Understand occupational health and safety

Unit 01
ETUET-1-0005-1-3
Class Rules
Class Rules
• No make up

• No food

• No music

• No talking
Terminologies
• Health

• Safety

• Hazard

• Risk

• Control

• Eliminate

• Harm
 Occupational Safety and Health
OH&S
• is an area concerned with the safety, health and welfare of people engaged
in work place or employment

• This includes
• the organisational structure,
• planning activities,
• responsibilities, practices,
• procedures, processes and resources
• for developing and achieving, reviewing and maintaining
• the organisation’s OH&S policy”.
The importance of OHS
• Many of the effects of injury or illness are not fully recognized and range from
inconvenience through to major consequences.

• Some of the effects include

o injury, disease, death
o pain and suffering
o changes to lifestyle
o financial problems
o psychological impact of injury/illness
o absenteeism
o reduced or poor productivity

• Improved occupational health and safety can lead to improved productivity and a better
working experience for all workers.
The cost of workplace injury and illness
Unsafe workplaces or work practices can have an enormous cost both
financially and emotionally. workplace accidents place cause problem
on families and the wider community.
The financial cost to business and industry reduces effectiveness.

• The consequences of workplace injury include:

o financial costs
o human costs
o social costs
The OHS Regulations
• Regulations
• The Regulations support the Occupational Health and Safety Legislations in
achieving reductions in the incidence of workplace injuries and disease.

• Regulations give details on how certain sections of the Act are to be

implemented.

• Cover specific areas of work such as:

o Risk management
o First Aid
o Workplace consultation
o Work premises and working environment
o Floors, Pathways and Stairs
Code of practice
• course of action to achieves standard of health and safety in the workplace

• Gives practical guidance on how the required standard of health safety and
benefit can be achieved in the workplace.

• Should be followed, unless there is an alternative course of action that

achieves the same or a better standard of health, safety and welfare in the
workplace.
Example of Codes of Practice
 Electrical Practices for Construction Work
OHS Consultation
Labelling of Workplace Substances
Important Of Health and Safety
• The Ministry of Labor (MOL) recommends that both employers and
employees work in partnership to promote and improve health and
safety
• Internal processes should include 3 pillars
• Enforcement
• Compliance
• Partnership
Work plan
A work plan contains the objectives that guide an employee’s work through the
health and safety regulation .

It helps to ensure that the employee’s work will assist the organizations to meet
established goals and priorities.

 Through planning, development and review conversations with employees,

employer will ensure that work plans for health and safety are focused,
appropriate
Duties and Responsibilities - Employer
• Take all responsible insurances for the protection of employees.
• Provide information, instruction and supervisor for the protection of
employees.
• Ensure that all supervisors have working knowledge of the Act and
Regulations
Responsibilities Of First-line Supervisors
Examples of responsibilities of first-line supervisors include:
Instructing workers to follow safe work practices.
Enforcing health and safety regulations.
Correcting unsafe acts and unsafe conditions.
Reporting and investigating all accidents/incidents.
Inspecting own area and taking remedial action to minimize or eliminate hazards.
Ensuring equipment is properly maintained.
Rights of Employees
• The Right to Know
• Employees are entitled to receive information on issues that affect their
health and safety or that of other persons in the workplace.

• The Right to Refuse

• Employees have the right to refuse work that they believe is unsafe and
unhealthy. Work Refusals require a process to be followed by the employer.

• The Right to Participate

• Employees can participate in joint health and safety committees or participate
as a health & safety representative at your site.
Duties and Responsibilities - Employee
 Work in compliance of the Act and Regulations.
 Use or wear any equipment or safety devices as provided by the employer, and
follow all safety procedures as directed by your supervisor or the training
provided.
 Report to your supervisor/administrator all safety defects in equipment, missing
protective devices or hazards.
 Report to your supervisor any known damage of the Act and Regulations.
• The safety of the other workers. Remind and help others to be safe.
• (Get the step ladder for someone and help carry it if necessary …..)
• Report unsafe situations to your administrator/supervisor
Examples
 Employees are prohibited from wearing flip flops, shoes with heels
greater than 2.5 inches style . Wear appropriate footwear for your
working

 Employees should use a proper step ladder and never stand on a table,
desk,
• or chair.

 Employees must ensure they have proper safe electrical equipment

Outcome
 Identify and confirm the work plan including advice from the
work supervisor
1. Identify and confirm the work plan including advice from the work supervisor
2. Obtain work area access permits or permissions from appropriate personnel
Importance of Health and safety at work
place .
• Why?

• Because Employees will feel safe to work

Purpose of permits to work
• Permits to work are a formal management system used to control high risk
activities.
• These enable an assessment of risks to be made
• Permits to work will usually be necessary for such activities as maintenance or
construction
Access permits
A permit to work will be required if a risk assessment carried out following
examination of the contractor’s method statement indicates that there is a
risk of a hazard such as a fall from height, a fall of an object from height,
exposure to radiation or hazardous fumes or any other significant hazard. In
which case the measures taken to minimize the risk will be indicated in
section 4 of the permit.
Example :
A lack of oxygen.
If a risk assessment indicates that the oxygen level may be low, arrangements
should be made to measure the oxygen level at the place of work within the
confined space, before entering
Heat
If a risk assessment indicates that hot conditions may exist which could lead
to a dangerous increase in body temperature ,Flammable materials
Inspector
• How often must workplace inspections be carried out?
• Regular inspections help to identify hazards and prevent accidents.
• The workplace must be inspected at least once a month
• Who carries out workplace inspections?
•  Where a certified member is required on the joint health and safety
committee, the person selected to inspect the workplace should, if
possible, be a certified member Where the joint health and safety
committee has been established by an order of the Minister of
Labour,
HouseKepeeing
• Effective housekeeping can eliminate some workplace hazards and help get a job done
safely
• Poor housekeeping can frequently contribute to accidents by hiding hazards that cause
injuries.
• Housekeeping is not just cleanliness. It includes
 keeping work areas neat and orderly
 maintaining halls and floors free of slip and trip hazards
 removing of waste materials (e.g., paper, cardboard)
 requires paying attention to important
• the capability of storage facilities and maintenance.
• Effective housekeeping is an ongoing operation
Personal protective equipment PPE
• PPE is equipment that will protect the user against health or safety
risks at work. It can include items such as safety hard hats, gloves, eye
protection, high-visibility clothing, safety footwear and safety
harnesses.
• What do the Regulations require?
• PPE should be used Wherever there are risks to health and safety
that cannot be adequately controlled in other ways, the Personal
Protective Equipment at Work Regulations 1992 require PPE to be
supplied
PPE Regulations
• The Regulations also require that PPE is:
• ■ properly assessed before use to make sure it is fit for purpose;
• ■ maintained and stored properly
• ■ provided with instructions on how to use it safely;
• ■ used correctly by employees
The hazards and types of PPE
• Eyes
• Hazards: Chemical or metal splash, dust, projectiles, gas and vapour, radiation.
• Options: Safety spectacles, goggles, face-shields, visors.
• Head
• Hazards: Impact from falling or flying objects, risk of head bumping, hair entanglement.
• Options: A range of helmets, hard hats and bump caps.
• Breathing
• Hazards: Dust, vapour, gas, oxygen-deficient atmospheres.
• Options: Disposable filtering face-piece or respirator, half- or full-face
respirators, airfed helmets, breathing apparatus.
• Protecting the body
• Hazards: Temperature extremes, adverse weather, chemical or metal splash, spray from pressure leaks or spray
guns, impact or penetration, contaminated dust, excessive wear or entanglement of own clothing.
• Options: Conventional or disposable overalls, boiler suits, specialist protective clothing, eg chain-mail aprons,
high-visibility clothing.

• Hands and arms

• Hazards: abrasion, temperature extremes, cuts and punctures, impact, chemicals, electric shock, skin infection,
disease or contamination.
• Options: Gloves, gauntlets, mitts, wrist-cuffs, armlets.
• Feet and legs
• Hazards: Wet, electrostatic build-up, slipping, cuts and punctures, falling objects, metal and chemical splash,
abrasion.
• Options: Safety boots and shoes with protective toe caps and penetration-resistant mid-sole, gaiters, leggings, spats.
Key points to remember
• Are there ways other than using PPE to effectively control the risk, eg
by using engineering controls? If not, check that:
• ■ Suitable PPE is provided;
• ■ It offers adequate protection for its intended use
• ■ Those using it are adequately trained in its safe use
• ■ It is properly maintained and any defects are reported