HND Business and Management Managing activities Session 8 Health and safety

What goes up and down but doesn't move? What has teeth but no mouth?

Is Health and safety important Some figures from HSE Overall picture for Great Britain
The items on this page link to published information containing top-level health and safety statistics. For more detailed statistics and in-depth analysis, select a relevant category from the navigation menu or the statistics home page[1].

Key annual figures 2008/09

Ill health

1.2 million people who worked during the last year were suffering from an illness (long standing as well as new cases) they believed was caused or made worse by their current or past work. 551 000 of these were new cases.

Injuries

180 workers were killed at work, a rate of 0.6 per 100 000 workers. 131 895 other injuries to employees were reported under RIDDOR, a rate of 502.2 per 100 000 employees. 246 000 reportable injuries occurred, according to the Labour Force Survey, a rate of 870 per 100 000 workers.

Working days lost

29.3 million days were lost overall (1.24 days per worker), 24.6 million due to workrelated ill health and 4.7 million due to workplace injury.

Number and rate of fatal injury to workers 1974*, 1981, 1996/97 - 2008/09p

What do you think health and safety covers?

Do you think it affects your life? .

Some of the most important legislation includes The health and safety and work Act 1974; by far the most significant piece of legislation. Health and safety (first Aid) regulation 1981 Control of substances Hazardous to Health Regulation 1994 Noise at work regulation 1989 The health and safety act 1974 Creates duties for : Employers Employees Others Make it everybodys business The HASAWA 1974 sets out employer rights and responsibilities; Employers' Responsibilities The Act places a general duty to "ensure so far as is reasonably practicable the health, safety and welfare at work of all their employees". Employers must comply with the Act. They must:

Provide and maintain safety equipment and safe systems of work. Ensure materials used are properly stored, handled, used and transported. Provide information, training, instruction and supervision. Ensure staff are aware of instructions provided by manufacturers and suppliers of equipment. Provide a safe place of employment. Provide a safe working environment. Provide a written safety policy/risk assessment. Look after health and safety of others, example public. Talk to safety representatives.

In short all systems need to be safe. The work environment must be safe and healthy (well lit, warm, ventilated, and hygienic) All plant and equipment must be kept up to the necessary standard.
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An employer is forbidden to charge his/her employees for any measures which he/she is required to provide in the interests of health and safety, example; Personal protective equipment.

Do you think that is fair?

Duties of the employees Rules, employers, law To take reasonable care for the health and safety of self and others To comply with : The employers health and safety rules Health and safety law Not to intentionally or recklessly interfere with anything provided in the interest of health and safety In short employees should take reasonable care for themselves and others, allow the employer to carry out their duty, and not interfere with health and safety machinery or equipment.

Management of health and safety at work regulation 1999

This has meant employers have extra responsibility They must carry out risk assessments (this is usually done in writing) Controls have been introduced to reduce risks The organisations needs to assess risks to anyone else as a result of their activities Risk information needs to be shared with other organisations that are close by Employers need to identify those employees at particular risk Provide competent health and safety advisers Employees also need to ensure that they inform the employers of any situation they think might be dangerous

The Workplace (Health, safety and welfare) Regulations 1992

This is an update on earlier legislation and it means that employers need to Facilities need to have toilets, washing, eating. Where applicable facilities to be provided for changing and removal of waste materials. A healthy temperature with good ventilation and lighting is also required.

Health and safety (display screen equipment) regulations 1992

Monitors must not flicker, and must be able to swivel Key boards should be free to swivel and should also give room for a worker to rest their arms. Chairs should be adjustable in height Heat and humidity should be kept to acceptable limits Training in the proper use of equipment should be given, Lighting there should be `appropriate contrast` between screen and its background.

Working time regulations 1998

Young workers (between the ages of 15 18) must have (by and large) A 12 hour rest break in every 24 hour period, 2 days off in a seven day period and a minimum 30 minute break where a working day exceeds 4 and half hours

For adult workers A maximum 48 hour week averaged over 26 week period. Although this can be extended with workplace/worker agreement If the working day exceeds 6 hours the employee is entitled to a 20 minute break.

Other legislation Health and safety (first aid regulation) 1981 requiring employers
to provide first aid kits and adequate training for selected employees.
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Risk assessment and monitoring

What is risk assessment; Regulation 3 of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999. Seeks to ensure that hazards are identified by a competent person. Risk assessment is all about reducing risk down. A hazard can really be anything with the potential to cause harm, for chemicals to machinery, from the building itself to method of carrying out a task. Risk in this sense just measures the likelihood of someone being harmed by the accident. The health and Safety Executive created five steps in assessing risk Step 1 Look for the hazards; these can be from the very major to the minor Step 2 decide who might be harmed and how; look at the worst case scenario Step 3 Evaluate the risk and decide whether the existing precautions are adequate or more needs to be done; who might be harmed, how severe is the risk. Severity might be shown under the following Death Major injury or disability Major damage to property Significant non disabling injury Damage to property Minor injury Moderate damage to property Likelihood/ frequency 1 Extremely likely to occur probably within a month 2 Frequent possible within one year 3 Likely to occur 4 unlikely or remote to happen

Step 4 Step 5

Record your findings, inform affected employees Review your assessment on a regular basis or whether something changes and revise if necessary
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Benefits of risk assessment

Legally of course organisations need to follow the legislation. However there are advantages as well. Reduction of accidents/fatalities and injuries Increased standards Improved relations between management and staff Fewer compensation claims

Monitoring health and safety

There are different methods used in monitoring health and safety. The most common is the inspection Inspections can work by checklist or can be used to just look at key areas or presumed dangerous areas Fire/emergency evacuation procedures This will involve checking fire extinguishers, fire alarms tested e.g. weekly, and a fire drill carried out at least annually. Housekeeping Checking levels of cleanliness, checking availability of drinking water, checking lighting and heating levels Electrical hazards all appliances to be checked annually Machinery all dangerous parts where possible to be guarded, instructions for machinery should be very clear. Audits Organisations have an independent complete check of the organisation safety systems to see if they are up to standard. Benchmarking An organisation might compare itself and speak with other organisations, in this way all organisations involved can learn to reduce down their accidents, look for cheaper ways of carrying out health and safety. Accident/incident report forms This will not only say what has happened, but also what steps were taken could be seen. This is useful for external companies e.g. insurance companies.
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Accidents Costs of accidents

There are many costs of accidents to the employer these can consist of Time lost by the injured employee Time lost by other employees who have been interrupted by the accident Time lost by management and supervisors dealing with the problem Materials needed to repair what ever damage the accident has caused Cost of compensation Cost associated with increased insurance premiums Reduced output from employees, with possible lower morale

Accident prevention
Accident prevention takes a lot of effort. It starts with creating a safety consciousness among staff and workers and encouraging departmental pride. The management, workforce and unions need to work together to create a system of health and safety that all agree to and will adhere to. Training must be given to staff in health and safety Ensure that guards and safety devises are properly used in the organisation Make sure that there is a strong maintenance policy used

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The reporting of injuries, diseases and dangerous occurrences regulations 1995 (RIDDOR)
The regulation states that members of staff must notify the Health and Safety Executive immediately if there is an accident connected with work and a member of the public, or an employee or someone self employed working in the organisation is killed, or seriously injured (including being assaulted) Or there is a dangerous occurrence In addition the Health and safety Executive require that an accident report form is sent Major injuries will include fractures (except to fingers or toes) amputation, temporary or permanent loss of sight and any other injury which results in someone spending more than 24 hours in hospital Dangerous occurrences; these are near misses that might have caused a major injury

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Fire safety and prevention Fire precautions Act 1971

There must be adequate means of escape from a building All doors of the building must be capable of opening from the inside All employees should know the fire alarm system There must be an effective and regularly tested fire alarm system There must be fire fighting equipment available and in working order

Fire Precautions (workplace) Regulation 1997 (European regulation in 1997)

This built on the Fire Precautions Act There must be adequate emergency routes and exits for everyone to escape quickly and safely Fire drills should be practiced A fire officer should be appointed

Health and safety policy

Organisations should have a health and safety policy, such a policy should have Details of safety procedures Compliance with legislation (e.g. working fire extinguishers) should be enforced Detailed instruction on how to use the equipment should be provided Committees of experts should be provided for workers to speak to managers about health and safety issues, for example in a quality circles meeting

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Charles Hampden Turner in his book (Corporate Culture) notes that attitudes to safety can be part of the culture of an organisation. He gives an example of Western Oil, a fictions name given to an organisation to protect its confidentiality. Western Oil had a bad safety record. Initially safety was at odds with the main cultural values of productivity. Western Oil had a culture which put safety in conflict with other corporate values, in particular the problem was with its long distance truck drivers in the US. They drove recklessly with loads large enough to inundate a small town. The organisations culture had five dilemmas A safety first versus macho-individualism. Truckers see themselves as fearless pioneers of the unconventional lifestyle. Be careful boys, is a plea unlikely to go down well with this group. To get around this the organisation made each driver a safety expert, each one could criticise the existing system, and each became more health conscious because they were the ones in charge B Safety everywhere versus, safety specialists; Western Oil chose to employ existing staff to redesign depots to make them safer C Safety versus productivity as benefit; in the old system, delivering on time was rewarded, safety wasnt, the organisation resolved this by incorporating safety rewards D Long term safety versus short term steering; by recording unsafe acts, the organisation spotted problems before they became an accident E Personal responsibility versus collective protection; the culture of the management blaming the individual was changed, instead the organisation encouraged peer pressure from fellow workers to ensure good health and safety practice. Health and safety was seen to improve as a result What do you think about the steps taken, do you think your own organisation follows any of the above five steps?
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Public attitudes and concerns

Hidden hazards, these can affect an employees ability to work but may not always be obvious these include Workplace stress Workplace bullying Alcohol and drug misuse Workplace stress This can be caused by a number of different sources, these might include monotony of the job, overwork, pressure. It must be noted that some individuals work better under stress, so general management policies seek to reduce down excessive stress for the individual rather than its total elimination.

Symptoms of stress
There are a number of symptoms of excess stress. Nervous tension; the individual may be more irritable, and have increased sensitivity. Might be preoccupied with details. Might suffer from sleep disorder. Might suffer skin problems or digestive problems Withdrawal; a natural defence mechanism, where the individual withdraws from others, being quieter, might suffer from absenteeism in work, bad time keeping even leaving the organisation. Low morale; this could be low confidence, dissatisfaction, feeling of hopelessness or frustration Symptoms may also persist outside of work, forced cheerfulness, drinking outside of work, grumpiness outside of work. Stress is of course hard to spot because many people will choose to hide their symptoms.

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General symptoms to help a manager spot a problem might be Absenteeism Decline in work quality; Drinking when in work Persistent inability to deal with paperwork Getting aggressive with other colleagues. Notably a lot of the above may have nothing to do with stress, they might show the member of staff is de-motivated, or having personal problems outside of work.

Causes of stress
These include Role overload or underload; there is too much work, or the work is too hard. Or there is too little work, or the work is too easy leading to boredom and frustration in work Role conflict; dealing with the conflicting roles a person plays at work, e.g. friend and boss, new supervisor and ex workmate Role ambiguity; you are unsure exactly what is needed of you, or how you are being judged by others, or how your work will be evaluated Responsibility of others; higher stress is suffered by those who are accountable for success and performance, as well as welfare of others Lack of social support; isolation and lack of social support increases stress. Uncertainty; lack of control over decisions, which might affect you can cause major stress in some individuals Higher levels of public contact; this stress can increase if there is a danger of abuse or even physical violence from the public Poor interpersonal relationships and personality clashes

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Workplace bullying
Workplace bullying can really be defined as anything that can be seen as unwelcome behaviour by one of more individuals whose actions prevent and individual from carrying out their work duties. There can be many forms, some examples include Persistent and repeatedly aggressive behaviour that makes someone feel victimised, intimidated or humiliated Any physical abuse Repeated verbal abuse, including yelling, screaming, personal comments, offensive language, sarcasm Inappropriately and unreasonably vindictive, offensive, cruel or malicious behaviour Gender or racial discrimination, sexual harassment Personal belongings tampered with Initiation practices

Bullying can be from a boss, colleague, subordinate, client or supplier. It can be very destructive for the victim and can clearly affect their ability to work. There is no direct laws affecting bullying, but it is covered in many pieces of legislation. Such as Protection from Harassment Act 1997, Sex Discrimination Act 1975, Race Relations Act 1976, Employment Rights Act 1996.

Individual responsibility for bullying

All individuals in an organisation need to be aware of organisational policies, and need to be aware of what is not acceptable behaviour from them.
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Management responsibility for bullying

Management must take claims of bullying very seriously, claims need to be investigated. Clearly all reports must be treated confidentially. In short it should be dealt with swiftly.

Alcohol and drug abuse

This can affect individual employees very badly, it can result in loss of performance. Employers have a responsibility to stop a member of staff working if he or she is under the influence of drugs or alcohol, and if by carrying out their work they are endangering themselves or others.

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