Why we should manage workplace health and safety

Learning Outcomes:

Discuss the moral, financial and legal reasons for managing health and safety in the workplace
Explain how health and safety is regulated and the consequences of non-compliance
Summarise the main health and safety duties of different groups of people at work
Explain how contractors should be selected, monitored and managed

The Size of the Health and Safety Problem:

The International Labour Organization (ILO) has released the following data to support the cause of maintaining safety in the organizations:

2.3 million women and men around the world expose to work-related accidents or diseases every year. As a result of this, over 6000 deaths have been reported in every single day.
There are 340 million occupational accidents and 160 million occupational diseases recorded each year.
Around 7 lakhs people die every year due to hazardous substances.
Construction industry witnesses highest number of fatal accidents.

Worldwide Workplace Fatalities (ILO):

Work-Related Disease Deaths (ILO):

The above is what that is reported, many incidents go unreported and hence not recorded.

Most organizations and individuals would like to manage safety in their organizations, but sometimes they are not convinced enough to take action. So now, we will try to find out what are the prime reasons for maintaining and promoting good standards of health and safety. Though, somebody may sit down and come out with at least a dozen reasons for managing safety, but all these reasons can be summarized into the following three reasons:

1.1 Morals and Money

Moral Expectations of Good Standards of Health and Safety:

Organizations set up businesses and obviously make profits and earn money. To get the work done they hire workers and contractors. Workers get paid for accomplishing the tasks given by the employer. The employer provides everything to the employee to get the task done in the desired time with the desired quality. No employer would want his employees to get injured or hurt while completing the tasks. The employer has a moral duty to take care of his employees. This moral duty can also be called ‘humanitarian’ or ‘ethical’. An employer pays the employees for the duties given to them and not for getting injured while doing them. Hence the employer has to ensure that employees who work for him do not get injured or suffer ill-health. This is the moral reason for managing safety.

The Financial Cost of Incidents (Insured and Uninsured Costs):

Today the business scenario is changing and if a business is not able to make profits year on year then it is difficult to sustain it. Accidents cost money, and businesses realize that to maximize profits and to minimize costs, the costs associated with accidents either needs to be totally eliminated or atleast minimized as far as possible. Let us now understand as to what are the costs associated with accidents.

The theory of costs of an accident can be closely associated with that of a floating iceberg. What we see above the ocean level is only 1/10th of the mass of the iceberg, while 9/10th of the mass is hidden below the waters. In the same way, we associate the costs of accidents only to costs of hospitalization and compensation payments which can be easily measured, this is also known as direct costs, but the majority of the costs is hidden like the iceberg and can be many times the direct costs, these costs are known as indirect costs.

Let us now define Direct and Indirect Costs and look at examples of the same.

Direct Costs: the measurable costs arising directly from an accident. Examples of direct costs are:

First aid treatment
Worker sick pay
Hospitalization costs
Compensation payable to the victims
Fines in the criminal courts
Repairs or replacement of damaged structures and plant
Lost or damaged product
Lost production time while dealing with the injury
Overtime to make up for the lost time
Costs associated with rehabilitation of the injured worker and their return to work.

Indirect Costs: Those which arise indirectly as a consequence of the event. Indirect costs are often difficult to quantify precisely and may be hard to identify. Examples of indirect costs are:

Loss of staff from productive duties in order to investigate the incident, prepare reports, undertake hospital visits, deal with relatives, attend court proceedings.
Loss of staff morale, which impacts productivity and quality.
Cost of remedial action following an investigation.
Compliance with any enforcement notice served.
Cost of recruiting and training temporary or replacement labor.
General difficulties in recruiting and retaining staff as an indirect result of the accident.
Loss of goodwill of the customers following delays in production and fulfilling orders.
Activation of penalty clauses for failing to meet delivery dates.
Damage to public image and business reputation.
Damage to industrial relations, perhaps leading to workers unrest.

Looking at the above it is proved beyond doubt that accidents cost money and it is the indirect costs which cause most of the damages to the companies’ performance and hence it is worthwhile for businesses’ to invest in accident prevention (which some companies unfortunately look at as costs) rather than face the loss making consequences of the accidents.

Insured and Uninsured Costs:

To take care of any eventualities arising from accidents employers are required to buy insurance by paying a premium. In most countries it is a legal requirement for employers to have insurance for their workers. Other than meeting the legal requirements it also creates a sense of comfort both in minds of the employer and employee that in case of an accident the insurance will take care of the costs associated with it. But not all costs are covered by insurance and generally the quantum of uninsured costs is generally much higher than the insured costs. Some examples of possible insured and uninsured costs are as follows:

Insured Costs:

Damage to plant, buildings, vehicles and equipment.
Compensation paid to workers.
Medical costs

Uninsured Costs:

Production delays of down time.
Loss of materials and product
Accident investigation time.
Emergency supplies and first aid
Cleaning up the site
Criminal fines and legal costs.
Sick pay of injured workers.
Overtime to make up for lost production.
Hiring and training new employees or temporary employees
Loss of business reputation

In general, uninsured costs are usually 2-10 times expensive than direct costs. Even though, most of the uninsured costs cannot be insurable due to the following reasons.

Difficult to quantify
Not readily measurable

Legal Reasons for Managing Health and Safety in the Workplace:

No employer can start a business without taking care of the legal requirements. Even before the businesses are set up, certain permits are sought from the local authorities; these permits are only given if the employer undertakes to ensure that all the legal requirements are met. Most national legislations would require employers to make arrangements to take care of the health, safety and welfare of its employees. These legislations are made by local governments in consultation with the society. The societal expectations may increase as the living conditions, technology and awareness increases, and the law also gets amended to take care of these enhanced expectations. To ensure that the law is adhered to, the national governments also appoint the enforcement agencies, who are empowered to enter workplaces, conduct audits, interview people and verify records. During such routine inspections, if the enforcement agencies find any violations with respect to the law then they may initiate proceedings, which can range from a simple enforcement notice to prosecution in the criminal court, which can lead to either fines, imprisonment or both.

The following are the social factors that influence health and safety:

Economic climate
Government policy
Risk profile
Globalizations
Migrant workers
National level of sickness and incapability
Social expectations of equality

Basic Safety Requirements:

Most national laws will talk about the following basic safety requirements:

Safe place of work.
Safe plant and equipment.
Safe systems of work.
Information, Instructions, Training and supervision.
Competent workers

The above five requirements follow a certain logic that we should know, only then can we appreciate its effectiveness.

Firstly the employer has to provide a ‘Safe Place of Work’, a place which is inherently safe, for e.g., good ventilation and illumination and a means of safe access and egress.

Having created a safe place to work, the employer then has the task of getting ‘Safe Plant and Equipment’ installed in these premises. These plant and equipment could be ranging from large stationary equipments like compressors and generators to material handling equipments like Forklift Trucks to simple hand-held tools. Needless to say all these equipments and plant need to be reasonably safe at the time of procurement, by ensuring that it meets the required standards and at the same time it needs to remain safe during its lifetime by ensuring that regular preventive maintenance and routine inspections are carried out.

Now, having equipped his safe place of work with safe plant and equipment, the next task for the employer is to provide ‘Safe Systems of Work’, that is the right, documented way of operating these plant and equipment. These procedures should not only cover the routine day-to-day activities but also the non-routine activities which happens once in a while and at the same time the procedures should also cover emergencies, both man-made and natural, so that adequate action can be taken to save lives.

Having ensured that the above three requirements are met the employer now has the task of getting employees to work for him. These employees need to be adequately ‘Trained’ so that they know how to work on these safe plant and equipments using the safe systems of work and are adequately aware of the inherent risks present and know the use of safety devices and implements, thereby keeping him and others safe and free from injury. Having trained the employees the employer has to ensure that the safe systems of work need to be followed and no unsafe acts or conditions are created by them. This can be done by ensuring that the work is carried out under ‘Competent Supervision’.

1.2 Regulating Health and Safety

What Enforcement Agencies do and what happens if you don’t Comply:

Each country has its own ways of enforcing the health and safety laws. No matter what the agency is called they all follow certain guidelines which are almost the same worldwide. The enforcement agencies plays the dual role of ensuring that the activities are carried out as per the requirements of the law and at the same time if laws are violated or accidents happen then investigate and create a basis for criminal prosecution of the organization. Sometimes they may also provide advice to the employers.

The enforcement agencies have the right to enter premises at any time without a prior appointment and take photos or ask for records or seize any incriminating or banned substances present in the premises and if required even get it destroyed. For carrying out this activity they can seek help of the local police.

Role of Enforcement Agency – Summary

Provide advice
Investigate workplace accidents
Take formal enforcement action to force employers to comply with the law and start criminal proceedings against those they believe have committed offences.
To interpret law and publish Approved Codes of Practice (ACOPs), Health and safety guidance (HSG), Industry Guidance (INDG)
Would differ from country to country

Purpose of Law:

Set boundary to operate – level playing field with no bias
Regulate relationship – obligate responsibility
Resolve conflict – maintain Industrial relations and Public relations
Establish rights – ensure no exploitation of labour

Consequences of Non-compliance:

A breach of health and safety legislation is a criminal offence and the following could be the consequences:

Formal enforcement action: There are two types of enforcement action:

Improvement notices: This identifies a specific breach of law and specifies a date within which the situation should be remedied.
Prohibition notice: This notice is given to halt an activity which the inspector feels could lead to serious personal injury.

Prosecution of the organization in the criminal courts: Successful prosecution might result in punishment in the form of a fine.
Prosecution of individuals, such as directors, managers and workers: Successful prosecution might result in fines and/or imprisonment.

An employee or any interested party who has injured or suffered health effects due to conditions existing in a workplace can claim for compensation by filing a case in the civil court. Here the claimant (the person who is claiming compensation) has to prove that the employer was negligent in his actions and that this negligence resulted in the claimants’ ill- health or injury.

In India, The Employees’ Compensation (Amendment) Act, 2017 is one of the legislations for labour. It covers all cases of ‘accident arises out of and in the course of employment’ and the compensation cost to be paid at lump sum based on the severity of the injury and the earning capacity of the individual. The young worker deserves high compensation based on the wage limit. The victim (injured person) or the dependent (in case of fatality) can claim the compensation. This law applies to the unorganized sectors and to those in the organized sectors who are not covered by the Employees State Insurance Scheme, which is conceptually considered to be superior to the Workmen’s Compensation Act.

In certain countries the claimants can directly claim compensation from regional or national compensation schemes without having to use the legal system.

The Part Played by International Standards (like ISO 45001):

The International Organisation for Standardization is the world’s largest developer of management standards. ISO has developed

ISO 9001 (Quality management standard)
ISO 14001 (Environmental management standard)
ISO 45001 (Occupational health and safety management systems (H&SMS))

Whilst these are not legal documents they have been adopted by many companies throughout the world since they demonstrate good management practice. The result is a common approach to managing quality and environmental matters. At a technical level, ISO has been responsible for developing safety standards to which machinery, etc. should conform, e.g. ISO 12100: Safety of Machinery. Such standards are then commonly referenced by national legislation on machinery safety, since compliance with the recognized international standard demonstrates safety.

The International Labour Organisation’s (ILO) Convention C155 and Recommendation R164:

We have now understood that one of the reasons for managing health and safety is the legal reason. Let us now understand how these laws get made, whether there is uniformity in these laws across nations, how the enforcement of these laws happen and the consequences of not following the law.

A prime mover in the field of International labour and safety laws is the International Labour Organisation or the ILO, which is part of the United Nations. The ILO consists of member states, with almost all the countries in the world been part of it. Through deliberations of the member states the ILO regularly releases standards that regulate health and safety laws across the world. These standards or laws are known as Conventions and Recommendations. Once these conventions and recommendations are passed in the ILO through a majority vote it becomes binding on each of the member states to convert these conventions into their own national legislations by an act of their respective parliaments so that they can be binding on the businesses operating within their geo-political spread.

Let us now look at the difference between a convention and a recommendation and take some examples of the same so as to reinforce our learning’s.

Conventions are legally binding international treaties that need to be ratified by member states, while Recommendations serve as non- binding guidelines. Convention lays down the basic principles that need to be implemented by ratifying countries, while a related recommendation supplements the convention by providing more detailed guidelines on how it can be applied.

In 1981, the ILO adopted the Occupational Safety and Health Convention (C155). This is a goal setting convention and describes safety requirements at both the national as well as the individual organization level.

This convention is supplemented by the Occupational Safety and Health Recommendation 1981 (R164). It provided detailed guidance as to how to comply with the policies laid down in C155.

Let us now look at some of the requirements laid out in C155 and R164.

Employers’ Responsibilities:

Article 16 of C155 identifies some basic obligations placed on employers:

“… to ensure that .. workplaces, machinery, equipment and processes under their control are safe and without risk to health….”
… to ensure that .. the chemical, physical and biological substances and agents under their control are without risk to health…
… to provide… adequate protective clothing and protective equipment to prevent.. risk of accidents or of adverse effects to health.”

R164 expands the above and provides more guidance as to how to implement the above requirements given in the convention.

Article 10 of R164 puts the following obligations on the employers:

To provide workplaces and work equipment and use work methods which are safe and pose no risk to health.
To provide appropriate instructions and training.
To provide necessary supervision.
To put in place health and safety arrangements adapted to suit the size and nature of the undertaking.
To provide any necessary personal protective clothing and equipment free of charge.
To ensure that the hours of work do not adversely affect employees’ safety and health.
To take measure to eliminate physical and mental fatigue.
To stay up-to-date with knowledge in order to comply with the above.

Now let’s look at how the Indian government has implemented the above requirements in the national laws:

The Indian connection: The Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code - 2020

Chapter III, Clause 6 (2): Duties of employer

Without prejudice to the generality of the provisions of sub-section (1), the duties of an employer shall particularly in respect of factory, mines, dock, building and other construction work or plantation include:

the provision and maintenance of plant and systems of work in the workplace that are safe and without risk to health;
the arrangements in the workplace for ensuring safety and absence of risk to health in connection with the use, handling, storage and transport of articles and substances;
the provision of such information, instruction, training and supervision as are necessary to ensure the health and safety of all employees at work;
the maintenance of all places of work in the workplace in a condition that is safe and without risk to health and the provision and maintenance of such means of access to, and egress from, such places as are safe and without such risk;
the provision, maintenance or monitoring of such working environment in the workplace for the employees that is safe, without risk to health as regards facilities and arrangements for their welfare at work.

From the above it is amply clear that though the wording may be different between the C155 & The Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code - 2020, however the meaning generally remains the same.

Workers’ Responsibilities and Rights:

Till now we understood the duties of the employer, but to ensure that health and safety really works in an organization, we also need good co-operation and support from the workers also, hence C155 puts certain responsibilities on the workers also and at the same time provide them with certain rights:

The article 19 of C155 states that all workers and their representatives have to cooperate with the employer so that he can fulfill his or her legal obligations.

Article 16 of R164 provides more details:

Take reasonable care of their own safety and that of the others who might be affected by the things that they do and the things that they fail to do.
Comply with safety instructions and procedures.
Use all safety equipments provided and not tamper with it.
Report any situation which they believe could be a hazard and which they themselves cannot correct.
Report and work-related accidents or ill- health.

The Indian connection: The Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code - 2020.

Chapter III, Clause 13: Duties of employee

Every employee at workplace shall:

take reasonable care for the health and safety of himself and of other persons who may be affected by his acts or omissions at the work place;
comply with the safety and health requirements specified in the standards;
co-operate with the employer in meeting the statutory obligations of the employer under this Code;
if any situation which is unsafe or unhealthy comes to his attention, as soon as practicable, report such situation to his employer or to the health and safety representative and in case of mine, agent or manager referred to in section 67, safety officers or an official for his workplace or section thereof, as the case may be, who shall report it to the employer in the manner as may be prescribed by the appropriate Government;
not willfully interfere with or misuse or neglect any appliance, convenience or other thing provided at workplace for the purpose of securing the health, safety and welfare of workers;
not do, willfully and without reasonable cause, anything, likely to endanger himself or others; and
perform such other duties as may be prescribed by the appropriate Government.

In addition to the responsibilities, article 19 of C155 gives the following rights to the workers.

The right to be provided with adequate information on actions the employer has taken to ensure occupational safety and health.
The right to necessary training in occupational safety and health.
The right to be consulted on employer on all matters of occupational safety and health relating to their work.
The right to leave the workplace which the worker has reason to think presents an imminent and serious danger to his or her life or health and not be compelled to return until it is safe.

The Indian connection: The Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code - 2020.

Chapter III, Clause 14: Rights of employee

Every employee in an establishment shall have the right to obtain from the employer information relating to employee’s health and safety at work and represent to the employer directly or through a member of the Safety Committee as constituted under section 22, if constituted by the employer for such purpose, regarding inadequate provision for protection of his safety or health in connection with the work activity in the workplace, and if not satisfied, to the Inspector-cum-Facilitator.

Where you can find Information on National Standards:

Information on International standards is available from the ILO website and similarly on National standards from the National websites. Some sources of information are as follows:

www.hse.gov.uk the health and safety website for UK.
www.ilo.org for information on ILO conventions and recommendations.
www.dgms.gov.in for information on Indian labour and OHS laws.
https://bis.gov.in/ for information on quality, safety and reliability of products w.r.t Indian scenario
www.osha.europa.eu for EU related information.
https://www.osha.gov/for USA related information

Besides these National & International organisation, the sources of information which may vary according to the nation includes

Information from trade unions/trade associations
Health and Safety magazines
National Safety Councils
Internet and Encyclopedias
Standards and technical guidance publications
Information from manufacturers and suppliers data

Summary on Sources of Information:

1.3 Who does what in Organisations:

Roles of Directors & Managers:

Directors and managers play an important role in establishing, implementing and driving health and safety within the organization. They have with them a vital element without which nothing would be possible. This vital element is what we call as ‘resources’. Resources could be money, space, manpower, plant and equipment or more simply, it could be managerial time to give a hearing to health and safety related issues.

Their roles and responsibilities include:

Give the organisation its direction
Setting up a health and safety policy, taking care of statutory requirements.
Creating an organizational structure, with proper lines of communication depicting responsibility and feedback.
Creating measurable aims and objectives towards fulfillment of health and safety standards and statute. Ensuring that the resources required to achieve the set objectives are reasonably adequate.
Ensuring that there are personnel with specific roles related to health and safety and these people should be reporting to director level personnel.
There are adequate numbers of competent persons available to take care of the organizations health and safety obligations.

Role of Supervisors:

A supervisor means a person who has charge of a workplace or authority over a worker. He must:

Ensure that a worker complies with health & safety regulations
Ensure that equipment, protective device or clothing provided by the employer are maintained in good condition and used as prescribed
Instruct workers about any potential of or actual health/ safety hazards; and
Take every precaution reasonable in the circumstances for the protection of workers.

How Top Management can Demonstrate Commitment:

By making resources available to design, implement and maintain the occupational health and safety management system
By defining roles and responsibilities
By appointing senior managers with specific responsibility for health and safety
By appointing competent people (internal and external, including specialists) to help the organisation meet its health and safety obligations
By reviewing health and safety performance

Responsibilities of Organizations who Share a Workplace to Work together on Health and Safety Issues (C155 Article 17, R164 Recommendation 11)

Let us now look at requirements laid out in C155 Article 17, R164 Recommendation 11 with respect to sharing of workplace.

Article 17 of C155 states that “Whenever two or more undertakings engage in activities simultaneously at one workplace, they shall collaborate in applying the requirements of Occupational Safety and Health Convention

Article 11 of R164 states that “Whenever two or more undertakings engage in activities simultaneously at one workplace, they should collaborate in applying the provisions regarding occupational safety and health and the working environment, without prejudice to the responsibility of each undertaking for the health and safety of its employees. In appropriate cases, the competent authority or authorities should prescribe general procedures for this collaboration”.

(Source:https://www.ilo.org/dyn/normlex/en/f?p=NORMLEXPUB:12100:0::NO:12100:P12100_INSTRUMENT_ ID:312502:NO)

Joint occupiers of premises are those who share a common premise but have their own business interests, employees, processes and equipment. In such scenario the risks created by one of the business could affect the employees of the other business. For e.g. there could be pathological lab next to a garment manufacturing company. The biological hazards and waste generated by the pathological lab could become a hazard for the workers working in the garment company and at the same time the cloths and other raw material will create a fire hazards for the workers in the pathological lab. To deal with such a scenarios the individual business owners have responsibility towards each other been joint occupiers of premises. The following things can be done to ensure a proper coordination:

Each employer should nominate a senior employee to a joint committee which can meet regularly to discuss safety related matters.
There should be joint consultations to ensure that hazards of each of the occupiers are known and the control measures are recorded.
There should be procedures jointly made to deal with emergencies and fire and other emergency mock drills should be planned and jointly executed.

The law puts a duty on the employer to provide ‘safe plant and equipment’. The employer procures these from manufactures, but these will be ‘safe’ only if the designing and manufacturing is safe. To ensure this legislation puts certain responsibilities on the supply chain.

Plant and equipment should be designed as per acceptable standards and manufactured under the required quality control. This should include procurement of the raw material from authorized vendors, manufacturing as per a set procedure and tested and certified, if required by third party surveyor, before dispatch.
It should include operating instructions and complete manual for servicing and replacement of the parts.
If the manufacturer is supplying chemicals, then it should be supplied only in proper containers, labelled as per international standards and accompanied by a Safety Data Sheet (SDS).

The Indian connection: The Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code - 2020

Chapter III, Clause 8.: Duties of manufacturers, designers, importers or suppliers

Every person who designs, manufactures, imports or supplies any article for use in any establishment shall:

ensure so far as is reasonably practicable, that the article is so designed and constructed in the establishment as to be safe and without risk to the health of the workers when properly used;
carry out or arrange for the carrying out of such tests and examination in the establishment as may be considered necessary for the effective implementation of the provisions of clause (a);
take steps as may be necessary to ensure that adequate information will be available—

in connection with the use of the article in any establishment;
about the use for which such article is designed and tested; and
about any conditions necessary to ensure that the article, when put to such use, shall be safe, and without risk to the health of the workers

Provided that where an article is designed or manufactured outside India, then it shall be obligatory on the part of the importer to see:

that the article conforms to the same standards of such article manufactured in India; or
if the standards adopted in the country outside India for the manufacture of such article is above the standards adopted in India, that the article conforms to such standards in such country;
if there is no standard of such article in India, then, the article conforms to the standard adopted in the country from where it is imported at its national level.

Chapter III, Clause 9: Duties of architects, project engineers and designers:

It shall be the duty of the architect, project engineer or designer responsible for any building or other construction work or the design of any project or part thereof relating to such building or other construction work to ensure that, at the planning stage, due consideration is given to the safety and health aspects of the building workers and employees who are employed in the erection, operation and execution of such projects and structures as the case may be.
Adequate care shall be taken by the architect, project engineer and other professionals involved in the project referred to in sub-section (1), not to include anything in the design which would involve the use of dangerous structures or other processes or materials, hazardous to health or safety of building workers and employees during the course of erection, operation and execution as the case may be.
It shall also be the duty of the professionals, involved in designing the buildings structures or other construction projects, to take into account the safety aspects associated with the maintenance and upkeep of the structures and buildings where maintenance and upkeep may involve such hazards as may be notified by the appropriate Government

How Clients and Contractors should Work together:

The duties they owe each other (as per ‘Safety and health in construction’, ILO Code of Practice – chapter 2)

Clients should:

co-ordinate or nominate a competent person to co-ordinate all activities relating to safety and health on their construction projects;
inform all contractors on the project of special risks to health and safety of which the clients are or should be aware;
require those submitting tenders to make provision for the cost of safety and health measures during the construction process.

In estimating the periods for completion of work stages and overall completion of the project, clients should take account of safety and health requirements during the construction process.

As the employer has the responsibility to protect own workers as well as contractors. To ensure that, contractors have to be managed by the following steps:

Effective planning and co-ordination of contracted work
Pre-selection of the contractor

1. Effective planning of the contracted work

Client shall if required appoint a Project Management Consultant (PMC) and plan the contract work as follows:

Decide on scale of contracting.
Scope of the work to be determined
Decide on information to be shared
Hazards posed by the site and work carried out
Hazards posed by the contractor’s activities
Risk assessments of contractor’s job
Method statements

2. Pre-selection of Contractors:

While selecting the contractor, the client has to take care of the following three things i.e.

People or the contractors workers
Equipment the contractor brings with him and
Procedures that he is going to employ and other documents and records.

In case of workers the following needs to be checked:

Competence of the workers, for e.g. if welders, then their weld test qualifications; or scaffolders, then their relevant qualifications.
Number of workers, adequate for the project without the need to bypass any critical
requirements.
Right mix of people, so that the correct ratio of skilled v/s unskilled workers v/s supervisors is adequate.

In case of equipment the following needs to be checked:

Whether the equipment meets the required national and the companies’ own standards.

Whether any statutory tests is required and has been carried out (for e.g. lifting tools and tackles).

Whether the plant and equipment are suitable for the task and the environment in which they are to be used.

In case of documentation, the following needs to be checked:

The contractors’ health and safety policy.
Risk assessments and method statements.
Previous experiences of carrying out similar type of work.
Accident records and legal labor permits.
Any enforcement action pending or otherwise.

3. Co-ordination of the Contracted Work:

This step is required because a project site is quite complex with several contractors working side-by-side executing several parallel or sequential operations; even the clients’ own workforce may be involved. To ensure that the activities don’t clash and one contractor’s activities do not create a hazard for others, proper co-ordination of the work is required. The client can do this by having a control over the work schedule and certain safety critical activities are carried out only under the Permit to Work system authorized by the client.

Summary:

Occupational health and safety is an organized system to ensure the safety, health and welfare of people employed at different types of work premises
Three key reasons for practicing good standards of health and safety. They are:

Moral: Employer or employee should ensure that the work which is undertaken should not affect others or put others in danger
Financial: Poor occupational health and safety performance influence additional costs to organization. Employer should implement good strategies to effectively manage the costs of accidents, ill health events, and environmental incidents
Legal: Employer should ensure safe systems of work for all his employees and satisfy legal requirements with respect to health and safety

Financial Cost of Incidents

Direct Cost is a type of cost which can be easily identified to measure the cost of a product or service E.g.: Labour wages, equipment cost, worker compensation etc.
Indirect Cost is a type of cost which cannot be easily identified to measure the cost of a product or service E.g.: Cumulative business loss, production delays, extra overtime payments, recruitment and training of staff etc.

Few of the above costs may be Insured and many be Uninsured. To summarize, cost of any accident would be: Direct Insured, Direct Uninsured, Indirect Insured and Indirect Uninsured.
Most of the uninsured costs cannot be insurable due to the following reasons.

Difficult to quantify
Not readily measurable

Enforcement agencies responsible for enforcing health and safety practices at workplace
Roles of enforcement agencies

Inspect the work area to identify health and safety problems
Suggest precautionary and preventive control measures for the identified risks
Order authority to eliminate substances which cause dangerous risks
Violation of health and safety factors makes the enforcement agencies toͫ

Issue of improvement notice and prohibition noticeͫ
Take legal actions against the organization and its members like directors, managersͫ
Give punishment in the form of fines and license cancellation

The International Organization for Standardisation (ISO) creates standards that can be utilized by organizations to enhance and manage organization’s performance to international standard
Some examples are: ISO 9001 for Quality, ISO 45001 for Occupational Health and Safety, ISO 14001 for Environment
International Labour Organisation (ILO) is an agency works for health, safety and welfare of labours across the globe
ILO standards refer to conventions, recommendations and also code of practices, guidance and manuals on health and safety
ILO’s conventions (agreement) and recommendations clearly define the roles and responsibilities of employers and workers to promote good standards of health and safety in a complex industrialised country
Example of ILO Conventions and recommendations are C155 Occupational Safety and Health and (R 164), 1981
Employer’s responsibilities as per

Article 16 of Convention C155

Make sure workplace, machinery, equipment and processes are proper, safe and risk-free
Ensure appropriate control and protection of physical, chemical and biological substances

Recommendation R164

Make sure workplace is safe and secure
Ensure frequent breaks and rests are given to workers
Provision of personal protective equipment and encourage the use of it
Conduct training and give necessary instruction and information with respect to the specified tasks
Stay up-to-date with health and safety knowledge
Ensure proper record keeping and documentation

Worker’s responsibilities and rights as per

Article 19 of Convention C155

Co-operate with employers and others to full-fill the organization requirements
Consult with employers for the provision of training and personal protective equipment

Recommendation R164

Take care of own health and safety
Ensure your own actions not put others in danger
Adhere to safety and health procedures of the organization
Use appropriate PPE for the task specified
Communicate to the concern authority if any violations in health and safety procedures

Individuals in an organisation right from employer to worker have pre-defined roles and responsibilities to accomplish organisation’s requirements without sacrificing the health and safety factors
Some of the roles and responsibilities of following individuals

Directors & Managers:

Give the organisation its direction
Setting up a health and safety policy, taking care of statutory requirements
Creating an organizational structure, with proper lines of communication depicting responsibility and feedback.
Creating measurable aims and objectives towards fulfillment of health and safety standards and statute
Ensuring that the resources required to achieve the set objectives are reasonably adequate

Supervisors:

Ensure that a worker complies with health & safety regulations
Ensure that equipment, protective device or clothing provided by the employer are maintained in good condition and used as prescribed
Instruct workers about any potential of or actual health/ safety hazards; and
Take every precaution reasonable in the circumstances for the protection of workers

Top management can demonstrate commitment by

making resources available to design, implement and maintain the occupational health and safety management system
defining roles and responsibilities
appointing senior managers with specific responsibility for health and safety
appointing competent people (internal and external, including specialists) to help the organisation meet its health and safety obligations
reviewing health and safety performance

Requirements laid out in C155 Article 17, R164 Recommendation 11 with respect to sharing of workplace.

Article 17 of C155 states that “Whenever two or more undertakings engage in activities simultaneously at one workplace, they shall collaborate in applying the requirements of Occupational Safety and Health Convention
Article 11 of R164 states that “Whenever two or more undertakings engage in activities simultaneously at one workplace, they should collaborate in applying the provisions regarding occupational safety and health and the working environment, without prejudice to the responsibility of each undertaking for the health and safety of its employees. In appropriate cases, the competent authority or authorities should prescribe general procedures for this collaboration”.

Duties of the clients and contractors when working together with reference to ‘Safety and health in construction’, ILO Code of Practice

Clients should:

co-ordinate or nominate a competent person to co-ordinate all activities relating to safety and health on their construction projects,
inform all contractors on the project of special risks to health and safety of which the clients are or should be aware,
require those submitting tenders to make provision for the cost of safety and health measures during the construction process.

In estimating the periods for completion of work stages and overall completion of the project, clients should take account of safety and health requirements during the construction process.

As the employer has the responsibility to protect own workers as well as contractors. To ensure that, contractors have to be managed by the following steps:

Effective Planning of the contract work E.g. Deciding scale of contractor, information to be shared etc.
Pre-selection of the contractor E.g. Check contractor worker’s competence, equipment effectiveness, reviewing health and safety policy, accidents records, legal labour permits etc.
Co-ordination of the contract work E.g. To ensure that the contractor’s work activities don’t clash with other work activities

Element-1 IG1 - Management of health and safety