Occupational Health

Published on February 2017 | Categories: Documents | Downloads: 43 | Comments: 0 | Views: 289
of 16
Download PDF   Embed   Report

Comments

Content

Topic

:

Occupational Health & Safety

Module

:

Human Resource Management

Course Facilitator

:

Prof. Dr. H. H. D. N. P. Opatha. B.Sc (Bus.Ad) Special(Hons) (Sri J); MSc (Bus.Ad), HRM (Sri J); MBA (Birmingham); Dip.Personnel Mgt & Industrial Relations (Cambridge Col); Dip.Eve Eng (CPM); PhD (HRM) (UtaraUUM, DHRM (IIU) Master of Business Administration

Programme

:

Assignment / Term paper submitted to European Institute Of Professional Education (Pvt) Ltd. Associate Campus in Sri Lanka Of Irish International University, European Union.

By

Student’s Name

:

U.C.L. Perera

1

Content

Introduction Aim Work place assessment Work place inspection Welfare facilities General working condition Control of work place hazards Conclusion References

3 4 4 5 8 9 11 14 15

2

Introduction
The aim of a business organization is to gain the maximum profit for the owners or the partners. To achieve that, the organization should reach the optimum level of production or the service what ever the business be.

In reaching the optimum level of production or service the workers of all occupations of the organization should maintain a very high degree of mental, physical, social and spiritual well being.

Occupational health & safety is to promote & maintain the above factors by prevention among workers of departures from good health caused by hazards in the working environment.

Basically it includes protection of workers in their employment from risks resulting from factors adverse to health, placing & maintenance of worker in an occupational environment adapted to his/her physiological & psychological ability.

This document presents & explains aims of occupational health & safety, what are possible hazards & the ways to asses the hazards.

3

Occupational Health
Aims



Promotion & maintenance of highest possible degree of physical, mental, social and spiritual well being of all workers of all occupations.


the

Prevention among workers of departures from good health caused by hazards in working environment.

Occupational Health



Protection of workers in their employment from risks resulting from factors adverse to health.


his/her

Placing & maintenance of worker in an occupational environment adapted to physiological & psychological ability.



in summary- adaptation of work to worker and each worker to his work.

Workplace assessment

• • • •

Purpose of workplace inspection. Identify and evaluate hazards- main reason. Identify non-compliance of workers. Recommend feasible improvements. 4

• •

Investigate workers complains-collective or individual complains. Audit of OSH.

Work place assessment

• • • •

Review purpose of assessment - why you should asses? Any other relevant/important information Review any relevant records about the industry/factory Review the relevant literature- what is in textbooks may not find in real practice. Difference picture in diff, factories / organizations.

Work place assessment steps

• • •

Pre-inspection Inspection Post-inspection

Work place inspection
Pre-inspection-prerequisites

• • • • •

List of materials/chemicals used in the workplace-hazardous chemicals? List of products. (product in intermediate level) List of products (finish good) their chemical physical and biological nature List of work processes- hazardous to workers? dangerous processes List of machines-dangerous? hazardous? Pre-inspection prerequisites

5

Information about work place

• •

Working hours- shift work-nature of shifts-8 hrs or 12 hrs, permanent or rotating shifts,night shifts, frequencies of shift rotation(circadian /internal body clock) Forward rotation of shifts Pre-inspection

• • • •

Process or work flow chart- schematic diagram of factory/work place lay out Raw materials- list- hazardous? Intermediate products-list-hazardous? Final products-list-hazardous? Pre inspection Workplace inspection Inspection walk through

• • • • • • • •

Start from the very beginning of the process Observe for ….. Health hazards Safety hazards General working environment Control measures taken including PPE (personnel protective equipments) Warning signs/signals Waste disposal Health hazards



Physical- noise, heat, vibration, radiation, illumination,

6

• •

Chemical-dust, mist, fumes gas, vapor, liquid, solids

Ergonomics-working postures, lifting, repetitive motions, cumulative trauma, MSD, RSI Lifting & carrying weight Work place inspection Noise Posture & Metal fumes Health hazards

• •

Biological- soil, animals, infectious agents, air conditioning (leganelliasis) Mental-work organization (organization culture & structure), workers morale, interpersonal relationship, worker-worker, worker- management, inter-managerial relationships, job tasks, job targets, dead lines, overtime, shift work Health hazards Work place inspection Chemical safety



Take adequate safety precautions as per M.S.D.S Chemical safety Safety hazards

• •
prevent

Fire-Fire safety, fire drills, simulations, preparedness, advise from experts Explosion- anticipate, plan in advance, expect the worst outcome & plan to Safety hazards



Accidental falls- falling from heights, fall of objects on workers Safety hazards Unsafe working at height



Mechanical/machine injuries- machine guarding(moving parts), machine layout, congestion of machines 7

• •

Electrocution- Electrical injuries, electrical safety Overloading of electrical circuits Work in confined space- manholes, underground storage tanks, ships(tankers), Tanks


septic



Clear safety policy on work in confined space Working in Confined spaces

• • •

Air supplying type respirator Supervision Suitable PPE

Welfare facilities



Safe drinking water-outbreak of diarrheas -large number of workers will be affected. Serious blow to the production, worker unrest, trade union activities hamper employee-employer relationship, industrial disharmony. Could be prevented. Cost effective investment on safe water.


force,

Washing facilities-Taps, showers, bathrooms- adequate number for the work hygiene & sanitation, cleaning on daily basis, workers commitment to keep clean. Regular maintenance.(broken taps, leaking bathrooms, slippery floor, bad odour)



Toilets- adequate number, sanitation & hygiene, water supply, maintenance, separate for males & females.

8



Medical facilities-quality of care, in-house doctor, visiting doctor, refer to out side institution, qualified nurse to man the medical centre, quality of drugs & medical equipments


first

First aid facilities- items , adequate quantity for the workforce, quality, locality of aid boxes, keys to be placed in strategic locations under supervision of a responsible officer, check the expire dates of items.



Place for meals- meal rooms, canteens, kitchen- sitting capacity- 1/3 of the work force at a time, cleanliness, sanitation, hygiene, disposal of canteen waste, food hygiene, quality & nutritional value of food served or sold

• •

Free meals or subsidized rate- enhance employee morale

Medical examinations- on regular basis- identification of chronic degenerative ailments at early stage improves prognosis and more cost effective.



Resources spend on medical care is a very good investment for the long runHealthy work force is a priceless asset


kind of

Working uniforms- suitable material, type, depends on the nature of the job task, the uniform- overalls -production oriented industry- ship yards, metal industry

• •

Changing rooms & individual lockers Important safety messages could prominently displayed in common places

Other Welfare facilities

9



Washing of working uniform- hazardous industries- asbestos cement, lead based, chemical based industries- contamination of the uniform-

• •

Washing of uniforms separately from home linen- “by stander effect Separate washing facilities at the work place

General working conditions



General ventilation- air flow, air velocity, air inlets & out lets, their adequacy, any obvious odor, dust, fumes, mist, smoke, vapor

• • •
more

Local exhaust ventilation- to capture at source Push & pull ventilation- exhaust & blow fans- their effectiveness, adequacy Illumination (lighting)- depends on the nature of the job. more precision workillumination including local illumination with general illumination. too bright &


the

too dark best avoided Health consequences of poor illumination-accidents & injuries, bending towards object- MSD

General working environment General working conditions



Over-crowding- congestion of workers & machines- inconvenience, prone to accidents, pollution of working environment, less productivity, poor inter-personal relationship, conflicts, industrial disharmony



Proper lay out of the factory/ workplace

10

Over crowding General working conditions



House keeping- pathways well demarcated, unobstructed pathways, keeping materials at appropriate places, removal of unnecessary stuffs from the work place -provides more space


safety

Good housekeeping contributes towards reduction of accidents and improves


waste/

Cleanliness & environment sanitation- Disposal of industrial/factory/workplace garbage- regular basis(daily) and systematically, collection of garbage -result in breeding of flies, mosquitoes, rodents etc.

Control of work place hazards

• • • • •

Engineering control- most effective Capture at source & removal of hazardous substances Local exhaust ventilation- effectiveness Enclosure & barriers- machine guarding, enclosure of worker or process Isolation/segregation

Control of work place hazards



Substitution- highly hazardous substances are substituted by non or less hazardous-

11

feasibility, cost, quality of the final product

• • • •

Good work practices- Training (safety & vocational), re-training, on the job training Safety consciousness, safety culture, behavior based safety Proper disposal of industrial waste Properly displayed safety & warning signs & signals- appropriate messages at

appropriate places



Personal Protective equipments- least effective- appropriateness, maintenance, suitability, compliance(ensure 100%) PPE

Other work areas

• • • •


Storage areas- improper storage of hazardous materials Laboratories- use of hazardous substances Loading & unloading areas- accidents & injuries are common due to negligence Maintenance areas- areas under construction

During break downs & shut downs of normal work routine safety mechanisms may not function- workers are vulnerable Seek more information on:

• • • •

Maintenance & cleaning operations mainly done by contract workers Type and quality of chemicals Material Safety Data Sheets Non routine processes- could be unidentified hazards, unusual occurrences? 12

Go through records & documents • Results of environment & biological monitoring- keep records for referencecompare with past results

• •
for

Training records of workers in OSH Production figures-related to hazards-less production-less profits-less allocation OSH- less OSH services - Go through records & documents



Overtime figures- safety standards are determined for 8 Hr exposure-Eg-Noise levels 85



dB for 8 Hr exposure Quality of chemicals purchased-name of suppliers, their standards, reputation Cooperate safety policy


policy

Safety policy -workers are educated and made aware of the safety policy, safety should be displayed in strategic locations

• • •
top to Bottom

Safety committee- chaired by a senior manager, who is capable of making policy decisions Safety committee is met at least once a month to review the current safety status Proper implementation of the safety policy -contribution from all quarters from



Trained safety officers

Interview of workers



Work related health problems- be a good listener & observe non verbal emotional 13

expressions of workers- work related stress, work overload, overtime, impossible job tasks, targets, dead lines

• • • •

Problems with use of PPE- difficulty in use, unsuitability, improper sizes Hours of exposure- long hours, overtime, extra workload Workers morale Nature of work- dangerous work with minimum safety measures, hazardous work without adequate protection

Post inspection

• • •
long

Discussion with the management Inspection report-identify the problems and list them out in priority order Specific recommendations- what actions to be taken- immediate, intermediate & term. are the recommendation feasible & cost effective.

• •

Do you need specialized work place inspection to be carried out by a specialist Do you need biological & environmental monitoring to be carried out- what organization to be contacted.

Conclusion
As I discussed in the introduction occupational health & safety is indirectly linked with the success of a business organization. This is a major factor that affects the moral of employees.

14

Assessing of the hazards are very important. It involves identifying non compliance of workers, investigate into worker complains & work place inspection for materials / chemicals, product, work process, hazards related to machines & ect. This shows that assessing of hazards involves highly human interaction & product process analysis. Therefore recommending & giving feasible improvements boost the moral of employees. Worker compliance involves welfare facilities such as health, cafeteria & food, transport, toilet, changing rooms, uniforms, ergonomics & ect. Also work environment, culture, interpersonal relationship, house keeping, cleaning & illumination involves too. Workshops & training programs enhance the above factors. During the production process assessment raw materials, storage, dangerous machines, noise, vibration, heat, radiation, biological & ect are assessed.

Though controlling hazards are the most important, to give solutions there should be a very good mechanism of identifying, assessing & continuous monitoring system. Therefore this presentation is dedicated in assessing & identifying work place hazards.

References :
1. 2. 3. Occupational & environment median 1997 – Joseph Ladon. Draft guidance for hazard determination – US department of labor, Occupational safety & health administration (OSHA). Occupational health 1998 – Rohini De alwis Senarathne, Dulitha N Fernando, & Kantha Lankathilaka.

15

4. 5. 6.

Physical & biological hazards of the work place – Peter H. Walt & Gregy M Stave. 2002. Environment safety & health hand book 2002 – Nike Ink. H & S manual – Noyon Lanka (pvt) Ltd.

16

Sponsor Documents

Or use your account on DocShare.tips

Hide

Forgot your password?

Or register your new account on DocShare.tips

Hide

Lost your password? Please enter your email address. You will receive a link to create a new password.

Back to log-in

Close