D. LIAISON WITH RELEVANT PARTIES.
OHSAS 18001 stipulates the following requirements to organizations:
4.4.3.1 Communication
With regard to its OH&S hazards and OH&S Management System, the organization shall
establish, implement and maintain a procedure(s) for:
a) Internal communication among the various levels and functions of the organization
b) Communication with contractors and other visitors to the workplace
c) Receiving, documenting and responding to relevant communications from external
interested parties.
4.4.3.2 Participation and consultation
The organization shall establish, implement and maintain a procedure(s) for:
a) The participation of workers by their:
– Appropriate involvement in hazard identification, risk assessments and determination of
controls
– Appropriate involvement in incident investigation (including emergence preparedness and
response)
– Involvement in the development and review of OH&S policies and objectives
– Consultation where there are any changes that affect their OH&S
– Representation on OH&S matters.
Workers shall be informed about their participation arrangements, including who is their
representative(s) on OH&S matters.
b) Consultation with contractors where there are changes that affect their OH&S.
The organization shall ensure that, when appropriate, relevant external interested parties are
consulted about pertinent OH&S matters.
101
FORMATIVE ASSESEMENT - SEVEN
IAC0701 Given various industry requirements and descriptions of various emergency
preparedness and response plans be able to: a. Develop comprehensive audit
evaluation checklists (50 items); b. Assess the effectiveness of the given response and
preparedness plans.
102
4.2.8. KM-04-KT08:
Principles of developing and implementing operational
controls.(Advanced)
KT0801 Explain the concept of safe work practices and how this relates
KT0802 to the standardisation of the right way of doing work; (NQF
Level: 6)
KT0803 Describe and give examples of the main categories of work
that must be controlled from an occupational health and safety
perspective: a. Plant; b. Machinery; c. Premises d. Tools and
Equipment; e. Materials and substances; f. Workplace; g.
People h. Activities (NQF Level: 6)
Identify and describe the principles for instituting operational
controls in each of the identified categories. a. Design and
specification controls; b. Procurement controls; c. Pre, post and
operational use controls; d. Commissioning and training
controls; e. Planned maintenance, inspection and test controls;
f. Decommissioning, rehabilitation and closure; g. Waste and
disposal. (NQF Level: 6)
EXPLAIN THE CONCEPT OF SAFE WORK PRACTICES AND HOW THIS RELATES TO THE
STANDARDISATION OF THE RIGHT WAY OF DOING WORK
Safe work practices (SWP) are generally written methods outlining how to perform a task
with minimum risk to people, equipment, materials, environment, and processes.
These are guidelines like do’s and don’ts that help workers to work in the safest way unless a
new hazard has been identified. An example of SWP is placing a notice ‘MIND YOUR STEPS’
at the beginning of a staircase or when liquid is spilled on the floor, a ‘WET FLOOR’ sign is
placed in the area until the spill is cleaned and the floor is dry. Organisations should establish
Safe Work Practices/ Safe Job procedures for addressing significant hazards of for dealing
with circumstances that may present other significant risks/ liabilities for the organisation. Safe
work practices should reflect your company’s approach to controlling hazards and should
conform to the practices within the concerned industry. Safe job procedures are a series of
specific steps that guide a worker through a task from start to finish in a chronological order.
Safe job procedures are designed to reduce risk by minimizing potential exposure. Safe job
103
procedures are an essential part of safe work practices and are usually developed by
management and workers as a result of a hazard assessment, accident investigation and/or
as a supplement to a safe work practice. Safe work procedures should be included in the
company’s Worker Orientation program. All workers should be aware of the fact that safe
job procedures were established, are in effect, are written down and must be followed.
Safe work practices should be developed as a result of completing a Hazard Assessment
and should closely reflect the activities most common in the company’s type or sector of
construction. All safe work practices should be kept in a location central to the work being
performed and readily available to the workforce.
Some regulations require employers to have written procedures/ instructions for specific
activities / conditions. The number of practices and the degree of detail will depend on the
range of work activities your company performs. It is important that management and
supervision are involved in the development of safe work practices and that they provide
adequate training for workers who are likely to follow these practices.
The following features are helpful in implementing safe work practices at the workplace:
Induction training for new employees.
Training on communication and teamwork during normal and emergency situations.
Training on fire safety and emergency procedures.
Training on hazard identification, risk control, use of personal protection equipment
(PPE) and first aid.
Observation of ergonomics to reduce injuries to workers.
Use and maintenance of appropriate tools for work and keeping them in good
working condition.
Handling, application, labelling and storage of hazardous and non – hazardous
materials so the workers are not exposed to danger.
Adherence to policies and procedures to set standard actions and reactions
understandable by all and to reduce chaos in an emergency.
Housekeeping, cleaning and waste disposal considering environmental safety and
health (ESH).
The following is a detailed example of Safe Work Practices (SWP):
Sample of SAFE Work Practice for Hand and Power Tools (General) used in
Construction Work.
104
SAFE Work Practice for Hand and Power Tools (General):
Hand and power tools are used extensively in construction work and can be the cause of
personal bodily injury, if not used as designed and in a safe manner. Tools must be appropriate
for the task, properly maintained, and equipped with all necessary guards and safety devices.
Hazards: -contact injury from rotating parts, eye and face injury from flying
particles, burns from contact, abrasions and cuts, electrocution, amputation, pinch
points, repetitive strain injury
Do Do Not
• Choose a tool that is appropriate for the • Use a tool for any other purpose than what
task. is was designed to do.
• Wear all appropriate Personal Protective • Use a worn or damaged tool.
Equipment. • Use a tool without all guards in place.
• Ensure the tool is labeled as meeting • Use a tool without wearing proper PPE.
required standards. (i.e. CSA approved) • Apply excessive force or pressure on tools.
• Inspect the tool before use to ensure it is in • Do not carry a sharp tool in your pocket.
safe working condition. • Do not cut towards yourself when using
• Ensure all tool guards are in place. cutting tools.
• Use tools designed to allow wrist to stay
straight. Avoid using hand tools with your wrist
bent.
General Safe Work Practices
1. Choose the most appropriate tool for the task.
2. Inspect the tool and ensure it is in good operating condition and is equipped with all guards.
Replace or repair defective tools.
3. Ensure you are familiar with the safe operating procedures and any limitations on the use of
the tool.
4. Ensure you are wearing all appropriate PPE for the task, such as safety eyewear, footwear,
105
hearing protection, respirator, etc.
5. Ensure no one in the surrounding area will be put a risk when you are using the tool.
6. If a portable power tool, make sure it is connected to a safe source of energy (i.e. GFCI for
electrical power)
7. Use tools designed to allow wrist to stay straight. Avoid using hand tools with your wrist bent.
8. Keep cutting tools sharp and cover sharp edges with suitable covering to protect the tool and
to prevent injuries from unintended contact.
9. Replace cracked, splintered, or broken handles on files, hammers, screwdrivers, or sledges.
10. Replace worn jaws on wrenches, pipe tools and pliers.
11. Redress burred or mushroomed heads of striking tools.
12. Keep the work environment clean and tidy to avoid clutter which may cause accidents.
13. Use a heavy belt or apron and hang tools at your sides, not behind your back.
DESCRIBE AND GIVE EXAMPLES OF THE MAIN CATEGORIES OF WORK THAT MUST BE
CONTROLLED FROM AN OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY PERSPECTIVE:
A.PLANT;
Regulations which deal with plant seeks to protect people at work against risks to health or
safety arising from plant and systems of work associated with plant (tools, equipment,
machinery etc).
What is a plant?
Plant has a broad definition and includes machinery, equipment, appliances,
containers, implements and tools. Designers, manufacturers, suppliers, installers,
owners and operators and all personnel involved in the use of plant equipment are
required by legislation to follow appropriate procedures to ensure that all plant is
safe, that all personnel using the plant are appropriately trained and competent to
use the plant, that all plant and plant designs requiring registration are identified and
registered and that all plant is correctly used in its lifecycle.
Types of plant
1. Plant which processes material by way of a mechanical action that;
Cuts, drills, punches, or grinds the material or
Presses, forms, joins, or moulds the material, or
Combines, mixes, sorts, packages, assembles, knits or weaves the material.
Plant designed to lift or move people or materials, e.g., lifts, escalators, cranes,
fork – lifts, hoists, vehicle hoists, and elevating work platforms.
Pressure equipment, e.g., boilers, sterilizers, air receivers, refridgerators and air –
conditioning vessels.
Tractors
106
Earth - moving machinery, e.g., bulldozers, excavators, front – end loaders,
backhoes, scrapers, dredges, draglines and face shovels.
Lasers – e.g., those used in building and construction and agricultural industries for
leveling and aligning and industry for work pieces.
Scaffolding – e.g. prefabricated scaffolds (modular, frame, tower frame), swing
stages, tube and coupler scaffolds and so on.
Explosive power tools
Turbines – e.g. hydroelectric, steam and gas turbines.
Amusement structures – ferris wheels, roller coasters, merry – go – rounds, and train
rides.
Acquisition of Plant.
The process of acquiring plant must consider the task to be performed and the safety of the
users. All hazards associated with the acquisition, installation, commissioning and use of the
equipment must be identified before the acquisition. Risk assessment is an important part of
the risk management process and the supplier has specific obligations to provide information
on safe use of the plant. Before acquiring, either new or used, a thorough pre purchase risk
assessment should be completed.
B.MACHINERY;
The following machinery regulations under the OHS act 85 of 1993 provide requirements and
procedures for handling various types of machinery at the work side.
The Driven Machinery Regulation, 1998 – these regulations shallapply to every
employer, employee and self-employed person who carries out work using driven
machinery at work place.
General machinery regulations, 1988 – these regulations shall apply to every
employer, employee and self-employed person who carries out work whilst using
machinery at a workplace
E.g. Supervision of machinery safe guarding of machinery, operation of machinery,
working on moving or electricity driven material, devices to start and stop machinery
General precautions;
Never work on any live or moving equipment
All adjustments should be done only bt trained staff
Any hazardous tasks be identified and covered by work permit or written safe work
procedures
Supervise/ job observation should be on-going
Education & Training should be given, appropriate to task
There should be awareness of and compliance with legislative requirements
Purchase specifications should ensure that safety, health and environmental
concerns are incorporated at the design/ manufacture stage
107
Inspect/ check before commissioning
Formal handover should be completed after res-design, major repairs or new
installations
Use of pirate parts must be checked to ensure load design capacities are
appropriate and compatible
Safety devices should be part of regular scheduled checks
Never leave machines running while unattended
Where appropriate PPE
Do not by-pass safety devices
Use correct tools and procedures
Do not use hands to remove jammed particles
Isolation requirements must always be followed
All machinery and equipment should be on a preventive maintenance program
A. PREMISES
Legislation requires that no articles, plant, premises or general equipment may cause any
danger to employees due to their condition and/ or use.
Floors, stairways, roofs and any other structures should be checked and placed on a
planned maintenance system.
Outside structures need to be included; for example silos, water tanks, pump houses,
flammable stores and prefabricated structure storage areas.
Excess material should not be stored unprotected in the yard. If there is any excess
material, for example steel and building materials, it should be stacked neatly and
should be on an inventory list.
General safe work practices concerning premises include;
Ventilation of enclosed work places
Maintenance of a reasonable temperature indoors and the provision of
thermometers
Lighting ,including emergency lighting
Cleanliness of the work place , floors ,walls and ceilings, and the prevention of
accumulation of waste
Routes for pedestrians and vehicles
Materials or guarding of windows and other transparent or translucent walls,
doors or gates
The construction of doors and gates ,including the fitting of necessary safety
devices
Escalators and moving walk ways
108
Sanitary conveniences
Washing facilities
Supply if drinking water and of cups or other drinking vessels
Facilities for rest and for eating meals
Emergency routes and exits
Electrical installations
Fire detections and fire fighting
First aid rooms or equipment
E. TOOLS AND EQUIPMENT;
Only tools and equipment which are in good condition may be used. Tools shall only
be used for the purpose for which they were designed.
Employees shall make frequent inspections of tools and equipment, and
immediately remove from service any items found defective.
The following are examples of the types of defects which should be looked for:
a. Split, broken, cracked, or splintered wooden handles.
b. Mushroomed heads on chisels or impact drills.
c. Wrench jaws which slip or do not hold.
d. Frayed cords damaged or modified grounding plugs, or broken insulation on
electrical tools.
e. Rounded edges on sharp-edged tools.
f. Dull cutting tools.
When using hand tools, the employee shall place himself in such a position that he will
avoid injury if the tool slips.
Only soft faced hammers (brass, plastic, rubber, or similar materials) shall be used on
highly tempered steel tools such as cold chisels, star drills, etc. Proper eye protection
must be worn when performing such an operation.
Files, rasps, and other tools having sharp tangs shall be equipped with approved
handles.
Tools which are not in use shall be placed where they will not present a tripping or
stumbling hazard.
Pointed tools shall never be carried edge or point up in pockets.
Tools shall not be thrown from one worker to another, or to another working location.
Extensions shall not be used on wrenches to gain leverage unless the wrench is
designed to be used in such a fashion.
When cutting wire or any other material under tension, the material being cut shall be
secured to prevent the ends from snapping free.
109
All power tools must be properly grounded before their use.
Gloves shall not be worn when operating lathes, drill presses, power saws, or similar
equipment. Loose clothing must not be worn and long sleeves should be rolled up
prior to operation.
Hooks, brushes, vacuums, or special tools shall be used to remove dust or chips.
Compressed air shall not be used.
All machinery must be turned off when unattended.
Maintenance, repairs, adjustments, and measurements must not be made while
saws, lathes, grinders, and similar equipment are in operation.
Compressed air shall never be used to dust off clothing, or be directed toward
another person.
Sawblades, gears, sprockets, chains, shafts, pulleys, belts, and similar apparatus shall
not be operated without the proper guarding.
Safety glasses, goggles, or face shields shall be worn when operating power tools.
E. MATERIALS AND SUBSTANCES;
All chemicals have the ability to cause harm
therefore will take all steps necessary to ensure all
employees and contractors to the workplace are
not adversely exposed to potentially hazardous
substances.
All substances used at the workplace should be
assessed to establish:
The nature of hazard associated with
substance;
the degree of risk associated with hazard;
Measures needed to control hazard if substances cannot be eliminated or substituted
for a less toxic substance;
What monitoring is necessary including health
What training required.
F. WORKPLACE;
The ultimate goal of any safety and health management system is to prevent injury and ill-
health in the workplace. Adequate workplace precautions must be provided and
maintained to prevent harm to people at the point of risk. Workplace precautions to match
110
the hazards and risks are needed at each stage of business activity. They may include
provisions such as machine guards, local exhaust ventilation, safety instructions and systems
of work.
Risk control is the basis for ensuring that adequate workplace precautions are provided and
maintained. Wherever the containment of hazardous materials is important (e.g. where
flammable or toxic chemicals are used),
maintenance and process change procedures are necessary to ensure plant
integrity;
Organisations supplying materials or substances for others to use will focus on specific
output issues such as storage, transport, packaging and labelling;
Organisations need risk controls appropriate to the hazards arising from their
activities and sufficient to cover all hazards.
There are three basic stages in establishing workplace precautions:
• Hazard identification – identifying hazards that could cause harm;
• Risk assessment – assessing any risk that may arise from identified hazards;
• Risk control – deciding on suitable measures to eliminate or control risk.
The approach underpins legislation aiming to improve the management of safety and health
for many work activities, e.g. for construction, chemical or biological agents, workplace, use
of work equipment, noise etc.
Wherever the identification stage reveals a well-known hazard with a known risk, the
methods of control and consequent maintenance may be well tried and tested. For
example, stairs present an established risk of slipping, tripping, and falling. They require
traditional methods of control such as good construction, the use of handrails and the
provision of non-slip surfaces, along with the need to keep stairs free of obstructions.
Occupational safety and health legislation requires employers to ensure the health as
well as the safety of their employees. Unlike safety risks, which can lead to immediate injury,
the results of daily exposure to health risks may not become apparent for months, years or, in
some cases, decades. Health may be irreversibly damaged before the risk is apparent. It is
therefore essential to develop a preventive strategy to identify and control risks before
anyone is exposed to them.
Risks to health from work activities may include:
• skin contact with irritant substances, leading to dermatitis etc.;
• inhalation of respiratory sensitisers, triggering immune responses such as asthma;
111
• badly designed workstations requiring awkward body postures or repetitive movements,
resulting in upper limb disorders, repetitive strain injury, or other musculoskeletal conditions;
• noise levels that are too high, causing deafness and conditions such as tinnitus;
• excessive vibration, e.g. from hand-held tools, leading to hand-arm vibration syndrome
and circulatory problems;
• exposure to ionising and non-ionising radiation, including ultraviolet from the sun’s rays,
causing burns, sickness, or skin cancer;
• infections ranging from minor sickness to life-threatening conditions caused by
inhaling or being contaminated by microbiological organisms;
• stress causing mental or physical illness.
Much can be done to prevent or control risks to health by taking straightforward measures
such as:
• consulting the workforce on the design of workstations;
• talking to suppliers of substances, plant and equipment about minimising exposure;
• enclosing machinery to cut down noise or fumes;
• researching the use of less hazardous materials;
• ensuring that employees are trained in the safe handling of all the substances and
materials with which they come into contact.
G.PEOPLE
Effective personal protection is essential for any person who may be exposed to potentially
hazardous substances. In emergency situations, employees may be exposed to a wide
variety of hazardous circumstances, such as chemical spillage, falling objects, flying particles,
unknown atmospheres with inadequate oxygen or toxic gases, fires, and live electric wiring.
Some of the Safety Equipment that may be used includes:
Safety glasses, goggles, or face shields for eye protection, hard hats, safety shoes and
respirators
Protective clothing for example, gloves, hoods and boots
Body protection for abnormal environmental conditions such as extreme
temperatures
Breathing equipment in case of gas release
Medical assistance:
In an emergency, time is a critical factoring minimizing injuries and damages
112
It is best practice for companies to train and appoint First Aiders. Medical staff should
be readily available for advice and consultation. A company should also develop
written emergency medical procedures.
Employers should have first aid supplies for trained staff to use and emergency phone
numbers posted in noticeable places near or on telephone
Communication:
Effective emergency communication is vital
Employees must know how to report emergencies
A method of communication should be established to alert employees to evacuate
or take other emergency actions described in the plan
An alarm system should be in place, distinctive and recognizable enough to signal
the emergency situation
The emergency coordinator should have an updated list of key staff, all employees
and of employee relatives to be notified in case of emergency
There should a system for accounting for staff once they have been evacuated
The person in control of communications for example, Emergency Coordinator is
responsible for notifying police or emergency response team of persons believed
missing
Training:
Every employee need to know the details of the emergency action plan including
types of potential emergencies, evacuation procedures, alarm systems, reporting
procedures,
Random emergency drills should be held at least annually if possible, they should
include outside police and fire authorities.
Emergency procedure training should be contacted when new employees are hired
and at least annually thereafter.
Additional training is needed when new equipment, materials or processes are
introduced, when procedures are updated or revised and when exercises show that
employee performance is in adequate.
113
IDENTIFY AND DESCRIBE THE PRINCIPLES FOR INSTITUTING OPERATIONAL CONTROLS IN EACH OF
THE IDENTIFIED CATEGORIES.
A. DESIGN AND SPECIFICATION CONTROLS;
Design controls designate the application of a formal methodology to the contact of
product development activities. It is often mandatory to implement such practice when
designing and developing products within regulated industries, e.g. medical devices.
B. PROCUREMENT CONTROLS;
Procedures should be established and maintained to ensure the organization complies with
all relevant safety and health laws when purchasing new equipment, materials, using new
services, or introducing new processes, particularly those which might require changes to
existing safety and health procedures. Issues to be considered include whether new safety
and health equipment or precautions need to be installed beforehand, retraining of
employees, and effects the changes might have on customers or members of the public.
Purchase or transfer of goods and services and use of external resources:
▶ Approval to purchase or transfer hazardous chemicals, materials and substances
▶ Availability of documentation for the safe handling of machinery, equipment, materials, or
chemicals at time of purchase, or the need to obtain such documentation
▶ Evaluation and periodic re-evaluation of the OH&S competence of contractors
▶ Approval of the design of OH&S provisions for new plant or equipment.
B.PRE, POST AND OPERATIONAL USE CONTROLS;
The organization should establish procedures to control its identified risks (including those that
could be introduced by contractors or visitors), documenting these in instances where a
failure to do so could lead to incidents, accidents or other deviations from the OH&S policy
and OH&S objectives.
The risk control procedures should be reviewed on a regular basis for their suitability and
effectiveness, and changes that are identified as being necessary should be implemented.
Account may need to be taken in the procedures of situations where the risks extend into
client or other external party premises or areas of control; for example, when employees of
the organization are working at a client’s site. It can sometimes be necessary to enter into
consultation with the external party on OH&S in such circumstances.
Some examples of areas in which risks typically arise, and some examples of control
measures against them are given below:
114
1) Purchase or transfer of goods and services and use of external resources:
▶ Approval to purchase or transfer hazardous chemicals, materials and substances
▶ Availability of documentation for the safe handling of machinery, equipment, materials, or
chemicals at time of purchase, or the need to obtain such documentation
▶ Evaluation and periodic re-evaluation of the OH&S competence of contractors
▶ Approval of design of OH&S provisions for new plant or equipment.
2) Hazardous tasks:
▶ Identification of hazardous tasks
▶ Pre-determination and approval of working methods
▶ Pre-qualification of personnel for hazardous tasks
▶ Permit-to-work systems and procedures controlling the entry and exit of personnel to
hazardous work sites.
3) Hazardous materials:
▶ Identification of inventories, and storage locations
▶ Safe storage provisions and control of access
▶ Provision and access to material safety data and other
relevant information.
4) Maintenance of safe plant and equipment:
▶ Provision, control and maintenance of the organization’s plant
and equipment
▶ Provision, control and maintenance of PPE
▶ Segregation and control of access
▶ Inspection and testing of OH&S related equipment and high
integrity systems such as:
– Operator protection systems
– Guarding and physical protection
– Shutdown systems
– Fire detection and suppression equipment
– Handling equipment (cranes, forklifts, hoists and other
lifting devices)
– Radiological sources and safeguards
– Essential monitoring devices
– Local exhaust ventilation systems
– Medical facilities and provisions.
115
C.COMMISSIONING AND TRAINING CONTROLS;
Organizations should have effective procedures for ensuring the competence of personnel
to carry out their designated functions.
Process
The following elements should be included in the process:
▶ A systematic identification of the OH&S awareness and competencies required at each
level and function within the organization
▶ Arrangements to identify and remedy any shortfalls between the required OH&S awareness
and competency, and the level currently possessed by the individual
▶ Provision of any training identified as being necessary, in a timely and systematic manner
▶ Assessment of individuals to ensure that they have acquired, and that they maintain the
knowledge and competency required
▶ Maintenance of appropriate records of an individual’s training and competency. An OH&S
awareness and training programme should be established and maintained to address the
following areas:
An understanding of the organization’s OH&S arrangements and individuals’ specific
roles and responsibilities for them
A systematic programme of induction and ongoing training for employees and those
who transfer between divisions Sites, departments, areas, jobs or tasks within the
organization
Training in local OH&S arrangements and hazards, risks, precautions to be taken and
procedures to be followed, this training being provided before work commences
Training for performing hazard identification, risk assessment and risk control
Specific in-house or external training which may be required for employees with
specific roles in the OH&S system, including employee OH&S representatives
Training for all individuals who manage employees, contractors and others (e.g.
temporary workers), in their OH&S responsibilities. This is to ensure that both they and
those under their control understand the hazards and risks of the operations for which
they are responsible, wherever they may take place. Additionally, this is to ensure
that personnel have the competencies necessary to carry out the activities safely, by
following OH&S procedures.
The roles and responsibilities (including corporate and individual legal responsibilities)
of top management for ensuring that the OH&S Management System functions to
control risks and minimise illness, injury and other losses to the organization. Training
and awareness programmes for contractors, temporary workers and visitors,
according to the level of risk to which they are exposed.
116
E. PLANNED MAINTENANCE, INSPECTION AND TEST CONTROLS;
Organizations need to plan for proper maintenance of OHS facilities through their OHS
Committees and staff responsible. The relevant industrial undertaking should review their
maintenance programmes and schedules to see if there are areas where breakdowns and
maintenance are repaired through on-going mechanical integrity programme. Plant and
equipment used should be designed, constructed, installed and maintained in such way as
to minimize the risk at work. A mechanical integrity programme should be in place to ensure
the continued integrity of process plant and equipment. The elements of a mechanical
integrity programme should include the identification and categorisation of plant,
equipment and instruments, inspections and tests, testing and inspection frequencies,
development of maintenance procedures, training of maintenance personnel,
establishment of criteria for acceptable test results, documentation of test and inspection
results, and documentation of the manufacturer's specified mean time-to-failure outcomes.
F. WASTE AND DISPOSAL.
Waste is any unwanted/undesired substance that is not going to be used. It may be poor
quality (namely rejected products), or a by-product of the total process. Human generated
waste is seldom of any value to the natural environment.
Types of waste
There are many types of waste, and their classification is especially important for an
organization’s environmental management. Categories of waste include:
Non-hazardous waste
Hazardous waste
Bio-hazardous waste
Organic waste
Various other types of waste categories for example paper, scrap steel, glass and
aluminum cans.
Attributes of good waste management
Disposal must be done at registered sites only that have appropriate permits and
control systems to insure correct disposal methods.
Reduce or eliminate waste by proactive waste management systems
Reduce or eliminate waste through quality and improvement programs with
organizations namely, innovation.
Reduce where ever possible
Reuse where ever possible
Recondition where ever possible
117
Recycle where ever possible
Reduce + re-use + re-condition + re-cycle = the 4 Rs
Ecologically Sound Waste Disposal
There is no perfect, fail proof to ensure that waste is disposed off correctly
Certain organizations have permits for their waste disposal sites. These permits stipulate the
type (or class) of waste they are allowed to handle and the methods to be used, so as to
ensure there is not undue detriment to the environment.
Alternatively, if an organization is a waste generator using waste contractors to remove
waste from a site, regular audits should be conducted on the waste contractors.
Waste Collection Validation
All permit holders issue clearance certificates (usually referred to as a waste manifest) when
collecting waste from a waste generator, namely the client. This manifest will usually indicate
the types or category of waste being collected, the quantities thereof, and the intended
place and method of disposal (NOSA, 2015).
118
FORMATIVE ASSESEMENT - EIGHT
IAC0801 Given various business environments and the project life cycle. Be able to: a.
Through a process of identification and assessment describe the typical deficiencies
related to each stage in the life cycle relevant to people, equipment, plant and
machinery and the environment that will result in poor operational control.
119
4.2.9. KM-04-KT09:
Principles of effective auditing and inspection practices
KT0901 Describe the context and scope of various audits and
KT0902 inspections. (NQF Level: 5)
KT0903 Explain and compare the critical quality requirements for audits
KT0904 and inspections. (NQF Level: 5)
KT0905 Explain the respective steps of an effective audit and inspection
KT0906 process (NQF Level: 5)
Explain the criteria for the effective communication of audit
and inspection results (NQF Level: 5)
List and describe other ways of measuring for compliance. (NQF
Level: 5)
Describe how, when and what to measure for compliance by
means of audits and inspections (NQF Level: 5)
DESCRIBE THE CONTEXT AND SCOPE OF VARIOUS AUDITS AND INSPECTIONS.
Safety and Health Management System Audits
Auditing is an essential element of a safety and health management system. Safety and
health management system auditing is a process whereby the organisation can review and
continuously evaluate its safety and health effectiveness. The organisation should evaluate
its safety and health performance in order to:
maximize knowledge on its effectiveness;
ensure that appropriate action is taken to improve the control of specific risks;
improve overall safety and health performance;
Further develop safety and health policies and procedures.
Auditing and performance review are the final steps in the safety and health management
control cycle. They enable an organisation to reinforce, maintain, and develop its ability to
reduce risks to the fullest extent and to ensure the continued effectiveness of its safety and
health management system. Audits, by the organisation’s own staff or outsiders, complement
monitoring activities by looking to see if the safety and health management systems are
actually achieving the right results. Results from measuring performance should be combined
with information from audits to improve the organisation’s overall approach to safety and
health management.
120
The organisation should establish and maintain a programme and procedures for periodic
safety and health management system audits to be carried out to enable a critical appraisal
of all the elements of the safety and health management system to be made. Auditing is the
structured process of collecting independent information on the efficiency, effectiveness,
and reliability of the total safety and health management system and drawing up plans for
corrective action. These audits should be carried out in addition to routine monitoring,
inspection, and surveillance of the safety and health management system. The purpose of
these audits is to ensure the continued suitability, adequacy, and effectiveness of the safety
and health management system. The audit process should ensure that the necessary
information is collected to allow management to carry out this evaluation adequately.
EXPLAIN AND COMPARE THE CRITICAL QUALITY REQUIREMENTS FOR AUDITS AND INSPECTIONS.
Safety and health auditing should include the following essential elements.
1. Formal Auditing
Formal auditing provides a comprehensive and formal assessment of the organizations
compliance with safety and health procedures and practices. The end result of a formal
audit should include a detailed written assessment of safety and health procedures, the level
of compliance with procedures and practices, and where necessary, identify corrective
actions.
2. Regular and Ad hoc Inspections
Regular and ad hoc inspections provide a means of checking compliance with individual
safety and health requirements. The results of these audits and inspections should be fed
back to the relevant parties as soon as possible to allow corrective action to be taken. As
many employees as practicable, including the Safety Representative, should be involved
when auditing activities in their work areas.
Audits are designed to assess the key elements of safety and health management listed
below:
1.Safety and Health Policy
Intent, scope and adequacy of the safety and health policy
2.Organisation
• The acceptance of safety and health responsibilities by line managers and the adequacy
of arrangements to secure control;
• The existence and thoroughness of safety and health documentation;
• The adequacy of arrangements to consult and involve all employees in safety and
health;
121
• The adequacy of arrangements to communicate policy and relevant information;
• The adequacy of arrangements to secure the competence of all employees and the
provision of safety and health assistance;
• the level of emergency prevention, preparedness, and response;
• contracting and procurement procedures;
• worker participation and the effectiveness in promoting full worker participation;s
3.Planning and Implementation
• the overall control and direction of the safety and health effort;
• the adequacy of the management arrangements, risk-control systems, and workplace
precautions;
• the extent of compliance with relevant safety and health laws;
• the adequacy of resources and their proportional allocation to reflect the hazard
profile of the business;
• the extent of compliance with management arrangements, performance standards,
and the effectiveness of workplace precautions in achieving control of risk;
• long-term improvement in the accident and incident performance;
• the effectiveness of promoting full worker participation.
4.Measuring Systems
The adequacy, relevance and design of measuring systems.
5.Reviewing Systems
The ability of the organisation to learn from experience, improve performance, develop
the safety and health management system, and respond to change.
EXPLAIN THE RESPECTIVE STEPS OF AN EFFECTIVE AUDIT AND INSPECTION PROCESS
1. Audit Programme
A programme of auditing should be prepared and included in the Safety Statement.
Some of the factors that may need to be taken into account when deciding the frequency
of audits include the nature of the hazards; an adverse audit or incident record; and any
legislative requirements.
2. Auditor Selection, Competence, and Training
One or more persons may undertake audits. A team approach may widen involvement and
improve co-operation. External or internal auditors may be used but preference should be
given to internal auditors if the expertise is available. In either case, they should be
independent of the part of the organisation or the activity that is to be audited. Auditors
need to understand their task and be competent to carry it out. They need to have the
experience and knowledge of the relevant safety and health standards and systems they
are auditing to enable them to evaluate performance and identify deficiencies. Auditors
122
should be familiar with the requirements set out in any relevant safety and health legislation
so that they can identify unsafe behaviour that would not be reflected in the organisation’s
documents and records. In addition, auditors should be aware of, and have access to
standards and authoritative guidance relevant to the work they are engaged in.
3. Data Collection and Interpretation
The audit should ensure that a representative sample of key activities is included in the audit
and key personnel should be interviewed. Relevant documentation should be examined. This
may include:
• Safety and health management system documentation;
• Risk assessments and Safety Statement;
• Safety and health and emergency procedures;
• Permit-to-work systems and confined space entry procedures;
• Minutes of safety and health meetings;
• Accident/incident reports and records;
• Any reports or communication from the Health and Safety Authority (e.g. verbal reports
and advice, letters, notices);
• Statutory registers and certificates;
• Training records.
The value of an audit depends on the experience and knowledge of the auditors and their
ability to interpret observations and elaborate on the findings. It is also dependent on the
integrity of all parties involved. Wherever possible, checks should be built into the system to
help to avoid misinterpretation or misapplication of audit records.
4. Audit Reporting
At the end of the audit, the auditor or audit team should summarise and feed back their
initial findings to the manager responsible and, in particular, draw attention to any issues that
are so significant that they need immediate action. The audit report should assess overall
performance, identify any inadequacies, and make recommendations on action for
improvement.
5. Acting on Audit Results
An action plan of agreed remedial measures should be drawn up together with
identification of responsible persons, completion dates, and reporting requirements. Follow-
up monitoring arrangements have to be established to ensure satisfactory implementation of
the recommendations.
123
EXPLAIN THE CRITERIA FOR THE EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION OF AUDIT AND INSPECTION
RESULTS
All of this work is of little use unless the information is communicated to the OHS decision
makers. There are regulatory requirements for specific OHS information to be reported to
external bodies. Thus, communication of information is required for regulatory compliance.
You will have to make sure that you have satisfied the following performance criteria:
Appropriately format outcomes of information and data analysis taking account of
the target audience
Disseminate health and safety information and data to managers, key personnel and
stakeholders taking account of legal and ethical requirements.
Communicate health and safety information and data objectively and seek
feedback.
Make recommendations for improvement in prevention strategies based upon
information access and data analysis.
Appropriately format outcomes of information and data analysis taking account of
the target audience.
There are both internal and external target audiences for the occupational health and
safety information.
Internal audiences
Internal audiences include the board of management, managers, health and safety
committees, health and safety representatives, workers, contractors, visitors and others on
the site.
Each of these different roles and levels within an organisation has different needs for
information. The board and CEO have different needs compared with a regional manager,
who has different needs to the finance manager or the safety and health committee. The
challenge is to have a coherent and consistent system that meets all these needs and is able
to communicate the output information in a way that is meaningful to those who have the
need.
Care should be taken to ensure that the information and data management systems, and
their outputs, address identified needs for information and not just create ‘pretty’ graphs or
apply technology because it looks good.
It is important to consider the nature of the audience when communicating any information.
The most appropriate content, method and format for the communication will vary
depending on the audience. Factors to consider include:
124
what is important to them (not what is important to you);
what they should know (ie, due diligence);
what they looking for;
their language, literacy and numeracy skills; and
technology limitations, or scope, that may influence the dissemination of information.
Thus, the content and level of detail will vary depending on the target audience. The
method of displaying the data will vary depending on the type of data as well as the target
audience. Interview a senior manager, a supervisor, an health and safety representative and
a ‘shop floor’ person to make a list of the four key points to consider when formatting
occupational health and safety information for each level and role.
Display of data and information
Charts and graphs can assist people in interpreting data and information and in identifying
the implications. Some data is better suited to certain types of displays than others.
Information that is categorised, such as types of injury or part of the body injured, is often
presented as bar graphs or pie charts. Bar graphs and pie charts may also suit data on
positive indicators such as the collated results of questionnaires.
Bar graphs are useful in highlighting similarities and differences in frequency between factors.
Pie charts can be used to give a clear picture of data expressed as proportions of a whole,
such as percentages where the circle of the pie represents the whole (100%) and the
segments or pie ‘slices’ are proportions (percentages) of the whole.
External audiences
External audiences may include OHS regulators and other statutory bodies, insurance
agencies, shareholders, customers, the community (directly or via the media) and
representatives of special interest groups. The format for reporting of work health and safety
information to statutory bodies and insurance agencies is usually set by the body/agency.
Serious incident and injury report forms and workers’ compensation claim forms are examples
of such reporting formats.
Disseminate OHS information and data to managers, key personnel and stakeholders taking
account of legal and ethical requirements. Disseminating the information involves making
sure that the right people get the information and in a way that they will pay attention to it.
Having already profiled the audience for their needs and the most appropriate format, the
key questions now are:
Who should receive the information?
What is the best medium? Electronic or hard copy?
125
Does it require a presentation to accompany the report?
Is there anything else that should be considered to ensure that people receive the
information and pay attention to it?
LIST AND DESCRIBE OTHER WAYS OF MEASURING FOR COMPLIANCE.
To enable OHSAS 18001 requirements to be met your organisation will have to establish,
implement and maintain a procedure for periodically evaluating compliance with the legal
or other requirements that are applicable to your OH&S risks, as part of your commitment to
compliance (as documented within your Health and Safety Policy). You should record the
results of this evaluation.
A variety of ways can be used to assess Compliance apart from audits, including:
▶ The results of regulatory inspections
▶ Analysis of legal and other requirements
▶ reviews of documents and /or records of incidents and risk assessments
▶ Facility inspections
▶ Interviews
▶ Project or work reviews
▶ Analysis of test results from monitoring and testing
▶ Facility tours and / or direct observations.
You should establish a methodology for the evaluation of compliance that suits your size,
type and complexity. A compliance evaluation can encompass multiple legal requirements
or a single requirement. The frequency of evaluations can be affected by factors such as
past compliance performance or specific legal requirements. While all legal requirements
have to be evaluated, you may need to evaluate individual requirements at different times
or at different frequencies, or as appropriate.
A compliance evaluation programme can be integrated with other assessment activities.
These can include management system audits, environmental audits or quality assurance
checks. The results of the periodic evaluations of legal or other
requirements should be recorded.
126
DESCRIBE HOW, WHEN AND WHAT TO MEASURE FOR COMPLIANCE BY MEANS OF AUDITS AND
INSPECTIONS.
The organization shall ensure that internal audits of the OH&S Management System are
conducted at planned intervals to:
a) Determine whether the OH&S Management System:
1) Conforms to planned arrangements for OH&S management including the requirements of
this OHSAS Standard and
2) Has been properly implemented and is maintained and
3) Is effective in meeting the organization’s policy and objectives
b) Provide information on the results of audits to management.
Audit programme(s) shall be planned, established, implemented and maintained by the
organization, based on the results of risk assessments of the organization’s activities, and the
results of previous audits.
Audit procedure(s) shall be established, implemented and maintained that address:
a) The responsibilities, competencies, and requirements for planning and conducting audits,
reporting results and retaining associated records and
b) The determination of audit criteria, scope, frequency and methods.
Selection of auditors and conduct of audits shall ensure objectivity and the impartiality of the
audit process.
OH&S Management System auditing is a process whereby organizations can review and
continuously evaluate the effectiveness of their OH&S Management System. In general,
OH&S Management System audits need to consider OH&S policy and procedures, and the
conditions and practices in the workplace.
An internal OH&S Management System audit programme should be established to allow the
organization to review its own compliance of its OH&S Management System to OHSAS 18001.
Planned OH&S Management System audits should be carried out by personnel, from within
the organization and/or by external personnel selected by the organization, to establish the
degree of compliance with the documented OH&S procedures, and whether the system is
effective in meeting the OH&S objectives of the organization. In either case, the personnel
conducting the OH&S Management System audits should be in a position to do so impartially
and objectively: Internal OH&S Management System audits focus on the performance of the
127
OH&S Management System. They should not be confused with OH&S or other safety
inspections.
Typical inputs for audits are as follows:
▶ OH&S policy statement
▶ OH&S objectives
▶ OH&S procedures and work instructions
▶ Hazard identification, risk assessment and risk control results
▶ Legislation and best practices (if applicable)
▶ Non-conformance reports
▶ OH&S Management System audit procedures
▶ Competent, independent, internal/external auditor(s)
▶ Non-conformance procedure
The output of an OH&S Management System audit should include detailed assessments of
the effectiveness of OH&S procedures, the level of compliance with procedures and
practices, and should, where necessary, identify corrective actions. The results of the OH&S
Management System audits should be recorded and reported to management, in a timely
manner. A review of the results should be carried out by management and effective
corrective action taken (where necessary).
An annual plan should be prepared for carrying out internal OH&S Management System
audits. The OH&S Management System audits should cover the entire operation, which is
subject to the OH&S Management System, and assess compliance with OHSAS 18001. The
frequency and coverage of OH&S Management System audits should be related to the risks
associated with the failure of the various elements of the OH&S Management System.
Available data on the performance of the OH&S Management System, the output from
management reviews, and the extent to which the OH&S Management System or the
environment in which it operates should be considered during the scheduling process.
Additional, unplanned, OH&S Management System audits may need to be conducted, if
situations occur which warrant them, e.g. after an accident.
128
FORMATIVE ASSESEMENT - NINE
IAC0901 Given a specific industry scenario related to modification and construction
activities prepare a comprehensive internal audit plan covering all regulatory and risk
management aspects of Occupational Health and Safety
129
4.2.10. KM-04-KT10:
Concept of integrated risk management and the role of the
occupational health and safety function in risk management.
(Intermediate)
KT1001 Explain the concept of risk management: a. what a baseline risk
KT1002 assessment is; b. Issue based risk assessment; c. Continuous risk
assessment in accordance with the applicable International
KT1003 standards (OHSAS 18001, ISO 14001, ISO 9001) (NQF Level: 6)
KT1004 List all the elements that must be considered in an integrated
KT1005 risk management system. a. Hazard Identification and analysis;
b. Risk assessment processes; c. Risk quantification; d. Design
and implementation of control measures; e. The need for
effective risk communication and liaison with interested and
affected parties. (NQF Level: 6)
Explain the principles and effects of cross impact analysis in risk
assessment a. Give examples of where cross impact analysis is
used in risk assessment; b. Explain the various techniques for
conducting cross impact analysis. (NQF Level: 6)
Explain the basic principles of the economics of mitigation and
control of risks. a. Legal liability; b. reasonably practicable; c.
Economic viability; d. Prioritization; e. Hierarchy of controls (NQF
Level: 6)
Describe the various risk assessment techniques. a. HIRA; b.
HAZOPS; c. Fault tree; d. Inspections and audits; e. Bow-tie
analysis; f. FMEA (NQF Level: 6)
EXPLAIN THE CONCEPT OF RISK MANAGEMENT:
A.WHAT A BASELINE RISK ASSESSMENT IS;
Baseline risk assessment can be defined as the initial, broad risk assessment of an
organization that is usually used to control risk at a corporate level and includes all activities
taking place on-site. It is used to identify which additional risk assessments are required. It is
done to establish a risk profile, and is used to prioritize action programs for issue-based risk
130
assessment. A Risk Profile is a outline of an organization’s risks in order of severity or any other
criteria as determined by the organization.
The baseline risk management should take the following into account:
1. geographical issues – location of activities, hazards and risks. A change in the
geographical location may completely change the hazard exposure.
2. Functional issues – types of activities, duties, responsibilities, ,jobs and competencies.
A change in any of these functions may change the hazard and risk profiles.
3. Pure hazards – these are things simply naturally and inherently dangerous such as
working with dangerous chemicals or substances, in elevated positions or working
underground
C. ISSUE BASED RISK ASSESSMENT;
Issue-based assessments are, as the name implies, are assessments based on specific issues.
They instituted in response to the high priority risk in identified in the Baseline Risk Assessment,
Program Assessment or even after the near miss or actual loss event. They are narrowly
focused, being issue-based but go into great details in re-evaluating the risk in more details,
and in this designing suitable treatment or control strategies. They follow on from the baseline
assessment, and the need for them is identified in the baseline assessment, issue-based risk
assessments are conducted as required, situations where an issue-based assessment may be
needed include:
Prior to the introduction of, or change in products, techniques, processes or
equipment
New legislation or legislative changes
After the occurrence of an incident
The following are the benefits of Issue-Based Assessments:
(i) They are based upon the specific issue
(ii) Pre-event analysis can help to prevent losses
(iii) Could be responding to the high priority risks identified in other risks assessments
(iv) Narrowly focused, being issue-based
(v) The ultimate outcome in the design of suitable treatment or control strategies
D. CONTINUOUS RISK ASSESSMENT IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE APPLICABLE INTERNATIONAL
STANDARDS (OHSAS 18001, ISO 14001, ISO 9001):
This is an uninterrupted evaluation that happens at the operational level and includes pre-
start checks. It is an informal risk assessment performed on an on-going basis in the work
place. It is usually performed by a supervisor who will observe employees performing their
tasks as part of his daily responsibility. From this observation, the task related to the specific
131
performance of the task is assessed and the supervisor will stop the employee from the
continuing the task should it present too high a risk.
Continuous Risk Assessment according to OHSAS 18001:
This is Occupational Health and Safety Assessment Series-18001.It outlines the requirements of
an Occupational Health & Safety management System from being good to a world class
organization. It enables an organization to control its OH & S risks by setting up the guidelines
to implement, maintain and continually improve an OH & S Management System
OHSAS-PDCA Cycle:
This is based on: Plan, Do, Check, Act
(i) Set goal (Plan)
(ii) Educate and Train Work-force (Do)
(iii) Check Progress (Check)
(iv) Improve (Act)
Designing the OHSAS 18001 Management System
As shown above, the OHSAS 18001 Specification follows the Plan-Do-Check-Review cycle,
with a concurrent emphasis on continual improvement. This model fits in neatly with the
structure of other management system documents such as ISO 14001. This alignment of the
132
management system documents helps in the facilitation of Integrated Management
Systems.
The following steps help form the basic structure of the management system and link into the
structure of OHSAS 18001.
Plan During the planning stage you should:
1. Ensure you have the commitment of top management.
2. Define, with the authorization of top management, the company's occupational health
and safety policy.
3. Planning must be completed to establish a framework for identifying hazards, the
assessment of risks and the implementation of necessary control measures.
4. Legal obligations must be identified and understood, objectives set and a management
programme for achieving them implemented. This entire process should be documented.
Implement your Health and Safety Management System
At this point you should:
1. Establish roles and responsibilities.
2. Develop procedures for the consultation and communication of OHS information to
employees and other interested parties.
3. Document your processes and develop a system of document and data control.
4. Apply a system of operational control.
5. Establish plans and procedures for emergencies.
Check your management system and take any necessary corrective action
You should aim to continually improve your management system by:
1. Introducing performance, measuring and monitoring practices.
2. Establishing and documenting responsibility and authority for accidents, incidents, non-
conformities and corrective & preventative action.
3. Establishing a procedure for records and records management.
4. Auditing and assessing the performance of the management system.
Continuous Risk Assessment according to ISO 14001:
ISO 14000 is a family of standards related to environmental management that exists to help
organization:
(a) To minimize how their operation proceeds negatively affect the environment such as
causing negative changes in the air, water or land
(b) Comply with applicable laws, regulations and other environmentally oriented
requirements
133
(c) Continually improve in the above
Continuous Risk Assessment according to ISO 9001:
The ISO 9001 family of quality management systems standard is designed to help
organizations ensure that they meet the needs of customers and other stakeholders while
meeting statutory and regulatory requirements related to a product or program. The
organization shall establish, implement, maintain and continually improve a quality
management systems, including the processes needed and their interaction, in accordance
with the requirement of this international standard. The organization shall determine the
processes needed for the quality management system and their application throughout the
organization to determine the following:
The risks and opportunities in accordance with the requirement this standard, plan
and implement the appropriate actions to address them
Action to address risks and opportunities
The organization will provide confidence in the organization’s ability to constantly
provide customers with conforming goods and services and enhance customer
satisfaction
LIST ALL THE ELEMENTS THAT MUST BE CONSIDERED IN AN INTEGRATED RISK MANAGEMENT
SYSTEM.
A. HAZARD IDENTIFICATION AND ANALYSIS;
Find out what caused the harm. Identifying hazards in the workplace involves finding things
and situations that could potentially cause harm to people. Hazards generally arise from the
following aspects of work and their interaction.
Physical work environment
Equipment, materials and substance used.
Work tasks and how they are performed
Work design and management.
Some hazards are part of the work process, such as mechanical hazards, noise or toxic
properties of substances. Other hazards result from equipment of machine failures and
misuse, chemical spills and structural failures.
Table ……Examples of common hazards.
Hazard Potential Harm
Manual tasks Overexertion or repetitive movement can cause muscular
134
Gravity strain
Failing objects, falls, slips and trips of people can cause
Electricity fractures, bruises, lacerations, dislocations, concussion,
Machinery and equipment permanent injuries or death.
Potential ignition source. Exposure to live electrical wires can
Hazardous chemicals cause shock, burns or death from electrocution.
Being hit by moving vehicles, or being caught by moving
Extreme temperatures parts of machinery can cause fractures, bruises, lacerations,
Noise dislocations, dislocations, permanent injuries or death.
Radiation Chemicals (such as acids, hydrocarbons, heavy metals) and
Biological dusts 9 such as asbestos and silica) can cause respiratory
Psychosocial hazards illnesses, cancers or dermatitis.
Heat can cause burns, heat stroke or fatigue. Cold can cause
hypothermia or frost bite.
Exposure to loud noise can cause permanent hearing
damage.
Ultra violet, welding arc flashes, micro waves and lasers can
cause burns, cancer and blindness.
Micro – organisms can cause hepatitis, legionnaires ‘disease,
fever, HIV/AIDS or allergies.
Effects of work – related stress, bullying, violence and work
stress fatigue.
Hazard identification is the process of identifying all situations or events that could give rise to
the potential for injury, illness or damage to plant or property. Hazard identification should
take into account how things are being done, where they are done and who is doing them,
and should also consider how many people are exposed to each hazard identified and for
how long. The following should be accorded top priority in the hazard identification process:
High frequency accidents or near misses – jobs with high frequency of accidents or
near misses pose a significant threat to the safety and health of workers and should
therefore be given top priority.
History of serious accidents causing fatalities – jobs that have already produced
fatalities, disabling injuries, should have a high priority in the hazard identification
process.
Existence of a potential for serious harm – jobs that have the potential to cause
serious injury or harm need hazard analysis, even if they have never produced an
injury or illness.
135
Introduction of new jobs - whenever a job is introduced, a hazard identification
process should be conducted before any worker is assigned to it.
Recent changes in procedures – jobs that have undergone a change in procedure,
equipment or materials, and work affected by new regulations of standards will need
risk assessment.
Major methods for identification of hazards include:
Direct observational method – this involves observing and experienced worker with
good safety awareness carrying out the work several times.
Recall method – this should be done for jobs that are rarely performed. The method
involves inviting the designers, engineers, supervisors and workers involved in the jobs
to attend a brainstorming session, during which they look into the material, machines
and equipment used, and the job steps to identify the hazards inherent in such jobs.
B.RISK ASSESSMENT PROCESSES;
When hazards have been identified, assess the risk created by each hazard. The risk is the
likelihood that the hazard will cause injury, illness or disease in the way that it is used or occurs
in the workplace, and the severity of the injury, illness or disease that may result. Risk
assessment means the process of evaluating the probability and consequences of injury,
illness or disease arising from exposure to an identified hazard or hazards
Assessment of a risk involves consideration of:
The nature of the hazard
How it may affect health or safety (what type of injury, illness or disease could occur
and how serious they are)
How employees are exposed to the hazard
Any workers affected (e.g. women, workers with disabilities etc.)
How much, how often and for how long employees are exposed
Location of the hazard.
The risk assessment also takes into account the way that work is organised, the layout and
condition of the work environment, the training and knowledge needed by a person to work
safely and the types of control measures available. The assessment of risk is a process of
gathering information and making decisions. There is no ‘right’ answer. People will make
certain decisions about risk because they have different ideas about what is acceptable. For
this reason it is important that those who will be affected by the decisions made (the
employer, relevant employees and their representatives) should be involved in the
assessment .An assessment should be made whenever there is a change in the workplace
that could affect health, safety or welfare, or when there is new information about a hazard.
136
B.RISK QUANTIFICATION;
Risk assessment is the determination of quantitative or qualitative estimate of risk related to a
well-defined situation and a recognized threat (also known as a hazard). Quantitative risk
assessment requires calculations of two components of risk; the magnitude of the potential
loss and the probability that the loss will occur. An acceptable risk is a risk that is understood
and tolerated usually because the cost or difficulty of implementing an effective
countermeasure for the associated vulnerability exceeds the expectation of loss.
In quantitative risk assessment annualized loss expectancy (ALE) may be used to justify the
cost of implementing countermeasures. This may be calculated by multiplying the single loss
expectancy (SLE), which is the loss of value based on a single security incident, with the
annualized rate of occurrence (ARO), which is an estimate of how often a threat would be
successful in exploiting vulnerability.
C. DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION OF CONTROL MEASURES;
Implement the most effective control measure that is reasonably practicable in the
circumstances. You can also control risk by removing the hazard completely, for example,
by removing trip hazards on the floor or disposing of unwanted chemicals. The most effective
control measure involves eliminating the hazard and associated risk. Eliminating hazards is
much cheaper and more practical to achieve at design or planning stage of a product,
process or place used for work. In these early phases, there is greater scope to design out
hazards or incorporate risk control measures that are compatible with the original design and
functional requirements. For example, a noisy machine could be designed to produce as
little noise as possible, which is more effective than providing workers with personal hearing
protectors.
Information about suitable controls for many common hazards and risks can be obtained
from:
Codes and practice and guidance material
Manufacturers and suppliers of plant, substances and equipment used in your work
place.
Industry associations and unions.
You may need to develop specific control measure, if the available information is not
relevant to the hazards and risks or circumstances at your workplace. The control measures
that you put into operation will usually require changes to the way the work is carried out due
to new or modified equipment or processes, new or different chemicals or new personal
protective equipment.
137
It is therefore necessary to support these control measures with:
Work procedures
Develop a safe work procedure that describe the task, identifies the hazards and
documents how the task is to be performed to minimize the risks.
Training, instruction and information
Train your workers in the work procedures to ensure that they are able to perform the
task safely. Training, instruction and information must be provided in a form that is
understood by all workers. Information and instruction may also need to be provided
to others who enter the workplace, such as customers and vistors.
Supervision
The level of supervision required will depend on the level of risk and the experience of
the workers involved. High le levels of supervision are necessary where inexperienced
workers are expected to follow new procedures or carry our difficult and critical tasks.
How to ensure that controls remain effective
The following actions may help you to monitor the control measures you have implemented
to ensure that they remain effective.
Accountability for health and safety – accountability should be clearly allocated to
ensure procedures are followed and maintained. Managers and supervisors should
be provided with the authority and resources to implement and maintain control
measures effectively.
Maintenance of plant and equipment – this will involve regular inspection and testing,
repair or replacement of damaged or worn plant and equipment. It includes
checking that any control measures suitable for the nature and duration of work, are
set up and used correctly.
Up – to – date training and competency – control measures, particularly lower level
controls, depend on all workers and supervisors having appropriate competencies to
do the job safely. Training should be provided to maintain competencies and ensure
new workers are capable of working safely.
Up – to – date hazard information - information about hazards, such as plant and
substances may be updated by manufacturers and suppliers and should be checked
to make sure controls are still relevant.
Regular review and consultation - control measures are more effective where there is
regular review of work procedures and consultation with workers and other
representatives.
138
E. THE NEED FOR EFFECTIVE RISK COMMUNICATION AND LIAISON WITH INTERESTED AND
AFFECTED PARTIES.
There is need to consult, co – operate and co – ordinate activities with the workers and other
persons who are directly affected by a work health and safety matter and other
stakeholders. Encourage workers to report any hazards and health and safety problems
immediately so that risks can be managed before an incident occurs. If you have a health
and safety committee you should engage the committee in the risk management process as
well.
Consultation involves sharing information, giving workers a reasonable opportunity to express
views and taking those views into account before making decisions on health and safety
matters. Consultation with workers and their health and representatives is required at each
step of the risk management process. By drawing on the experience, knowledge and ideas
of workers and those affected by the process, you are more likely to identify the hazards and
choose effective control measures.
Sometimes you may share responsibility for a health and safety matter with the other
business operators who are involved in the same activities or share the same workplace.
When entering into contracts, communicate your safety requirements and policies, review
the job to be undertaken, discuss any safety issues that may arise and how they will be dealt
with.
EXPLAIN THE PRINCIPLES AND EFFECTS OF CROSS IMPACT ANALYSIS IN RISK ASSESSMENT.
A. GIVE EXAMPLES OF WHERE CROSS IMPACT ANALYSIS IS USED IN RISK ASSESSMENT;
Cross impact analysis is a family of techniques designed to evaluate changes in the
probability of occurrence of a given set of events consequent on the actual occurrence of
one of them. Cross impact analysis can be used where understanding the interlink
relationships of probabilistic events is important. It provides a framework for considering and
evaluating the impacts of multiple linked future-scenario components on each other, while
facilitating additional insights into the respective system properties.
The method would be used during problem framing. This methodology has been used in
problem domains ranging from military intelligence and aviation to game simulation-based
strategic decision –making, collaborative risk mitigation. It can be used for evaluations of
possible future scenarios relating to systems impact analysis and evaluating complex
collaboration arrangements, such as those in the design of risk mitigation scenarios.
139
B. EXPLAIN THE VARIOUS TECHNIQUES FOR CONDUCTING CROSS IMPACT ANALYSIS.
Cross impact analysis involves constructing a matrix to show the interdependencies of
different events and basically includes the following steps;
1. Identification of events and trends to be considered, (usually 10 – 30) and experts to
be questioned.
2. Estimating the probability for each event (in isolation of others).
3. Calculating the probability of each event in dependence of the others.
4. Sensitivity analysis
5. Generation of scenarios and the CIA matrix.
The mathematical technique
The futurist forecasting style of cross impact analysis relies on probabilities and mathematics
in its processes. Initial probabilities and conditional probabilities are calculated using their
percentages or factor numbers equivalent to percentages. Calculations must be accurate
so that impacts of events are realistic and not contradictory. There is also need to be careful
when calculating negative impacts as the negative influence can create mathematical
impossibility.
EXPLAIN THE BASIC PRINCIPLES OF THE ECONOMICS OF MITIGATION AND CONTROL OF RISKS.
A.LEGAL LIABILITY;
Legal liability is the responsibility, based on law, to right some wrong done to another person
or organization. One involves the remedy of the liability. A remedy is compensation for a
person who has been harmed in some way. A person who has been wronged or harmed
may ask the court to remedy or compensate him or her for the harm. Usually this will involve
monetary compensation, but it can also involve some other type pf behavior on the part of
the person who committed the wrong. For example, someone whose water supply has been
contaminated by a polluting business may request an injunction against the business to force
the cessation of pollution. A developer who is constructing a building in violation of a code
may be required to halt construction based on a liability lawsuit.
When monetary compensation is sought, it can take several forms. Special damages
compensate for those harms that generally are easily quantifiable into dollar measures.
These include medical expenses, lost income, and repair costs of damaged property. Those
harms that are not specifically quantifiable but that require compensation all the same are
called general damages or noneconomic damages, examples of general damages include
pain and suffering, mental anguish, and loss of consortium (companionship).
140
B. REASONABLY PRACTICABLE;
Reasonably practicable means doing what is reasonably able to be done to ensure the
health and safety of workers and others. Risks should be reduced to the lowest reasonably
practicable level by taking preventive measures, in order of priority. Employers and
businesses should always try to eliminate, so far as reasonably practicable, any health and
safety risks in the workplace. When determining what is reasonably practicable, you should
take into account;
The likelihood of the hazard or risk occurring
The degree of harm from the hazard or risk
Knowledge about ways of eliminating or minimizing the hazard or risk.
The availability and suitability of ways to eliminate or minimize the risk
Cost
C.ECONOMIC VIABILITY;
Economic viability is when a project proves to be economically feasible, innovative and
sustainable in terms of investing financial resources into the project. Funding for the project
must be compatible with the demands, risks and constraints that occur during the project's
life span. For example, the construction industry has a high rate of accidents and a poor
reputation for coping with problems, with many projects failing to meet deadlines, cost
and quality targets. In extreme cases the risk of time and cost overruns can compromise the
economic viability of the project, making a potentially profitable investment untenable.
Economic viability means that market operation is sustainable regarding current and
projected revenues. The revenues will be greater than or equal to all current and planned
expenditures. In simple terms, any project or activity that can financially support itself is
economically viable.
D. PRIORITIZATION;
The first step is to establish priorities among objectives by assessing the main factors
ontributing to the hazards with the most severe consequences. High priority may also be
allocated to actions that will produce rapid results, as early successes will enhance the
credibility of efforts. Priorities may change from time to time, depending on the existing
situation. It should be reiterated that cooperation between management and workers or
their representatives within the enterprise is essential in ensuring the successful
implementation of an organizational structure for occupational safety and health.
141
Determination of risk
The risk associated with a hazard is a reflection of the likelihood that the hazard will cause
harm and the severity of that harm. The vast majority of hazards are relatively straightforward
and requiring only a simple method of risk rating. The method incorporates a judgment as to
whether or not a risk is tolerable. Such a method can be illustrated as follows:
For each hazard identified, ask the question ‘What if?’ What is the worst likely outcome?
( i.e. the potential severity of harm)? Is it a fatality, major injury/ permanent disability including
permanent ill health, or minor injury, or no injury and only plant damage? For the purpose of
determination of risk, the severity of harm can be divided into 3 categories
Slightly harmful:
Examples are –
- Superficial injuries, minor cuts and bruises, eye irritation from dust.
- Nuisance and irritation ( e.g. headaches), ill health leading to temporary discomfort.
Harmful:
Examples are –
- Lacerations, burns, concussions, serious sprains, minor fractures.
- Deafness, dermatitis, asthma, work related upper limb disorders, ill health leading to
permanent minor disability.
Extremely harmful:
Examples are –
- Amputations, major fractures, poisonings, multiple injuries, fatal injuries.
- Occupational cancer, other severe life shortening disease, acute fatal diseases.
(2) Make a judgment about the probability or likelihood of harm occurring based on the
following table:
Probability/ likelihood Description
Likely/ frequent Occurs repeatedly/ event only to be expected
Unlikely Rather remote, though conceivable
Highly unlikely So unlikely that probability is close to zero.
Decisions as to whether or not action is needed should then be made by reference to the
matrix formed by probability/ likelihood and the likely outcome (i.e. severity) which is usually
called the Risk Level Estimator:
142
Risk Level Estimator Slightly harmful Harmful Extremely harmful
Highly unlikely Trivial risk Minor risk Moderate risk
Unlikely Minor risk Moderate risk Substantial risk
Likely Moderate risk Substantial risk Extreme risk
Action should be taken according to a list of priority. Extreme risks should be accorded first
priority, substantial risks second priority, moderate risks third priority and so on.
E. HIERARCHY OF CONTROLS
Not all controls are equal in effectiveness. Controls are recognized as following a hierarchy
as shown in the diagram below:
1. Elimination/ termination methods
The most effective control measure involves eliminating the hazard and associated risk. The
best way to do this is by, firstly, not introducing the hazard into the workplace. For example,
you can eliminate the risk of a fall from height by doing the work at ground level. You can
also eliminate risks by removing the hazard completely, for example, by removing trip
hazards on the floor or disposing of unwanted chemicals. It may not be possible to eliminate
a hazard if doing so means that you cannot make the end product or deliver the service. If
you cannot eliminate the hazard, then eliminate as many of the risks associated with the
143
hazard as possible. Elimination controls are the only are the only controls which can be
considered to reduce a risk to zero.
2. Substitution controls
Substitute the hazard with something safer or with one that is less potentially hazardous to
workers or the environment. For instance, replace solvent-based paints with water-based
ones. These controls cannot reduce a risk to zero, but can be very effective, for example,
80% or even 90% effective in many instances.
3. Engineering Controls
An engineering control is a control measure that is physical in nature, including a mechanical
device or process. For instance, use mechanical devices such as trolleys or hoists to move
heavy loads; place guards around moving parts of machinery; install residual current devices
(electrical safety switches); set work rates on a production line to reduce fatigue. These
controls can also not be considered to reduce a risk to zero, but can be quite effective (for
example, more than half effective).
4. Administrative controls
This is a huge and diverse group of controls that includes any type of documentation; work
methods or procedures that are designed to minimise exposure to a hazard. For instance,
develop procedures on how to operate machinery safely, limit exposure time to a hazardous
task, use signs to warn people of a hazard. Inspections, surveys, posters, monitoring
programs, supervision and planned job observations are also examples of administrative
controls. Unfortunately, these controls are not considered very effective, rarely being more
than 50% effective.
5. PPE Controls.
Recognized as the least effective controls, for example, usually being 20% - 40% effective.
PPE reduces the risk by protecting and controlling the individual. There is a strong emphasis
on someone having to wear or use something for the control to be effective. Examples of
PPE include ear muffs, respirators, face masks, hard hats, gloves, aprons and protective
eyewear. PPE limits exposure to the harmful effects of a hazard but only if workers wear and
use the PPE correctly.
144
DESCRIBE THE VARIOUS RISK ASSESSMENT TECHNIQUES.
A.HIRA;
Hazard identification and risk assessment (HIRA) is the process conducted by an organization
through which anticipated HSE risks are;
Identified
Assessed/evaluated
Prioritized
Controlled
reviewed
further re-assessed and controlled
By identifying hazards and then conducting risk assessments on them, an organization can
better know what its risks are
HIRA as a process
Step 1: Planning
Planning entails the following:
Defining the scope and depth of risk assessment
Clarifying the methodology to be used
Identifying resource requirements (for example data, people)
Identifying and accessing input data (for example incident records, a hygiene survey,
and MSDS)
Determining documentation needs (for example forms)
Establishing the duties and responsibilities of all the role players
Determining training and team composition requirements (for example supervisions,
line management, operators, union representative, H&S representative)
Step 2: identify Hazards
There are various means of identifying hazards such as:
Brainstorming
Reviewing input data history, hygiene surveys and MSDs
Physical assessments
Interviews with operators and maintenance personnel
Benchmarking-codes of practice/standards and legal requirements
Legislation-the fact that revolving machinery is legally required to be guarded shows
that it is a hazard that poses a risk
145
Step 3: Analyse the risk
With the identified hazard coming from the energy source, the risk can either be a health or
safety risk, or environment impact, or a combination of all three.
Convert the hazard to a risk
Determine the classification, namely, safety or environmental
Determine the possible consequence relate to this situation and the category of the
risk
Steps 4: evaluation of risks
According to the HSE HSG 159,” a risk assessment is nothing more than a careful examination
of how people could be harmed by your work” a risk assessment should not be over
complicated. Large and complexed risks may require the application of specialized, more
rigorous risk assessment tactics that are capable of quantification. The evaluation
methodology employed must account for controls and actual practices.
B. HAZOPS;
The HAZOP Flow Diagram
A hazard and operability study (HAZOP) is a structured and systematic examination of a
complex, planned or existing process or operation in order to identify and evaluate
problems that may represent risks to personnel or equipment.
146
Application of HAZOP
The hazard technique was developed in the 1960s to analyse major mechanical areas
including mining operations, other types of process systems and other complex systems
such as nuclear power plant operation and software development. It is also used as the
basis for reviewing batch processes and operation procedures. The intention of
performing a HAZOP is to review the design to pick up designing and engineering issues
that may otherwise not have been found. The technique is based on breaking the
overall complex design of the process into a number of simpler sections called ‘nodes’
which are then individually reviewed. The HAZOP technique is qualitative, and aims to
stimulate the imaginations of the participants to identify potential hazards and
operability problems.
C. FAULT TREE;
A fault tree diagram
Fault tree analysis (FTA) is atop down, deductive failure analysis in which an undesired
state of a system is analyzed using Boolean logic to combine a series of lower level
events. This analysis method is mainly used in the fields of safety engineering and
reliability engineering to understand how systems can fail, to identify the best ways to
reduce risk or to determine event rates of a safety accident of a particular system level (
functional) failure. FTA is used in the aerospace, nuclear power, chemical and process,
pharmaceutical, petrochemical and other high – hazard industries, but is also used in
147
fields as diverse as risk factor identification to social service system failure. FTA is also used
in software engineering for debugging purposes and is closely related to cause –
elimination technique used to detect bugs.
Usage
Fault tree analysis can be used to:
Understand the logic leading to the top event/ undesirable state.
Show compliance with the (input) safety system/ reliability requirement
Prioritize the contributors leading to the top event – crating the critical
equipment/ parts/ events lists for different important measures
Monitor and control the safety performance of the complex system
Minimize and optimize resources
Assist in designing a system.
D. INSPECTIONS AND AUDITS;
Health and safety audits and inspections go hand in hand with each other and are an
imperative part of keeping your workplace free from OHS risks. It is important that you take a
proactive approach to a safe work place instead of assuming everything is fine until a
problem is brought to your attention or an incident occurs.
An inspection is the process of examining your workplace to identify any hazards that may
be putting employees at risk. This process can be either an informal walk around the site or a
formal, planned inspection.
An audit is a documented method of reviewing you r systems of safe work as they are
carried out in the workplace, to ascertain whether they comply with OHS legislative
requirements, or whether they need to be amended.
E. BOW-TIE ANALYSIS;
Bowtie analysis, also known as sequence analysis, is a software package commonly used for
sequence alignment and sequence analysis in bioinformatics. This bowtie method of analysis
is a qualitative analysis incorporating management system techniques. The bowtie has
become popular as a structured method to assess risk where a quantitative approach is not
possible or desirable. The approach is mostly used in the hazard identification and the
development of the hazard register, to link hazard barriers and operational systems and
procedures in place to eliminate the hazard or reduce its frequency of occurrence, or
mitigate its potential consequences. The success of the diagram is that it is simple and easy
for the non- specialist to understand. The idea is a simple one of combining the cause (fault
tree) and the consequence (event tree). When the fault tree is drawn on the left hand side
148
and the event tree is drawn on the right hand side with the hazard drawn as a "knot" in the
middle the diagram looks a bit like a bowtie as shown
Bow – tie Diagram
F. FMEA
FMEA is a design tool used to systematically analyse postulated component failures and
identify the resultant effects on system operations. A FMEA is often the first step of a system
reliability study. It involves reviewing as many components, assemblies, and sub – systems as
possible to identify failure modes and their causes and effects. For each component, the
failure modes and their resulting effect on the rest of the system are recorded in a specific
FMEA worksheet. There are numerous variations of such actions. A FMEA can be a qualitative
analysis but may be put on a qualitative basis when mathematical failure rate models are
combined with a statistical failure mode ratio database.
The analysis is sometimes characterised as consisting of two sub analysis, the first being the
failure modes and effects analysis (FMEA) and the second, and criticality analysis (CA).
successful development of the FMEA requires that the analyst include all the significant
failure modes for each contributing element or part in the system. The FMECA should be a
living document during development of a hardware design. It should be scheduled and
completed concurrently with the design.
A few different types of FMEA analysis exist such as
Functional
149
Design
Process
Sometimes FMEA is extended to FMECA (Failure Modes, Effects and Criticality analysis) to
indicate that criticality analysis is performed too. FMEA is and inductive reasoning (forward
logic) single point of failure analysis and is a core task in liability engineering, safety
engineering and quality engineering. The FMEA can be accomplished without CA but a CA
requires that the FMEA has previously identified system level critical failures. When both steps
are done, the total process is called FMECA.
Ground rules
The ground rules of each FMEA includes a set of projected, selected procedures, the
assumption on which the analysis is based; the assumptions on which the analysis is based,
the hardware that has been included and excluded from the analysis and the rationale for
the exclusions. Every effort should be made to identify all ground rules before the FMEA
begins, however, ground rules may be expanded and clarified as the analysis proceeds. A
typical set of ground rules ( assumptions) is as follows:
Only one failure mode exists at a time
All inputs ( including software commands) to the item being analysed are present at
nominal values.
All consumables are present in sufficient quantities.
Nominal power is available.
Benefits
Major benefits derived from properly implemented FMECA effort are as follows:
It provides a documented method for selecting a design with a high probability of
successful operation and safety.
Early identification of single failure points and system interface problems which may
be critical to mission success and/ or safety.
An effective method for evaluating the effect of proposed changes to the design
and/or operational procedures on mission success and safety.
Criteria for early planning of tests
150