Management of International Health and Safety Element 1: Foundations in Health and Safety © RRC International Learning Outcomes • • • © RRC International Outline the scope and nature of occupational health and safety. Explain the moral, social and economic reasons for maintaining and promoting good standards of health and safety in the workplace. Explain the role of national governments and international bodies in formulating a framework for the regulation of health and safety. Scope and Nature of Health and Safety Multi-Disciplinary Barriers to Good Standards Definitions © RRC International Multi-Disciplinary Health and safety practitioners need to be familiar with: • Chemistry/physics/ biology. • Engineering. • Psychology. • Sociology. • Legislation: ‐ Standards that apply. ‐ Strengths and weaknesses of options. © RRC International Barriers to Good Standards Complexity of the workplace. Conflicting demands: • Timescales. • Standards. • Budgets. Behavioural issues: • © RRC International People failing to act as desired, or making mistakes. Meanings and Distinctions • Health - absence of disease or ill health. • Safety - absence of risk of serious personal injury. • Welfare - access to basic facilities. © RRC International Group Exercise Why might the management of an organisation not consider health and safety to be a priority? © RRC International Group Exercise - Answers Key points include: • Competes with other business aims: ‐ Requires time and resources. • Seen as a “cost” to business: ‐ Ignorance of true costs of injury/illness. • Ignorance of legal duties. • Ignorance of hazards. © RRC International End-of-Section Quiz 1. What barriers might there be to good health and safety practice? 2. Define the terms: • Health. • Safety. • Welfare. © RRC International Unit IGC1: Element 1.2 REASONS FOR MAINTAINING AND PROMOTING GOOD STANDARDS OF HEALTH AND SAFETY © RRC International Why Manage Health and Safety? Moral reasons. Legal (or social) reasons. Economic (or financial) reasons. © RRC International The Size of the Problem Global statistics from the International Labour Organisation (ILO) SafeWork Programme: • 270 million accidents and 160 million diseases a year due to work. • 2 million fatalities a year. • 4% of global GDP is lost. • 355,000 on-the-job fatalities each year. © RRC International Group Exercise An employee at your workplace has been seriously injured in a workplace accident. In groups, as indicated by the tutor, list the possible effects and implications of this accident on the: • Injured employee. • Company. • Line manager. © RRC International Group Exercise - Answers Key points include: • Injured employee: – Pain and suffering, lost time/wages, impact on family, on-going impact on work. • The company: – Payment of sick pay, overtime cover for employee, recruitment costs for replacement, insurance claims, fines/prosecutions, increased insurance premiums. • The line manager: – © RRC International Loss of skills from team, time and cost of retraining replacement, effect of overtime cover on shifts. The Legal and Social Expectation International standards from the International Labour Organisation (ILO). A country’s own health and safety standards. © RRC International Who’s Responsible for Health and Safety? Everybody - but most of the responsibility lies with the employer to provide: • Safe place of work. • Safe plant and equipment. • Safe systems of work. • Training, supervision and competency of staff. © RRC International The Business Case Accidents and ill health cost money. Costs may be: • Direct - measurable costs arising directly from accidents. • Indirect - arise as a consequence of the event but may not directly involve money. Often difficult to quantify. ‐ H&S failure can affect the broader economy, as well as individual companies. © RRC International Group Discussion An employee has been injured at work. Identify potential: • Direct costs of the accident. • Indirect costs of the accident. © RRC International Group Discussion - Answers Direct costs include: • First-aid treatment, sick pay, lost production time. • Fines and compensation. Indirect costs include: • Lost time for investigation. • Lost morale and damaged worker relationships. • Cost of recruitment of replacement staff. • Lost reputation. © RRC International The Cost of Accidents at Work Insured Costs • • • Fire. Worker injury/death. Medical costs. Uninsured Costs • • • • • © RRC International £1 £8 - £36 Loss of raw materials due to accidents. Sick pay. Overtime. Equipment repairs. Lost materials. End-of-Section Quiz 1. What are the 3 main reasons for managing health and safety? 2. What should an employer provide to ensure health and safety: • Safe place of _______________ • Safe plant and ______________ • Safe _______ of work • Training, _____ and competency of ______ © RRC International Unit IGC1: Element 1.3 ROLE OF NATIONAL GOVERNMENTS AND INTERNATIONAL BODIES © RRC International Roles of National Governments and International Bodies International Labour Organisation (ILO) • • • © RRC International Agency of United Nations. Most countries are members. Sets international standards for H&S by publishing: – Conventions. – Recommendations. The International Framework Conventions • Create binding obligations or policies to implement their provisions. • No legal authority, unless ratified by the member state into its own legal structure. Recommendations • Provide guidance on policy, legislation and practice. © RRC International Examples of Regulatory International Frameworks Regulations adopted by the International Labour Organisation (ILO): • Occupational Safety and Health Convention (C155) a goal-setting policy for companies and nations. • Occupational Safety and Health Recommendation 1981 (R164) - supplements C155 and gives more guidance on how to comply with its policies. We'll talk about these a lot during the course! © RRC International Employers’ Responsibilities Article 16 of C155 identifies obligations placed on employers to: • Ensure that workplaces, machinery, equipment and work processes are safe and without risks to health. • Ensure that chemical, physical and biological substances and agents are without risk to health when protective measures have been taken. • Provide adequate protective clothing and equipment to prevent risks of accidents or adverse health effects. © RRC International Employers’ Responsibilities Article 10 of R164: • Provide and maintain workplaces, machinery and equipment and use working methods that are safe. • Give necessary instruction, training and supervision in application and use of health and safety measures. • Introduce organisational arrangements relevant to activities and size of undertaking. • Provide PPE and clothing without charge to workers. • Ensure that work organisation, particularly working hours and rest breaks, does not adversely affect occupational safety and health. • Take reasonably practical measures with a view to eliminating excessive physical and mental fatigue. • Keep up to date with scientific and technical knowledge to comply with the above. © RRC International Regulatory Frameworks ILO has also published Conventions associated with specific hazards: © RRC International • C115 - Radiation Protection (1960) • C162 - Asbestos (1986) • C167 - H&S in Construction (1988) What Employers Must Provide • • • • © RRC International Safe place of work - and safe access and egress. Safe plant and equipment - the need to inspect, service and replace machinery will depend on the level of risk. Safe system of work - should be safe in all circumstances - appropriate review, planning and control ensure continued safety of methods. Training and supervision to ensure competency. What is “Competence”? K - NOWLEDGE A - BILITY T - RAINING E - XPERIENCE © RRC International Group Exercise Apart from employees, who else must the employer protect? © RRC International Group Exercise - Answers Anyone affected by their business activities: • Visitors: – Invited/uninvited. – Lawful/unlawful (law differs from country to country). • Contractors. • Members of the public. © RRC International Workers’ Responsibilities Article 19 of C155 also places obligations on workers, expanded in R164 as follows: • Take reasonable care of their own safety and that of other people. • Comply with safety instructions and procedures. • Use all safety equipment properly. • Report any situation that they believe could be a hazard and which they cannot themselves correct. • Report any work-related accident/ill health. © RRC International Workers’ Rights Article 19 of C155 states that every worker must be: • Given adequate information on actions the employer has taken to ensure safety and health. • Given the right to the necessary training in safety and health. • Consulted by the employer on all matters of safety and health relating to their work. • Given the right to leave a workplace that he has reason to think presents an imminent and serious danger to his life or health, and not be compelled to return until it is safe. © RRC International Enforcement Agencies • No harmonised global standard. • Country-specific agencies may include: – – – H&S Enforcement Agency. Fire Authority. Insurance companies. • Police may be involved in enforcing H&S law in some countries. © RRC International Consequences of Non-Compliance Breach of H&S legislation is usually a criminal offence, leading to: Enforcement action: • Improvement. • Prohibition. Prosecution: • Organisation may be fined. • Individuals may be fined or imprisoned. © RRC International Claims for Compensation Fault-Based Compensation Systems © RRC International • Worker brings claim against employer. • Civil legal system. • Must prove employer was negligent and therefore to blame for injury/ill health. • UK and USA. Claims for Compensation No-Fault Systems • National or regional schemes. • No need to prove negligence. • Decided by a panel of experts. • No lawyers or courts. • New Zealand and Sweden. © RRC International Group Exercise Discuss the criminal and civil-law implications of the following: • A technician escapes injury by diving under a bench when a vessel blows up as a result of a design defect. • A 12-year-old boy breaks his arm falling into a pit while playing on an unfenced building site. • A machine operator is blinded in one eye by a colleague trying to help him remove a jammed machine part using a hammer. There is a safe way to remove the jammed part, which does not involve the use of a hammer, and the area they are in is a mandatory eye-protection zone. • A scaffolder is electrocuted when the pole he is carrying touches a live overhead cable. The scaffolder works for a company contracted to a roofing company, in turn contracted to a factory owner. © RRC International Other International Standards International Organisation for Standardisation World’s largest developer of management standards, for example: ISO 9001 - Quality Management – ISO 14001 - Environmental Management – ISO 12100 - Safety of Machinery – These standards are not “law”, they’re good management practice. They lead to a worldwide common approach to good management. © RRC International Other International Standards Internationally-recognised standard for Occupational Health and Safety is OHSAS 18001 Compatible with ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 © RRC International Source Organisations International Labour Organisation (UN agency) www.ilo.org Occupational Safety and Health Administration (USA) www.osha.gov European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU) http://agency.osha.eu.int Health and Safety Executive (UK) www.hse.gov.uk Worksafe (Western Australia) www.commerce.wa.gov.au/WorkSafe © RRC International End-of-Section Quiz 1. What are the two main standards that the ILO has produced for health and safety? What do countries do with these standards? 2. What are employers’ responsibilities under R164? 3. What are employees’ responsibilities under R164? 4. What action could be taken against organisations breaking health and safety law? © RRC International Summary In this element we have: • • • • • • • © RRC International Explained that health and safety is a multi-disciplinary topic that requires knowledge across a wide range of subjects and that there are barriers to raising health and safety standards in a workplace. Introduced some of the key words that will be used in this course, such as: health; safety; and welfare. Highlighted the three main reasons why an organisation has to manage health and safety, which can be summarised as moral, social (or legal) and economic. Set out the basic requirements of the international standards that govern health and safety, i.e. the ILO Convention C155 and Recommendation R164. Looked in some detail at the duties that these two standards place on employers and on workers. Discussed the consequences for employers and workers of noncompliance with legal standards, together with the possible issue of worker compensation. Noted some sources of information on national health and safety standards.
