Occupational Health and Safety

During the year 2008, 5,071 workers died on their work. That is an incredible figure, especially if we grasp that this happened in the US alone. 80% of those fatalities were due to these identified causes:

·         Lack of supervision

·         Not following proper procedure

·         Improper interpretation of instructions

·         Lack of potential risk analysis

·         Poor risk assessment

·         Risk taking personalities

There is a very interesting approach to Occupational Health and Safety Programs: Neuro Coaching. And what is it? It is just coaching with a twist: Basic principles of Neurosciences that when applied, they enhance learning focus on the task, a sense of well being, and most of it all, a deep sense of self-care and care for others.

Foreman and supervisors know procedures very well. What they need are tips and training to enhance their leadership skills, so they can teach and nurture safer behavior to the members of their teams. We always thought that, since cannot withdraw from influencing one another in this world, we might have as a mission to transform lives towards excellence and happiness. In a HSE environment, this goes well beyond our mission. Together we save lives. What could be more inviting and engaging than that?

Some powerful keys to create a successful OHS Management plan, with emphasis in Health, Safety and Environment - HSE, are:

·         An open dialog with workers

·         Team building activities

·         Being on the lookout for bullying outbursts

·         Positive reinforcement of proactive behaviors

·         A coaching program

It's amazing how simple tweaks in day to day interactions can make a big difference in the quality of work, and accident statistics.  If 84% of incidents, accidents, fatalities are due to human error, we are talking about human behavior. That is exactly where we should focus our efforts: modify, change, transform behavior, and reduce risks. We might end up saving a few lives. Would not it be worth the effort?

Clients' OHS Duty of Heed for Contractors

As far as OHS management plan is concerned the law makes no distinction between responsibilities for employees and contractors working on-site for an organization. These laws are primarily state based but they differ very little. For more information go to the relevant work safety website in your state.

The general safety requirements apply to the IT industry as to any other. Computer safety issues apply such as ergonomic chairs, non-glare screens and safe lifting and moving of computer equipment.

All people working on electrical equipment should receive written material outlining safety procedures regarding electric shock and related hazards. This information should include avoiding electric shock such as procedures for indicating whether wires are live (carrying current) or not. Also advice should be provided as to what action to take if someone is suffering an electric shock. Other safety considerations include not working on live equipment where an employee or contractor could bang their head on a sharp object such as a shelf.

A Contractor OHS Management System consists of four main stages in the contracting process. These are:

1. Writing tender and contract specifications.

2. Evaluating tenders.

3. Pre-commencement planning of work.

4. On-site control and monitoring.

When writing the tender and contract specifications you should comply with OHS legislation and obtain demonstrated evidence, such as company forms and records, of the tenderer’s own OHS management system and OHS performance record. This information should be used in evaluating the tender. For medium to high risk contracts (which may include work on computer hardware) the tender and contract should require the contractor to develop a project specific Health and Safety Management plan before starting the job. This plan must be developed in consultation with site management and set out the OHS practices and procedures that will apply during the contract. Once approved by management, the plan becomes the basis as a work method statement inspections and internal and external audits for the duration of the contract.

Various Aspects to Work Safety

Every good boss should try to maintain the health of his employees. It's just a good thing to do. If the moral arguments aren't good enough, then you should realize that work-related accidents aren't exactly a boost to morale. Not ever safety issue involves stopping a catastrophe though. Some are fairly minor things that you might not even think of when it's time to talk about safe work method statements.

Working clothing is one aspect. This is fairly standard talk for a number of machinists, but your other employees should be aware of it too. You do not need ties or any type of loose clothing around the machine. If loose fabric is caught in the gears, then it will be a blessing to get away with all of one's body intact. For these purposes, you may want to look into buying some temporary work clothes for those visiting the floor. There are a number of simple jumpsuits that work as safe clothing which also minimize the effects of stray chemicals and oils.

Continuing on the trend of safety clothing, you should really pay attention to safety glasses. These are really important for any job involving machinery or chemicals. A lot of people have their vision damaged by fairly simple accidents because they're eyes were not properly protected. The biggest problem is often the worker though, as many do not like to wear the annoying safety glasses. You can help the situation by making sure you buy new models regularly and clean the old versions to prevent smudged lenses and uncomfortable wear.

Finally, you may not think about it much, but you need to provide sunscreen for your employees. If any of your employees are out working in the sun for long periods of time, then you need to make sure that they are protected properly. A lot of people simply forget about the potential skin cancer risks from prolonged and continuous exposure to the sun. Sun burns aren't good either. If you want to keep them protected, just buy some individual sunscreen packets and distribute them to the team. This will let you know whether they're actually using it or not and make the handouts a lot quicker than sharing a bottle. It couldn't be easier to keep them safe as a work method statement.

These are just a few specialties that you should consider when making decisions about workplace safety. You have plenty of ways to get it right.