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SCENARIO
You are the manager at a car tyre fitting organisation that has been operating for 2 years. You are also responsible for overseeing all health and safety matters. This includes ensuring legal compliance, which in turn partly avoids enforcement action and any associated criminal or civil proceedings against the organisation. You want to avoid any corresponding punitive measures from courts such as fines, especially as the media publicise court decisions.
You are regularly seen in the tyre fitting workshop, talking informally to trained workers about health and safety. You have a lot of experience in tyre fitting and temporarily cover for other workers when they are absent due to occasional sickness or annual leave. You do not expect others to do work that you are not prepared to do yourself. Your workers trust and respect you for this and you trust and respect them too. Although the workshop needs to be profitable, the way things are done is ‘safety first’ and this is reflected in the behaviour of the workforce.
You have worked extremely hard in managing risks beyond legal and accredited standard requirements. Because of this you were instrumental in achieving certification of the organisation’s health and safety management system. You are proud to have received zero non-conformities when externally audited. Suitable risk assessments and associated safe systems of work are understood by the workforce (all developed with input from the workers). Workers receive adequate health and safety information and inductions. You use the latest technology and equipment for tyre fitting. Your approach is to achieve zero lost time accidents each year, which you believe is a realistic goal. You frequently carry out workplace inspections and foster a culture of incident reporting and investigation that identifies root causes to prevent repeat incidents.
The workshop is open to the public from 09:00 – 17:00 from Monday to Saturday. It has a single tyre fitting bay where there is room for two cars to be worked on at any given time. Cars can be driven in to, and out of, the workshop through an open roller shutter door at the rear of the building. There is also pedestrian access from the workshop to the front office. The cars are driven onto a four-post vehicle lift, from where they can be inspected and maintained. There is a car park at the front and rear of the workshop for waiting vehicles. Cars are collected from either car park by either you (as manager) or by one of the five tyre fitters employed by the organisation.
The front pedestrian entrance to the building leads onto a short corridor, the walls of which are mounted with framed documents including a health and safety management system certificate, the health and safety policy, and public liability insurance. The corridor leads straight ahead into the workshop via a fire door, or to a customer waiting room (to the left) accessed through another door. The waiting room contains a small counter, behind which is an office, where the manager or one of the tyre fitters can take customer orders.
A customer is in the waiting room awaiting a report from the tyre fitter about the condition of their tyres. The tyre fitter returns and reports that the rear tyre has a slow puncture, but also explains that there is some uneven wear on the inside and outside of the two front tyres. The extent of the wear means that they are below the legal limit and need replacing. The tyre fitter invites the customer into the workshop to view the wear. They take the customer to the car, which is still raised up on the four post vehicle lift.
While underneath the vehicle, pointing out the uneven tyre wear, the tyre fitter trips over a pneumatic impact wrench (used to remove car wheel nuts) that was lying on the floor, and strikes their head hard against one of the posts of the four-post lift. They fall onto the floor unconscious, with blood trickling from a head wound and the customer frantically gestures to other tyre fitters for help. One of the tyre fitters, who is also a trained first-aider, has seen the accident and immediately instructs a fellow tyre fitter to telephone the emergency services. The first-aider removes the impact wrench trip hazard and anything else they think is dangerous. They apply first aid, place the injured worker in the recovery position and then closely monitor them. You are alerted to the accident and go to check that the first-aider can remain with the unconscious worker until help arrives. You then calmly escort the customer to the waiting room. The customer is a little shaken and upset so you make them a cup of coffee and sit with them in the waiting room.
The ambulance arrives and the injured worker is taken to the local hospital. You continue to comfort the customer and instruct the other tyre fitters to stop work and leave everything in the workshop as it is for the time being. When the customer finishes the cup of coffee, and as soon as they appear to be more composed, you move them to the relative privacy of the office area. You ask the customer what happened and record what they say using the voice recorder on your mobile phone (having requested permission to do so). You then ask the first-aider to sit with the customer while you re-visit the accident scene. You record your observations (again using the voice recorder on your mobile phone) and take some photographs at the accident scene. You then return to the office, inform the customer that the work on their car will be completed as soon as possible, and ask the first-aider for their recollection of events associated with the accident.
Later, you telephone the next of kin and you are informed that the worker is in intensive care, having been diagnosed with a fractured skull and a possible brain haemorrhage. You notify the enforcement authority of the accident, submitting an online report form. Over the coming days you complete the accident investigation and communicate the findings to the workers.
The injured tyre fitter spends the next 6 weeks in hospital. They eventually return to work after a total of 60 lost working days. You are aware of the rising trend of personal accident compensation claims and associated payments, services for which are widely advertised in the media. About the same time, you receive a visit from a labour inspector. You welcome the inspector, remarking that any advice on improving health and safety would be constructively received; although secretly you are afraid of receiving an enforcement order and being prosecuted.
The inspector discusses health and safety with the workers who demonstrate familiarity with the health and safety policy, risk assessments and emergency procedures. The inspector also examines your accident report book, health and safety policy, risk assessments, safe systems of work, training records, any complaints from workers, and emergency procedures. They also discuss the on-line incident report you submitted at the time of the accident. At the end of their visit, the inspector offers advice to install wall-mounted holders for impact wrenches and say they will be in touch soon. As promised, they telephone you and discuss their investigation findings; they follow this up by emailing you a full report.
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Task 1: Actions of a labour inspector
It is common for the labour inspectorate to ask labour inspectors to visit a workplace following notification of a workplace injury.
(a) What are the functions of labour inspection?
The labour inspection is to regulate and influence businesses for health and safety risk management and to maintain and promote the safety and health of workers by preventing industrial accidents. It is including the creating comfortable working environment, labour relations, employment conditions and contracts, and physical labour conditions.
Labour inspection is a public function and is at the core of effective labour law with wide powers and functions, including enforcement and sanctions that should be sufficiently dissuasive to deter violations of labour legislation while also providing corrective, developmental and technical advice, guidance, prevention tools and promoting workplace best practices. These functions should be regulated and balanced as part of a comprehensive compliance strategy in order to ensure decent working conditions and safe working environment.
The ILO considers enforcement of labour inspection as “a key area of the labour administration system of a country”. The aims of enforcement inspection are:
– Enforcement of legal provisions relating to conditions of work and the protection of workers while engaged in their work.
– Provision of technical information and advice to employers and workers concerning the most effective means of complying with the legal provisions, and
– Identification of defects or abuses not specifically covered by available legal provisions.
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(b) What are the actions the labour inspector could take following the visit?
A labour inspector can ask questions, inspect records, documents, and other objects, perform health and safety inspections, and request submission of related documents.
The labour inspector could :
– Issue a written letter to the company highlighting his concerns and the required actions.
– Issue an improvement notice if the inspector is of the opinion that health and safety law has been broken. The notice will specify the nature of the breach, the action required and the date by which the action is to be completed.
– Issue a prohibition notice if the inspector is of the opinion that a health and safety breach represents a threat of serious injury, the action required and the date by which the actions are to be complete. The notice could have a serious impact on a business’s ability to function properly.
– Issue a notice of intent to prosecute. This could result in a significant fine being imposed on an individual.
– Inspect machinery, equipment, etc., and could collect products, materials, or devices to the necessary for inspection with notification to company in writing.
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Task 2: Effective health and safety policy arrangements
The inspector checked if the organisation’s general policy statement for health and safety was adequate. The policy statement reads as follows
To the best of our ability, we commit to:
Preventing accidents, injury and ill health.
Investigating accidents and near misses.
Providing safe and healthy working conditions.
Providing safe plant and equipment for office and mobile workers.
Ensuring safe handling and use of substances.
Setting and reviewing specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time
bound (SMART) health and safety objectives.
Meeting legal requirements.
Identifying health and safety hazards and risks in the workplace.
Providing adequate training.
Providing health and safety information to workers.
Consulting workers.
Based on the scenario only, to what extent has this policy been implemented?
The health and safety policy should be consisted of 2 parts as organisation and arrangements.
Organisation should clearly lay down the roles and responsibilities of all workers in the organisation.
Arrangements should specify the rules and procedures that are required to control the risks that have been identified by the risk assessment.
In case of scenario, there don’t have mentions about health and safety rules and procedures. However except for “Ensuring safe handling and use of substances”, the policy is implemented well. So more than 91% of the contents in the policy are implemented.
If the organisation has the status of policy implementations regularly such as a performance indicator, it can be more efficient to improve the conditions on health and safety.
These are the things mentioned in the scenario as below,
– The way things are done is ‘safety first’ and this is reflected in the behaviour of the workforce.
– You continue to comfort the customer and instruct the other tyre fitters to stop work and leave everything in the workshop as it is for time being.
– You ask the customer what happened and record what they say using the voice recorder on your mobile phone.
You record your observations and take some photographs at the accident scene.
– You frequently carry out workplace inspections and foster a culture of incident reporting and investigation that identifies root causes to prevent repeat incidents.
– Workers receive adequate health and safety information and inductions.
– You are regularly seen in the tyre fitting workshop, talking informally to trained workers about health and safety.
– Your approach is to achieve zero lost time accidents each year, which you believe is a realistic goal.
– The walls of which are mounted with framed documents including a health and safety management system certificate, the health and safety policy, and public liability insurance.
– You are regularly seen in the tyre fitting workshop, talking informally to trained workers about health and safety.
– You have worked extremely hard in managing risks beyond legal and accredited standard requirements. Because of this you were instrumental in achieving certification of the organisation’s health and safety management system.
– You frequently carry out workplace inspections and foster a culture of incident reporting and investigation that identifies root causes to prevent repeat incidents.
– You are regularly seen in the tyre fitting workshop, talking informally to trained workers about health and safety.
– Workers receive adequate health and safety information and inductions.
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Task 3: Demonstrating management commitment
Management commitment is an important part of health and safety culture.
Based on the scenario only, how does the manager demonstrate commitment?
The front pedestrian entrance to the building, someone who can be customer, employees, employers, and labour inspectors should be faced a health and safety management system certificate, the health and safety policy, and public liability insurance. These can provide the confidence to all people about the organisation.
Increasing employee morale can have a significant, positive effect on output and efficiency. The workers trust and respect a manager for health and safety and a manager also trust and respect workers too. Nobody wants to work with uncomfortable person. All people want to work with dependable person.
Any person doesn’t go to work expecting to be injured or suffer health problems as a result of the job. The organisation is to achieve zero lost time accidents each year and a manger has been operating for 2 years. A manager is carrying out his responsibilities for health and safety extremely.
Health and safety law, simply, lays down minimum standards. A manager were instrumental in achieving certification of the organisation’s health and safety management system because he set up the system within 2 year.
A manager has mind “safety first”. Although the workshop needs to be profitable, this is reflected in the behaviour of the workforce. He provide latest technology and equipment for tyre fitting to the workplace.
Sometimes any employer is not to inform an accident of the enforcement authority. However a manager did not hesitate to notify the enforcement authority of the accident, submitting as online report form. He reports accident information as soon as possible because the ambulance was more important.
The manager dedicatedly carried out the work in order to keep the following matters.
– A commitment to continuous health and safety improvement.
– The need for clearly defined health and safety improvement goals and objectives.
– The importance of involving and consulting with workers in matters of health and safety.
– Having effective health and safety communications systems, such as health and safety notice boards in all workshop, regular toolbox talks and feedback on accidents or incidents.
– Making sure responsibilities of all workers are clearly defined and written down.
– Ensuring that all workers are competent and trained in order to carry out their jobs safely
Task 4: Determining organisational factors positively influencing behaviour at work
Based on the scenario only, what organisational factors appear to be present that would positively influence health and safety behaviour?
The influence of peers on health and safety culture is an important factor to take into account when considering health and safety behaviour. With the organization, certain behaviours will become the norm.
There have health and safety communications. A manager is regularly talking to trained workers about health and safety. Between workers and a manager have the trust and respect. Mutual respect is necessary for good partnership to work.
All employees are understanding risk assessments and associated safe system of work and they participate to develop it. All employees may conduct their control measures on risk assessments.
Workers receive adequate health and safety information and inductions. A manager conducts workplace inspections and fosters a culture of incident reporting and investigation that identifies root causes to prevent repeat incidents.
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Task 5: Accident investigation
(a) Why was it important to secure the scene of the accident?
Note: You should support your answer, where applicable, using relevant information from the scenario.
All accidents should be investigated. Without an investigation and corrective action, the accident may re-occur. The basic accident investigation process is 4 steps in accordance with UK HSE, HSG245: Investigation accidents and incidents.
For gathering the information, a manager made all workers to stop work and leave everything in the workshop as it is for the time being and has the interview with the customer for the accident information. He then checked observations and took photographs for the accident scene.
This is first of step to make accident investigations which need to prepare to make sure it does not happen again.
Step 1 : Gathering the information
Find out what happened and what conditions and actions influenced the adverse event. Begin straight away, or as soon as possible. It is important to capture information as soon as possible, this stops it being corrupted, e.g. items moved, guards replaced etc.
Talk to everyone who was close by when the incident happened, especially those who saw what happened or know anything about the conditions that led to it. The amount of time and effort spent on information gathering should be proportionate to the level of investigation.
This information can be recorded initially in note form, with a formal report being completed later. These notes should be kept at least until the investigation is complete.
Step 2 : Analysing the information
Step 3 : Identifying risk control measures
Step 4 : The action plan and its implementation
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(b) Based on the scenario only, how did the manager effectively secure the scene?
First of all, a first-aider who is one of tyre fitters removed the hazard and anything else they think is dangerous. A manager instructed all employees to stop work and leave everything in the workshop as it is for the time being.
This is 3 level of investigation that can be used for the decision to investigate.
A low level investigation will involve a short investigation by the relevant supervisor or line manager into the circumstances and immediate, underlying and root causes of the adverse event, to try to prevent a recurrence and to learn any general lessons.
A medium level investigation will involve a more detailed investigation by the relevant supervisor or line manager, the health and safety advisor and employee representatives and will look for the immediate, underlying and root causes.
A high level investigation will involve a team based investigation, involving supervisors or line manager, health and safety advisers and employee representatives. It will be carried out under the supervision of senior management or directors and will look for the immediate, underlying, and root causes.
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(c) Based on the scenario only, what immediate actions did the manager take to gather information for the investigation?
A manager made to stop work and he then waits for the customer to be composed. After the interview with the customer to gather accident information, a manager checked workshop again to gather the information. He took the information of various methods such as the interview, photographs and voice records.
Basically, before the investigation can start, there are some basic emergency response actions. Ensure that first aid treatment is given to any injured persons and render the area safe, and secure to prevent risks to investigating personnel, to keep out unauthorized personnel, to prevent evidence being tampered with, and may be legally required to secure and leave area undisturbed.
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Task 6: Reactive and active monitoring
Health and safety performance monitoring includes reactive and active monitoring measures.
(a) Based on the scenario only, what reactive (lagging) monitoring measures could be readily available for use by the tyre fitting organisation?
There should prepare the wall-mounted holders for impact wrenches as per the inspector advice and then he should provide a health and safety training to all employees to eliminate or reduce the trips risk. A manager will check and inspect anything which can be occur the trips hazards.
Reactive methods monitor evidence of poor health and safety practice but can also identify better practices that may be transferred to other parts of business, for example :
– Accidents and near misses
– Cases of ill health and sickness absence
– Accident and incident investigations
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(b) Based on the scenario only, what active (leading) monitoring measures could be readily available for use by the tyre fitting organisation?
A manager should prepare health and safety procedures to carry out the inspections, toolbox talks, audit, and finding hazards, etc. These can reduce hazards and eliminate the risk.
So far the organisation performed as results of zero non-conformities by external audit. A manager should request to dispatch health and safety advisor for health and safety inspections or audits again internally.
Additionally it need to review the risk assessments with safety advisors and then should develop risk assessments.
Active methods are used to monitor the design, development, installation and operation of management arrangements. These tend to be preventive in nature, for example:
– Routine inspections of premises, plant and equipment
– Safety sampling and safety tours
– Health surveillance to prevent harm to health
– Behavioural sampling, assessing employees’ behaviour to indentify unsafe work practices that might require correction
– Auditing, including analysis of documentation and records
– Benchmarking against good safety and health practices in other organisations
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Task 7: Emergency procedures in practice
(a) Based on the scenario only, comment on what worked well with the management of the emergency.
In emergency situation, one of the tyre fitters is a trained first-aider and he has immediately instructs another worker to telephone the emergency services. He removes the hazard and check around to find remaining risks. A manager also takes care of a worker injured and the customer. They handled it calmly and well.
The organisation has good and effective communication that is necessary to simultaneous activity in a workshop including emergency situations. This is able to positively influence health and safety culture and behaviour to improve performance in their organisation. As well as this can cover members of staff with a particular role in the emergency response.
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(b) In the event of the manager being off work, what arrangements would enable another worker to manage a similar emergency?
Emergency procedures and the training need to be prepared. Emergency plans are required in order to reduce the consequences of an emergency. Quick and effective action is required in order to ease the situation and reduce the consequences.
1) Emergency procedures should be periodically tested. This testing is carried out to give confidence that the plans are accurate, complete and practicable. If should be able to show that people following the emergency plan could cope with the range of emergencies that could occur. Testing will also help to identify weaknesses in the procedures. Emergency plans may include fire etc.
2) The training should be kept up to date as appropriate, with suitable refresher training. The aims and objectives of training should always be made clear at the outset. The effectiveness of the training should be reviewed and evaluated.
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Task 8: The legal reasons for health and safety management
What appear to be the legal reasons for the way health and safety is managed at the workshop?
Basically, founded in 1919, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) is a United Nations agency dealing with labour issues, particularly international labour standards, social protection, and work opportunities for all. The ILO has been active in the development of health and safety standards, which have found wide acceptance in many countries. ILO member countries are able to use the ILO Conventions to guide their approach to health and safety.
Article 9 of ILO C155 requires
– The enforcement of laws and regulations concerning occupational safety and health and the working environment shall be secured by an adequate and appropriate system of inspection
– The enforcement system shall provide for adequate penalties for violations of the laws and regulations
Article 16 of ILO C155 requires
– Employers shall be required to ensure that, so far as is reasonably practicable, the workplaces, machinery, equipment and processes under their control are safe and without risk to health
– Employers shall be required to ensure that, so far as is reasonably practicable, the chemical, physical and biological substances and agents under their control are without risk to health when the appropriate measures of protection are taken
– Employers shall be required to provide, where necessary, adequate protective clothing and protective equipment to prevent, so far as is reasonably practicable, risk of accidents or of adverse effects on health