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Workplace Hazards

Workplace Hazards

Workplace hazards are anything even remotely that has the potential to cause harm to a person.

Under the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act, 2005 an employer is required to carry out risk assessments, prepare a safety statement and implement what it contains. Health and Safety Authority inspectors visiting workplaces will want to know how safety and health is being managed. If they investigate an accident, they will scrutinise the risk assessments, safety statement, and the procedures as well as the work practices.

 

The Purpose of the Risk Assessment

The Risk Assessment should identify all workplace hazards, quantify the risks and introduce control measures to reduce the risk of injury or illness to the workforce. Some additional legislation also requires employers to conduct specific risk assessment for specific common hazards such as manual handling, hazardous substances, display screen equipment and fire safety.

 

What is Risk Assessment

A risk assessment is simply put a careful examination of workplace hazards and what could cause harm to people. This is so you can consider whether you have taken enough precautions or should you do more to prevent harm. Risk Assessment will help identify what could go wrong, how likely it is to happen and how serious the result could be. The employer then needs to put control measures in place to prevent the problem occurring.

 

What are Hazard and Risk

Hazard and Risk have two quite distinct meanings.

For example, a bottle of bleach at work falls under category of workplace hazards. If the bottle contains hazardous liquid, bur locked in the cupboard it does little harm. The risk increases when the bottle is used. When people are working safely there is less chance that an accident will occur.

Chance is a measure of how likely it is that an accident could happen.

Severity is a measure of how serious an injury or health effect could be, as a consequence of unsafe working or of an accident. The severity can be influenced by the following:
• the environment,
• the number of people at risk, and
• the steps already taken to control the hazard.

 

Five Steps of a Risk Assessment

Generally speaking, identifying and managing risks can be done in five steps:

1. Identify the Workplace Hazards

For example:

Slips and Trips – consider floor surfaces, housekeeping and different floor levels.

Working at Height – e.g. decorations using ladders and construction workers on scaffolding.

Fire Hazards – e.g. flammable substances and sources of ignition.

Moving Vehicles – e.g. forklift trucks and reversing lorries.

Dust – such as wood dust in a sawmill or flour in a bakery.

Hot Liquids – e.g. pans of hot water or oil in a kitchen.

 

2. Decide on who may be harmed and how

It is not just person conducting the task that may be affected but anyone nearby. For example, builders working on scaffolding above a public walkway may inure pedestrians if equipment or materials are dropped. Some employees will need a separate Risk Assessment, e.g. those who are more vulnerable, such as pregnant workers and young, inexperienced staff.

 

3. Evaluate the risk and decide on precautions

Consider the consequences of injury or harm. Could someone be seriously inured or even killed? Could lots of people be affected. How likely is it to occur? If the answer to any of these questions is yes, then these hazards should be addressed as a priority and further controls put in place to reduce the risk to an acceptable level, using the hierarchy of control (see below).

 

4. Record your significant findings and implement them

It is a legal requirement that businesses formally record their significant findings. It is important not only to implement the controls you identified, making sure staff are trained in the new procedures, but to check to make sure they are followed correctly. Some health and Safety training can be delivered on-line. For solutions, please check our Online Health and Safety Training portal myelearnsafety.com

 

5. Review and update Risk Assessments as necessary

Reviews should take place when:

Reviews should also take place on a regular basis, possibly annually, just to make sure nothing has been missed and to identify new techniques or scientific developments that could be introduced to improve safety.

 

Hierarchy of Control

When considering control measures there is a scale of preference. the higher up the chart, the better or more preferable the method. Some measures will work for some tasks or activities and some for others, but not all will be suitable.

The following is a hierarchy of controls:

1. Eliminate.

If something is hazardous, the most effective option is to remove the hazard altogether if possible.

2. Substitute.

If hazard cannot be eliminated, can it be substituted for something safer?

3. Implement Engineering Controls.

For example;

4. Administrative Controls.

Procedures needed to work safely, e.g. limiting the amount of time the worker is exposed to a hazard, increasing safety signage, conducting risk assessments.

5. personal protective Equipment (PPE)

Equipment or clothing provided to protect an employee against risks to their health and safety. Must only be used once all other measures have been tried and found unsuitable.

 

Some hazards are obvious, such as unguarded moving parts of machinery, dangerous fumes, electricity, working at heights, moving vehicles or moving heavy loads. Less obvious, but at the root of many accidents, are hazards presented by untidy workplaces and poor maintenance. In the case of other hazards, such as excessive noise or exposure to chemicals, it may take months or even years before ill health materialises.

When deciding on the controls, you should consider the general principles of prevention. These are a hierarchy of controls that set out how to manage hazards. The focus should be to get rid of the hazard, so that people are protected. If this is not possible then you should work through the principles until you have made it as safe as reasonably practicable. Your reliance on personal protective equipment (PPE) should be one of the last steps in the process (not the first).

Always consider give training and instruction. Once you have assessed the risks and decided on your controls in line with the principles above, you will need to tell your employees about them and to make sure that they are competent to comply with them.

 

A Guide to Risk Assessments and Safety Statements

A guide to Risk Assessment and Safety Statements is a very useful publication by the Health and Safety Authority of Ireland (HSA), national body in Ireland responsible for the enforcement of workplace health and safety law, the implementation of a number of chemicals regulations, and accreditation. The information contained in the Guide can help an employer or self-employed person to manage safety and health in their workplace(s) by preparing risk assessments and a safety statement.

 

For online health and Safety training solutions, please check our Online Health and Safety Training portal.

Myelearnsafety offers fully online health and Safety courses.

To find out more, please check our Courses page.

Alternatively, should you need any additional information, please do not hesitate to let us know via email info@elearn.ie

Recognising and Promoting Positive Safety Behaviour

For employers there is a legal duty to provide a safe place of work for their employees wherever the place of work maybe. In these COVID-19 times this can and does in many cases mean remote working from home. Health and Safety requires all the stake holders to actively participate in safe work practice and to understand what is involved to create a safe place to work. Giving staff the information and tools to do this is a first step. When on-boarding staff, it is important to carry out a risk assessment that is personal to the employee and their role. Making sure they have the correct training, and any necessary certification is the next step and thereafter the employer needs to monitor compliance and performance.

 

Chair in Office

Office Ergonomics

 

An effective way of doing this is through an online solution that provides the records and training required. Having such a system that provides 24/7 access to information you can then go further to promote positive safety behaviour. By encouraging ongoing engagement with the core safety information and training you can see which employees are performing well and keeping engaged and up to date. You can incentivise staff to make sure they are aware of safe behaviour and you can encourage them to report unsafe issues that may arise.

It is true that a safe place of work is likely to be a more productive environment for the employee which all contributes to your bottom line. Promoting positive safety behaviour will reduce the risk of accidents and incidents and will reduce days lost to illness or accidents. It will also help you protect your company from the negative publicity and potential legal action arising from an accident in the workplace. Everyone in a working environment requires knowledge and training on safety behaviour and how to ensure a safe and healthy workplace. A desk bound job requires proper ergonomics and knowledge regarding breaks and what to do in an emergency. Even working in the home carries significant risks if a workstation is not correctly set up.

Our pattern and location of work is changing rapidly as a result of the pandemic and is likely to change permanently with a much larger degree of blended work where people attend the office on a part time basis. In this scenario it will become increasingly important to promote positive safety behaviour as the employer will have less control of the work environment while still being legally responsible for it. Even more reason to recognise and promote positive safety behaviour.

Myelearnsafety.com can provide more information on this topic as well as providing a solution to safety training and compliance monitoring. We would be delighted to hear from you with any of your concerns or problems.

Article  by Vincent Traynor

Please feel free to contact Cormac on 01 278 1938 or cormac@elearn.ie,  if you would like to discuss your health and safety needs further,  or take advantage of a complimentary course.

Are you safe at work?

Safety in the workplace

Work at height means working in a place (except a staircase in a permanent workplace) where a person could be injured by falling from it, even if it is at or below ground level.

The Work at Height Regulations apply to all work at height where there is a risk of a fall liable to cause personal injury. They place duties on employers and the self-employed.

Some examples of activities covered by the Regulations include:

Click here for the safe at work information sheet.

A Safety Statement Will Make You Sigh With Relief

Safety Statements in the workplace 

What is a safety statement?

A safety statement is a company’s commitment in writing to a safe and healthy workplace.

The Safety statement is a legal requirement under the Safety Health & Welfare at Work Act 2005.

Section 20 of the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005 requires that an organisation produce a written programme to safeguard:

The Safety Statement should influence all work activities, including

The Safety Statement must be site specific and be based on a written risk assessment. It cannot be generic and must be communicated in a form manner and language that is likely to be understood by all concerned.

What are the benefits of having a safety statement?

An organisation will see benefits such as,

* An insurance company may refuse cover if you do not have a valid safety statement

Who should have a safety statement?

All employers, self-employed persons and sole traders

How often should it be reviewed?

At least annually or in the event of changes to the business operations, personnel or working environment.

If you want to get Safety Statement Certified and be complaint with regulations click here