Chapter 2

Review of Related Literature

This chapter presents information and studies conducted related to the project.
The following reviews are obtained from different sources such as books, journals,
reports and other related works:
Safety programs do work. They can stimulate significant measurable reductions in
a company’s accident rate and help protecting company’s investment. A healthy
workplace is likely to be a quality workplace. One of the most popular buzzwords in
today’s business world is quality.
Because every job function contains hazards that can be minimized or eliminated
if they are systematically identified and then controlled, all the employees of a company
are customers of the safety department ( Sacarro, 1994).
Safety programs are undertaken for three fundamental reasons ( Hammer, 1995):
1. Moral: Accident prevention is undertaken to prevent injury to personnel
purely as the result of humane considerations.
2. Legal: Federal, state and municipal requirements must be observed or
penalties may be assessed for non-compliance. Over the years, these legal
requirements have become more stringent and wider in scope. Penalties for
non-compliance have become more severe, both in fines assessed and in jail
sentences for responsible persons. Almost all these laws are predicated on
preventing accidents that could cause injury to personnel.
3. Economic: Consideration is given to those monetary losses which could
result from injury to personnel and, in addition, from property damage,
destruction of material, interruption of operations, and other factors.
Unfortunately, the costs of accidents are rare predictable; statistics on previous
losses are generally not available or are inapplicable to other situations. Loss
predictions are usually far less than the actual costs.
Although at this time there is no legal mandate for a company to have a written
Safety policy, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration ( OSHA) has proposed
making a written safety policy mandatory. However, a written policy has many
advantages besides anticipating a new law. The safety policy gives the company a
consistent structure to follow and provides the company auditors with a tool both for
evaluating a department’s commitment to safety and for identifying unsafe situations.
With a safety policy comes standard (procedures, controls, practice, protective equipment
and the like) that give that safety program substance and meaning.
The safety policy must contain clear guidelines on enforcement of safety rules.
Like training, enforcement is only one component of a safety program; it is most effective
when it works in conjunction with the other elements of the program. Enforcement alone
cannot be relied on to motivate employees to comply with safety rules. One reason for
this is that it would simply be too expensive. “In an era of leaner organizations and work
performed with less supervision, no company can afford to have every employee
individually watched by a safety manager” ( Occupational Hazards).
 Another benefit of a written safety policy is that it provides for a formal accident
investigation procedure. This ensures that accidents will be systematically investigated;
that embarrassing information will not be covered up; and that the “root”, or underlying
cause of the accident can be identified. Only when this root cause is identified and
remedied can management be confident that the probability of the reoccurring has been
reduced.
Hammer said that a prime requisite for any successful accident prevention
program is to leave no doubt in the mind of any employee that managers are concerned
about accident prevention. The most effective means by which this can be done is for the
managers at the highest levels possible to issue directives indicating their accident
prevention policies and then to ensure that the lower level managers, supervisors, and
other employees carry them out ( Hammer, 1995).
DeSwolinski ,in his writings has considered that the establishment of
responsibility for safety at each level of management forges an unbroken chain of
accountability from the line or job supervisor directly to the president of the company or-
in the case of a small plant- to the owner. In a large company, the chain will link the line
supervisor in his or her supervisor, to the general supervisor, to the superintendent or
superintendents, and then to the plant manager. The plant manager is linked to the vice-
president who in turn linked to the president of the company. All levels of managers are
then accountable to someone at the next higher level of command, in the true managerial
fashion. In turn, a manager at each level should be able to evaluate the safety efforts of
each subordinate manager. A system of responsibility like this exemplifies true effort and
sound managerial business practice ( DeSwonlinski, 1990).
Blake on his writings about the “ Elements of an Effective Safety Program” has
cited that the essential of top rate safety program performance in any given establishment
may be summarized as follows ( Blake, 1963):
1. There must be forceful, continuous executive leadership
2. Plant and equipment must be made safe
3. Supervision must be competent and intensely safety minded
4. Full employee cooperation must be secured and maintained.
For any continuing project as extensive as it is implied in the above and necessary
also involving and influencing the work activities of the entire employed personnel, a
definite planned program is necessary. Although the details will vary and proven
activities that are found so consistently in establishments whose injury rates are of the
best, that is seems safe to pronounce all of them essential to top rate performance.
The safety program and the activities carried on it have the purpose of:
a) reducing the hazard factor
b) developing safe and adequate behavior by every employee.
Safe systems of work are fundamental to accident prevention and should fully
document the hazards, precautions, safe working methods that includes job training.
Where safe system of work are used, consideration should be given in their
preparation and implementation to the following:
1. safe design
2. safe installation
3. safe premises and plant
4. safe tools and equipment
 5. correct use of plant, tools and equipment (via training and supervision)
6. effective planned maintenance of plant and equipment
7. proper working environment ensuring adequate lighting, heating and
ventilation
8. trained and competent employees
9. adequate and competent supervision
10. enforcement of safety policy and rules
11. additional protection for vulnerable employees
12. formalized issue and proper utilization of all necessary protective equipment
and clothing
13. continued emphasis on adherence to the agreed safe method of work by all
employees at all levels
14. regular (at least annually) reviews of all written systems of work to ensure:
a) compliance with current legislation
b) systems are still workable in practice
c) plant modifications are taken account of
d) substituted materials are allowed for
e) new work methods are incorporated into the system
f) advances in technology are exploited
g) proper precautions are taken in the light of accident experience and
h) continued involvement in and awareness of the importance of written
safe system of work
15. regular feedback to all concerned- possibly by safety committees and job
contact sessions- following any changes in existing safe systems of work.
The above 15 points give a basic framework for developing and maintaining safe
systems of work ( Ridley, 1994).
A necessary prerequisite in connection with the study of system safety is a
working knowledge of the principles of safe systems of work and job safety analysis.
System safety techniques may be applied in order to eliminate any machinery
malfunctions or mistakes in design that could have serious consequences. Thus, there is a
need to analyze critically the complete system in order to anticipate risks and estimate the
maximum potential loss associated with such risks should they not be effectively
controlled.
The principles of system safety are founded on pre-planning and organization of
action to conserve all resources.
According to Bird and Loftus, the stages associated with system safety are as
follows ( Bird, et. al.,1976):
1. The pre-accident identification of potential hazards.
2. The timely incorporation of effective safety-related design and operational
specifications, provisions and criteria.
3. The early evaluation of design and procedures for compliance with applicable
safety requirements and criteria.
4. The continued surveillance over all safety aspects throughout the life-span-
including disposal of the system.
System safety may therefore be seen to be an ordered monitoring program of the
system from a safety viewpoint.
 The point to be emphasized strongly is that; in every case of work-connected

injury , there must be some degree of hazard ( chance of injury ) and unsafe or otherwise
faulty behavior. But no work activities can be made entirely hazard free. Perfect behavior
by everyone cannot be attained hence top-rate safety performance can only be had by
reducing the factor of hazard to the minimum and concurrently developing employee’s
behavior to the maximum degree of excellence (Blake, 1963).
CoVan has cited further that safety has always been something of a balancing act.
The balance is between the accomplishment of something versus losing the capability to
do something in the process. In this respect, safety is a necessary trade-off that excludes
some of the available methods of doing things. The biggest misconception about this field
is that the term safety is synonymous with perfection. Keep in mind that some people
think of safety in absolute terms, such as the absence of accidents/losses. Rather, safety is
a compromise that optimizes acceptable actions with a small amount of risk. Absolute
perfection is very expensive to accomplish although high levels of quality may be strived
for. The increments of movement toward absolute goals, such as absolute zero (temp) or
the speed of light (velocity), tend to get smaller while the costs of approaching that
absolute goal grow exponentially larger. It is the same with safety- zero risk is extremely
expensive compared with some smaller finite value of risk considered acceptable.
( CoVan, 1995)
Cox with the same thinking of CoVan stressed that the concept of absolute safety
is a myth. There is no such thing as a “totally” safe work environment, system of work or
work activity: all are unsafe to some degree and are characterized by risk profiles that are
organization and job specific. Individuals always face risk (however small) of being
harmed wherever they are and whatever they are doing: at work, at home while engaged
in leisure ( Cox, et. al.,1996).
According to Sacarro, workers may be highly motivated to work safely but
still be at risk if they do not have the necessary skills to do the job properly. It is
impossible to separate job skills training from safety training, and the wise safety trainers
will not so try. Instead, they will accept that skills and safety are linked, and make sure
that skills training incorporate safe practices ( Sacarro, 1994).
In addition to specific job skills, there is one skill that all workers need in order to
interact safely with their co-workers: communication skills. Communication skills are
rarely addressed at the non-management level which is a serious mistake based in the
failure to recognized the role that poor communication plays in accidents.
Also safety may begin with the workers, but it extends to every aspects of the job.
If workers are to be safe, they must be provided with tools and equipment that allow to
complete the tasks to which they are assigned without causing any acute or chronic
bodily or emotionally injury.
Also, an effective safety program must ensure that the proper personal protective
equipment (PPE) is available. Ideally, personal protective equipment should be viewed as
final barrier- a last line of defense between the workers and whatever substances or
energies they deal with. Personal protective equipment in this situation would be only as
prudent extra protection in the event that other engineering controls fail or good working
practices are not followed.
 Professor Atherly of the University of Aston in Birmingham, influenced the
Committee of Vice Chancellors and Principals of the University of the United Kingdom
in their to the Committee on Safety and Health at Work, he stressed, “a great deal of the
training which goes on in industry is aimed at attacking human error and the human
element by changing attitudes and behavior. People in industry have often that this
educational process should begin in schools, college and universities”. He pinpointed also
that universities have a responsibility not only for ensuring the protection of their staff
and students but also for instilling into each succeeding generation of undergraduates a
measure of consciousness which they can carry forward into subsequent careers in
industry and elsewhere. The ultimate objective of safety arrangement in university
laboratories is the creation in both staff students of an attitude of mind about safe
working. This is something that can be achieved not by legislation but by precept and
example in the normal course of teaching and individual work.
Accidents are caused by human element and human error; changes in attitudes
and changes in behavior can reduce human error and the human element in accidents.
Therefore, efforts to advance health and safety ay work should be directed towards
altering workers attitudes and including safe behavior. Research into health and safety at
work should be directed towards mistakes and failings on the part of workers in order to
advance understanding about the causes of human error and human factor in accidents in
order that they can be better prevented by effective alterations in attitudes and better
safety behavior ( Handley, 1997).
Another point strongly emphasized by Cox and Cox was: ( Cox, et. al.,1996) no
society can claim to be civilized if it does not show honest concern for the safety and
health of its workforce. Such concern reflects, in part, an understanding of the value of
the human resource to the survival and success of its key organizations. This is as true at
this point of entry in the age of the knowledge worker as it was during the ascendancies
of agriculture and then industrial workers. The design and management of such
conditions of work involves more than attention to the immediate physical work
environment and work equipment. It involves also understanding and manipulation of the
whole work system including aspects as its culture. The effective management of safety
thus begins an understanding of the nature of the whole system, and of the very nature of
systems and of systems management. People are at the center of such systems but are not
its only components. Attention has also to be paid to the technological aspects of those
systems. Indeed, the successful management of safety blends knowledge of both of these
fundamental resources: the human and the technology.
The review of these related literatures and studies provided the author the
importance of safety and health. It has given me ideas about the responsibility of the
management down to the workers in the observation of safe practices and in the
implementation of the health and safety program.

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Deadline: Printed Chapter 2 – February 1, 2018 ( Thursday) up to 3 PM.
Chapter 3 – Deadline, February 22, 2018
Start of Presentation: February 27, 2018.