Part 4

Improving Safety Performance

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Learning Outcomes

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On completion of Part 4, you should be able to:

 Identify everyone’s responsibilities in

relation to safety, health and wellbeing in
the workplace.

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 Define key terms in safety and health.
 Identify ways safety, health and wellbeing
are managed and improved within the
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© RRC International © RRC International IOSH Working Safely: Part 4 - Improving Safety Performance 4-1
 Contents

Improving Safety Performance 4-3

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What an Organisation Can Do to Manage and Improve Safety and Health in the Workplace 4-3
Worker Responsibilities for Improving Safety and Health in the Workplace 4-4

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How Attitude and Behaviour can Affect Safety and Health in the Workplace 4-4
Safe Systems of Work 4-5
Permit-to-Work 4-5
How Safety Signs can Play an Important Part in Communicating Safety and Health Information 4-5
Using Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) 4-6

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The Safety and Health of Other People Who May Come on Site, Including Contractors, Visitors and
Members of the Public 4-7
The Role of Safety Committees and Worker Representatives in Safety and Health 4-7
Types of Workplace Inspections 4-8
Emergency Procedures 4-8
Incidents, Accidents and Near Misses 4-8

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Reporting Incidents, Including Near Misses and Accidents 4-9
First-Aid Provision 4-9
The Role of the Safety and Health Enforcement Inspector 4-9
Health Surveillance and Monitoring 4-10
Study Questions 4-10

Summary 4-11 M
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 Improving Safety Performance 4.1

Improving Safety Performance

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IN THIS SECTION...
• How organisations manage and improve safety.
• Ways in which workers can assist in improving safety.

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• How attitude and behaviour can affect safety and health in the workplace.
• Safe systems of work and permits to work.
• Safety signs, personal protective equipment and other precautions used to control hazards.
• Role of safety committees and worker representatives in safety and health.
• Types of workplace inspection.

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• Emergency procedures.
• Defining the terms ‘incident’, ‘accident’ and ‘near miss’.
• Reporting incidents, including near misses and accidents.
• First-aid provision.
• The role of the safety and health enforcement inspector.
• Health surveillance and monitoring.
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Introduction
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What an Organisation Can Do to Manage and Improve Safety
and Health in the Workplace
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In their health and safety policy, organisations should explain clearly how
they intend to manage health and safety. This is often done by reference to a
‘safety management system’.

A safety management system can be useful to the employer who’s trying to

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improve their health and safety performance.

Typical elements of a safety management system are:

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• Plan.
• Do.
• Check.
• Act.
All organisations are required to have a health and safety policy. If they have Organisations need to manage safety
five or more employees then this must be recorded. and health in the workplace
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This health and safety policy will normally consist of three main sections:
• Statement of intent – what the general aims of your organisation are.
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• Organisation – who has responsibilities and what those responsibilities are.

• Arrangements – how health and safety will be managed.
Your employer is responsible for informing you of their policy and any changes to it.

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4.1 Improving Safety Performance

You should know where you can find your organisation’s health and safety policy and you should be aware of what it

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says.

To improve on safety, organisations need to set some objectives, they can then check their progress against the objectives

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and put actions in place to improve safety.

There are numerous ‘checks’ organisations can do:

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Proactive Reactive
Maintain equipment Absentee records
Safety inspections Accident reports
Audits First-aid incidents

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Worker Responsibilities for Improving Safety and Health in the
Workplace
Organisations can’t improve safety alone, they need assistance from workers
to be able to see all of the issues that may be occurring.

As a worker, you must:

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• Take reasonable care of your own health and safety.
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• Take reasonable care of the health and safety of anyone else that your
actions might affect.
• Co-operate with your organisation on health and safety matters.
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Workers can also contribute to improving safety by reporting incidents,

accidents and near misses which occur (we will touch on these in more detail
later in this Part) and by highlighting any shortcomings their organisation has.

Workers should also ensure they are competent. The term ‘competence’ Health and safety at work is a shared
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refers to both general, work-related skills and specific, technical knowledge. responsibility
Achieving the necessary combination of skill, knowledge and ability
throughout an organisation receives a great deal of attention because of the need to have skilled staff at all levels to
ensure quality of products and profitability – but this also applies to health and safety! Employers have the duty to
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ensure staff are generally competent to work safely, and they must appoint ‘competent’ persons in health and safety to
take on specific roles.

How Attitude and Behaviour Can Affect Safety and Health in the
Workplace
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People bring to their job their own personal mix of knowledge and experience, skills, attitudes and personality. These
individual characteristics influence behaviour in complex and significant ways. Some of these characteristics can’t be
changed but others can.
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Attitude is defined as a person’s point of view or way of looking at something, and how they feel and think about it.

When we look at behaviour in the workplace, we find that attitudes are important because a worker’s attitude will make
them more or less likely to behave safely.

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 Improving Safety Performance 4.1

For example, if a worker’s attitude to a machine guard is that the guard is excellent and that it’s there to stop their

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arm being cut off, then the worker is unlikely to remove the guard. But, if the worker’s attitude is that it’s unnecessary
to have it and it’s only there to make the job more difficult, then the worker is likely to remove the guard as soon as

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possible.

Safe Systems of Work

A Safe System of Work (SSW) is a formal procedure based on a systematic examination of work which identifies the

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hazards. It defines safe methods of working which eliminate those hazards or minimise the risks associated with them.

It’s the employer’s responsibility to ensure that safe systems of work are available for all work activities that create
significant risk, just as it’s the employer’s responsibility to carry out risk assessments of all work activities.

Safe systems of work should be developed by people with the relevant knowledge, experience, training and skill to

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understand the work under analysis. Involving workers to share their practical knowledge and skills is a valuable way to
help the workers gain a deeper understanding of hazards and risks; it will also help them to better understand the way
the SSW will minimise those risks. Getting workers involved in this way usually increases the level of compliance with
the SSW that is developed.

Permit to Work
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Permit-to-work systems are part of a SSW, to control high risk work activities
such as:
• Hot work.
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• Work on live electrical systems.
• Entry into a confined space.
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• Some forms of machinery maintenance.

A permit system formalises the control of high-risk work to ensure that:
• All risks have been identified.
• All the precautions have been put in place.
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• Appropriate information has been communicated to all relevant parties.

A permit-to-work usually has four main sections: Hot work requires a permit to work
• Issue.
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• Receipt.
• Clearance.
• Cancellation.
Permit-to-work systems rely on the use of paper permits, but they only control risk properly when they are used
correctly.
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How Safety Signs can Play an Important Part in Communicating

Safety and Health Information
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Your employer will use safety signs to give essential health and safety information in a way that is easy to understand.

You should always observe and follow the directions given by these signs.

Safety signs combine shape, colour and pictograms to convey specific health and safety information.

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4.1 Improving Safety Performance

There are five main categories of safety sign:

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• Prohibition - ‘You Must Not’, e.g. “No smoking”.

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• Warning - ‘Hazard‘ or ‘Danger’, e.g. “Toxic material”.

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• Mandatory - ‘You Must’, e.g. “Safety boots must be worn”.
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• Safe condition - ‘This is for Safety’, e.g. “Fire exit route”.

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• Fire-fighting equipment - e.g. “Hose reels”.

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Using Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)

Your employer is responsible for providing you with suitable Personal
Protective Equipment (PPE) to do your job safely. DEFINITION
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PPE is the equipment and clothing that you might wear to protect you from PERSONAL PROTECTIVE
the hazards of work, for example: EQUIPMENT
Equipment or clothing worn
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• Hard hats.
by a worker to protect them
• Goggles.
against one or more risks to
• High-visibility jackets. their health and safety.
• Safety boots and gloves.
In many cases, PPE must always be worn to ensure safety during a particular work activity.

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