Element 3

Question 1 Managing risk – understanding people and processes.

Overall, creating a positive health and safety culture is an ongoing process that
requires continuous effort and commitment from all levels of an
organization.Relationship to Performance: A positive safety culture is linked to
better safety performance, as reflected in fewer accidents, injuries, and illnesses.
Indicators: Accident rates, absenteeism, sickness rates, staff turnover,
compliance with safety rules, and complaints about working conditions can all
indicate the state of an organization's safety culture. Building a Positive Culture:
Requires commitment from management, promotion of safety standards, effective
communication, cooperation from employees, and a well-developed training
program.Job factors: The inherent risks of the job and its design can influence
safety outcomes. Job factors: The inherent risks of the job and its design can
influence safety outcomes.Job factors: The inherent risks of the job and its
design can influence safety outcomes.Organizational factors: Policies,
procedures, resources, and work patterns can all impact safety culture.

Question 2 What did you find most useful about this element?
*HEALTH AND SAFETY CULTURE
The shared attitudes, values, beliefs and behaviours relating to health and safety.
These will either be positive
or negative.
1.Positive Culture : an organisation with a positive health and safety culture, the
majority of
the workers think and feel that health and safety is important. There is a
strong policy and clear leadership from the top because senior management
have this attitude, which runs through the whole organisation, from top to
bottom.
2.Negative Culture
In an organisation with a negative health and safety culture, the majority
of workers think and feel that health and safety is not important; they
are poorly educated in health and safety and see it as unnecessary or an
interference. There is a lack of clear direction and leadership from senior
management. Managers do not think about health and safety in their
decision-making and so let other priorities, such as short-term profit, dictate
their actions. Workers behave unsafely, often because they do not know any
better.
* Improving Health and Safety Culture
Who is on the committee? There has to be a balance between managers and
workers, and the right
managers have to be included.

* How often will the committee meet? The committee should meet regularly and
frequently enough to be
useful .

Who will act as chairperson? All meetings need someone to take charge so that
the discussion during the
meeting is relevant, and to make sure that everybody has an opportunity to
speak.

What authority will the committee have? The committee must be able to make
decisions, otherwise there
will be lots of talk but no action. Usually, the committee will involve one or more
senior managers who
have executive authority.

What will be discussed? It is common practice for a committee meeting to have a

published agenda that
has been agreed before the meeting takes place.

How will the discussions be recorded? Minutes of the meetings are usually taken
and then circulated to all
attendees and posted on noticeboards in the workplace for all workers to see.

How will issues discussed be followed up? All agreed actions must be recorded in
the minutes of the
meeting, together with the name of the person responsible for taking that action
and a deadline. This
action plan can then be reviewed at the start of the next meeting to check that
the action has been
completed.
Risk Assessment :
A hazard is something with the potential to cause harm.
Risk is the likelihood that a hazard will cause harm in combination with the
severity of injury, damage or loss that
might foreseeably occur.
There are five steps to risk assessment:
1. Identify the hazards.
2. Identify the people who might be harmed and how.
3. Evaluate the risk and decide on precautions.
4. Record the significant findings and implement them.
5.Review and update as necessary.
Risk = Likelihood x Severity
Safety Signs : Safety signs combine shape, colour and pictograms to convey
specific health and safety information or
instructions. 1 Warning, 2 Prohibition, 3 Mandatory action, 4 Safe condition, 5
Fire-fighting equipment, 6 Safe Condition, 7 Fire-Fighting Equipment.
Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations 1992, it is the duty of the
employer.
* Why a Hierarchy?
The controls options explained above are set out as a hierarchy eliminating the
hazard is the most preferred option
and PPE the least preferred. The reason for this relates directly back to the
human factors we discussed earlier in this
element.
ILO-OSH 2001 refers to the above hierarchy of preventive and protective
measures, and also states that hazard
prevention and control procedures or arrangements established should.

Special Cases and Vulnerable Workers

There are times when a risk assessment has to focus on one person, or one
specific group of workers, because they
are more vulnerable to particular hazards (or more at risk).

Safe Systems of Work :A Safe System of Work (SSW) is a formal procedure based
on a systematic examination of work in order to
identify the hazards. It defines safe methods of working that eliminate those
hazards, or minimise the risks
associated with them.The SSW must bring together people, equipment, materials
and the environment in such a
way as to create a safe work method. 1 people, 2 equipement, 3 materials, 4
enviroment.

Permit-to-work systems form part of a safe system of work to control high-risk

work activities, such as hot work.
A permit to work usually has four main sections:
1 Issue, 2 Receipt, 3 Clearance, 4 Cancellation.

Emergency Procedures and First Aid : Emergency Procedure Arrangements

Having identified the foreseeable incidents, the organisation should make if
internal arrangements to deal with each of them, should they occur.
First-Aid Requirements
An employer has a duty to provide appropriate first-aid services for their
employees. This is to allow an immediate emergency medical response to
foreseeable injuries that might occur in the workplace.

This element has dealt with certain topics relating to the Organising section of a
health and safety management
system.
Defined health and safety culture (as the shared attitudes, values, beliefs and
behaviours relating to health and
safety) and made a link between health and safety culture and health and safety
performance.

Outlined how health and safety culture might be assessed by looking at

indicators such as accidents, ill health,
compliance and complaints.

Looked in detail at some of the issues that must be dealt with in order to improve
health and safety culture:
1. Clear management commitment with visible leadership and appropriate
disciplinary measures.
2. Competent staff (training, knowledge, experience and skills).
3. Communication of safety information in verbal, written or graphic form through
the use of notice boards,
posters, etc.
4. Consultation.
5. Training at appropriate times (e.g. induction training for new staff).

Question 3 How will you apply your new knowledge in your role?
I provide can be applied by individuals in various professional roles. For example:
1.Health and Safety Culture:.
Established a link between health and safety culture and overall performance.
2. Assessment of Health and Safety Culture:
Outlined indicators such as accidents, ill health, compliance, and complaints for
assessment.
3. Improving Health and Safety Culture:
management commitment, visible leadership, and disciplinary measures.
competent staff, effective communication, consultation, and timely training.
4. Human Factors Influencing Behavior:
Discussed three factors influencing worker behavior: individual, job, and
organizational factors.
5. Risk Management:
Defined - hazard, risk, and risk assessment.
Identified the aim of risk assessment - elimination or minimization of hazards by
applying relevant standards.
Explained the five-step approach to risk assessment.
6. Hazard Identification:
Acknowledged hazards' ability to generate risks to safety and health.
Discussed various identification methods, including task analysis, legislation,
manufacturers' information, and incident data.
7. Information Sources:
Recognized internal and external sources of health and safety information.
8. Hierarchy of Preventive and Protective Measures:
Explained the hierarchy based on technical, procedural, and behavioral controls.
9. Safe Systems of Work:
'safe systems of work' as formal procedures based on a systematic examination
of work equipment and processes.
Identified the roles of competent persons and workers in developing and
documenting safe systems.
10. Permit-to-Work Systems:
Outlined the process of task analysis for hazard identification and risk control.
Introduced permit-to-work systems for formal control of high-risk activities.
Explained key sections of a permit to work and its application in various
scenarios.
11. Emergency Procedures:
Discussed the necessity for emergency procedures to handle foreseeable
incidents.
Outlined internal arrangements and contacting emergency services.
12. First-Aid Services:
Emphasized the employer's responsibility to provide appropriate first-aid services.
Considered factors for assessing adequate first-aid provision, including facilities,
equipment, and trained personnel.

As someone responsible for health and safety within my organization, I will apply
the new knowledge gained in this element by implementing comprehensive
strategies to enhance our health and safety management system. I will assess
our current culture using indicators like accidents, compliance, and complaints.
To improve culture, I'll address issues such as management commitment, staff
competency, and communication methods