Introduction management to call for technical advice or specialized - PDF document

OSH Brief No. 2 Introduction management to call for technical advice or specialized "Some hazards are obvious to any observer looking information as, for example, from the factory for them ‐ badly stacked pallets, oil on the floor, inspectorate. However, much can be achieved by way trailing wires in the office, and so on. But many work of rectifying the problem before it even reaches that hazards are not at all obvious, and safety stage. What is required is a combination of an representatives cannot rely on casual visual inspection understanding of the work process and its possible to show whether or not their workplace is safe and hazards; obtaining information from sources such as healthy. In some cases people get so used to their safety data sheets (previously known as material workplaces that they develop 'blind spots' to potential safety data sheets), and established hazard data with dangers. In other instances, hazards may be hard to respect to the process; common sense; and a logical, spot because they do not have immediate effects (e.g. systematic approach to identify each safety and noise and some poisons). Some hazards only become health problem. apparent when special operations (e.g. maintenance and cleaning) are being carried out. Even when an Identifying safety and health accident has happened, observers may be looking so hard at what the victim was 'doing wrong' that they problems fail to spot defects in the system of work itself.” British TUC, The Safety Representative Here are some of the possible methods of identifying safety and health problems: One of the most difficult problems for any safety representative is identifying safety and health hazards • observing your workplace: at work. Basically, how do you know if a chemical in o Look at the overall objective of a job/s your workplace is toxic, a noise too loud or a process and how it is being carried out. dangerous? Sometimes, a safety representative, o How is the job organized? whether it be a workers’ representative or a o Is it a top ‐ down approach looking at all of supervisor or manager, may have a “feeling" that the subtasks to be carried out to achieve something is wrong, but lack the confidence or the main objective? knowledge to take up the issue. Often it is felt that o Does a breakdown of tasks help to occupational safety and health is best left to identify control measures? specialists or experts. This is far from the truth. o Watch the task being executed to ensure that the correct procedures are being The first point is that you do not have to be an expert adhered to and that nothing being done with sophisticated monitoring equipment to start has the potential to cause injury. identifying problems in your workplace. Your body is • registering complaints from workers; the greatest barometer for detecting and recognizing • examining accident and 'near ‐ miss' records; hazards in the workplace. Itching skin, headaches, • examining sickness figures; runny eyes and throat irritation can all be • asking workers and supervisors what they manifestations of a workplace hazard where they think by using simple surveys; persist or are spread across a wide cross ‐ section of • conducting inspections (general or the staff. It is at this stage you may have to get specialized);

• using checklists; Registering complaints from • reading any reports, information, etc. about workers your workplace. For example, you may look at any of the following: When it comes to his or her own safety and health, a o Manufacturer/Industry ‐ specific worker may complain because he or she is worried. If instructions/specifications: workers start complaining about "feeling sick", These are terms and conditions "getting headaches", or "my back hurts all the time", under which the equipment, there is usually a reason. No one likes to feel ill. The substance or activity needs to be carried out to avoid injury or illness. o Standards: Are there any conditions which have been established by research institutions which indicate the safe working or operating levels of a particular process or substance? Bodies such as the International Organization for Standardization ( ISO) , Occupational Health and Safety Advisory Services (OHSAS) , American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH), National Institute of Listening to complaints Occupational Safety and Health ( NIOSH), Health and Safety complaints should not be trivialized since these Executive (HSE), and the complaints might be warning signs of a bigger International Labour Organization, problem in the making. The fact that each individual’s are standard ‐ setting organizations. metabolism is different would suggest the reaction o Changes in legislation. time of each individual to a particular stimulus will be equally staggered as the substance or process takes effect on the immune or musculo ‐ skeletal system. Let us look at these in more detail because they are the basic tools with which a safety representative or A safety representative or member of a safety member of a safety committee can start to identify committee may have to decide on the merit of the safety and health problems at work. These techniques complaint, but the representative must be careful not require no specialized knowledge, just enthusiasm to take on the role of a doctor and decide that the and an inquiring mind. complaint is not valid, or trivial. Many occupational diseases start off with such minor signs and Observing your workplace symptoms. You may have already used your powers of Examining accident and 'near ‐ miss' observation to spot some of the typical hazards faced by workers, but observation is not the only tool that records can be used. Use your nose and your ears as well. Believe it or not, your body's senses are far more You may feel that you are entering the province of the sensitive to hazards than the most sophisticated doctor or nurse and that this is best left to the monitoring equipment. If a new chemical makes your specialists. Your workplace may not keep such records eyes water or you start to cough, your body is telling and, if they do, they are generally confidential. you to beware. But be careful, after a few weeks your However, most companies do keep some form of an eyes may no longer water or you may stop coughing. accident book not only for their own records but so Does it mean that the chemical is now safe? Of course that the figures can be presented to the Ministry of not, it means that your body's sensitivity to the hazard Labour as is required under most of the existing is being destroyed. Always note the reactions of new legislation in the region. workers or visitors to the plant ‐ it can be most informative – see how they react to the working environment.