NEBOSH IGC Exam June 2021 Answer

 

Scenario You have recently taken on the role of team leader at a small removals company. The company carries out both local and nationwide work, for private and commercial clients. They operate from two sites - a small warehouse and compound (where the 7 removal vehicles of varying size are kept) and a smaller office site (with 3 office workers) that is 2-miles away from the warehouse. You carry out the role of health and safety advisor for both sites. In addition to this, you are responsible for the day-to-day management of your team.  The team consists of 7 drivers and 8 porters (who assist the drivers in moving furniture items). You deliver a short induction training session to new workers, that involves a tour of both sites, health and safety information (including first-aid and emergency arrangements), and information on relevant policies and procedures. You, and one other person, are the only trained first-aiders. You carry out the role of first-aider for the warehouse site and the other first-aider is based at the official site. Fully stocked first-aid boxes are located at each site and the contents are replenished as required. Both you and the other first-aider have completed a ‘first aid at work’ course and attend a one-day first-aid refresher course as required. To assist with the movement of vehicles, a safe system of work is in place that stipulates that drivers must use a banksman when manoeuvring. Next to the compound is the warehouse, used for the temporary storage of customers’ furniture and other possessions. Although small, the warehouse is well laid out with clearly marked pedestrian walkways, forklift truck routes, and strong, three-story-high racking. There is a large roller-shutter door giving clear, wide access to the warehouse. Drivers and porters take pride in cleanliness and tidiness when carrying out work in the warehouse. The company is very busy. All the vehicles are in use every day, the warehouse is at full capacity, and there is pressure to complete jobs as quickly and efficiently as possible. The manager, who operates from the official site, visits clients and assesses their removal requirements, evaluating any potential problems or issues to help ensure the correct allocation of resources and equipment. The manager also visits the warehouse site each day to inspect, check on capacity levels, and speak directly with workers. The manager feels it is important to speak personally to each worker regularly and to be kept up-to-date with any problems. The manager is also responsible for the regular internal audit of management processes. Although most of the drivers have been employed for many years, there has recently been a high level of turnover for porters, who protested at working conditions but were never taken seriously. Many of the existing porters are young and inexperienced, and several job positions remain vacant. There has also been an increase in levels of short-term sickness absence for both drivers and porters, which is consistent with reports of increased musculoskeletal disorders being diagnosed. As the size of removal activities varies considerably (ranging from a few small items to the contents of large houses, to office relocations) the number of people involved with each job also varies; this could involve just a single driver or several vehicles and multiple porters. As both drivers and porters are required to carry furniture and other large items, manual handling training is carried out annually by an external training company. Each vehicle is equipped with a tail-lift (a powered lifting and lowering platform at the rear of the vehicle) and carries equipment to assist with removal activities (for example, sack-barrows and platform trolleys). You have just returned from two week’s annual leave. During your regular weekly meeting with the manager, they inform you that a porter has been hurt while you were on leave. While moving a piano at a client’s house, the porter sustained a fractured ankle and has just been discharged from a stay in hospital following surgery. The porter will be off work for several months. There will probably be enforcement action because of this accident.  The manager tells you that they believe the young, inexperienced porter was “messing around” as records are describing the porter’s involvement in previous near-miss incidents. You are asked to carry out an investigation into the accident and provide a report to help ensure that lessons can be learned, and similar accidents can be avoided in the future. This will be the second accident in the last 3 months. The earlier accident was where a driver broke their wrist assisting a young porter with a heavy item of furniture, which resulted in an improvement notice being issued. The injured driver also pursued a civil claim. You speak to the relevant driver about the latest accident, and they maintain the young porter was acting responsibly at the time. The driver explained that access to the client’s house was limited, with a long, gravelled driveway that was too narrow for the large removal vehicle to negotiate. As a result, items needed to be carried a significant distance along the drive to where the removal vehicle was parked. Due to the gravelled driveway, the workers were unable to use a trolley to move the large piano, and as a result, it was a long and difficult job to carry it to the removal vehicle. The driver felt that the job needed to be done differently, including more workers being allocated to this task. However, when they had phoned the office to express their concerns, the manager told them to do their best, as no one else was available to help at that time. As a result, the workers felt pressured to continue with the task. They had managed to get the piano to the end of the drive when the porter collapsed in pain. The driver used their personal mobile phone to call for an ambulance and the porter was admitted to the hospital. On informing the office of the accident, a second work crew was redirected to the house to complete the removal. The driver is quite angry about the accident. They tell you that they see frequent examples of where management seems more concerned about getting the job done than they are with workers’ health and safety. The driver has previously complained about not enough people being allocated to large or difficult jobs. They do not think that management fully appreciates the difficulties workers experience. They also believe that management has never actually carried out removal and they do not consult sufficiently with workers about jobs. As part of your investigation, you analyse both the generic risk assessment and the safe system of work for removals on domestic premises. You notice that both documents were produced five years ago. You advise the manager that these documents need reviewing as a matter of urgency. The manager asks for your assistance in reviewing these documents. You also take the opportunity to bring to the manager’s attention the importance of prioritizing health and safety. You highlight the worrying trend of increased lost time of workers, an increase in recent accidents, and the fact that subsequent investigations incur greater cost to the company, especially as another civil claim is expected due to the latest accident.

 

Task-1: Based on the scenario only, what management failures could have contributed to this accident?

The following Management failures which could have contributed to the Accident are as follows:- Company Management seems to be very busy and there is a huge Pressure on the Workers to complete their Jobs at the earliest which Indicates high Workload on the workers. The Management has not hired enough Workers and the Workforce is not Optimum to carry on with difficult tasks. The Management has shown negligence to have an adequate number of Workers to complete difficult and large heavy jobs or tasks. The Management has not taken into Consideration of Workers asking for help and the manager has told them to do their best when the workers phoned the office for help as no one else was available for help at that time. The Management has not learned from previous mistakes and experiences as Similar incidents have happened in the past. Management is less Concerned about the Health and Safety of Workers as they are in a rush to get their jobs done on time without concerning the safety of the workers. The Porters have Previously Protested against Management about working Conditions and Health and Safety measures but were never Considered Seriously. The Management has never done an actual removal activity and they do not consult sufficiently with workers about their jobs The Management has never fully appreciated the difficulties of Workers experience in handling difficult and heavy tasks. Many young and Inexperienced workers were being deployed for the heavy and difficult task and the manager was blaming the young worker who was responsible for this accident. Risk assessment & Safe system of work were not reviewed for 5 years for the Removal activity, which shows the management failure contributed to this accident.

 

Task 2- (A): Why must this most recent accident be reported by the employer to the competent authority?

To fulfil legal requirements it is necessary to report to the Enforcement authority at the earliest. This is a responsibility of an employer to report the Fatal Accident including Major Injury, Dangerous Occurrence, Occupational Diseases, and Lost Time Injury to the competent authority. The porter sustained a fractured ankle, and he cannot back to work for several months. This accident resulted in a Major injury (Lost Time Injury) to the porter and this needs to be reported because as per ILO Code of Practice requires that Occupational non-fatal accidents with at least three consecutive days of incapacity excluding the day of the accident need to be reported to the competent authority.

 

Task 2- (B): How would you notify this most recent accident as the employer?

As an Employer, this recent accident needs to be notified as well as keeping a record of the accident through a standard record form or book for keeping the record of the accident, the following information needs to be included in the record and the same need to be notified through the following: - 1.                  Name and address of the injured Porter 2.                  Date and time of the accident 3.                  Location of the accident 4.                  Details of injury 5.                  Details of treatment given 6.                  Description of an event causing injury 7.                  Details of any equipment or substances involved 8.                  Witnesses names and contact details 9.                  Details of person completing the record 10.             Signatures

 

Task-3: Based on the scenario only, comment on the company’s approach to assessing health and safety risks.

It is a legal duty of an Employer to carry out suitable and sufficient risk assessments are the primary management tool ineffective risk management. It is a legal requirement for any employer and must be documented. A suitable and sufficient risk assessment must be carried out before a particular activity or task being carried out to eliminate, reduce or suitably control any associated risk to the health, safety and wellbeing of persons involved with the task but management fails to do the same. Once completed a risk assessment should be reviewed periodically and, in any case, when either the current assessment is no longer valid and if at any stage there have been significant changes to the specific activity or task. There is also a near-miss incident and following by an accident previously in the company, but Risk assessment is not reviewed, risk assessments should be reviewed following an accident, incident, or ill-health event in order to verify if the control measures and level of evaluated risk where appropriate or require amendment. The risk involved in Manual handling, Platform Trolleys and Sack borrows need to be analyzed and sufficient control measures to be provided considering the Number of Porters, Drivers as per the heavy Task and Separate Risk assessment to be prepared as per the activity involved.

 

Task-4: What appear to be the positive indicators of health and safety culture at the removals company?

The Following Positive indicators on Health and Safety have been observed at Removals company: - The induction training session has been done for new workers involving a tour of both sites (warehouse, compound site). Induction training also included Health and Safety matters and First aid and Emergency arrangements and information on relevant policies which is a positive indicator of Health and Safety culture. Two Trained First Aiders each at (warehouse, office site) have been allocated which is a positive aspect towards Health and Safety. First Aid at work course and a one-day refresher course is attended by both First aiders who are located at warehouse and office site. Fully stocked First Aid boxes are kept at each site and the contents are replenished as required. The Drivers must use Banksman when manoeuvring to assist the movement of vehicles safely and a Safe work system has been maintained which is a Positive Indicator of Health and Safety. The warehouse is well laid out with clearly marked Pedestrian walkways and forklift routes are clearly visible. Workers are taking care of cleanliness and tidiness in the warehouse while working and maintaining good housekeeping. Proper inspection is done by the manager at the workplace which shows the positive Indicator of Health and Safety. The Manager also visits the warehouse site every day to carry out daily inspections to check on capacity levels and directly speak with workers which shows two-way positive communications. Manual handling training is given by the third party company to the involved workers in the manual handling. The Driver has reported the Incident to the manager at the earliest shows the Positive Indicator of Health and Safety. The management is responsible for conducting Frequent internal audits is also a positive Indicator of Health and Safety. Management is ready to carry out an investigation of this accident and provide a report to help ensure that lessons can be learned, and similar accidents can be avoided in the future.

 

Task-5: Comment on the company’s health and safety morals.

It is a moral duty of an organization to not be letting employees become ill or injured in the workplace; this can be only achieved by providing a safe place to work, I felt that the organization is less concerned about health and safety morals:- The employer's moral responsibility is to take care of workers on humanitarian grounds. Injuries and illness from working can demoralize the employees so maintaining a safe work environment at the workplace is mandatory. Workers Sickness and absenteeism rates are getting high like workers are complaining of musculoskeletal disorders. Not enough workers were being provided for the heavy and difficult tasks by the management, When more workers needed to complete difficult jobs then the employer needs to provide more workers for assistance. Work-related injuries and illness may result in trust issues between workers and employers decrease in motivation may lead to low productivity and low staff turnover The employer must give priority to the health and safety of workers rather than profits and targets. Complaints of the workers about the working condition are not taken seriously by the company and high turnover of the workers leads to the decrease in workers' morale.

 

Task-6:  What could be done to help ensure the manager is more effective in carrying out their health and safety role and responsibilities?

The Effectiveness of the Manager's roles and responsibilities about Health and Safety in the removal company are as follows: - ·        The Manager is effective in reviewing the documents of generic risk assessment and safe system of works for removals on Domestic Premises. ·        The Manager must have acknowledged the difficulties of workers when carrying difficult works and resolved their issues as soon as possible without ignoring them. ·        The Manager should focus on and prioritize workers' health and safety issues rather than giving pressure about production and completion of work. ·        The role of the Manager is to avoid accidents and civil claims as it will be a huge burden and could face financial losses and lawsuits. ·        It is also the manager's responsibility to report any reportable incidents or injuries to the competent Enforcement authority at the earliest. ·        It is also the manager's role and responsibility to conduct and associate with the HSE Advisor in conducting the accident investigation if required. ·        The manager should also be responsible to listen to workers' complaints about the working conditions and he should be keen to solve their issues as soon as possible. ·        This is also a manager's responsibility to appoint the required vacant position in the company to minimize the workload of the workers. ·        Absenteeism and sickness rates need to be analysed by the manager and evaluate the reasons behind this to reduce and improve the working conditions about health and safety. ·        The Manager should conduct a weekly meeting with the workers and listen to their issues and concerns about health and safety and their feedback should be appreciated.

 

Task-7 (A): What would you consider in your review to determine if the first-aid provision is realistic and proportionate at the warehouse?

The Following Factors need to be considered of First Aid arrangements reviewed at Removals Company are as follows: - ·        There should be a written procedure when any accident and injury happens, how to inform to first aider, and first, aider must have a mobile phone by the organization so at the time of emergency he can arrange the ambulance without losing the time. ·        There should be at least 1 extra trained first aider in case of an existing first aider is absent or on annual leave. ·        First aid arrangements should be done according to the distance of the hospital and the location of the warehouse. ·        Enough required number of fully stocked first aid boxes should be provided at the visible location of the warehouse which is easily accessible. ·        The warehouse is a large workplace, so a dedicated treatment room with better ventilation and a lit facility should be provided and should be accessible by emergency services. ·        First, aider should always be available at the warehouse, Being a dual role you cannot stay every time at the warehouse, so a separate Trained first aider needs to be appointed who can stay in the warehouse and can cope with stressful situations and accept responsibility. ·        There should be adequate first aider coverage, including night shift and weekends if work is going on inside the warehouse. ·        The warehouse has some young and inexperienced workers so First Aid arrangements should also be arranged considering the vulnerable staff. ·        First aid arrangements should also be considered to the Manual handling hazard situations considering the back and neck pain, brushes, etc as there is plenty of work associated with manual handling in the warehouse.

 

Task-7 (B): What additional considerations would be in your review to determine if the first-aid provision is realistic and proportionate for drivers and porters involved in remote removal activities?

The Remote location is an important issue to consider when determining realistic and proportionate first aid provision, workplace with easy reach of emergency services might provide minimal cover but in remote areas where emergency services can take time to reach, must have adequate facilities including skilled person available, in this case: - ·        The company must Provide First aid training for all the drivers so those drivers can help at the time of emergency while working in remote areas, and the organization must Provide a First aid kit in every vehicle. ·        Each and every removal vehicle must have fully stocked First aid boxes to help in case of emergency in remote areas. ·        The organization should provide Mobile Phones to drivers and porters with emergency contact numbers to contact quickly in case of any emergency occur.

 

Task-8: Based on the scenario only, comment on results of reactive monitoring at the company that should be a cause for concern.

The results of the reactive monitoring at the company that should be a cause of concerns are as follows: - ·        Management is not committed to controlling accident rates because 2 accidents occur, and injuries and near-miss are occurring very frequently. ·        Because of the earlier accident, high compensation was claimed by the injured worker but there is no improvement shown by the management. ·        Because of the frequent accident, medical costs and subsequent investigations incur greater costs to the company. ·        The removal company didn’t concern about workers' health and safety so the legal authority gives improvement notice to the company, if more accident occurs in the future there may be a prohibition and high penalty issue to the company. ·        Management didn’t have a proper safety system of work and risk assessment as it was not reviewing for the last five years. ·        After the near-miss in the company management did not appoint competent people to do their job because there are many young and inexperienced porters are present in the company. ·        The near-miss incident was not investigated by the manager and its ignorance might cause an accident. ·        Many Protests were done by the workers Complaining about Working Conditions was never taken seriously by the company management. ·        Staff turnover rates, Absenteeism, and sickness rates which are consistent with reports of increased musculoskeletal disorders are getting high in the company is a cause of concern.