 Indicators of an organisation’s health and safety culture
 Influence of peers on health and safety culture

3.2 Improving Health and Safety Culture

 Gaining Commitment of Management
 Promoting Health and Safety Standards by Leadership and
Example and Appropriate Use of Disciplinary Procedures
 Competent Workers
 Good Communication Within the Organization
 When Training is Needed

3.3 How human factors influence behaviour positively or

negatively
 Organizational Factors, Including: Culture, Leadership,
Resources, Work Patterns, Communications
 Job Factors, Including: Task, Workload, Environment, Display
and Controls, Procedures
 Individual Factors, Including: Competence, Skills, Personality,
Attitude and Risk Perception

3.4 Assessing risk

 Meaning of Hazard, Risk, Risk Profiling and Risk Assessment
 Risk Profiling: What is Involved? Who Should be Involved? The
Risk Profiling Process
 Purpose of Risk Assessment and the ‘Suitable And Sufficient’
Standard it Needs To Reach
 A General Approach to Risk Assessment (5 Steps)
 Application of Risk Assessment for Specific Types of Risk and
Special Cases:

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3.5 Management of Change

 Typical Types of Change Faced in the Workplace and the
Possible Impact of Such Change, Including: Construction Works,
Change of Process, Change of Equipment, Change in Working
Practices
 Managing the Impact of Change
 Review of Change

3.6 Safe Systems of Work for General Work Activities

 Why workers should be involved when developing safe systems
of work
 Why procedures should be recorded/written down
 The differences between technical, procedural and behavioural
controls
 Developing a safe system of work

3.7 Permit – to – Work System

 Meaning of a permit-to-work system
 Why permit-to-work systems are used
 How permit-to-work systems work and are used
 When to use a permit-to-work system, including: hot work, work
on non-live (isolated) electrical systems,
 machinery maintenance, confined spaces, work at height

3.8 Emergency Procedures

 Why emergency procedures need to be developed
 What to include in an emergency procedure
 What to consider when deciding on first aid needs in a workplace
 Why people need training in emergency procedures
 Why emergency procedures need to be tested

Exercise Questions for Learner’s Practice

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The relationship between

3.1 Health and safety health and culture and Safety
Culture Performance
There is direct relationship between health and
safety culture and its performance. The positive
Meaning of Term- Health and culture organization performs better whereas negative
Safety Culture culture unable to deliver good performance in an
organization.

What is health & safety culture? Factors affecting Positive Culture

Definition
The health and safety culture of an organisation is the
shared attitudes, values, beliefs, perceptions,
competencies, and behavior that determine the
commitment relating to health and safety.
The health & safety culture is influenced by:
 Management.
 Communication.
 Worker competence.
 Co-operation.
Organizations with a positive safety culture
are characterized by communications founded on
mutual trust, by shared perceptions of the importance
of safety and by confidence in the efficacy of
preventive measures.‖
Types of health and Safety
culture in an organization
1. Positive Culture: In an organization,
majority of workers and employees think and feel
that, health and safety is important at workplaces
called positive culture.
2. Negative Culture: In an organization,
majority of workers and employees do not give
importance health and safety at workplaces called
negative culture. People are poorly educated and feel
that, health and safety policy is an unnecessary and
interferences to their work.
The following elements are the important of a
POSITIVE health and safety culture:
 Leadership and commitment to health and
safety throughout and at all levels of the
organization, which is demonstrated in a
genuine and visible way.
 acceptance that high standards of health and
safety are achievable as part of a long-term
strategy formulated by the organization
requiring sustained effort and interest;
 a detailed assessment of health and safety
risks in the organization and the
development of control and monitoring
systems;
 A health and safety policy statement that
conveys a sense of optimism and Explains
short- and long-term health and safety
objectives. Such a policy should also include
codes of practice and required health and
safety standards;
 relevant employee training program and
communication and consultation procedure
to ensure ownership and participation in
health and safety throughout the
organization;
 systems for monitoring equipment,
processes and procedures and the prompt
rectification of any defects;
 The prompt investigation of all incidents and
accidents and reports made detailing any
necessary remedial actions.

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Element 3: Managing Risk- Understanding People and Processes

Indicators of an
Organization’s Health and
Safety Culture
Important indicators of a health
and safety culture
To develop or increase, health and safety culture
in an organization following important leading
indicators must be considered.

The main indicator for the development of health

and safety culture.

a. Accidents Records
b. Accidents rate
c. Sickness rates
d. Absenteeism
Factors affecting Negative e. Staff Turnover
f. Compliance with Safety rules
Culture g. Complaints about working conditions

Accidents Records
Organization performance in previous year
gives indication of accidents records. This will help
to compare the current status of health and safety
culture

Accidents rate
Organization must calculate accidents rates
as to analyze the safety culture. The simplest measure
of accident rate is called the incident rate and is
defined as:

Sickness rates
Employees falling ill-health due to
occupational work. Periodic records of the
occupational ill-health of employees and their
reasons must be recorded. It will help to find out the
sickness rate and improvement for health and safety
culture.

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Absenteeism Peer Pressure Factors to affect

Away from the workplace is known as
absenteeism. More absenteeism shows poor culture
of an organization
Staff Turnover
Frequent leaving of organization due to
various reasons indicates poor culture of organization
which shall have direct impact on health and safety
performances
the H&S Culture.
 By Interaction- in formal or informal group
 By Influence with friends & others
 By Hierarchy–pressure is exerted from top
to down
 By Norms –setting standard

Compliance with Safety rules

Organization who strictly comply with
safety rules and procedures helps everyone to
develop overall good health and safety culture.

Complaints about working

condition
Complaints by workers and employees to
management should be encouraged to improve health
and safety culture. Discouragement may lead to poor
performance.

Influence of Peers on Health

and Safety Culture
The Influences of Peers
The ―peer group pressure‖ occurs indirectly
by social interaction and can have a significant effect
on behaviour. The influence of peer group pressure is
an indicator of safety culture.

In the organization, the group of people has

driven to do the work in a specific manner. Due to
group behavior of people impact the culture of the
organization and it is known as ―PEER PRESSURE‖.
Peer Pressure also an important consideration in H&S
culture. The good team gives priority to Health &
Safety and lead to better performance of the
organization.

If the group is working safely than peer group

pressure will keep to everyone in group or to mostly
all, but if the group is working unsafely, the peer
group pressure shall force workers to behave
unsafely.

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Element 3: Managing Risk- Understanding People and Processes

3.2 Improving Health and Visible Leadership of

Management
Safety Culture The management commitment can be
demonstrated by visible leadership:
Gaining Commitment of
 Safe behaviors by the management by
Management setting an example
To ensure improvement of health and safety  Day-to-day involvement in health and safety
culture of an organization there must be- activities
 Making safety tours in around organization
 Gaining commitment of management  Ensuring safety Audits
 Promoting health and safety standards by  Promotion of needful changes
visible leadership and example
 Effective communication system like-verbal,  Encouragement and motivational activities
written, graphics, notice boards, posters, tool for safety awareness
box talk, memos, handbooks, SOP etc.  Enforcing rules of safety management
systems
 Appropriate use of disciplinary procedures
or standard operating procedure (SOP)
 Hiring the Competent workers Competent Workers
 Worker Participation and Consultation
 Commitment to H&S at all levels
 Adequate allocation of resources Competent Person / Managers /
 Importance to Hazard & Risk Assessment Workers
 ensuring and promoting continual
improvement A person having adequate qualifications,
 Keeping OHSMS up to date and experience, suitable training, skills, ability and
 Provide Training to all workers sufficient knowledge, to ensure safety at workplace
 Training workshop to all levels of workforce without any risk to health.

It is a responsibility of the Top Management

Promoting Health and Safety that, all workers including H&S advisors are
competent, to perform their respective work in safe
Standards by Leadership and manners. Competent workers can do the assigned job
Example of Appropriate use safely which is an indicative of safe work culture.

of Disciplinary procedures Therefore, from top level to workforce level,

Management Commitment and
Leadership
There must be a commitment from the top
management of the organization because:
including managers should be competent to ensure
day today work by implementing safe work practice.
Good Communication within
the Organization

 Top management provide leadership & Effective Communication

motivation. (Methods of Communication)
 It gives clear policy, priorities and targets.
Many problems in health and safety arise
 They ensure, adherence of management
commitment at all levels. due to poor communication and therefore, effective
 They ensure to follow of disciplinary communication is essential.
procedures & enforcing safety rules,
 They are responsible for hiring competent There are three basic methods of
staff so as to maintain culture communication in health and safety
 They keep update of H&S Regulation and
National laws. a. Verbal Communication
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b. Written Communication and worker‘s handbook, etc.), however, it has benefits &
c. Graphic Communication limitation as under.

Verbal communication is the most common, should

only be used for relatively simple pieces of
information or instruction during face to face
conversation, meetings, interview, training session,
Tool box talk, Safety meetings, telephone/ mobile, or
Public Address system (PA System).

Verbal communication is easy way to communicate,

however, it has benefits & limitation as under.

Graphic communication can be made, by the use of

drawings, photographs, videos and DVDs, safety
signs, images, postures, banners, warning symbols,
etc.
It is used to impart either health and safety
information (e.g. fire exits/first aid signage) or health
and safety communication; however, it has benefits
& limitation as under.

Written communication requires using written

words (Reports, memo, email, policy documents,
letter head, risk assessment, minutes of meeting,

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 Report
 Team briefing

Notice Boards
Written communication is used in the workplace
on the notice board.

For a notice board to be effective it needs to be

well positioned within the workplace and there needs
to be a regular review of the notices to ensure that
they are up to date and relevant.

The use of notice boards as a means of

communicating health and safety information to
employees has some limitations that include

Broadcasting Communication
Methods
There are many ways to communicate in
broadcasting methods in an organization. However,
there are benefits and limitations for each
broadcasting methods.

Above 3 communication methods can be

broadcasted in following ways.

 Notice Boards
 Posters
 Film / Videos
 Tool Box Talk
 Digital media
 Internet / Intranet
 Emails & Memos
 Worker‘s handbook (Employee‘s
Handbook)

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Contains of Notice boards

(Information to be displayed on
Notice Board)
Following important information or contains may
include in notice boards:

 Health and safety policy

 Employer liability insurance certificate
 Emergency procedures
 Contact details of Emergency response team
(Fire warden)
 Information of First Aiders (Contact
numbers)
 Minutes of safety committee meetings
 Safety awareness information‘s
 Latest information related to health and
safety Films, Videos & PPT
 Award and recognition – Best employee / Mainly used for conducting training /
best department towards safety awareness to more workers and audiences which may
implementation be informative and interesting for the audiences?
 Accident statistics
 Latest training updates and training calendar Toolbox Talk
related to health and safety During practical safety briefing at project
site/workplace Toolbox talk being conducted by
Poster safety officer/supervisor in routine manner. It‘s an
Posters are used in organizations to provide initial routine briefing to all workers and staff before
safety information / drawing attention about health starting of the jobs. This routine toolbox talk helps in
and safety culture (Poster like, fire generating awareness/precautions.
hazards/electrical/First aid/CPR etc.-in case of
emergency).

Digital Media
Many equipment like, laptop, desktop,
mobile, tablets being used for sharing information in
the form of written/graphics/video/audio.

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Element 3: Managing Risk- Understanding People and Processes
Internet & Intranet
Internet/intranet being used for transfer of
communications from one to another points and
level. However, sometimes, company‘s internet is
restricted to use within the premises only.
Memos and emails
The advantage of memos and e-mails is that
there is a record of the message after it has been
delivered. The disadvantage is that they can be
ambiguous or difficult to understand or, indeed, lost
within the system.
Worker’s Handbook (Employee’s
Handbook)
Worker‘s handbook is a document, normally
provided at the time of induction to an employee,
which may contain following organization‘s
information:
 Health and safety policy
 Company‘s mission & vision
 Expectation of employer towards health and
safety
 Expectation from the employees towards
health and safety
 Procedures for reporting the accidents
 Do‘s & don‘ts at workplace
 Legal obligation of organization &
employees.
 Rules & regulations adopted by the
organization.
Reports
Reports are more substantial documents and cover a
topic in greater detail. The report should contain a
detailed account of the topic and any conclusions or
recommendations.
The main problem with reports is that they
are often not read properly due to the time constraints
on managers.
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Co-operation and Consultation
with the workforce
Co-operation
The ILO Recommendations R164 require
that:
“The measures taken to facilitate the
cooperation referred to in Article 20 of the
Convention Cl55 should include, where appropriate
and necessary, the appointment, in accordance with
national practice, of workers safety delegates, of
workers safety and health committees, and/or of
joint safety and health committees. In joint safety
and health committees workers should have at least
equal representation with employers representatives.
Workers’ safety delegates, workers’ safety and
health committees, and joint safety and health
committees or, as appropriate, other workers’
representatives should.”
It is important to gain the cooperation of all
employs if a successful health and safety culture is to
become established.
This cooperation is best achieved by
consultation.
Consultation
It is two way communications in which
exchange of information, opinion between the
employer and workers to be considered for health &
Safety issues and decision making process.
Direct Consultation
Employer / Top Management directly talks
to each worker and resolves issues. This can be
helpful in small organization.
Indirect consultation (Worker’s
Representative)
During indirect consultation, an employer or
top management establish talk-
 Through worker representatives:
 Committee is formed to represent workers.
 Regular meetings to discuss and resolve
issues.
 Members may have rights in law.
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Element 3: Managing Risk- Understanding People and Processes
 Managers inform workers of plans, etc. and
listen to employee concerns.
How Consultation to be
Established
Consultation with workers can help businesses more
efficient and effective by reducing the number of
accidents and work-related ill-health and also to
motivate staff by making them aware of health and
safety problems.
 Be given adequate information on safety and
health matters, to enable them to examine
factors affect. safety and health, and be
encouraged to propose measures on the
subject;
 be consulted when major new safety and
health measures are envisaged and before
they are carrier out, and seek to obtain the
support of the workers for such measures;
 be consulted in planning alterations of work
processes, work content or organization of
work, which may have safety or health
implications for the workers;
 be given protection from dismissal and other
measures prejudicial to them while
exercising their functions in the field of
occupational safety and health as workers‗
representatives or as members safety and
health committees;
 be able to contribute to the decision-making
process at the level of the undertaking
regarding matters of safety and health;
 have access to all parts of the workplace and
be to communicate with the workers,
including contractors, on safety and health
matters during working hours at the
workplace;
 be free to contact labor inspectors;
 be able to contribute to negotiations in the
making on occupational safety and health
matters
 have reasonable time during paid working
hours to exercise their safety and health
functions and to receive training related to
these functions;
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Benefits / Advantages of
Consulting:
There are several benefits that accrue to
organizations that consult with their employees.
These include:
 Healthier and safer workplaces because
employees can help to identify hazards and
develop relevant procedures to eliminate,
reduce or control risks;
 stronger commitment to implementing
procedures and decisions because employees
have been involved proactively in the
decision-making process;
 the development of better work practices; b•
a reduction in workplace accidents; and
 greater cooperation and trust between
employers and employees so that the overall
performance of the organization improves.
Consultation does not remove the employer‘s
right and duty to manage since the employer will
always make the final decision following the
consultation. But talking to employees and involving
them in the decision-making process is a vital part of
successfully managing health and safety.
Typical Issues to consult with
Workers:
 Introduction of new control measures
affecting health and safety.
 Appointment of new advisers.
 Health and safety training plans.
 Introduction of new technology.
Informing
It is a one way communication and providing
information to workers in a form that they can
understand and then checking that the information
has been understood.
The role of information with workers to
 inform the employees of health and safety
concerns of workforce
 inform the employees of potential hazards
and dangerous occurrences in the
workplace;
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Element 3: Managing Risk- Understanding People and Processes

 Inform the employees of any general  provided with specific additional

matters that effect the health and safety of rights such as time off with pay for
the workforce; training

Health and Safety committee/ Minutes of safety committee

Forum Meetings
In the medium and large organizations, the After the safety committee Meetings, the
easiest and often the most effective method of key points related to H&S will be recorded in
consultation is health and safety committee. document form and know a Minutes of Safety
Committee Meetings.
What are Health & Safety
Safety Committee meetings are the meetings
Committees / Forum? held at regular intervals and the contents of agenda
A safety committee is an organizational and how they are being dealt with.
group within a workplace with members from
management, the workforce as well as from all Function of the Safety
departments and staffs.
committee/ Safety Forum
The safety committee will share with management The committee should have stated objectives
about the responsibility for implementing company‘s which mirror the objectives in the organization's
safety program. safety and health policy statement, and its own terms
of reference. Terms of reference should include the
A safety committee would be considered effective following.
when they engage in activities such as development
and monitoring of safe system of work, monitoring  The study of accident and modifiable
adequacy of health and safety communication, disease statistics to enable reports to be
constant appraisal of effectiveness of training etc. made of recommended remedial actions;
 Who are the members of the committee
Factors that may determine the  There should balancing between managers
and workers and right people to be included
effectiveness of a safety  Committee meeting should be held regularly
committee (Issues should be and frequently
taken in account during  Who shall be heading the committee as
chairperson or in-charge as whole to head
determining the effectiveness of the committee
safety Committee)  All committee members should have
opportunity to speak without any bias
Factors that would determine the  Decision making authority by the committee
effectiveness of a safety committee include: members
 Constituents of safety committee (key  Agenda of the committee should be pre-
management personnel and worker‘s defined – means what matters/ issues to be
representatives); taken during the committee meeting
 Competency level of constituents  Record of committed meeting must be taken
(availability and access to specialist by means of minutes of meet and circulated
advice); to all attendees and also to be displayed on
 Holding regular meetings with notice boards
maximum participation;  Minutes meet must be signed with clear
 influence the committee has on assigned responsibility and target dates of
management‘s decision making respective action plan to ensure follow up of
process; agenda discussed.
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 Review of the action plane and its

achievement before starting of the next H&S
When Training is Needed
committee meeting.
Health and Safety Training
Agenda to be discussed in Safety Training is a formal process of leaning and practicing
knowledge and skills in a relatively safe work
Committee meeting environment.
Agenda of safety committee should be collectively
taken from all representatives of the committee The provision of information and training
members / all department, which can improve H&S for employees will develop their awareness and
culture at workplace. understanding of the specific hazards and risks
The agenda of the safety committee should be based associated with their jobs and working environment.
on following:
Training is a key component of competence and
a. Accidents Records without having training it is difficult to develop safe
b. Accidents rate work culture.
c. Sickness rates
d. Absenteeism Employer should keep training
e. Staff Turnover
records because:
f. Compliance with Safety rules
 Proof of employees‘ competence.
g. Health issue at work place
 Provide evidence during investigation
h. Outcomes of safety audits
 Legal requirement
i. Recording of Near Miss incidents
 Provide evidence for auditing and legal
j. Welfare issue
actions
k. Training need for new technology
 Identify when refresher training is needed.
l. New hazards and risk
 Review effectiveness of training
m. Change of management effect
 Assesses progress against targets
n. Special provision for venerable people
o. Comply with new legislation requirements
p. Additional control measures to control risk The Benefits of H & S Training
q. Health surveillance of workers include:
r. External / predictable events which may Once training done to workers and team, they may
increase risk and hazards understand-
s. Complaints about working conditions
 reduction in accident severity and
Representation of Safety frequency;
 reduction in injury and ill-health related
Committee: absence
 it should be representative of the whole  reduction in compensation claims
organization;  insurance premiums;
 it should have representation from the  an improvement in the health and safety
workforce and the management culture
 Senior manager  Improved staff morale and retention.
 Health and Safety Adviser
 manager and
Training Opportunities
 worker safety delegates
Health and safety training is a very important
 Technical specialist
part of the health and safety culture and it is also a
legal requirement, under the Management of Health
and Safety at Work Regulations and other
regulations, for an employer to provide such training.

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Training is required on recruitment, at induction or
on being exposed to new or increased risks due to:
 Job Change: Being transferred to another
job or given a change in responsibilities
 Process Change: the introduction of new
work equipment or a change of use in
existing work equipment
 New Technology: the introduction of new
technology
 New System: the introduction of a new
system of work or the revision of an existing
system of work
 Increase in numbers of employees: an
increase in the employment of more
vulnerable employees (young or disabled
persons)
 Insurance Requirement: Particular training
required by the organization‘s insurance
company (e.g. specific fire and emergency
training).
 Nee Legislation: Due to change in law and
new rules & acts.
 Other reasons: Additional training needed
due to issuing of an enforcement notice or as
a result of a risk assessment or safety audit.
Induction training
Induction training should always be
provided to new employees, trainees and possibly
contractors. The record of induction training may be
required as evidence for subsequent legal claim
against the organization.
New workers are one of the vulnerable to
accidents during their first six months at a new
workplace. Induction training to be provided to
worker / employees and covering the need for group:
Why need of an Induction
Training
 Lack of experience of working in a new
industry or workplace
 Helps to identify Hazards and risks.
 Familiarity with Rules and precautions.
 Knowledge of Emergency procedures.
 Knowledge of Limitations and restrictions.
 lack of familiarity with the job and the work
environment
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 Reluctance to raise concerns (or not
knowing how to),
 Eagerness to impress workmates and
managers.
Induction training program
would include the following
topics:
 Organization Health and safety policy.
 Fire & other Emergency procedures.
 Method of evacuation and safe assembly
point
 First aid facilities & personnel.
 Welfare facilities.
 Canteen facilities and restrooms
 Safe movement at workplace.
 Accident and incident-reporting procedures.
 Consultation arrangements.
 Safety rules at site.
 Use of Personal protective equipment.
 Safe working and permits systems.
 Risk assessment system.
 Details of Workplace and Hazard present
 Responsibilities of individuals
 Disciplinary Procedures
How induction training program
for new workers can help to
reduce the number of accidents
in the workplace.
New workers are to be provided with
induction training before being sent to a
workplace, primarily to indicate the importance
accorded to safety and to make them conversant
with health and safety requirements of workplace.
 It gives an insight of hazard and risk
profile present in the workplace and hence
helps them to understand the importance
of control measures needed to prevent the
accident.
 During induction training, new workers
understand the need to report uncontrolled
hazard / near –miss incidents and thus
prevent the accidents in future.
 Induction training helps workers to
become more conscious of using
mandatory PPE at workplace thus
preventing injuries/accidents.
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 They are made aware of the emergencies
that may arise in the course of work and
also procedures to tackle and mitigate the
consequences.
 New workers are informed during
induction training about the site specific
rules (do‘s & dont‘s) and procedure to
discipline violations that are aimed at
reducing accidents.
Job specific training program
covers
 Safe system of work, permit to work.
 Equipment training.
 PPE training.
 Fire training
 Manual Handling Techniques
 Health Surveillance
 Forklift Operations.
 Safety inspections.
When Refresher / additional
health and safety training
required
 Increase in accidents or incidents.
 Result of an accident investigation.
 Dangerous occurrences.
 New processes or technology.
 Job change.
 Changes in working procedures.
 Changes in work patterns – night shift.
 Promotion or reorganization.
 New legislation.
 Enforcement action.
 Results of inspections/audits.
 Results of risk assessments.
 Insurance company requirements.
Supervisory and management
training
Supervisory and management health and
safety training follows similar topics to those
contained in an induction training course but will be
covered in more depth. There will also be a more
detailed treatment of health and safety law. There has
been considerable research over the years into the
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failures of managers that have resulted in accidents
and other dangerous incidents.
These failures have included:
 lack of health and safety awareness,
enforcement and promotion (in some cases,
there has been encouragement to circumvent
health and safety rules);
 lack of consistent supervision of and
communication with employees;
 Lack of understanding of the extent of the
responsibility of the supervisor.
It is important that all levels of management,
including the Board, receive health and safety
training. This will not only keep everybody informed
of health and safety legal requirements, accident
prevention techniques and changes in the law, but
also encourage everybody to monitor health and
safety standards during visits or tours of the
organizations.
Specialist training
Specialist health and safety training is
normally needed for activities that are not related to a
specific job but more to an activity.
Examples include first aid, fire prevention,
fork lift truck driving, overhead crane operation,
scaffold inspection and statutory health and safety
inspections.
These training courses are often provided by
specialist organizations and successful participants
are awarded certificates. Details of two of these
courses will be given here by way of illustration.
Fire prevention training courses include the
causes of fire and fire spread, fire and smoke alarm
systems, emergency lighting, the selection and use of
fire extinguishers and sprinkler systems, evacuation
procedures, high risk operations and good
housekeeping principles.
Post Training Activities
 Maintain training records:
a. Who attended which sessions and
b. When training was conducted
 Carry out evaluation of effectiveness- look
for indicators such as
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a. Reduced incidents.
b. Increased awareness.
c. Improved compliance with rules.

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 Health and safety culture

3.3 How Human Factors  Arrangements for the setting and
Influence behavior 
monitoring of standards.
Adequate supervision
Positively and  Effective incident reporting and analysis.
 learning from experience
Negatively  Clearly visible health and safety
leadership
Human factors which influence  Suitable team structures
 Available resources
Health and Safety behavior at  Efficient communication systems and
work practices
In simple terms, in addition to the environment,  Adequate staffing levels
the health and safety of people at work are influenced  Suitable work patterns
by following factors.  Consultation and worker involvement
 Training
1. The organization Factors
2. The Job Factors Organizational factors play a significant role in
3. Individual (personal) factors. the health and safety of the workplace. However, this
role is often forgotten when health and safety is being
These are known as human factors as they each reviewed after an accident or when a new process or
have a human involvement. piece of equipment is introduced.

It is being estimated that, most of the accidents

at workplace are because of unsafe acts by the
behavior of the workers (human) and therefore we
need to take the corrective action by understanding
the cause of such human behavior to:
 Causes of poor behavior whenever
notified/identified to be corrected
 Anticipation of any poor behavior likely to
happen and taking the needful correction
before occurring
Organizational Factors,
including Culture,
Leadership, Resources, work
Patterns, Communications
The organization factors
The organization is the company or corporate
body and has the major influence on health and safety
behavior at all levels (workers). The following are
influencing factors or reasons of the Organization to
the workers.
 Health and safety management system.
Job Factors Including, Task,
Workload, Environment,
Display and Controls,
procedures
The job factors
Jobs may be highly dangerous or present
only negligible risk of injury. Health and safety is an
important element during the design stage of the job
and any machinery or procedures associated with the
job.
The following are the job factors which
influence the human behavior during doing the job.
 The task- Expected from the critical tasks
any likely errors associated with those tasks;
 The nature of the work and its ergonomics.
 The Workload- The work pressure, the
deadline given or demanded,
 Environment- The workplace ventilation,
lighting, noise, temperature, humidity,
available space,

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 Display and Controls- provision of Health

and safety poster display and control
Individual Factors including,
measures. Competence, Skills,
 Procedures- design and presentation of
procedures and operating instructions in the Personality, Attitude, and
simplest terms. Risk Perception
 Communication- Efficient
communications, both immediate and a
period of time
Individual (Personal) factors
 Ergonomics - Ergonomics is the science of Individual or Personal factors, which affect
matching equipment, machines and health and safety, may be defined as any condition or
processes to people rather than the other characteristic of an individual which could cause or
way round. influence him to act in an unsafe manner. They may
An ergonomically designed be physical, mental or psychological in nature
machine will ensure that control levers,
Personal factors, therefore, include issues
dials, meters and switches are sited in a
such as attitude, motivation, training and human error
convenient and comfortable position for the
and their interaction with the physical, mental and
machine operator.
perceptual capability of the individual.
Similarly, an ergonomically
designed workstation will be designed for
the comfort and health of the operator.
Factors relating to the
Chairs, for example, will be designed to ‘individual’ who might increase
support the back properly throughout the
the risk to them while at work.
working day
The factors relating to the individual that
might increase the risk of accidents at work
include;
 Psychological factors of attitude,
 motivation,
 age,
 lack of skill or experience,
 lack of familiarity (or possibly over
familiarity) with the workplace,
 high stress levels, and health problems,
 medical conditions
 physical disability/incapacity
 alcohol or drugs

Checks that could be made to

assess whether a person is
competent.
A person is said to be competent when he
possess a combination of knowledge, skill and
experience, ability & trainings.
Hence competence can be assessed by
verifying certification of training undergone,
awareness shown by the individual on the subject

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matter, ability to carry out work effectively and
efficiently (i.e. Safe completion of work without
defects and also meeting required quality
standards), and finally his number of years of
experience in the relevant field and the exposure
gained during the period.
Other credentials such as his membership
with professional body, participation in network
groups including papers presented shall be
considered.
Attitude
Attitude is the tendency to behave in a
particular way in a certain situation. One of the
principal aims of a good safety culture is to change
behavior. But, if this change is to become permanent,
then attitude will have to change. However, good
intentions are not enough and attitudes and behavior
do not always coincide.
Changing attitudes is notoriously difficult but can be
done using various methods, such as:
 Education and training - workers educated in
the hazards and risks associated with the
machine and the reasons why machine guard
is necessary may change their attitude over
time.
 High-impact interventions - workers put
through high-impact training, where they are
shown pictures of the injuries caused by
failure to use the guard, may change their
attitude very quickly.
 Enforcement - workers forced to use the
guard, by supervision and discipline, will
find that using it becomes a habit. After a
time attitudes change to match behaviour.
 Consultation and involvement in the
decision making process - workers consulted
and involved in the selection, design and
implementation of the guard will feel more
ownership of the process and are more likely
to develop a positive attitude towards guard
use.
Motivation
Motivation is the driving force behind the way
a person acts or the way in which people are
stimulated to act. Involvement in the decision-
making process in a meaningful way to improve
motivation as wills the use of incentive schemes.
However, there are other important influences on
54
motivation such as recognition and promotion
opportunities.
Perception of Risk
Perception can be defined as the way in
which a person interprets information detected by
their senses.
Some hazards in the workplace cannot be detected by
human senses (e.g. carbon monoxide gas is colorless,
odorless and tasteless yet deadly at relatively low
concentrations) so the risk associated with these
hazards will not be perceived.
People with some form of sensory
impairment may not be able to correctly detect
hazards in a workplace.
For example:
a partially-sighted person may not be able to
see trip hazards on the floor, so they are at greater
risk from these hazards than their sighted colleagues.
A color-blind worker may not be able to
differentiate correctly between red and green and this
may create risk to themselves and others. However,
perception goes beyond this simple ―sensory
impairment‖ issue to also cover the way in which a
person‘s brain interprets the information sent to it by
the senses.
A person with fully functioning senses can
still make errors in the way they interpret sensory
information. Other factors that can distort a person‘s
perception of hazard and risk include:
 Illness.
 Stress.
 Fatigue.
 Drugs and alcohol.
 Previous experiences.
 Training and education.
Ways of Improving Worker
Perception of Hazards
Use surveys or discussion groups to establish why
workers don‘t appreciate the presence of a particular
hazard then set about dealing with the issues by:
Example:
 Carrying out safety awareness campaigns
using posters, toolbox talks, etc.
 Developing training programs to increase
awareness of the hazard and its
consequences.
 Highlighting hazards, e.g. using safety signs
to inform employees that hearing protection
is required, or to warn of a hazard, such as
the presence of forklift trucks or wet floors.
Paint and tape can also be used to highlight
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hazards like low objects or changes in level

(e.g. the edge of steps).
 Ensuring that there is adequate lighting.
 Removing distractions such as noise (which
could result in a worker not hearing a
warning) or excessive heat (which can
cause fatigue).

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3.4 Assessing Risk
Meaning of Hazard, Risk,
Risk Profiling and Risk
Assessment
Hazard
Hazard is anything that may have potential
to cause harm.
A hazard is any substance, machine or
situation that has the potential to cause harm or
damage. Hazards will always exist, to some extent, in
the workplace.
Classification of Hazards:
 Physical Hazards- Causing harm due to
physical characters like, electricity, working
at height, radiation, vibration, noise, heat,
trip, slip, moving vehicles, moving
machines.
 Chemical Hazards – Causing harm due to
chemical behavior and its characters like,
lead, mercury, silica, cement, sulphuric acid,
etc.
 Biological Hazards – Causing harm, ill-
health, disease, due to livening micro-
organism. This may cause, hepatitis B, virus
(HBV), rabies virus.
 Ergonomic Hazards- Causing harmful due
to stress, strain. This is commonly due to
repeat movement, material handling, wrong
posture, WRULD
 Psychological Hazards – Causing mental
stress or traumatic condition.
Risk
The risk is the chance or likelihood, that
available hazards will cause harm (low, medium or
high), in the combination with injury, damage or loss
that might happened.
Risk is the likelihood of harm actually
occurring from workplace hazards, and their
consequences. The degree of risk depends on the
likelihood of harm happening and the severity of the
injury, damage or loss that might foreseeably occur.
It is a measure of the likelihood of harm
occurring and the severity of that harm.
Risk = Likelihood × Severity (R=LxS)
56
Risk Profiling: What is
Involved?, Who Should be
Involved?, The Risk Profiling
Process.
Risk Profiling
Risk profiling is a process that, at strategic
level or professional levels the optimum level threat
of risk being recognized including of likelihood and
impact of this.
Risk profiling takes into consideration the
risk management controls that are in place so that
their effectiveness can be assessed and further risk
management controls identified and prioritized
Each organization or company will have its
own risk profile, which gives all aspects of approach
to leading managing health and safety.
Risk profile is a starting stage for determining the
significant health and safety issue of an organization.
Risk profile helps in identify as –
 Nature and level of threats faced by an
organization
 Likelihood of those adverse effects
occurring
 Level of disruption
 Cost involved to mitigate each risk
 Effectiveness of controls in place to manage
those risks
The outcome of the risk profiling will be that the
right risks have been identified and prioritize for
actions.
The Risk Profile Process
The following risk profile to be taken in
consideration.
 Identify the health and safety threats
faced by the organization – These risks can
be due to the nature of the work involved
(confined space, working at height, moving
vehicles, noise, radiation, work related
violence, material handling etc.)
 Identify the health and safety impacts and
the business impacts that might results –
each identified threat will have its own
health and safety impact, if unprotected
worker getting in confined space or
unprotected worker not using eye shield
during welding, causing loss of life or eye
sight may impact organization by disrupting
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Element 3: Managing Risk- Understanding People and Processes

in business, loss of time, compensation or

financial loss and also image of organization
The Purpose of Risk

will have impact.
Identify how well each threat is currently
Assessment and the Suitable
controlled- these control measures must be and Sufficient Standards it
considered during the risk profiling process
to ensure that well controlled threats are not Need to reach
given disproportionate attention
 Identify the likelihood of each threat
occurring – One way to identify the The Purpose of Risk Assessment
likelihood of each threat occurring is to Risk assessment is often a legal requirement, specific
think about the timescale over which that, health and safety law often requires some risk
threat might happen, given the control assessment as a legal requirement.
measures in place.
 Identify the priority of each threat- The specific risk assessment focus solely on one type
During this, putting the order in ascending
or category of hazards covered by the legislation.
or as per required priority and importance.
To Prevent:
Risk Assessment:
A risk assessment is an important step in  Death and personal injury.
protecting workers and business of an organization.  Other types of loss incident.
 Breaches of statute law, which might lead to
Risk Assessment is the standard process of
enforcement action and/or prosecution.
identifying the various hazards, associated with the
work and in around the workplace for the purpose of  The direct and indirect costs that follow on
risk evaluation so that, control measures should be from accidents.
taken to accepted level.
Risk assessment is an essential part of the Example:
planning stage of any good health and safety
 Fire risk assessment
management system.
 Noise risk assessment
“Risk assessment methods are used to  Display screen equipment (DSE)
decide on priorities and to set objectives for workstation assessment
eliminating hazards and reducing risks. Wherever
The aim is to eliminate hazards or to minimize the
possible, risks are eliminated through selection and
risk by the correct application of relevant standards.
design of facilities, equipment and processes.

If risks cannot be eliminated, they are Risk-Assessors-Who can be

minimized by the use of physical controls or, as a
last resort, through systems of work and personal
protective equipment.”
Risk assessments should be carried out by
competent people.
A risk assessment might be carried out by one person
or a team. A team including those of:

 Workers familiar with the tasks and areas to

be assessed.
 Health and safety specialists.
 Technical specialists.
 Line managers.
 Worker safety representatives.

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Objective/Reasons for reviewing A General Approach to Risk

a risk assessment Assessment (5 Steps)
The various circumstances that may require a
review of the risk assessment at a later data include
Steps of the Risk Assessment
circumstances such as change to work processes or
method; (How to assess the risks in your
 introduction of new plant; workplace)
 changes in the scale of production;
There are 5 steps in risk assessment as under.
 the availability of new information
concerning hazardous substances or Step 1: Identify the hazards
processes;
 accidents or occurrences of ill-health; Step 2: Identify who might be harmed and how
 to prevent death or fatal accidents
 results of monitoring, including Step 3: Evaluate the risks and decide on
inspections, audits and health precautions
surveillance;
Step 4: Record the significant findings and
 change in legislation;
implement them
 change affecting personnel(to take
particular account of disablement Step 5: Review assessment and update if necessary
,pregnancy and youth);
 and routinely after the passage of a
reasonable interval of time.

Suitable and sufficient

Assessment
A risk assessment must be suitable and sufficient to
fulfill legal requirements and prevent foreseeable
injuries and ill-health by ensuring-
 Identify those significant risks arising out of
work, which are most likely to occur and
result in harm
 Identify all those persons who are at risks,
including workers and visitors
 Identify Vulnerable people who are at work
can cause harm Here, it is important to identify ―Safety Hazards‖
 Evaluate effectiveness of current measures that might give immediate physical injury and
 Enable employer to identify and prioritize ―Health Hazards‖ that might cause disease or ill-
the measures that must be taken to protect health.
the people from harm,
 Include complying with any relevant legal Safety Hazards: Can be caused by
provision
 Be appropriate to the nature of the work and  Working at height
remain valid for reasonable period of time  Stacked materials
 Assessment should be proportionate to the
risks in the workplace.  Moving Vehicles
 Proportionate to the risks  Manual handling operation
 State validity period  Moving parts of machinery
 Electricity
 Toxic materials
 Corrosive materials
 Deep water
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 Naked flame  Approved code of practices

 Animal / Dog / Snake bites  Guidelines published by HSE
 Violent people  Standards published by British standard
institution (BSI)
Health Hazards: Some hazards can cause  Standards published by International
occupational disease or ill-health conditions. Organization of Standardization (ISO)
Example: needle sticks injury infecting workers with  European Union (EU)
hepatitis virus.  International Labor Organization (ILO)
 National Fire Protection Association
The health Hazards can be classified in following:
 MDMS for chemical plants
Physical hazards: Radiation, vibration, noise,  Safety Journals and magazine
extreme of temperature  Trade Union of local industry or sector
 Trade Association
Chemical Hazards: Mercury, sulphuric acid, silica,  Manufacturer‘s information about operating
cement dust etc. instruction of plant and machinery
 NGO, who take care of child labor / lone
Biological Hazards: HBV, Legiollena bacteria, working persons
rabies virus

Ergonomics hazards: Very repetitive movements,

The practice of risk assessment
stopping, twisting, manual handling The following approach to risk assessment
(five steps) will be used to discuss the process of risk
Psychological hazards: Stress or trauma assessment.

Information Sources Step 1 – Identify the hazards

The information‘s comes from two principle The essential first step in risk assessment is to
sources mainly Internal Information Sources & identify all significant hazards associated with the
External Information Sources. work.

Internal Information Sources: Task Analysis (Job Analysis):

The following, Internal information sources give
an insight into the nature of health and safety issue at
a local, organizational level.
 Accident records
 Ill-health date
 Absence records
 Medical records
 Risk assessment
 Maintenance records and reports
 Safety Representative inspections
 Audit and investigation reports
 Safety committee minutes of meet report
External Information sources
External information sources are useful because
it gives insight into standards including bigger picture
that can be gained from following:
 National Legislation
In these methods, we must identify hazards before
starting of any work by breaking the process of the
task in step by step so that, at each steps, hazards can
be identified.
Task analysis is normally used SREDIM
abbreviation
 S: Select the task to be analyzed
 R: Records the stages of jobs (recording
step by steps breaking down the job)
 E: Evaluate the risk associated with each
steps
 D: Develop the safe working method
 I: Implement the safe working methods
 M: Monitor the effectiveness
Legislation
Knowledge of legal standards that apply to particular
workplace will help in identifying significant
hazards,

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Walk around (Inspection)
Walk around the workplace and look at what
could reasonably be expected to cause harm. They
may have noticed things that are not immediately
obvious to you.
If you are a member of a trade association,
contact them. Many produce very helpful guidance.
Check manufacturer’s
instructions
Usually, any new item being purchased or
new machinery, equipment being brought, refer the
manufacturer‘s instruction before for related hazards
and its periodic maintenance
Incident Data
Have a look back at accident and ill-health, near
miss incident records, these often help to identify the
less obvious hazards.
Remember to think about long-
term hazards to health
Find high levels of noise or exposure to harmful
substances as well as safety hazards.
Step 2 - Decide who might be
harmed and how
We must be clear about who might be
harmed, when identifying people at risk, we must
include workers / operators / maintenance staffs,
cleaners, visitors, member of the public.
Workers/ Operators: are directly involved with the
activity, working nearby can harmed immediately
Maintenance Staff: Are normally involved in
periodic maintenance work or during the breakdown,
they may cause harm
Cleaners: are involved in keeping the machinery or
equipment or workplace clean and can be exposed to
hazards
Contractors: They may be caused harm by the
workers or workers can be harm by these contractors
Visitors: Some visitors may be available and can be
exposed to some risk and hazards
60
Members of the public: Some toxic or chemical
leakage may cause risk to the public
Step 3 - Evaluating the risks and
the adequacy of current controls
During this 3rd step of the risk assessment,
we need to question that, the level of the risk
generated by the hazard is acceptable or does it
require to be reduced?
It is not possible or practicable to eliminate
all risk from the workplace. Residual risk is the risk
that remains once controls have been put in place.
Where risk is reduced to the lowest level that is
reasonably practicable, it is deemed to be at an
acceptable or tolerable level, although the level of
acceptability will vary with the people who may be
affected by the hazard.
If there are clear legal standards about the
controls that should be applied to a particular hazard
in a workplace, then they should be implemented.
There may also be semi-legal codes of practice and
guidance published by enforcement agencies
available.
Generally the higher the risk, the higher the
priority for implementation of precautions.
The risk evaluation can be:
 Qualitative approach (based on opinion) :
depends upon the analysis , simply we
predict hazard to be low, medium, and high
on basis of experiences.
Quantitative approach – numerical calculation of
risk on a graph and taking of some additional
controls. Uses words and numbers to
describe likelihood and severity.
This question could be answer as
 Likelihood,
 Severity &
 Risk Rating
Risk is a combination of the Likelihood- that hazards
will cause harm, with foreseeable severity of injury
and harm may occur. It is a measure of the likelihood
of harm occurring and the severity of that harm.
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Risk (R)=Likelihood x Severity (LS)

Risk Assessment Matrix
Some hazards, create risk to safety-
immediate physical injury, many hazards risk to
health

Example: Many chemical create health risks

which may be acute or chronic in nature.

Acute risk:
Acute health affect are short term effects,
often experienced immediately, after exposure to the
hazards.

Example- exposed to high level of Carbon monoxide

can cause immediate unconsciousness and may
cause deaths.

Chronic Risk:
Chronic health affect are long term effects,
these often occur as a results of routine exposure to Residual, Acceptable and
the hazards. Tolerable Risk
Example- noise induced hearing loss can occur as a
result of frequent exposure of excessively loud noise
Residual Risk
This is a risk associated with the existing
over long duration of month or year.
controls taken in to account.
Risk can be qualitatively described as –
Very high, High, Medium, low or insignificant Acceptable Risk
Risk = Likelihood x Severity If the residual risks is low, than it will be
considered as acceptable risk.
Likelihood Severity
1=Extremely unlikely 1=very minor injury Tolerable Risk
2=Unlikely 2=First aid Injury If the residual risk is high, the decision to be made
3=Possible 3=lost time injury whether, the residual risk is tolerable or
4=likely 4=hospital treatment unacceptable
5=very Probably 5=disabling injury
Tolerable: implies that, not accepted but
can be tolerated for the short time and interim
controls are put in place

Unacceptable: Implies that, the level of risk

is too high and can‘t allow the work to continue.

Priorities and Timescales

The prioritization of the implementation of
risk control measures will depend on the risk rating
(high, medium and low), means higher the risk-
higher the priority.

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In this regard of prioritization, we can assume that,
high risk demand less timescale and low risk may
allow long time scale.
However, Supervisor may not accept the long time
scale and can be immediately implemented for
controls, whereas high risk may delayed but required
immediate controls,
That means, Priority and timescales are not the same
things but linked to each other. Priority is the relative
importance or urgency, whereas timescale is the
length of time given for corrective actions.
Guidance and Legal Standards for
Risk Assessment
What does national law require?
 Sometimes, there are very clear regulations
and codes of practice to be met.
 Often, there is no set standard in law – but
guidance may be available.
 Can you think of who might provide
guidance?
 International standards.
 National legislation.
 Industry standards.
 Guidance from regulators.
General Principles of Prevention
There are some general principles of prevention
that can be applied to eliminate hazards and reduce
risk:
 Avoid risks - where possible.
 Evaluate risks that cannot be avoided -
through the risk assessment process.
 Combat risks at source - by going to the
source of the problem directly (e.g. if there
is a noise hazard in the workplace, tackle the
source of the noise).
 Adapt work to suit the individual - by
applying good ergonomic principles to job
and workplace design (e.g. if people are
becoming tired when carrying out repetitive
work, introduce job rotation).
 Adapt to technical progress - by taking
advantage of new technology as it becomes
available (e.g. buy mobile phones for lone
workers).
 Replace the dangerous with the non-
dangerous or less dangerous - by
62
substituting one hazard with something else
which is less hazardous (e.g. replace a
corrosive chemical with one that does the
same job but is classified as ―irritant‖ and
therefore less harmful).
 Develop a coherent overall prevention
policy – by consistently using the same
approach across the whole organisation.
 Give priority to collective protective
measures over individual protective
measures - by creating a workplace that is
safe for all rather than relying on measures
that only protect one worker at a time (e.g.
install a guard rail rather than rely on PPE).
 Give appropriate instructions to workers –
workers must receive information on the
correct systems of work to be adopted, and
the organisation must also adequately
supervise the workers to ensure that
instructions are followed.
General Hierarchy of Control:
Hierarchy of risk control (as per
ILO OSH 2001 & ISO45001)
When trying to decide what further precaution
might be appropriate to risk control and that is being
done by Hierarchy of risk control.
The Health and Safety management system
states that the organization shall establish a process
for achieving risk reduction based upon the following
hierarchy.
The Health and Safety management system
states that the organization shall establish a process
for achieving risk reduction based upon the following
hierarchy.
a) Elimination
b) Substitution
c) Engineering controls
i. Isolation, total enclosure
ii. Separation, segregation
iii. Partial enclosure
iv. Safety devices
d) Administrative controls.
i. Safe System of work
ii. Reduced exposure
iii. Reduced time of exposure / dose
iv. Information, instruction, training
v. Supervision
e) Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)
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Risks should be reduced to the lowest reasonably
practicable level by taking preventative measures, in
order of priority.
Elimination of the hazard
The best and most effective way of reducing
risks is by avoiding a hazard and its associated risks.
If a hazard can be eliminated, than the risk
created by that hazard disappears. This might be done
by completely avoiding any activity that gives rise to
risk.
Example- an assembly workshop can stop
welding steel in order to avoid the risk of fire in
welding operation, and could buy pre-fabricated
components.
Substitution
Substitution describes the use of a less hazardous
form of a substance or process.
Examples: use of water-based rather than
solvent-based paints;
Engineering Controls
This describes the control of risks by means of
engineering design rather than a reliance on
preventative actions by the employee. There are
several ways of achieving such controls:
1. Control the risks at the source (e.g. the use
of more efficient dust filters or the purchase
of less noisy equipment).
2. Control the risk of exposure by:
 isolating the equipment by the use of an
enclosure, a barrier or guard;
 insulating any electrical or temperature
hazard;
 Ventilating away any hazardous fumes or
gases either naturally or by the use of
extractor fans or hoods.
Isolation or Total Enclosure - the aim here is to
isolate
 the hazard physically so that nobody is
exposed to it.
 This might be done by total enclosure or
containment
 of the hazard, e.g. total enclosure of a
process that
63
 generates dust to prevent its escape. Another
example
 would be an acoustic enclosure of a noisy
machine to
 reduce the noise reaching those nearby.
Separation or Segregation - simply placing the
hazard
 in an inaccessible location. An example
would be
 overhead wires, where an electrical
conductor has been
 placed out of reach. In this case, precautions
have to be
 taken to ensure that a safe distance from the
overhead
 wires is maintained at all times (e.g. the use
of upright
 posts to warn vehicle operators on a
construction site
 of the safety distances for live electrical
overheads).
Partial Enclosure - e.g. a hazardous substance
might
 be handled in a fume hood or partial
enclosure which
 the worker can reach into for handling
purposes; air is
 extracted from the top or back of this partial
enclosure
 so that any airborne contaminants are
extracted from
 the enclosure away from the worker.
Safety devices and features that ensure that the item
 is used in the correct way and not an unsafe
way. For
 example, interlock switches are fitted to
movable
 guards on machinery to ensure that when the
guard
 is open the machine will not operate (but
when the
 guard is closed, it will). With electrical
systems reduced voltage devices, or residual
current devices.
Administrative controls
Safety signs, marking and warning devices
All general health and safety signs used in
the workplace should include a pictorial symbol
categorized by shape, color and graphic image.
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A picture may be worth a thousand words,

but when it comes to graphical symbols for safety-
related information, misunderstanding the message
may have serious consequences the use of
international Standard aims to improve the
understanding and proper application of safety signs
worldwide, regardless of language and culture. Overhead
load
Prohibition
A red circular band with
diagonal crossbar on a white
background, the symbol within
the circle to be black denoting a Safety Safety Not No Access
safety sign that indicates that a Helmet Harness Drinking for
certain behavior is prohibited must be Water Pedestrians
Warning worn
Warning a yellow triangle with
black border and symbol within
the yellow area denoting a
safety sign that gives warning of The following signs are typical of some of the
a hazard
ones most likely to be needed in these premises.
Mandatory Others may be necessary, depending on the hazards
A blue circle with white symbol
and risks present. The wording will of course be in
denoting a sign that indicates
that a specific course of action the relevant local language.
must be taken
I. Overhead obstacles, construction site and
prohibition notices
Safe Condition
A green oblong/rectangle or
square with symbol or text in
white denoting a safety sign
providing information about
safe conditions.
Fire Equipment
A red oblong /rectangle or
square with symbol in white
denoting a safety sign that
indicates the location of fire-
fighting equipment

Example of pictorial safety signs

All workplaces need to display safety signs
of some kind but deciding what is required can be
confusing. Here are the basic suggestions for the
majority of small premises or site like small
construction sites, canteens, shops, small workshop
units and offices. This does not cover any sign which
food hygiene law may require
II. Wet floors

These need to be used wherever a slippery area is

not cordoned off. Lightweight stands holding double-
sided signs are readily available

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III. Chemical storage

Where hazardous cleaning chemicals are

stored, apart from keeping the store locked, a suitable
warning notice should be posted if it is considered
this would help to reduce the risk of injury

VI. First--Aid

Signs showing the location of first-aid facilities will

be needed. Advice on the action to take in the case of
electric shock is no longer a legal requirement but is
recommended

IV. Fire safety signs

These are needed to indicate emergency

routes and emergency exits

VII. Gas pipes and LPG cylinder stores

LPG cylinder stores should have the sign shown

V. Fire action signs

These are needed to show actions necessary in an

emergency such as sounding a fire alarm, location of
fire extinguishers or hose reels

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XI. Other signs and posters

There may be other specific signs or posters

required by national legislation; here are examples:

 Health and Safety Law — What you should

know there is a legal requirement to display
this poster or distribute an equivalent
leaflet).
 Certificate of Employer‗s Liability
Insurance (there is a legal requirement to
VIII. No smoking
display this)
Where smoking is not permitted the no-smoking  Scalds and burns are common in kitchens. A
sign is required. In many EU member states under poster showing recommended action is
smoking -free legislation substantially enclosed areas advisable, for example-First-Aid for Burns.
should have a sign

IX. Fragile roofs sign

Should be erected at roof access points and at the top

of the outside walls where ladders may be placed

X. Obstacles dangerous locations
For example low head height, tripping hazard, etc. —
alternating yellow and black stripes
Administrative controls:
Reduced time exposure
This involves reducing the time during the
work that the employee is exposed to the hazard, by
giving the employee either other work or rest periods.
It is normally only suitable for the control of health
hazards associated with, for example, noise,
vibration, excessive heat or cold, display screens and

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hazardous substances.
Administrative controls:
Isolation/segregation
Controlling risks by isolating them or
segregating people and the hazard is an effective
control measure and is used in many instances; for
example separating vehicles and pedestrians on
factory sites, providing separate walkways for the
public on road repairs, providing warm rooms on
sites or noise refuges in noisy processes.
The principle of isolation is usually followed
with the storage of highly flammable liquids or gases
which are put into open, air-ventilated compounds
away from other hazards such as sources of ignition,
or away from people who may be at risk from fire or
explosion.
Administrative controls: Safe
systems of work
Operating procedures or safe systems of work
(SSW) are probably the most common form allows
methodical execution of tasks. The development of
safe operating procedures should address the hazards
that have been identified in the risk assessment. The
system of work describes the safe method of
performing the job or activity. A safe system of work
is often a requirement of national legislation and is
dealt with in detail later.
Administrative controls:
Training
Training helps people acquire the skills,
knowledge and attitudes to make them competent in
the health and safety aspects of their work.
Organizations need to ensure that they have effective
arrangements for identifying and receiving relevant
health and safety information from outside the
organization including:
 Ensuring that pertinent health and safety
information is communicated to all people in
the organization who need it;
 ensuring that relevant information is
communicated to people outside the
organization who require it;
 Encouraging feedback and suggestions from
employees on health and safety matters.
67
Anyone who is affected by what is happening in
the workplace will need to be given safety
information. This does not only apply to staff. It can
also apply to visitors, members of the public and
contractors.
Information to be provided for people in a
workplace includes:
 who is at risk and why;
 how to carry out specific tasks safely;
 correct operation of equipment;
 emergency action;
 accident and hazard reporting procedures;
 The safety responsibilities of individual
people.
Information can be provided in a variety of ways.
These include safety signs, posters, newsletters,
memos, emails, personal briefings, meetings, toolbox
talks, formal training, written safe systems of work
and written health and safety arrangements.
Administrative controls:
Monitoring and supervision
All risk control measures, whether they rely
on engineered or human behavioral controls, must
monitored for their effectiveness, with supervision to
ensure that they have been applied correctly.
Competent people who have a sound knowledge of
the equipment or process should undertake this
monitoring.
Where the organization is involved with
shift work, it is essential that the risk controls are
monitored on all shifts to ensure the uniformity of
application. The effectiveness and relevance of any
training or instruction given should be monitored.
Personal protective equipment
(PPE)
Personal protective equipment (PPE) can provide
very limited protection and should only be used as a
last resort, when all other control measures have been
used or discarded. There are many reasons for this.
Equipment’s, which protects from one or more
risk to safety and health, is called Personal
Protective equipment.
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Element 3: Managing Risk- Understanding People and Processes

If PPEs fails, person can be in danger or high risks.

Benefits of PPEs
It gives immediate protection to allow a job to
continue
In an emergency it can be the only practicable way to
effecting rescue or
It is usually cheaper

It can be used as an interim control

This will be good back up control when other

Factors to Consider during
controls fails selection of PPE:
 Type of hazards
 Compliance with standards
Limitations of PPEs  Comfort
It protects only one person at a time  Compatibility
 Costs
If not fitted correctly, it may not protect adequately  Hygiene problems
 Storage
It may not be comfortable and interfere in job
Employers should:
It may increase impairing senses
 Supply suitable PPE:
It may not be compatible with other item which is  Appropriate for risk.
being used  Ergonomic.
People hesitate or some time do not like to wear  Fits the wearer.
PPEs
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 Doesn‘t increase overall risk. Collective Protection Over

 Complies with standards.
 Ensure compatibility of items. Personal Protection
 Suitable storage. Collective Protection: Those protection which
 Information, instruction and training. protect everyone or whole workplace (SAFE
 Enforce use of PPE. PLACE)
 Replace or repair damaged or lost items.
Personal Protection: That protection which protects
an individual (SAFE PERSON),
Benefits of PPE Limitations of PPE
These two are the concepts of safe place and safe
 Interim  Doesn‘t remove person.
control. hazard.
Safe Place: The environment of the workplace,
 Some  Only protects the
where emphasis is on protection through correct
situations – wearer.
only control  Requires good fit. design, selection and engineering of premises,
option.  Relies on wearer. machinery equipment, process and substances
 Emergency  Requires training.
Safe Person: Individual behavior, where emphasis
back-up.  Uncomfortable.
on the competence of workers who have received
 Cheap (short-  May increase adequate information, instruction and training and
term). overall risk. follow SSW.
 Immediate  Incompatibility.

protection. Unpopular, so
Examples for Prevention of Risk
often unworn.
 Fails to danger. There are different ways of reducing or preventing
 No good if risks:
wrongly selected.  Avoiding risks wherever possible.
 Contamination.  Evaluating risks which cannot be avoided
 Expensive long through risk assessment.
term.  Controlling hazards at source.
 Adapting to technical progress.
 Replacing the dangerous with the non-
dangerous or less dangerous
PPEs should be considered as the last preferred  Adapting work and designing the workplace
option when controlling a risk due to the following to meet the requirements of individuals.
reasons:  Developing a coherent overall prevention
policy.
 Fails to prevent accident
 Giving priority to collective protective
 Poor selection/fit can reduce the
measures over individual protective
effectiveness
measures
 Lack of comfort
 Giving appropriate training, information and
 Incompatibility with other PPE
supervision to workers.
 Misuse or non-use
 Relies on action being taken by user
 May create additional hazards
Why hierarchy
 Relies on management commitment ILO advises (in the ILO-OSH 2001 management
system guidelines) that hazards and risks to workers‘
health and safety should be identified and assessed on
an ongoing basis. Preventative and protective
measures should be implemented in the following
order of priority:
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Element 3: Managing Risk- Understanding People and Processes
a) eliminate the hazard/risk;
b) control the hazard/risk at source, through the
use of engineering controls or organizational
measures;
c) minimize the hazard/risk by the design of
safe work systems, which include
administrative control measures; and
d) Where residual hazards/risks cannot be
controlled by collective measures, the
employer should provide for appropriate
personal protective equipment, including
clothing, at no cost, and should implement
measures to ensure its use and maintenance
Residual, Acceptable and
Tolerable Risk
Residual Risk
This is a risk associated with the existing controls
taken in to account.
Acceptable Risk
If the residual risks is low, than it will be considered
as acceptable risk.
Tolerable Risk
If the residual risk is high, the decision to be made
whether, the residual risk is tolerable or
unacceptable
Tolerable: implies that, not accepted but
can be tolerated for the short time and interim
controls are put in place
Unacceptable: Implies that, the level of risk
is too high and can‘t allow the work to continue.
Priorities and Timescales
The prioritization of the implementation of
risk control measures will depend on the risk rating
(high, medium and low), means higher the risk-
higher the priority.
In this regard of prioritization, we can
assume that, high risk demand less timescale and low
risk may allow long time scale.
However, Supervisor may not accept the
long time scale and can be immediately implemented
70
for controls, whereas high risk may delayed but
required immediate controls,
That means, Priority and timescales are not the
same things but linked to each other. Priority is the
relative importance or urgency, whereas timescale is
the length of time given for corrective actions.
Step 4- Recording significant
findings & implement
It is very useful to keep a written record of the
risk assessment even if there are less than five
employ in the organization. For an assessment to be
‘suitable' " and sufficient‘, only the significant
hazards and conclusions need be recorded.
The record should include details of the groups
of people affected by hazards and the existing control
measures and their effectiveness. The conclusions
should identify any new controls required and a
review date.
We do not expect a risk assessment to be perfect,
but it must be suitable and sufficient. You need to be
able to show that: a proper check was made;

Asked who might be affected;
 Dealt with all the significant hazards,
 taking into account the number of people
who could be involved;
 the precautions are reasonable, and the
remaining risk is low; and
 Involved staff or their representatives in the
process
 Date of next review
Step 5 - Review and update
The risk controls should be reviewed
periodically. This is equally true for the risk
assessment as a whole. Review and revision may be
necessary when conditions change as a result of the
introduction of new machinery, processes or hazards.
There may be new information on hazardous
substances or new legislation. There could also be
changes in the workforce, for example the
introduction of trainees.
The risk assessment needs to be review only if
significant changes have taken place since the last
assessment was done.
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Element 3: Managing Risk- Understanding People and Processes

 Process  Less developed and poor communication

 Substances skills
 Equipment
 Workplace environment For the above reasons, organization should be careful
 Personal where young person is doing work, it may be
 Legal standard necessary to-

An accident or incident or a series of minor ones  Carry out risk assessments specifically with
provides a good reason for a review of the risk young person in mind
assessment. This is known as the post-accident risk  Prohibit a young person from carrying out a
assessment. certain high risk activities
 Restrict their work patterns and hours (shift
 Accident change – no night shift / overtime)
 Near  Train and supervise them more and more
 Ill-Health  Provide mentoring to improve
communication skills
Application of Risk  Provide specific health surveillances.

Assessment for Specific Young people should not be

Types and Special Cases
Special cases and Vulnerable
Workers
There are several groups of persons who
require an additional risk assessment due to their
being more at risk than other groups.
Five such groups will be considered- young
persons, expectant and nursing, mothers, and
workers with a disability, lone workers and business
travelers.
Young persons
Young person is often defined a person
under the age of 18 years.
Any risk assessment involving young people
needs to consider the particular vulnerability of
young persons in the workplace. Due to following
reasons:
 lack of experience a
 lack of awareness of risks in the workplace,
 Poor perception of risk
 Physically and mentally immature
 Tendency to be subject to peer pressure
 Willingness to work hard and eager to show
 more vulnerable to physical and chemical
than adults.
71
employed to do work which:
 Is beyond their physical or psychological
capacity;
 Exposes them to substances chronically
harmful to human health, for example toxic
or carcinogenic substances or effects likely
to be passed on genetically or likely to harm
an unborn child;
 Exposes them to radiation;
 Involves a risk of accidents which they are
unlikely to recognize because of, for
example, their lack of experience, training or
insufficient attention to safety;

Involves a risk to their health from extreme
heat, noise or vibration.
Induction training is important
for young workers and such
training should include
 site rules,
 restricted areas,
 prohibited machines and processes,
 fire precautions,
 emergency procedures,
 welfare arrangements and
 details of any further training related to their
particular job.
At induction, they should be introduced to their
mentor and given close supervision, particularly
during the first few weeks of their employment.
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Element 3: Managing Risk- Understanding People and Processes
Expectant and Nursing Mothers
(New and Expectant Mothers)
Pregnant workers (new mothers while
breastfeeding or for the first six months) should not
be exposed to chemicals, such as pesticides and lead,
or to biological hazards, such as hepatitis. Female
agricultural workers, veterinary workers or farmer‘s
wives who are pregnant, should not assist with
lambing so that any possible contact with ovine
Chlamydia is avoided.
Factors which might affect such
women are: (Hazards to
Pregnant women / new mother)
 manual handling,
 chemical or biological agents (e.g. lead and
the rubella virus);
 passive smoking;
 lack of rest room facilities;
 temperature variations;
 ergonomic issues related to prolonged
standing, sitting or the need for awkward
body movement;
 issues associated with the use and wearing
of
 personal protective equipment;
 working excessive hours;
 night working; and
 Stress and violence to staff.
 arduous work involving the manual lifting,
carrying, pushing or pulling of loads;
 work involving exposure to biological,
chemical physical agents which represent a
reproductive health hazard;
 work requiring special equilibrium;
 Work involving physical strain due to
prolonged periods of sitting or standing, to
extreme temperatures, noise or to vibration.
Workers with disability
From a health and safety point of view, it is
important that the workers with a disability are
covered by special risk assessments so that
appropriate controls are in place to protect them.
For example, employees with a hearing
problem will need to be warned when the fire alarm
72
sounds or a fork-lift truck approaches. Special
vibrating signals or flashing lights may be used.
The special risk assessment should identify:
 The jobs with particular health and fitness
requirements.
 The types of disability that would make
certain jobs unsuitable
 The staff whose disabilities would exclude
them from undertaking those jobs safely;
 and screen staff against these criteria — this
may have the effect of excluding those with
a certain disability from doing these jobs
(e.g. fork-lift truck driving)
It is important to recognize that there may be
other employment and anti-discrimination legislation
that should be considered before the findings of the
risk assessment are finalized.
Lone Workers
People work alone, like those in small
workshops, remote areas of a large site, social
workers, sales personal or mobile maintenance staff
should not be at more risk than other employees.
Lone workers are a group of workers who
are especially vulnerable in certain situations. If, for
example, the worker is in contact with members of
the public, they may be at risk of assault from people
who could be violent. People who work alone in
confined spaces could also be at risk if they have an
accident or become ill. There are, however, no
absolute restrictions on working alone; it will depend
on the findings of a risk assessment.
It is important to consider whether the risks
of the job can be properly controlled by one person.
Other considerations in the risk assessment include:
 Does the particular workplace present a
special risk to someone working alone?
 Is there safe entrance and exit from the
workplace ? Can all the equipment and
substances be safely
 Handled by one person?
 Is violence from others a risk?
 Would women and young person‘s be
especially at risk?
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 Is the worker medically fit and suitable for

working alone?
 Are special training and supervision
required?
 Has the worker access to first-aid?

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3.5 The Management of
Change
Typical types of change faced
in the workplace and the
possible impact of such
change, including:
construction works, change
of process, change of
equipment, change in
working practices
Management of Change (MOC) is a best
practice used to ensure that the risks and hazards are
properly controlled when an organization makes
changes to their facilities, operations, or
personnel. Having a properly implemented MOC
policy in place when implementing changes can help
ensure that new hazards aren‘t introduced and the
risk levels of existing hazards aren't being increased.
Inadequate MOC on the other hand has the potential
to increase risks to the health and safety of
employees.
The objective of a management of change
process is to enhance occupational health and safety
at work, by minimizing the introduction of new
hazards and OH&S risks into the work environment
as changes occur (e.g. with technology, equipment,
facilities, work practices and procedures, design
specifications, raw materials, staffing, standards or
regulations).
Depending on the nature of an expected change,
the organization can use an appropriate
methodologies (e.g. design review) for assessing the
OH&S risks and the OH&S opportunities of the
change.
The need to manage change can be an outcome
of planning.
74
The organization shall establish a processes for
the implementation and control of planned temporary
and permanent changes that impact OH&S
performance, including:
 new products, services and processes, or
changes to existing products, services and
processes, including:
 workplace locations and surroundings;
o work organization;
o working conditions;
o equipment;
o work force;
 changes to legal requirements and other
requirements;
 changes in knowledge or information about

hazards and OH&S risks;
developments in knowledge and technology.
The organization shall review the consequences of
unintended changes, taking action to mitigate any
adverse effects, as necessary.
How managing the impact of change
 By effective Communication and co-
operation
 By adequate Risk assessment
 By appointment of competent people
 By segregation of work areas
 By amendment of emergency procedures
 By extending welfare provision
Effective MOC involves review of all
significant changes to ensure that an acceptable level
of safety will be maintained after the change has been
implemented. From this evaluation, the proposed
change can either be set for implementation,
amended to make it more safe, or rejected entirely.
Should the change be implemented, personnel should
be informed about the change and how to maintain a
safe workspace in this new environment.
Managing the Impact of
Change
Impact of Change:
Workplaces experience change routinely.
Changes may be due to construction work (often
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Element 3: Managing Risk- Understanding People and Processes
referred to as temporary works), change of process,
change of equipment or change of working practices.
Temporary works include short-term
building projects, building maintenance, renovation,
demolition and excavation works. Temporary works
can be very minor, short-duration work, such as
painting and decorating a small office, repair of
damage to coping stones on top of a brick wall or
excavation of a shallow trench to give access to
buried telephone wires. They can also include major
construction projects, such as the construction of a
large extension to a distribution depot, demolition of
a derelict building on factory premises or major
refurbishment works to both the exterior and interior
of a 100-year-old civic building.
The hazards of temporary works can also present risk
to others who are working in the workplace when the
work is underway and those who might be visiting
and passing through or by the work area.
Example: External glass cleaning work undertaken
by external contractors at a shopping mall run by
local council could potentially present risk to-
 The workers themselves
 Shopping Mall staffs
 Shopping Mall customers
 Members of the public passing by the
outside the working site.
Risk Assessment
The temporary works or other change and its
impact on the existing workplace must be fully risk
assessed. This assessment must include consideration
of the hazards associated with the work and those
created by the impact of the work on the existing
workplace. Proper consideration must be given to all
of the people who might be affected by the hazards
with special consideration given to vulnerable groups
such as children, the elderly, the disabled, etc.
It is the employer‘s duty to carry out a
suitable and sufficient risk assessment for the work
activity. This duty would therefore fall to any
contractor engaged in the work activity but would
also fall to any employer occupying a workplace
where the work was taking place. The risk
assessment requirement is, in effect, a shared duty.
75
Communication and Co-
operation
Effective communication and co-operation
between the various parties undertaking the work and
all those affected by the work is essential. This must
be achieved by proper planning of the temporary
works or change. Information on the hazards and
risks present in the existing workplace and created by
the temporary works must be exchanged. In this way,
the employer in control of the existing workplace can
anticipate foreseeable risks to their employees
created by the works.
This communication and co-operation is
best achieved by pre-work planning meetings of all
of the parties involved. Such meetings are best
conducted at the works site in order to anticipate site-
specific issues.
Appointment of Competent
People
All of the people involved in temporary
works or change must be competent. This includes
not only the workers involved in the work itself, but
also those involved in the management of the work.
‗Competent‘ means sufficient training, skills,
experience and knowledge (and perhaps other
abilities such as attitude and physical ability) to be
able to carry out their work safely.
Segregation
The area where the temporary works or
change is to take place must be effectively segregated
from the existing workplace. This should be
accomplished by use of physical barriers and signage.
Access points to the work site must be controlled to
prevent unauthorized access.
Signage may need to be used at these access
points to indicate additional rules that may apply
within the work area (such as use of PPE).
Segregation is necessary to prevent unauthorized
people getting into the areas where the temporary
works are taking place. This might include
employees of the workplace where the work is taking
place, customers and members of the public who
want to pass through the work area. Segregation is
also necessary to protect the worker engaging in the
work from other routine work activities taking place
in their vicinity, such as workplace vehicle
movements.
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Emergency Procedures
Consideration must be given to the
emergency procedures that may have to be
established because of the nature of the temporary
works or change. For example, work involving the
use of cherry pickers (mobile elevating work
platform) may require the development of an
emergency procedure in case a worker should
become stranded in the cradle of the machine.

Welfare Provision
Adequate welfare provision must be made
for the workers engaged in the temporary works or
change. This will include issues such as access to:
 Drinking water.
 Changing rooms.
 Storage for clothing.
 Sanitary conveniences.
 Washing facilities.
 Rest and eating facilities.

Review of Change
Review
It is important that as the planned changes
are introduced and implemented, there is a regular
review process to ensure that health and safety risks
are controlled. This review should involve all of the
relevant stakeholders and forms an inherent part of
the communication and co-operation process.

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There are three key elements of Safe System

3.6 Safe Systems of Work at Work (SSW)
for General Work a) The SSW is formal- must be documented
and recorded
Activities b) It results from systematic examination of
work in order to identify the hazards – it is
Why workers should be result of risk assessment
c) It defines safe methods – it is safe procedure
involved when developing and safe work instruction.
safe systems of work
Factors that should be
What is a Safe System of Work considered when developing a
In simple terms, a safe system of work is a
Safe System of Work. (PEME)
defined method for doing a job in a safe way. It takes
account of all foreseeable hazards to health and
To be effective, the SSW brings together People,
safety and seeks to eliminate or minimize these. Safe
Equipment, Materials & environment (PEME).
systems of work are normally formal and
 People
documented, for example, in written operating
a) Who is the SSW for
procedures but, in some cases, they may be verbal.
b) Number of people working on the task,
The adoption of a safe system of work c) involvement of vulnerable persons,
provides this integral approach because an effective d) Level of competence or technical ability
safe system: they should have including and training
requirements.
 is based on looking at the job as a whole
 Starts from an analysis of all foreseeable  Equipment
hazards, e.g. physical, chemical, health; a) Plant or equipment worked on,
b) tools /equipment required for
SSW brings together all the necessary precautions, carrying out work,
including design, physical precautions, training, c) requirement of safety
monitoring, procedures and personal protective equipment
equipment and PPE. d) hazards associated with the job
and equipment.
A safe system of work (SSW) is a formal
procedure based on systematic examination of work  Materials
in order to identify the hazards, it defines safe a) Materials used or handled during job
methods of working that eliminate those hazards, or and their requirement to be safe both
minimize the risk associated with them. It is the during raw and finished stage,
responsibility of the employer to provide safe system b) What are the hazards and appropriate
of work to the worker. quality standards,
c) waste disposal requirements.
Introduction of Safe System at
 Environment
Work a) effective control of space (lighting,
In simple terms, a safe system of work temperature and ventilation)
(SSW) is a formal procedure based on systematic b) Safe levels of noise and vibration,
examination of work in order to identify the hazards, c) effective control of dust, fumes,
it defines safe methods of working that eliminate radiation, chemical and biological
those hazards, or minimize the risk associated with hazards, means of access and egress,
them. d) good standards of welfare amenity
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provision-sanitation, hand washing,
showers, clothing storages, catering,
drinking water and first Aid.
Worker Involvement
Why it is important to involve
workers in the development of
safe system of work.
When developing a safe system of work,
if workers are involved, it will help to improve
their perception of hazard and risk association
with it. Moreover, workers may have more
exposure and hand-on experience with
machineries and the workplace scenarios, hence
may provide more workable solution/ control
measures, implementing their ideas, will create a
sense of ownership and motivate them to comply
with. hence there will be less compliance
concerns.
Why procedures should be
recorded/written down
Written Procedures
Why it is important for safe
system of work to be in writing.
Safe system of work (SSW) needs to be
developed for such activities where hazard cannot
be eliminated or physically separated from
workers. Thus is addition to technical controls,
safe work methods will be determined in written?
Having SSW in writing will help to maintain
record which can be used in training workers on
SSW. Keeping SSW in writing will allow for
future reference and revision as and when
required.
Extracts of SSW / Standard Operating
Procedures in writing can be displayed on work
station to constantly remind a worker. Written
SSW would enable for appraisal in safety to
committee meeting, and will also help for audit
purpose.
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Written procedures benefits :
 Ensure consistency.
 Provide a basis for training.
 Establish a standard (can be checked).
 Provide a written record for incident
investigations/regulatory inspections.
SSW Can be in many forms:
 Checklists.
 Short notes.
 Detailed manuals.
Importance of written SSW
 It provides precise reference for all the
workers
 It ensures consistency of methods, as
procedures.
 legal reasons as standards to be followed by
the organization.
 It serves as a reliable process for
communication where work is too complex.\
 Also for the purpose for continual
improvement, so that changes can be made.
Roles and Responsibilities
towards SSW
Responsibility of the employer:
 Ensure SSW are available for activities that
create significant risk, e.g. maintenance.
Role of competent persons:
 Developed by people who can identify and
control hazards.
Workers involvement:
 Active part in development of SSW.
 Gains commitment helps culture.
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The differences between
technical, procedural and
behavioural controls
Technical, Procedural and
Behavioral Controls
A SSW will involve the following controls.
Technical Control: Applied directly to the hazard in
order to minimize the risk. This may involve fencing,
barriers, or different kind to isolate workers from the
hazard as far as possible or machine guarding /
security devices built into equipment to stop its
operation if there is fault.
Procedural Control: should be applied the way in
which work should be carried out in relation to the
hazard. This will specify the exact task involved,
their sequence, safety actions and checks that should
be taken if fault occurs.
Behavioral Control: This control applies to an
individual that how the individual workers act to the
hazards. This include general points and good
practice at the workplace,
Competence for developing SSW for confined
space.
 level of supervision
 competent worker
 atmospheric testing and monitoring
 ventilation
 Communication system.
Developing a Safe System of
Work
As a part of planning, SSW is developed by
task analysis prior to the work commencing.
Task Analysis (Job Analysis):
In these methods, we must identify hazards before
starting of any work by breaking the process of the
task in step by step so that, at each steps, hazards can
be identified.
Task analysis is normally used SREDIM
79
abbreviation
 S: Select the task to be analyzed
 R: Records the stages of jobs (recording
step by steps breaking down the job)
 E: Evaluate the risk associated with each
steps
 D: Develop the safe working method
 I: Implement the safe working methods
 M: Monitor the effectiveness
Example- A moving vehicle’s wheel got
puncture. The task analysis should be as
under:
Step1: Safely parking the vehicle
Step2: Remove the punctured wheel
Step3: Fit the spare wheel tightly
Step4: Keep the punctured wheel in vehicle.
During each step the risk to be evaluated
which should not be cause any harm while
changing the wheel of the vehicle.
Introducing controls and
Formulating Procedures
Once the risk evaluation has been done, safe
working methods to be developed which is little
critical.
Therefore, to overcome any criticality in
development of Safe working methods, worker‘s
involvement is must. They may raise concerns at the
initial stage and safe working methods can be
developed with ownership.
Instruction and Training
A key step in developing safe working methods, is
the provision of instruction, information and training.
In some cases, if the worker have a competence, to
interrupt and correctly follow new methods, simply
informing them of changes to existing methods will
be sufficient otherwise detailed training should be
provided to know the new methods.
Monitoring
The last step of the task analysis is to monitor
safe working method implemented at work
periodically to ensure that-
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a. The new safe working methods correctly Confined Space:

followed and applied, if not, improve the
supervision
b. The new safe working methods not safe,
than ensure the needful amendment

Factors to be considered when

developing a SSW.
It is recognized that each organization must have
the freedom to devise systems that match the risk
potential of their operations and which are practicable  Enclosed in nature
in their situation. However, they should take account (ventilation will be restricted and access/
of the following factors in making their decision: egress may be difficult).
 One or more foreseeable
Types of risk involved in the operation specified risks exist:
 Fire or explosion.
c. What is the task being taken, magnitude of  Loss of consciousness from gas,
the risk, including consideration of the worst
fumes, vapour, lack of oxygen.
foreseeable loss
 Drowning.
d. What equipment and materials are required
 Asphyxiation from free-flowing
for the task & complexity of the operation
solid.
e. Who will be carrying out the task,
 Loss of consciousness from
f. How many people are working,
temperature.
g. Knowledge level and any vulnerable person
involved Confined-Space Control Measures
h. What are the hazards associated with job
and past accident and loss experience  Do not work inside a confined space if
i. What controls are recommended by the possible.
manufacturer  Carry out a risk assessment.
j. What are emergency provision in place  Develop safe system of work.
k. Are the available control is sufficient or  Emergency arrangements.
additional controls are required  Permit-to-work.
l. the type of documentation needed  Trained personnel.
m. How the system of work will be monitor.
Consider the following when developing Safe System
SSW- Instruction, Training and of Work for Confined Spaces: Supervision.

Monitoring & Supervision:  Competency.

 Information, Instruction, Training and  Communication.
Supervision (IITS)  Atmospheric testing/monitoring.
 May need detailed training in the SSW.  Ventilation.
 Must monitor to ensure‖  Removal of residues.
 SSW is being applied correctly  Isolation, lock off of
 SSW is as safe as was intended. in-feeds and out-feeds.
 Isolation, lock off of electrical/mechanical
Specific Examples of SSW: hazards.
1. Confined spaces.  PPE.
2. Lone working.  Access/egress.
3. Travelling abroad.  Fire prevention.
 Lighting.
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 Suitability of individuals.
 Emergency/rescue procedures.
SSW for Lone Workers:
Safe System of Work
Lone Working:
 No lone working for high-risk activities, e.g.
confined spaces
 Remote supervision.
 Logging workers‘ locations.
 Mobile phones or radios.
 Lone-worker alarm systems.
 Procedures for lone workers.
 Emergency procedures.
 Training for workers.
SSW for Working and Travelling Abroad:
 Travelling is not the same as a holiday.
 Brings additional hazards.
 Risks when travelling related to:
 Security.
 Health.
 Workers may also be ―lone workers‖.
 Some areas are not recommended for travel
– see local websites, e.g. FCO at:
www.fco.gov.uk/en/travel-and-living-
abroad/travel-advice-by-country
SSW for Working Abroad:
Employers have a duty to workers whom
they send to work abroad and should
provide:
 Pre- and post-visit briefings.
 Insurance.
 Health advice and vaccinations.
 Financial arrangements.
 Security training and advice.
 Cultural requirements advice.
 Accommodation.
 In-country travel.
 Emergency arrangements
Why should workers be involved
in developing a safe system of
work?
for It is best practice to involve the workforce or
representatives of the labor force in any development,
modification or assessment of safe systems of work.
The people actually doing the job will understand
what is practical and what will work.
Since the workers or their representatives
are involved in the development of safety systems of
work, there will be a high level of ownership among
the employees towards the management system in
general and towards the safe system of work in
particular.
This will also increase the likelihood of
voluntary compliance with the procedures amongst
the workers. When the safe system of work is
finalized, it must be adequately communicated to the
workforce.
What types of information should
be included in a written safe
system of work?
Safe systems of work involves the
assessments of all aspects of the task and the risks it
presents, which includes the plant and substances,
potential failures of machinery, toxic hazards,
electrical hazards, design limits, risks of
inadvertently operating automatic controls, the
delegation, training levels of the workers, foreseeable
human errors, short cuts, ability to cope in an
emergency, the weather conditions, lighting, hazards
from adjacent processes or contractors, the work
procedures involved, potential failures in work
methods and lack of foresight of infrequent events.
All these should be recorded in the written safe
system of work and safe methods should be created
against handling all the risks involved.
This involves all the elements of control in
the general hierarchy of controls:
Technical or engineering controls applied
directly to the hazard in order to minimize the risk.
This may involve fencing or barriers of different
kinds to isolate workers from the hazard as far as
possible, or security devices designed into equipment
to stop its operation if there is a fault.
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3.7 Permit-to-Work
Systems (PTW)
Meaning of a Permit – to-
Work System
Definition
A Permit-to-work (PTW) system is a formal,
documented, safety procedure, forming part of a safe
system of work, which ensures that, all necessary
action are taken before, during and after particularly
high risk work with the specific permission of an
authorized manager.
Permit to work system is applicable to all high
risk activities as Typical applications:
 Hot work (involving naked flames, or
creation of ignition sources).
 High-voltage electrical systems.
 Confined-space entry.
 Operational pipelines.
 Excavation near buried services.
 Complex machinery.
 Working at height.
What are work permits that may be used in a
chemical plant?
 Hot Work Permit
 High Voltage Electric System Permit
 Operational Pipe line Permit
 Confined Space Permit
 Work at Height
 Danger Chemicals Handling Permit
 Complex Machinery Permit
 Excavation Permit for buried lines
The permit document will typically specify the
following key items of information
 what work is to be done
 the plant/equipment involved, and how they
are identified
 The date, time and duration of the permit;
 A description and assessment of the task to
be performed and its location;
82
 The plant/equipment involved, and how it is
identified;


The authorized persons to do the work;
The steps which have already been taken to
make the plant safe;
 Potential hazards which remain, or which

may arise as the work proceeds;
The precautions to be taken against these
hazards;
 The action to be taken prior to the task being
started, such as:
a. The isolation of sources of energy and
outlets
b. emergency procedures and equipment;
c. ensuring the competency of those involved;
d. communication arrangements; and
e. reference to any other relevant documents;
 The equipment to be released to those who
are to carry out the work.
In accepting the permit, the person in charge of
doing the authorized work normally undertakes to
take/ maintain whatever precautions are Explained in
the permit, such as:
 isolation of the area;
 carrying out atmospheric monitoring;
 the provision and use of personal protective
equipment;
 The provision of suitable equipment
including lighting and tools;
 ensuring an adequate level of supervision;
and
 Arrangements for any extension to or the
permit.
The permit will also include spaces for:
 a signature certifying that the work is
 A signature confirming re-acceptance of the
equipment.
Role and function of a Permit-to-
work system
The permit to work procedure is a
specialized type of safe system of work for ensuring
that potentially very dangerous work (e.g. entry into
process plant and other confined spaces) is done
safely.
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Safe systems of work are crucial in work Clearance

such as the maintenance of chemical plant where the
 Handover back of permit to competent
potential risks are high and the careful coordination
person
of activities and precautions is essential to safe
 Workers signed to say they have left the job
working. In this situation and others of similar risk
site and equipment can restart.
potential, the safe system of work is likely to take the
form of a permit to work procedure.
Cancellation,
Section of a Permit-to-work  Competent/Authorized person
accepts plant back
system
Usually has following sections
 Can remove isolations etc.,
 Plant is now returned to the control
 Issue of the ―site‖.
 Receipt
 Clearance/return to service Extension
 Cancellation
This section is included in some PTW in
 Extension
case there is overrun of the work. It allows the
competent person / authorizing manager to grant an
Issue – Pre Job Check extension to the timescales of the permit
 Description of work to be carried out,
 Description of plant and location,
PTW are often issued in triplicate set.
 Assessment of hazards,
 Identification of controls, 1. One copy displayed at work site
 Additional permits e.g. hot work, 2. One copy is with competent / authorized
 Isolation of services, manager
 PPE and 3. One copy displayed in common central
 Emergency procedures location (Permit board) along with other
permit for clear communications
Receipt
 handover of permit to Competent and What roles should be allocated in
authorized person
 issues permit to workers
a permit-to-work system?
 Person requiring the job to be done (Permit
 Workers sign to say they accept controls
originator)
 Work can now start  Person working under the terms of the
permit (Permit user)
 Person authorising the permit for issue
(Permit authoriser)
 Person issuing the permit (Issuing authority)
 Person in control of the location where work
is to be carried out (Area authority)

Responsibilities of permit
issuer:
 Reviewing, endorsing and issuing the permit
to work. For all work permit application, site
visit is mandatory to enable hazard
evaluation and specification of safeguards to
avoid accidents.

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 Completing the relevant sections of the
permit to work.
 Ensuring the participation in the permit to
work carefully plan and conduct work in
accordance with the permit‘s requirements.
 Initial gas test before issuing the permit if
required.
 Providing shift revalidation and conducting
gas testing to ensure that work is safe to
proceed.
 Signing off permit that required work has
been completed.
 Participation in joint annual auditing of
permit to work files.
 All permit condition must be adhered
 Worker, staff must be trained and competent
 The system must be monitored effectively
 PTW must be appropriate with respect to the
work
 Sufficient time must be given to prepare any
PTW correctly and to authorize effectively.
Why Permit-To-Work System
are Used
General Permit – to –Work uses
The general permit should be used for work such as.

Responsibilities of Permit  Alterations to or overhaul of plant or

machinery where mechanical, toxic or
Receiver electrical hazards arise. This is particularly
 Initiating and completing all applicable important for:
section of the permit to work.
 large machines where visual contact workers
 Supervising the work prescribe in the permit
is difficult;
to work to ensure it is conducted in the most
 where work has to be done near dangerous
efficient manner.
of the machine;
 Notifying the issuer of work progress and
 Where there are multiple isolations for
completion, and ensuring that the site is
energy sources and/or dangerous substances;
returned to a safe and operational state .
 where dangerous substances are being used
 Taking adequate care to preserve the permit
confined areas with poor ventilation;
in good condition.
 work on or near overhead crane tracks;
 Providing and arranging all necessary
 work on pipelines with hazardous contents;
resources related with performing the work,
 Repairs to railway tracks, rippers,
including standby- man for confined space
conveyors;
entry.
 Work with asbestos-based materials;
 Revalidation of work permit is required.
 work involving ionizing radiation;
 Roof work and other hazardous work at
Good Permit system (Good PTW) height. is particularly important where there
PTW is a piece of paper which does not ensure
are:
safety, however, good safety management system
 No permanent work platforms with
will strictly follow the PTW with any causality.
fixed ha on flat roofs;
PTW should work effectively by following:  on sloping or fragile roofs;
 where specialist access equipment, like
 Only authorized / Competent person should rope hung cradles, is required;
issue the work permit  where access is difficult;
 Permit issues must be familiar with the  Excavations to avoid underground services.
hazards of the workplace
 Precaution must be checked before permits
are authorized
 Permit should not be amended
 Permit to work system should be give
importance and respect

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Typical work tasks that might
require a permit to work
(Typical use of Permit System)
Hot Work
Hot work is potentially hazardous because:
 a source of ignition in any plant in which
flammable materials are handled
 A cause of fires in all processes, regardless
of whether flammable materials are present.
Hot work includes cutting, welding, brazing,
soldering and any process involving the application
of a naked flame. Drilling and grinding should also
be included where a flammable atmosphere is
potentially present.
Typical control and precaution for hot work:
 prompt removal of flammable waste
materials and
 Items those can‘t be removed must covered
with fire resistant blanket
 Floor must be swept clean
 suitable fire extinguishers must available
 the damping down of nearby wooden
structures such as floors
 A fire-fighting team must be available
 After the work finished the work area must
be visited routinely to check any
smoldering
Work on high-voltage apparatus
(Work on Electrical Systems)
600V) is potentially high risk. Hazards include:
Precautions that would need to
be considered before welding
work can commence?
The precautions that are to considered before
welding work can commence would be obtaining
a hot work permit ,
85
 area inspection to ensure no burning
material in the immediate vicinity and to
cover the immovable objects with fire
retardant material ,
 inspection of adjacent rooms or spaces
to rule out the possibility of fire
spreading , inspection of area
underneath in case of overhead welding
and barricading the area down below
with suitable warning signs ,
 arrangements for containing the sparks
and bright light from arc with suitable
curtains ,checks to ensure the adjacent
work activities are compatible,
 availability of suitable extinguishing
media including fire extinguishers,
presence of a trained and equipped fire
watch,
 presence of a safe means of access,
availability of suitable ventilation
arrangements to prevent buildup of
smoke ,
 checks to ensure the condition of
wielding equipment, provision and use
of appropriate PPE including welding
shield with appropriate filter glass and
use of competent welders to carry out
the work.
Other precautions required when work is
carried out inside a confined space would be
isolation of energy sources and dissipation of
stored energy , gas testing by a competent person
using calibrated equipment, provision of local
exhaust ventilation and necessary
communication and emergency rescue
arrangements.
Work on high-voltage apparatus (over about
 possibly fatal electric shock/burns to the
people doing the work;
 Electrical fires/explosions;
 Consequential danger from disruption of
power supply to safety-critical plant and
equipment.
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In view of the risk a permit system is used to
ensure that:
 this work must only be done by suitably
trained and competent people acting under
the terms of a high-voltage permit.
 The most important control is to ensure that
the necessary isolation is provided.
 All other workers are competent to do the
work
Machinery maintenance
All work equipment should be maintained in an
efficient state and in good repair. Any maintenance
operations on the equipment should be carried out
safely. The frequency and nature of maintenance
should be determined through risk assessment, taking
full account of
 The manufacturer‘s recommendations;
 The intensity and frequency of use;
 operating environment (e.g. the effect of
temperature, corrosion, weathering);
 user knowledge and experience; and
 The risk to health and safety from any
foreseeable failure or malfunction.
Maintenance work should only be undertaken by
those who are competent to do the work, who have
been provided with sufficient information, instruction
and training. For high-risk equipment, positive means
of disconnecting the equipment from the energy
source may be required (e.g. isolation), along with
means to prevent inadvertent reconnection (e.g. by
locking off). Such procedures are best controlled
using permits to work. Where possible,
The Permit system is used to ensure:
 Work to be carefully planned , assessed and
controlled
 Equipment should normally be shut down
 Any residual/stored energy safely released
(e.g. pneumatic pressure dumped, parts with
gravitational/rotational energy stopped or
brought to a safe position).
 The workers should be competent to do the
work
86
Confined Space
Typical Confined Spaces:
 Boiler, Degreaser, Furnace
 Pipeline, Pit, Pumping Station
 Reaction or Process Vessel, Mills
 Septic Tank, Sewage Digestor
 Silo, Storage Tank, Barges
 Sewer, Utility Vault, Manhole
 Trenches, Shafts, Caissons
Limited Openings for Entry/Exit:
 Openings as small as 18 inches in diameter.
 Difficult to enter with SCBA or other life-
saving equipment.
 Difficult to remove downed worker in
folded up or bent over position.
 Exit from large openings may be difficult
due to presence of ladders, hoists, etc.
Unfavorable Natural Ventilation
 Lack of air movement in and out of the
space can create an atmosphere much
different than the outside atmosphere.
 Deadly gases can be trapped inside.
 Organic materials can decompose.
 May not be enough oxygen due to presence
of other gases or chemical reactions such as
rusting.
Not Designed for Continuous Worker Occupancy:
 Most confined spaces are not designed to
enter and work in on a regular basis.
 Designed to store a product.
 Enclose materials or processes.
 Transport products or substances.
 Occasional worker entry for inspection,
repair, cleanup, maintenance, etc.
Dangerous Combinations:
 Presence of all three confined space
characteristics can complicate the situation.
 Working in and around the space.
 Rescue operations during emergencies.
 Worsened conditions due to work activities:
 Welding and cutting, use of
bonding agents
 Cleaning with solvents, use of other
Hazards of Confined Spaces:
3S LIFE SAFE AKADEMIE
Element 3: Managing Risk- Understanding People and Processes
 Oxygen Deficient & Enriched Atmospheres
 Engulfment Hazards
 Flammable & Explosive atmospheres
 Toxic Atmospheres-Toxic vapours, mists, or
dusts from welding, cleaning, or powder
coating.
 Electrical shock from powered tools or
lights.
 Temperature Extremes
 Noise, Slick/Wet Surfaces, Falling Objects
 Physical hazards such as slipping or falling.
 Entering a confined space without testing
the atmosphere.
 Leaking cutting/welding hoses inside the
confined space.
 Improper use, or not using, PPE or RPE.
 Insufficient rescue equipment or procedures.
 Not following confined space entry
procedures.
Confined Space Isolation:
 Locking and tagging out electrical sources.
 Blanking and bleeding pneumatic and
hydraulic lines.
 Disconnecting mechanical drives and shafts.
 Securing mechanical parts.
 Blanking sewer and water flow.
 Locking and tagging out shutoff valves.
Confined Space Permit Entry Systems:
 Written permit signed by entry supervisor.
 Verifies pre-entry precautions have been
taken and the space is safe to enter.
 Posted at entry to confined space.
 Specifies apparent hazards and corrective
actions taken prior to entry.
 Requires termination of permit when task is
completed or when new conditions exist.
Confined Space Entry Permit Requirements:
 Date, location, and name of confined space.
 Purpose of entry and known hazards.
 Duration of entry permit time.
 Authorized entrants, attendants, supervisors.
 Air testing results - signature of tester.
 Protective measures to be taken.
 Ventilation, Isolation, Flushing
 Lockout / Tagout (LOTO) , Purging
 Name and phone numbers of rescue and
emergency services.
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 Communication procedures.
 Special equipment and procedures.
 Personal protective equipment.
 Alarm procedures.
 Rescue equipment.
 Respirators.
Confined Space Training –Whom
 All workers who must enter confined spaces
 All attendants, supervisors and rescue team,
Safety watchers members.
 Training Prior to initial work assignment.
 Retraining:
 Job duties change.
 Change in permit-space program.
 New hazards are present.
 Job performance indicates deficiencies.
Confined Space Training –on What
1. Identification of Confined Spaces.
2. Fundamentals of confined space hazard /
risk assessment.
3. Classification of confined spaces.
4. Use of, ―Safe Entry Tag‖ permit system.
5. Lockout procedures.
6. Monitoring equipment and atmospheric
monitoring results.
7. Use of applicable respiratory protective
equipment.
8. Other personnel protective equipment use.
9. Use of ventilation equipment.
10. Explosion proof lighting.
11. Type of work to be performed.
12. Entry / Exit methods.
13. Noise.
14. Temperature extremes.
15. Human Factors.
16. Emergency evacuation procedures.
17. Communication techniques.
18. First Aid and CPR requirements.
19. Fire safety.
20. Rescue procedures.
Confined Space: Responsibilities of Supervisor /
Line Manager:
 The supervisor in charge of the area for
which the confined space entry will occur, is
responsible to ensure that all preparations
are in place for the safe entry of any worker.
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Element 3: Managing Risk- Understanding People and Processes

 Ensure workers involved in the confined  First aider

space are trained in the conditions of entry  The workers should be competent to do the
and the nature of any hazards they may be work
exposed to.
 Ensure the appropriate PPE is available and
in good working order.
 Ensure rescue procedures, equipment and
trained rescue personnel are in place.
 Ensure a Confined Space ―Safe Entry Tag‖
is completed.
 Identify the ―Class‖ of Confined Space.
 Assign a safety watch person on the outside
of the tank.
 Periodically check the confined space entry
jobs to ensure all Health & Safety
procedures are being followed.
 To immediately shut down any unsafe
confined space entry job.
Emergency Arrangements for Confined
Space:

1. all practical measures necessary to ensure

the H & S of those taking part in the rescue
2. he provision of a suitable and reliable means Work at Height
of raising the alarm
A permit to work may be required for some
3. having all necessary rescue equipment
hazardous work at height such as roof work to ensure
nearby and in a well maintained, good
that a fall arrest strategy is in place. This is
condition
particularly important where there are:
4. the provision of information, instruction and
training to all involved in rescue procedures  no permanent work platforms with fixed
5. the provision of equipment and training for handrails on flat roofs;
resuscitation procedures  on sloping or fragile roofs;
 where specialist access equipment, like rope
The work under confined space is very hazardous;
hung cradles, is required; and
therefore always PTW is must during work under
 Where access is difficult
confined space.
The Permit system is used to ensure:
The Permit system is used to ensure:
 Work to be carefully planned , assessed and
 Work to be carefully planned , assessed and
controlled
controlled
 Needful PPEs must be used
 Equipment should normally be shut down
 Climate condition must be considered
 Any residual/stored energy safely released
 Rescue equipment
(e.g. pneumatic pressure dumped, parts with
 First aider
gravitational/rotational energy stopped or
 The workers should be competent to do the
brought to a safe position).
work
 Needful PPEs must be used
 SCBA required for entry to confined space
 Gas tester for levels of toxic, oxygen etc
 Ventilation equipment
 Rescue equipment
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Major Hazards due to improper

PTW Control:
 Major hazards could arise from the
following:
 Wrong type of work permit used;
 Wrong information about work required on
the work permit;
 Failure to recognise the hazards where work
is carried out (e.g. flammable substances);
 Introduction of ignition source in controlled
flameproof area (e.g. welding, non spark-
proof tools, non-intrinsically safe equipment
used in intrinsically safe zones);
 Terms of work permit not adhered to (e.g.
failure to isolate plant and/or drain lines of
hazardous substances);
 Failure to hand-over plant in safe condition
on completion of work/cancelling of work
permit;
 Unauthorised staff performing work permit
functions;
 Poor management of the work permit
system; and
 Insufficient monitoring of the work permit
system.

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procedures for handling sudden or unexpected

3.8 Emergency situations.
The objective is to be prepared emergency
Procedures procedures to:

Why emergency procedures 


Prevent fatalities and injuries.
Reduce damage to buildings, stock, and
need to be developed equipment.
 Protect the environment and the community.
 Accelerate the resumption of normal
Emergency procedures and the operations.
 Legal compliance and meeting regulations.
arrangements for contacting the  Reduction in the threat of prosecution.
emergency services-Introduction  A clearer understanding of roles and
Emergency procedures involve control responsibilities Increasing levels of
competency and on-site skills at the time of
procedures and equipment to limit the damage to
emergency.
people and property caused by an incident. Local fire  Sustained high standards of health and
and rescue authorities will often be involved and are safety at work
normally  In addition , During the Development of
Emergency Procedures , it will help
Example of some foreseeable events.  How likely a situation is to occur?
 What means are available to stop or prevent
 fire & Explosion the situation?
 bomb threat  What is necessary for a given situation?
 spillage of hazardous chemical. An organization should make the internal
 release of toxic gases arrangement to deal with any foreseeable incident /
 outbreak of diseases. accidents.
 Flood
 Foreseeable emergencies: This will
 Earthquake
identify what the emergencies are and why
 Tsunami
procedure need to be followed
 Terrorist attack
 Procedures for raising the alarm: Workers
must know how alarms can be raised for
Types of Emergency different types of emergencies and
Types of emergency in the workplace for which escalation procedure that might apply.
people may need to be evacuated:
Example- Manual call point, radio or
 Fire Emergency – to safely evacuate the
workers, telephone notification
 Chemical spillage emergency – To respond  Procedures to be followed: During the fire
correctly and effectively, evacuation, workers should take the nearest
 Bomb threat emergency – To ensure exit route to assemble at Safe assembly area.
evacuation, defusing of the bomb through  Provision of Suitable equipment: Spill kit,
bomb squads etc. PPEs, Fire extinguishers, SCBA etc.
 Accidental release of toxic chemicals or
 Nomination of responsible staff: Making a
gases- Quickly evacuation from the
workplace. team as Emergency response team / or
nominating persons for the needful actions
Importance for an organization  Dealing with Media: Some emergency will
attract media attention, a trained and
to develop emergency nominated employee should deal with media
procedures. persons with proper understanding of
questions and answering.
The benefit of workable emergency
response planning an emergency plan specifies
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Element 3: Managing Risk- Understanding People and Processes
 Arrangement for controlling emergency
services: If required external emergency
services can be contacted and informed by:
 Landline/mobile/Satellite phone,
 Contact details ( local or national
emergency numbers)
 A nominated and responsible
person should make the call.
Training and testing for
Emergencies
It is important that the emergency procedures are
covered during the induction training. Separate
training courses should also be given to staff on a
regular basis on the following topics:
 Use of fire-fighting equipment;
 Regular refresher first-aid training;
 Suitable training (and competency
assessment) for a those allocated particular
roles in an emergency; and
 Regular timed fire drills.
 Safe handling of PPEs
Emergency lighting should be regularly tested
and fire- fighting equipment examined. In high
hazard plants, there should be an occasional full-scale
rehearsal of the emergency procedure in action.
Why it is important to have
emergency procedures for the
evacuation of people from the
workplace:
 To reduce the severity, Prevent fatalities
and injuries of an event affecting a
workplace
 To mitigate the adverse effects on people by
evacuating from workplace due to Dangers
inside the building, from fire to a toxic
chemical spill.
 To assess the number of causalities trapped
inside the building/site/plant like New
Employees, Vendors, clients, and other
visitors who are not familiar with emergency
procedures, need to evacuate from the site/
building safely.
 To start the restoration activity at workplace
to normal scale ( to re-make safe place to
91
work like fire extinguishing, to make
workplace toxic free , defusing the bomb) –
so evacuation is necessary
What to include in an
emergency procedure:
 decide on the possible nature of any
emergency that might occur and the
potential consequences to the organization;
 Consider how the alarm will be raised. This
may be particularly important when the
organization is closed at weekends or
holiday times;
 Decide on how the emergency services will
be contacted —
 decide on an emergency assembly point for
staff;
 Ensure enough emergency exits for
everyone to escape quickly,
 Nominate competent people
 Decide which other key people are needed,
such as activators of emergency equipment,
a nominated incident controller, and first-
aiders;
 Plan essential actions such as emergency
plant shutdown, isolation or making
processes safe.
 Ensure that everyone is included in
emergency procedures including people with
disabilities and vulnerable workers; and
finally
 Decide on the arrangements for liaising with
the media during and after the event
Role of Supervisory Duties in the
event of Emergency Procedure :
They should ensure that the following precautions are
taken:
 Everyone on site can be alerted to an
emergency.
 Everyone on site knows what signal will be
given for an emergency and knows what to
do.
 Someone who has been trained in what to do
is on site and ready to coordinate activities.
 Emergency routes are kept clear, signed and
adequately lit.
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 There are arrangements for calling the fire Why would you test emergency
and rescue services and to give them special
information procedures through live practice
About high hazard work, for example in tunnels or exercise?
confined spaces.
 Despite all the controls that can be
 There is adequate access to the site for the
introduced into an organisation,
emergency services and this is always kept
things can still go wrong. Accidents
clear.
and incidents do happen. When they
 Suitable arrangements for treating and
recovering injured people are set up.
do it is critical that the organisation
 Someone is posted to the site entrance to has emergency procedures that can
receive and direct the emergency services. be brought into effect without delay,
otherwise there may be a poor or
Emergency Procedures inappropriate response that makes
things worse, rather than better.
How going to implemented  Workers will only know what to do
Emergency procedure to be implemented by
when these various emergencies
organization for foreseeable event.
occur if they have been provided
 Procedures to be followed. with information and training. Any
 Provision of Suitable emergency equipment. nominated individuals will require
 Nomination of Responsible staff.
additional training in their roles in
 Provision of Training and information
needs. the emergency, and in the safe
 Mock Drills / Drills and exercises. handling of any equipment (e.g.
PPE) that they might have to use.
Arrangement for Contacting Members of the public may require
Emergency Services: information on emergency
Communication equipment: procedures, which might be provided
 Land lines, Mobile Phones, radios, etc. in the form of notices, or by means
 Contact details: of public address system
 National and local emergency numbers. announcements. Emergency
 Responsible individuals:
procedures should be practised to
 ESSENTIAL to understand whose
responsibility it is! ensure that people are familiar with
 Must be competent staff specially trained . the actions they might be expected to
take. In this way, people‘s responses
Why emergency procedures need become automatic. For example, fire
to be tested evacuation drills should be
 shift patterns conducted routinely in all
 location of site workplaces, and multiple casualty
 activities carried out accident exercises should be
 number of workers practiced if they are a foreseeable
 location relative to event.
hospitals/emergency services

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What to consider when
deciding on first aid needs in
a workplace:
Requirement of an Effective
Provision of First –Aid in the
workplace.
People at work can suffer sudden injuries or
sudden ill. It does not matter whether the injury or the
illness is caused by the work they do. What is
important is that they receive immediate attention and
that an ambulance is called in serious cases.
The 3 Ps‘ of First Aid:
Basic principle of first aid is to keep the
injured person alive until professional medical
assistance arrives, sometimes called 'The 3 Ps':
 Preserve life.
 Prevent deterioration.
 Promote recovery.
Also provide treatment for minor injuries.
First aid at work covers the arrangements
employers must make to ensure this happens. It can
save lives and prevent minor injuries becoming major
ones.
The following elements must be provided
 Facilities: a proper location or first aid room
 Equipment: Suitable stocks of first aid kits
and its contents
 Personnel: A trained staff of First Aid as
first Aider or male/female nurse.
Factors to be considered when
developing first aid facilities in
workplace.
 Location: it must be sited in a centralized
location for easy reaching
 Signage: proper sign in order to identify the
location in case of emergency
93
 Easy access to First Aid facilities : the
pathway for first aid room must be kept

clear with no obstruction for easy access
Inspection checklist: to maintain an
inspection record for the first arrangements
made
 Materials: adequate quantity of first aid
materials must be provided

First Aiders: To check with the list of
authorized first aiders displayed on notice
board. Also check their qualifications and
competency of first aiders.
 First Aid Equipment: The working
condition and physical wear tear of First Aid
equipment.
 Vulnerable people: number of vulnerable
group people to be considered while risk
assessment
 First Aid box: the location and number of
fist aid boxes to be considered
First Aid Facilities
Suitable facilities should be provided where first aid
treatment can be given. The medical room or first aid
room should be available:
 Centrally located with easy in access
 Clean and adequately heated, ventilated, and
lighting
 Provided with hand wash facilities, wheel
chair, stretcher, clinical waste etc
 Contents like roller bandage, cotton,
hydrogen peroxide, split support etc
First Aid Equipment
As a minimum, a fully complete first aid kit should
be always available with following contents
 Roller bandages with different sizes
 Triangular Bandage
 Surgical gloves
 Disposable gloves
 Cotton in sufficient quantity

Safety pins
 Eye-wash stations.
 Emergency showers.
 Blankets.
 Splints.
 Resuscitation equipment.
 Stretchers.
 Wheelchairs.
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Element 3: Managing Risk- Understanding People and Processes

Factors for effective First Aid  Qualified first aiders may need to be
appointed if risks are significant.
Provision: Coverage will depend  training ( Regular and Refresher training )
for first aiders;
on:  additional first-aid equipment and the
 The general risk level of the workplace. contents of the first-aid box;
 The hazards present in the workplace.  siting of first-aid equipment to meet the
 Accident history. various demands in the premises; for
 Vulnerable persons. example provision of equipment in each
building or on several floors;
 The number of workers.
 the need for first-aid provision at all times
 Work patterns and shift systems. during working hours, night shifts also;
 Workplace location (geographic).  keep informing local medical services of
 The spread of the workplace. the site and its risks;
 Any special arrangements that may be
Factors to be considered when needed with the local emergency services.
 Any first-aid room provided must be easily
carrying out an assessment of accessible to stretchers and to other
equipment needed to convey patients to and
first aid requirements in work from the room.
place.  They must be sign posted to First Aid
Facilities to easy accessibility
The following should be considered:
 Contact details of First Aiders on all Notice
 Are there hazardous substances, dangerous Boards and First Aid Boxes.
tools and equipment; dangerous manual
 If employees travel away from the site, the
handling tasks, electrical shock risks, employer needs to consider:
dangers from neighbors or animals?
 issuing personal first-aid kits and providing
 Are there different levels of risk in parts of training ;
the premises or site?
 issuing mobile phones to employees;
 What is the accident and ill-health record,  Making arrangements with employers on
and type and location of incidents?
other sites.
 What is the total number of persons likely to
be on site?
 Are there young people, pregnant or nursing
mothers on site, and employees with
disabilities or special health problems?
 Are the facilities widely dispersed with
several buildings or compact in a multi-
storey building?
 What is the pattern of working hours? Does
it involve night work?
 Is the site remote from emergency medical
services?
 Do employees travel a lot or work alone?
 Do any employees work at sites occupied by
other employers?
 Are members of the public regularly on site?

What an organization could do in

order to have effective first aid
provision? (What company
should do for effective first Aid
provision)
Effective First Aid Provision in includes:

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Exercise Questions for 10. What factors might need to be

considered when determining
Learner’s Practice the first-aid facilities for a
workplace? (8)

1. What are the benefits of 11. What is a permit to work? (2)

communicating health and
safety information by using: 12. What are the four key sections of
a typical permit? (4)
A. Toolbox talks; (4)
B. Worker handbooks. (4)
13. Define the phrase ‗safe system
2. What are the types of health of work‘.(2)
and safety information that
might be displayed on a 14. How does involving workers in
noticeboard in a workplace? (8) the development of SSWs
contribute to strengthening the
3. What are the ways to help health and safety culture?(2)
ensure the effectiveness of a
health and safety committee? 15. What is the difference between
(8) technical, procedural and
4. Explain the objectives of behavioral controls? (4)
carrying out a workplace risk
assessment. (4)
16. Why do instruction, training and
5. Why a risk assessment may
supervision form a part of safe
need to be reviewed. (4)
systems? (2)
6. Why organizations may need to
17. What techniques are used for
carry out refresher training on
identifying hazards? (6)
health and safety issues. (6)
18. What type of sign is
7. Who should take part in a
represented by the following
review of an organization‘s
pictograms? (6)
health and safety performance?
(4)
8. Give the meaning of the term 19. What is the general hierarchy of
‘health and safety culture’. (2) control? (8)
20. What are the responsibilities of
Permit issuer and receiver? (6)
9. What are the indicators of a
good health and safety culture?
(6)

95