SAFETY MANAGEMENT & SITE ESTABLISHMENT UNIT 5 Managing Health & Safety in Construction
Guardian - Monday January 22, 2001 • The Hatfield rail crash was a railway accident on 17 October 2000, at Hatfield, Hertfordshire, UK. • Four passengers were killed in the crash. • The investigation found the unsafe line shattered into 300 pieces after the crash. • Etc................ • WHAT ARE THE MAJOR SHORTCOMINGS THAT RESULTED IN THIS ACCIDENT? • Major stewardship shortcomings of the privatised national railway infrastructure company ‘Railtrack’ and the failings of the regulatory oversight which the company had had in its initial years (principally a failure to ensure that the company had a sound knowledge of the condition of its assets)
NEWSFLASH: £4bn asbestos pay-outs in peril after company collapses The sufferers, all of whom became ill after coming into contact with asbestos while working in shipyards, were expected to receive pay-outs totalling £4 billion. The Daily Record newspaper says Chester Street Insurance Holdings Ltd has applied to go into provisional liquidation after selling Iron Trade Insurance Ltd. A total of 5,000 shipyard workers in Scotland alone had made claims for compensation, with the number forecast to swell to 50,000 UK-wide by 2015. Up to 50,000 victims of asbestos-related diseases face missing out on compensation after the company handling their claims went into liquidation.
Falling scaffolding traps woman A woman has sustained leg injuries after she was trapped by falling scaffolding in Edinburgh's west end. The 28-year-old was walking along Palmerston Place near Haymarket at about 0830 GMT on Tuesday when the scaffolding collapsed. AAA Scaffolding Ltd said it was "absolutely devastated by the freak accident". An ambulance spokesman said: "We got numerous 999 calls reporting a scaffolding collapse just opposite St Mary's Cathedral. "We subsequently found that one female was trapped and she was conscious. "She was stabilised at the scene before being taken to the Royal Infirmary, where she arrived at about 0930 GMT." The woman was being treated for her injuries, which were not considered life-threatening. Greater numbers of casualties were averted because streets were deserted for the holidays. Eyewitness Josephine Kay said: "I heard this awful grinding metal noise and a gust of wind and the next minute the scaffolding just came away from the wall, down like a pack of cards. We started to lift planks and all the metal bars. She was screaming 'I can't breathe, I can't breathe'. One of the poles was really pushing her into the road." The road remained closed as the Health and Safety Executive began investigations at the site. AAA Scaffolding said it had removed neighboring scaffolding from the site last week at the end of refurbishment work. AAA Scaffolding was fined £48,750 and Stone Tec £30,000 at the city's Sheriff Court. AAA Scaffolding, of Kirkliston, admitted failing to adequately stabilise the scaffolding on 30 December 2004. The charge said that as a result it was left free-standing and on 4 January it collapsed and struck and trapped Miss McGeachy to her severe injury, permanent impairment, disfigurement and danger to her life. Stone Tec, of Russell Road, Edinburgh, admitted failing to provide appropriate training to its contracts manager Angus Scott in regard to the inspection of scaffolding. A health and safety inspection revealed that the scaffolding in Palmerston Place was secured to the building by only one tie. Advocate Gavin Anderson, appearing for AAA Scaffolding, said the company's owner Scott Lawrie had failed to give adequate instructions on securing the scaffolding. She added that there appeared to be an insufficiency of training and knowledge about scaffolding industry-wide.
“There are no short cuts to successful health & safety management. It cannot be sidelined. It must not be delegated out of sight …………… The starting point is the genuine and thoughtful commitment to top management ” A J Linehan HSE
"Many employers take their health and safety responsibilities seriously, but there are still too many who don't. Directors must be accountable for their organisations' health and safety performance: this should be a core requirement of business activity, not an inconvenient 'add-on'. Health and safety performance is just as important as financial performance. Quite simply, those who cannot manage health and safety, cannot manage.” HSC Chair : Bill Callaghan Jan 2001
Aims of today’s lecture • Main elements of Managing Health & Safety • HSE application of Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle
Managing for health and safety – 3 rd Edition in 2013 (HSE Publication HSG65) Download a free copy from here: http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/books/hsg65.htm Most of the information in this subject comes from this document
‘Plan, Do, Check, Act’ approach The older version of HSG65 - “Successful Health & Safety Management” - suggests 5 key elements to managing the workplace in a healthy and safe way. Policy Organising Planning & Implementation Measuring performance Reviewing performance The new version has now moved away from using the POPMAR (Policy, Organising, Planning, Measuring performance, Auditing and Review) model to a ‘Plan, Do, Check, Act’ approach
Plan, Do, Check and Act cycle (Source: HSE, 2013) William Edwards Deming (October 14, 1900 – December 20, 1993)
William Edwards Deming Who is Dr. W. Edwards Deming? Dr. W. Edwards Deming is known as the father of the Japanese post-war industrial revival and was regarded by many as the leading quality guru in the United States. Trained as a statistician, his expertise was used during World War II to assist the United States in its effort to improve the quality of war materials. He was invited to Japan at the end of World War II by Japanese industrial leaders and engineers. They asked Dr. Deming how long it would take to shift the perception of the world from the existing paradigm that Japan produced cheap, shoddy imitations to one of producing innovative quality products. Dr. Deming told the group that if they would follow his directions, they could achieve the desired outcome in five years. Few of the leaders believed him. But they were ashamed to say so and would be embarrassed if they failed to follow his suggestions. As Dr. Deming told it, "They surprised me and did 11 it in four years."
Plan, Do, Check and Act cycle (Source: HSE, 2013) Classroom activity: Working as a group, identify specific activities which may take place in all of these 4 stages of the Deming Cycle from the construction industry participants point of view: • Plan, • Do • Check • Act
Plan (1) Determining company Health and Safety Policy A good health and safety policy can contribute to business performance by: Supporting human resource development. Minimising the financial losses which arise from avoidable accidents. Recognising that accidents and ill-health result from failings in management control and are not just the fault of individual employees. Recognising the development of a culture supportive of health and safety is necessary to achieve adequate control over risks. Ensuring a systematic approach to the identification of risks and the allocation of resources to control them
Written Safety Policy In effective management of health and safety, you need to think about: ◦ (1) what you are going to do to manage health and safety, ◦ (2) decide who is going to do what and ◦ (3) then how Under HASWA, employers with 5 or more employees must produce a written safety policy stating how they intend to look after the health, safety and welfare of their employees.
The main components of company safety policy should be: The policy statement – this must: ◦ Give a clear statement of the Company’s commitment to health and safety ◦ Be seen as a document with authority and signed by the director responsible for safety ◦ State when policy will be upgraded and how safety is to be monitored ◦ Outline consultation methods with safety representatives The company organisation for safety – this must show how the company has allocated responsibility for safety at different levels, just like any other company function. It must show in particular: ◦ The duties of individuals in different management positions ◦ Who has final responsibility for safety The arrangements – the practical steps to be taken to manage safety: ◦ Risk assessments, Training , Safe systems of work, Environmental control, Safe place of work etc
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