1
Q
Legal actions that might be available to the injured person in a claim for compensation, and the tests that would have to be made for the actions to succeed
A
Legal Actions = “double-barrelled action” civil claim involving a tort of negligence AND breach of statutory duty.
Negligence:
•Duty of care owed by company to employee
•Accident was foreseeable (managers aware of bad practice)
•DoC was breached
•Breach of DoC led to injury; (must refer to scenario)
•[Case law: Wilsons & Clyde Coal v English (1938);
•General Cleaning Contractors v Christmas (1953)]
2
Q
Meaning of ‘general’ and ‘special’ damages
A
General damages: Represent the types of damages that can’t easily be assigned a monetary value, such as pain and suffering, loss of consortium and emotional trauma. There is no evidence, such as bills or receipts, of a specific dollar amount, but they are losses for which the plaintiff deserves compensation nonetheless.
Special damages: Can be assigned a specific monetary value because these are compensation for the expenses you incurred as a result of the accident. Special damages include things like medical bills and lost wages. These are your “out of pocket” Receipt’s
3
Q
What may be awarded in the event of a successful claim AND give examples of the factors that are considered in calculating their value
A
General Factors such as:
• Pain and suffering and loss of amenity - calculated by the severity of the injury itself and a system of tariffs has evolved to enable the court to apply some consistency to the loss of a limb or sight.
• Other factors such as pain and suffering arising from treatment or operations
• Mental suffering based on the realisation of a shortened life expectancy or a reduction in the ability to enjoy life
• Loss of amenity: the injured person , as a result of the injury, is no longer able to enjoy their previous lifestyle e.g. impairment of any of the physical senses or abilities, impairment of sexual activity, inability to pursue sports pastimes or hobbies to the same degree as that enjoyed prior to the accident and any future earnings
Special Factors such as:
• Damage to belongings, legal expenses, medical expenses including the cost of a carer and modifications to home; pre-trial loss of earnings.
4
Q
Unsafe practice at work, safe system in place, workers NOT able to understand safe system, but do not inform employer, it’s the Norm for the unsafe practice to take place
Which breaches might apply
A
HSWA 1974:
•Section 2 (1) Ensure SFAIRP, the health, safety and welfare at work of all his employees.
•Section 2 (2) – Safe plant and systems of work, safe use, handling, storage and transport of articles and substances, IIT&S, Safe place of work incl. access and egress, safe environment and adequate facilities and arrangements for their welfare at work.
•Section 7 Employee take reasonable care of himself and others and to co-operate with employer
•Section 36 - Offences due to fault of other person.
•Section 37 - offence committed with consent / connivance or attributable to neglect of Director, Manager, Secretary etc.
MHSWR 1999:
•Reg 3 – S&S Risk Assessment not carried out
•Reg 4 – Apply Principals of Prevention
•Reg 5- AE-POCMR
•Reg 7 – Provide H&S Assistance
•Reg 13 – Provide health and safety training
5
Q
The principles of regulatory enforcement activities.
T.P.C.- T.A
A
Principles of good regulation:
- Targeted
- Proportionate
- Consistent
- Transparent and Accountable
6
Q
A fatal accident has happened at a workplace. An enforcing agency inspector decides to make a visit to the site to take statements from witnesses, including the managing director. The managing director has refused the visit.
Outline possible courses of a Faction that the inspector may pursue.
A
- Section 20 HSWA, powers of inspectors could come into force and the manager could be prosecuted for failing to provide evidence
- Section 33 HSWA, Obstructing and inspector
7
Q
Describe the statutory procedures for making regulations under the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974
A
Section 15 HSWA (Schedule 3) gives power to the Secretary of State (SoS) to make regulations under the Act
Regulations must involve regulating or prohibiting H&S matters identified in Schedule 3 HSWA
•Procedure for making regulations requires the SoS to consult HSE and other government departments - Health, Industry - and other interested parties (S50 HSWA) - LAs, TUC, Confederation of British Industry etc (consultative documents may be issued)
Alternatively, regulations may be proposed to SoS by HSE
•Proposed regulations must lie in House of Commons and House of Lords for 40 days
•If no objections / vote against they pass into law
•If opposed / vote against - do not pass into law (S82 negative resolution).
8
Q
Outline the general types of health and safety related information that the employer should obtain from a contractor (prior to their appointment) to ensure that they are competent to safely design and install a lift.
A
- Information obtained from pre-selection audit/inspection of contractors
- Safety method statements/procedures/risk assessments
- Design-stage risk assessment processes/risk management processes
- Design quality control processes
- H & S policy and management arrangements
- other H & S performance measures (e.g. accident rates, inspection reports, EN, audit reports etc)
- Experience in the type of work
- Reputation/recent client experience/references
- Individual design personnel/qualifications/experience
- Qualifications/skills of workers for other installation work
- Procedure for selecting sub-contractors
- Membership of relevant professional bodies/quality standards
- Communication/consultation arrangements
- Advice from expert third party if needed
- Standards to be followed in design
- Insurance cover provided it relates to public or product liability
- Resources affecting safety
9
Q
Section 6 HSWA
A
GENERAL DUTIES OF MANUFACTURERS ETC.
Any person who designs, manufactures, imports or supplies any article or substance for use at work has duties to ensure, SFAIRP:
- That the article or substance is safe and without risks to health when properly used;
- Any necessary research and testing or examination of the article or substance is properly undertaken; and that
- Adequate information is provided to ensure its safe use.
The section covers:
•New and second-hand articles designed for use at work (including fairground equipment), whether for sale of hire and their component parts;
•Items, which though capable of domestic use are designed to be used also at work (the safety of goods intended for domestic use is covered instead by Consumer Protection legislation); and
•All substances, including micro-organisms, which are supplied to workplaces.
10
Q
Section 6 HSWA
A
S6(1) places duties on persons who design, manufacture, (import) or supply articles for use at work
S6(3) places duties on persons who install any article for use at work in premises where it is to be used by persons at work. In this case the contractor is a designer, supplier and installer of a passenger lift (which is an article for use at work).
Requirements -
•Ensure SFAIRP that the article is designed to be safe and without risks to health at all times when it is being set up, used, cleaned or maintained by a person at work
•Carry out / arrange for any testing and examination required to meet the above duty
•Ensure that persons supplied with the article of work equipment are provided with adequate information re its use etc (as above), dismantling or disposal
• Provide, SFAIRP, revised / updated information as necessary (e.g. Serious risk arising)
•Carry out / arrange for any research necessary to eliminate / minimise risk to health or safety SFAIRP
• ensure SFAIRP that nothing in the way the work equipment is installed makes it unsafe or a risk to health during use (etc)
11
Q
R v Swan Hunter Shipbuilders and Another [1982]
A
Contractors working for SH on board HMS Glasgow were using oxy-acetylene cutting equipment. The oxygen hose / connection was leaking in a badly ventilated part of the ship so the atmosphere became oxygen enriched. An employee of Telemeter Installations, working alongside SH employees was preparing to do some arc welding. He struck the electric arc between welding rod and work piece and immediately, due to the atmosphere, a very intense fire broke out and eight men were killed. SH employees were provided with information on the fire risk connected with oxygen but the information was not provided to the employees of Telemeter or of the other contractors involved. Swan Hunter was prosecuted and fined £3000, they appealed. Conviction was upheld in the Court of Appeal (CoA).
12
Q
The case of R v Swan Hunter Shipbuilders and Another [1982] arose from a serious fire during a ship repair at Swan
Hunter’s shipyard. Swan Hunter was convicted in the Court of Appeal.
Identify the specific provisions of HSWA under which Swan Hunter were prosecuted and in each case outline the reasons why the company was convicted
A
Clearly SH had a duty to ensure SFAIRP the H&S of its own employees by the provision of information. The CoA held that if, to ensure a SSW for SH’s own employees, it was necessary to provide the contractors / contractors’ employees with information about any particular dangers within its knowledge, then SH was under a duty to provide
such information, SFAIRP. SH also had a duty to those not in its employment.
Consequently SH were prosecuted under:
- HSWA S2(2)(a) for failing to provide a system of work that was, SFAIRP, safe and without risks to health
- HSWA S2(2)(c) for failing to provide such information as was necessary to ensure, SFAIRP, the H&S at work of their employees
- HSWA S3(1)for failing to conduct their undertaking in such a way as to ensure, SFAIRP, that persons not in their employment were not exposed to risks to their H&S
13
Q
What is required for a successful claim for negligence?
Civil Law
A
- Duty of care owed
- Duty of care breached
- Breach caused harm
- Harm sustained was foreseeable
14
Q
Meaning of Neighbour
A
Anyone effected by our acts or emissions
15
Q
Meaning of Tort (Delict) Sco
A
A Civil Wrong
16
Q
The Neighbour Principal
The General Duty of Care at Common Law
Donoghue v. Stevenson (1932)
A
Reasonable care must be taken to avoid acts or omissions which, with reasonable foresight, you would know would be likely to injure your neighbour.
The test whether someone is a neighbour in the legal sense, can be established if it can be reasonably foreseen that the act or omission may cause harm to them.
17
Q
3 stage test to decide if a duty of care is owed?
A
Proximity – there should be sufficient proximity between the claimant and the defendant
Reasonableness – is it fair, just and reasonable to impose a duty?
Reasonable foreseeability – the harm suffered by the claimant must be reasonably foreseeable
18
Q
Purpose of Civil Law and Civil Courts
A
To compensate for loss
19
Q
What must be proven to establish a successful claim for a breach of statutory duty (civil action
A
- The statute must specifically confer a civil right of action for breach of a duty imposed by the statute
- The statutory duty was owed to that claimant
- The injury was a type contemplated by the statute
- The defendant must be in breach of that duty
- The breach of statutory duty must have caused the injury
20
Q
Main defences to claims of breach of statutory duty (civil action)
A
- Statute-barred – section 47 HSWA requires there should be no civil right of action for breach of statutory duty, other than where such a right is specifically provided for
- No breach of duty – risk not foreseeable
- Duty was not owed
- Harm not covered by statute
- Breach did not cause loss
- Contributory negligence
21
Q
Contributory Negligence
Davies v. Swan Motor Co (1949)
A
- Davies had been standing on steps at the side of a dust lorry, stood in a dangerous place. The lorry was travelling along a narrow road when a bus tried to pass the lorry. Davies was killed.
- Court decision was that Davies himself was one-fifth responsible for the damage because of his negligence being stood in a dangerous place.
- His damaged were reduced under the law reform (contributory negligence) act 1945
- Lack of reasonable care for your own safety HSWA section 7
22
Q
Main types of damages injured parties may claim
A
- General damages – Pain and suffering, injury, loss of enjoyment of life. Not easily quantifiable, and depends on individual who suffers the loss. Compensation awarded is based on similar past events.
- Special damages – travel expenses to hospital, medical costs, loss of earnings etc. They are easily quantifiable.
23
Q
Meaning of Damages
A
- The amount of money (compensation) awarded by a court to a successful claimant, in health and safety cases, for personal injury sustained by the claimant.
- Via Civil courts
24
Q
Regulation 7 of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 requires that employers appoint one or more competent persons to assist in complying with health and safety law.
Outline the legal requirements that the employer must satisfy when making such an appointment.
Covers the practitioner’s role
A
Key legal requirements of MHSW reg 7:
• H&S Assistant to be competent
• Appointment of one or more persons as necessary; arrangements for co-operation if 2 or more
• Numbers of H&S Assistants and time available to be sufficient for organisation’s size, risk and risk distribution.
• Information on health and safety issues to be provided to external appointees.
• Preference for internal appointment(s)
• Information on temporary workers; exemptions for partnerships where one partner is sufficiently competent
25
PDCA in Practice
• Plan – Conduct a status review of where we are at now and where we need to be
o What do we want to achieve
o Who’s responsible
o How to achieve the aims
o How to measure success
o Ways to measure performance
• Do – Identify current risk profile
o Assess the risks
o What can cause the most harm and how?
o Decide what to do to manage the risk
o Decide on the priorities and get to work on the biggest risks
o Organise activities to deliver the plan
o Involve workers & communicate (rota)
o Provide adequate resources, including more competent advice if required
• Check – Measure performance
o Assess how well risks are being controlled
o Investigate accident causes / near miss etc.
• Act – Review performance
o Learn from incidents – take action
o Review and revisit RAMS / SSOW
o Take action on inspections /
26
Potential sources of financial loss arising from accidents and incidents
* Direct costs – sick pay, repairs to damages plant and equipment, fines, and legal fees.
* Indirect Costs – lost orders, business interruption, loss of productivity
27
Explain why multi causality theories are used in accident investigation
• Would be used when there may be more than once cause to an accident, such as a major disaster and would help to consider organisational, cultural, managerial etc. causes that have contributed to the accident occurrence.
28
Proposed change in legislation / regulation and the use of socio-technical cost benefit analysis
• When proposal is put forward, it’s important to consider impact of the changes and give thought to the below:
o Description of industries effected
o Evaluation of the risks addressed
o Assessment of the benefits of the standard
o Determination of the technological feasibility
o Cost of compliance
o Economic feasibility
o Economic and other impacts associated with the changes
29
Limitations of causality theories in accident investigation
* More complex than single causality investigations
| * They take longer to carry out _Recources
30
Explain why accident data should be recorded by an organisation
* Implied requirement by MHSWR, RIDDOR 2013 and social security regs. Legal Requirement
* To provide statistics for measuring achievement of objectives, performance and an input for review.
* To allow benchmarking against previous stats or external statistics.
* To identify accident trends by area or a particular employee
* Used to classify accidents by industry and information for identifying hazards for risk assessments
* Identification of any trends
* Evidence required by insurance companies regarding claims
* Social security regulations (claims and payments) reg 24/25
31
Incidence
Reflects the number of cases of a particular event in a population over a given time (e.g. year) and is often used to describe accidents as each accident is a ‘new’ event.
32
Prevalence
The total number of cases in particular population as a proportion of the total population. It is often used to represent ill-health statistics and reflects only new cases but also those who continue to suffer.
33
Accident Frequency Rate (AFR)
Number of work related injuries / total number of worker hours x 100,000
34
Accident Incidence Rate ( AIR)
Number of work related injuries / average number of persons employed x 1,000
It is a measure of the number of injuries per 1,000 employees measured over a defined period (e.g. year
35
Accident Severity Rate (ASR)
Total number of days lost / total number of hours worked x 1,000
It is a measure of the average number of days lost per 1,000 hours worked and gives a average number of days lost per accident.
36
Ill Health Prevalence Rate
Total number of ill health in the population / number of persons at risk x 100
The calculation gives the percentage of the population with the disease
37
Meaning of Accident incidence Rate
An accident incidence rate is the number of accidents multiplied by an agreed multiplier divided by the average number of persons employed
38
Meaning of Accident Frequency Rate
The accident frequency rate, the number of accidents multiplied by an agreed multiplier divided by the total number of person hours worked.
39
Meaning of Accident Severity Rate
The accident severity rate, is the number of days lost multiplied by an agreed multiplier divided by the number of person hours worked.
40
Possible reasons for line graph being highly variable with many sharp peaks and troughs from month to month.
And how could it be presented in a more useful way?
* In some months no accidents would have occurred thus giving a zero rating, while other months would have produced one or two accidents showing a much higher rate.
* The graph would have been more useful either by using a moving average or by showing a trend line.
41
Explain why accident frequency rate and accident severity rate indicators may not fall by the same proportion.
Less severity injuries can on average cause fewer days lost per accident than the higher severity accidents that that a business could experience.
The small number of other very high severity accidents can cause employees to take significant amounts of time off work and have a disproportionate effect on the severity rate.
42
Advantages of changing from HSG65 to ISO45001
* ISO45001 would facilitate easier integration with ISO 14001 and ISO 9001:2008 to produce an integrated management system
* Publicity value
* Improved employee and customer perception
* Greater international recognition
* Provides a clearer standard for benchmarking and that such a move is liable to show a commitment to continual improvement.
* ISO-45001 is easier to assess, and audit.
43
Disadvantages of changing from HSG65 to ISO45001
* HSG65, unlike 45001, is the system recognised and used by the enforcement authorities in the UK and they are likely to consider an organisation’s compliance with legal requirements against this standard, since much of the published guidance in the UK refers directly to HSG65 and not 45001.
* Direct costs of changing a system
* change will be time- consuming
* cost of external registration
* increased paper work to satisfy assessors
* Change might be perceived as unnecessary
* ISO45001 model may be too sophisticated for small to medium sized enterprises.
44
Meaning of safety culture
Safety culture is a product of shared attitudes, beliefs and ways of behaving as well as perceptions and motivation regarding health and safety standards and performance.
45
Organisational characteristics of a positive safety culture
* Informing and consulting the workforce & communication
* Recognition of the fact that everyone has a role to play
* Commitment by top management to involving the workforce
* Co-operation between employees
* Open two-way communications
* High quality training and support
* Competent workers
* Adequate resources
* No blame culture
* Senior management commitment
46
Possible indicators of a positive health and safety culture
* Positive results from staff attitude surveys
* Consultation on H&S matters
* Communication on health and safety matters – no. of meetings etc.
* Involvement of staff / managers in H&S issues
* Compliance with procedures – inspections etc
* High status of the H&S advisor – quals
* Management decision making influenced by H&S issues
* Effective safety committee – output, actions, status
* Condition of the workplace
* Importance assigned to training in health and safety
* Good level of resource allocated to H&S
* Quality policy, SSoW, procedures etc.
* Procedures followed, quality inspections etc.
* No blame culture
47
Approved Code Practises
| ACOP’s
Quasi-legal” status
• Less authoritative than law
• More authoritative than guidance.
• Presents an approved means of complying with relevant statutory provisions. Goal setting Law
• Evidence of a failure to follow the provisions of an ACoP is admissible in Court as indicating a breach of the relevant statutory provisions.
• Failure to follow the provisions of an ACoP is not in itself grounds for a prosecution as long as the duty holder can demonstrate compliance by “other equally effective means”.
• Supporting evidence Only for a civil action case
48
Statutory procedure for making regulations under the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974
* S15 HSWA gives power to Secretary of State to make regulations under the Act
* Regulations must involve regulating or prohibiting H&S matters identified in Schedule 3 HSWA
* Procedure for making regulations requires the SoS to consult HSE and other government departments - Health, Industry - and other interested parties (S50 HSWA) - LAs, TUC, CBI etc (consultative documents may be issued)
* Alternatively, regulations may be proposed to SoS by HSE
* Proposed regulations must lie in House of Commons and House of Lords for 40 days, if no objections / voted against they pass into law, if opposed / vote against – they do not pass into law (S82 negative resolution).
49
Purpose and principles of cost-benefit analysis as it applies to proposed regulations
Purpose:
• Provides a methodology for assessing the overall “value” to society of the proposed regulations by comparing the costs of implementing the regulations with the value of the benefits the regulations may produce in terms of reduced accidents / ill-health.
Principals:
• Costs and benefits are converted to monetary values
• Costs to HSE of administering and enforcing the regulations
• Costs to duty holders of complying with the regulations
• Benefits to business and society as a whole i.e. NHS savings / sickness benefit / tax savings etc) and reduced injury / ill-health.
• The conventions of CBA require monetary values to be applied to “pain, suffering, loss of a limb and death” - established protocols are applied. Values are adjusted (discounted) to reflect the timescales over which costs may be incurred and benefits accrued - e.g. the benefits of regulations controlling asbestos impose costs now for benefits which may accrue in 30 years’ time. The total costs and benefits are compared to determine whether the proposed regulations provide “value for money”
50
Essential elements of a legally enforceable contract
* Must be an agreement between two parties
* Consideration - Something of value must be given in exchange for a promise
* Legal relations – There must be intention to create legal relations i.e. that there will be legal consequences
* No illegal circumstances – There must be no circumstances surrounding the contract which make it unenforceable, void or illegal.
* Legal Capacity – The parties must have legal capacity to contract e.g. persons must be over 18yrs old, sound mind, not drunk etc.
51
Give reasons why an employee may not have perceived something correctly.
* Employees perception may have been distorted by fatigue / drugs / alcohol or medication
* Colour definition may have been impaired by sunlight / defective vision
* Equipment fault may have indicated wrong colour
* Distraction may have led to incorrect interpretation of signal
* Signal obscured / visible for too short a time
* Expectation that signal would be “clear” led to false assumption
* Unusual configuration of signal may have led driver to misinterpret signal
52
Outline actions that could be taken in order to help reduce the likelihood of something being incorrectly perceived in the workplace
* Careful recruitment / selection procedures - competence / aptitude / fitness / health / vision
* Equipment re-design
* Equipment re-position
* Standardise format
* Task design to minimise distractions - ergonomic considerations
* Worker involvement / consultation on design / visibility / operational issues
* Equipment maintenance
* Training – familiarity
* Provide employee with information - signalling / spads etc
* Consultation / supervision
* Refresher training
* Breaks / shift rotation; drug / alcohol testing regime
* Re-design workstation
* Set up / encourage near-miss / SPAD reporting and disseminate information
* Provide PPE sunglasses / warning system
53
Routine violation
Where not following a laid-down procedure has become the norm
Examples:
• e.g. not using a PTW for confined space entry, paperwork has fallen into disuse -no-one ever checks
• Not wearing PPE - no-one else does
• Herald Of Free Enterprise - setting sail with bow doors open was “standard practice”
54
Situational violation
When a procedure cannot be followed if work is to continue (conflict between operational and H&S demands)
Examples:
• where the equipment necessary to comply with the procedure has NOT been provided
• Must wear fall-arrest harness when working at height -no harness available
• Insufficient time available to complete safety checks / PTW procedures if deadline is to be met)
• No supervisor available to issue PTW but work goes ahead
• Clapham Junction rail accident - formal supervisory checks on electrical wiring could not be made due to tight deadlines).
55
How can situational violations can be minimised
P.E.M.E.R
* Allowing more time/ reducing time pressures
* Providing more staff to carry out the task
* Ensuring that spare equipment is available so that people don’t have to improvise
* Providing good, appropriate clothing for working in all conditions e.g. outside cold
56
Exceptional violation
Occurs when something has gone wrong and procedures are not followed in an attempt to correct the situation
Example:
* Chernobyl - test of reactor systems leads to emergency -established plant operating procedures are not followed in an attempt to retrieve the situation
* Re-entering burning building to rescue someone
57
Meaning and relevance of ergonomics in the context of controlling human error in the workplace
Ergonomics is the study of how human beings interact with their environment
* In H&S terms ergonomics is concerned with the design and layout of workstations / work environments so that they “fit” the user. In the context of human error in the workplace ergonomics is concerned with the design of equipment, tasks and work environments that take account of human physiological and psychological attributes and limitations so as to reduce the likelihood of human error.
* Ergonomic issues that would impact on human error include: comfort - reducing fatigue and distractions - maintaining alertness; adjustability of seating, work equipment etc to suit individual - see comfort; environmental conditions - lighting, temperature, humidity, noise levels; layout of workstations - visibility, reach distances; design of control panels and instrumentation - clear, unambiguous, logical “intuitive
58
Meaning and relevance of Anthropometry in the context of controlling human error in the workplace
Anthropometry is the study of human physical dimensions - height, arm length, reach distances, hand span etc (biometrics)
This data provides the basis for ergonomic design, taking account of the range of human physical dimensions - male / female / racial differences etc. In the context of human error, applying anthropometric data in designing equipment / workstations etc. will help avoid fatigue, distractions, confusion when operating work-based equipment, control panels etc. For example, anthropometric data is used to design equipment / work stations etc that can typically accommodate the 5th percentile female to the 95th percentile male; also applied to machinery guarding.
59
Meaning and relevance of task analysis in the context of controlling human error in the workplace
The process SREDIM or step back 5 x5
* Task analysis is the process whereby a work activity is observed and the various tasks involved broken down into sub-routines so that hazardous activities or safety-critical “nodes” can be identified
* It’s a systematic approach which breaks the job down into tasks and sub-tasks - sometimes referred to as “Hierarchical Task Analysis”.
* Task analysis can help reduce human error by identifying key high risk safety-critical elements of the task which can then be modified or safeguards introduced to eliminate or lower the likelihood of error
60
Excluding ergonomic issues, outline ways in which human reliability in the workplace may be improved. In your answer, consider 'individual', 'job' and `organisational' issues.
As set out in HSE’s publication “Reducing Error, Influencing Behaviour” HSG 48, human reliability may be improved by addressing the following:
Individual issues:
• Selection -“ fitness”, special needs, skills, aptitude, training, qualifications, awareness, experience; attitudes, motivation, perception (= competence); health surveillance; counselling service; monitoring performance; assessing job satisfaction
Job issues:
• Design, suited to the individual - level of interest and “challenge” appropriate; avoidance of distractions; variation in tasks; job design to take account of realistic demands in terms of work rate, hours, deadlines, breaks, repetition, variation; boredom, variation!
Organisational issues:
• Development of a positive H&S culture - as represented by management commitment / leadership, management setting an example; effective communication, consultation arrangements, staff involvement, effective supervision; appropriate demands - hours, work rate, deadlines, breaks, incentives; suitable information and training; resources allocated
61
A control panel aimed at reducing the likelihood of human error is installed. Outline the desirable design features of controls for this control panel.
FLOPSOM
Desirable design features of controls include:
* Minimising the number of controls needed so as to avoid operator confusion.
* Place controls in positions where they are easily operated
* Ensure that controls are ordered logically – in such a way that the operation of controls follow the logical order of the process being controlled
* Design controls so that they require positive action in order to be operated and cannot operated accidently or knocked, for example a hand brake of a car cannot be released simply by pushing down on the lever
* Ensure that feedback is available to the operator to indicate successful operation of control.
* Obey any stereotyping / conventions that might already exist for that type of control. For example, switch up for off, down for on; knobs turn clockwise for increase, etc.
62
A control panel aimed at reducing the likelihood of human error is installed. Outline the desirable design features of controls for this control panel
* It may be possible and desirable to position controls next to corresponding displays. For example – if a knob alters temperature it might be desirable to site the knob next to the temperature readout.
* Emergency control should be prominent and distinctive so that they are easy to see and activate. They might be positioned near to the operator’s position so that they are within easy reach in the event of emergency.
* Controls that have to be operated frequently might be closely positioned to the operator for ease for access, whilst those that are used infrequently might be positioned further away.
* Controls might be laid out in an arc around the operator so that they can all be activated without need to over reach.
* Controls that require force to operate should be power or servo assisted.
* The type of control should be appropriate to the degree of control required, for example a lever may be more appropriate than a knob.
* A system restart should again only occur after operating a control after a deliberate or non-intentional stop. A stop function should be easy to activate and override start and adjust control.
* Labelling, shape or colour can be put to effective use to ensure controls are easily identified
63
A control panel aimed at reducing the likelihood of human error is installed. Outline the desirable design features of displays for this control panel
Design Features of displays includes:
* Display must be visible to the operator from their normal operating position. They must also be large enough to be easily visible.
* Display should be placed so as to avoid glare
* They must be appropriately labelled, so that the parameter they are displaying is clear to the operator, this might require the use of pictograms (which might also help overcome language barriers).
* The positioning of safety critical displays must be carefully selected so that they are in the operator’s normal line of sight and in a commanding position
* Again, any conventions / stereotyping that exist should be recognised and used, for example, colours on dials relating to danger and safe conditions would normally use green for safe, red for danger
* Read out dials should all increase the same way, normally clockwise.
* Careful selection of analogue vs digital displays should be made. There are times when a digital readout is perfectly acceptable and desirable. There are other times when analogue is preferred since the position of the needle on an analogue dial can be determined by a quick glance that does not require the accurate reading of numbers.
* Displays should also clearly indicate the change, match expectation and attract the appropriate sense such as flashing to draw visual attention
64
Factors that can effect a train drivers alertness (10)
* Working hours, shift work (early morning starts / late night / overnight ), and shift patterns (4 days on / 4 days off; alternating days / nights etc)
* Breaks and rest periods - meals / refreshments; also non-work activities - lack of sleep
* Use of alcohol / drugs
* Stress and domestic issues - leading to fatigue and loss of concentration
* Fitness and physical health of the driver - medical conditions / use of medication can lead to loss of attention / tiredness / inability to concentrate
* Boredom / lack of interaction / lone working / routine activities
* Environmental conditions - lighting, noise, temperature, seating, ergonomic design of workstation (or lack of it) can distract
* Presence of distractions in cab - listening to the radio, reading the newspaper, playing Sudoko, using a mobile phone
* Excessive demands - dealing with signals, data handling, communicating with control centre etc can distract the driver from other activities e.g. watching the track! Being alert in one area can reduce alertness to others.
65
Practical measures to reduce lack of alertness in drivers include(10)
* Pre-employment and regular medical - health / fitness assessment / check-ups
* Ensure suitable shift patterns / breaks / recovery time etc
* Alcohol / drug screening programme
* Search and inspection - no cab distractions
* Ergonomic design of cab: control panel - clear / unobstructed; seating - adjustable etc; suitable environmental conditions (air conditioning); sun visors
* Variation of routes
* Regular interaction / communication with guard
* Hold-to-run / “dead man’s handle” operation
* Audible / visual warnings / prompts requiring cancellation
66
Meaning of the term ‘motivation’
Motivation is a driving force or incentive which encourages people to behave in a certain way and to do something willingly.
67
Outline Maslow’s model of the hierarchy of human needs AND give a suitable example within EACH stage of the model
Maslow’s hierarchy is a list of needs, normally presented as a triangle, whereby a person addresses the needs from the bottom such that people in a poor society will be mostly concerned with physiological and safety needs.
Starting from the bottom:
* Physiological – air, food, water, shelter, sleep, clothes, reproduction
* Safety – personal security, employment, resources, health, property
* Love & belonging – friendship, intimacy, family, sense of connection
* Esteem – respect, self-esteem, status, recognition, strength, freedom
* Self-actualisation – desire to develop his or her full potential
68
Outline content of typical behavioural change programmes
* Management leadership and commitment
* Appoint project team to lead and oversee the project
* Identify the specific observable behaviour that needs changing, e.g. wearing of hearing protectors in a high noise environment.
* Measure the level of the desired behaviour by observation.
* Identify the cues (or triggers) that cause the behaviour and the consequences (or pay offs) (good and bad) that may result from the behaviour.
* Development of suitable checklist or recording system
* Train a group of workers to observe and record the safety critical behaviour.
* Role programme out to general workforce
* Praise/reward safe behaviour and challenge unsafe behaviour.
* Set goals for desired changes and review progress
* Feedback safe/unsafe behaviour levels regularly to workforce.
69
Meaning of the term violation
A deliberate deviation from a rule, procedure, instruction or regulation.
70
Reasons why a poor safety culture might lead to higher levels of violation by employees
Poor H&S culture characterised by absence of shared perception / understanding / attitudes regarding H&S matters - may result in increased violations arising from:
* A lack of training / competence - results in misperception of hazard therefore precautions not adopted
* Lack of resources allocated / lack of commitment from management - results in careless attitudes to procedures and controls - belief that rules are bureaucratic and unimportant
* Inadequate communication - results in lack of awareness of hazards / precautions and controls required
* Lack of co-operation / conflict - results in mistrust and peer pressure to ignore procedures / rules
* Lack of monitoring / supervision - acts as an indication that the rules are not important and / or violation not likely to be detected
71
Explain Knowledge, Rule and Skill Based Behaviours
Rasmussen’s behaviour / error classification - as explained in HSE’s “Reducing error and influencing behaviour”(HSG 48) - identifies the following categories of human error:
* Skill-based - involves a “low level”, pre-programmed sequence of actions where employees carry out routine operations with minimal cognitive / conscious involvement (“on auto-pilot”). Slips and lapses
* Rule-based - involves actions based on recognising patterns or situations and then selecting and applying the appropriate rule set - involves a higher level of cognitive involvement.
* Knowledge-based errors - occur at a “higher” cognitive level - involving problem-solving and decision-making - arise where there are no set rules so response/ decision is based on knowledge / understanding of the system.
72
How can skill based errors occur and how can you prevent them
Skill-based errors may arise if a similar routine is incorrectly selected, if there is distraction, interruption or inattention causing a stage in the operation to be omitted or repeated, or if checks are not carried out to verify that the correct routine has been selected.
Prevention
• Design of routines and controls to be distinct from each other
• Use of feedback signals to warn of taking wrong course of action
• Training and competence assessment
• Supervision and monitoring to minimise the erosion of the required steps
• Breaks/job rotation/ reduced work rate etc.
• Examples; spads (Paddington), mis-keying (Selby)
73
Reasons why the accidents should be investigated. (4)
* Compliance with legal requirements (e.g. to identify breach of law, effectiveness of management system)
* To obtain information for insurers, claim for damage to plant, possible civil claim, criminal defence
* Identify causes (immediate and underlying)
* Prevent recurrence (remedial action plans)
* Demonstrate management commitment, restore employee morale
* Data for accident costing
* Identification of trends
* Identify need to review RA/SSW, failure in SMS.
74
Factors that should be considered when developing and implementing a near miss reporting system (8)
* Definition of a ‘near miss’
* Consultation with employees
* Information, training for employees
* No blame culture
* Make system easy to report (e.g. Verbal, simple written, form system, anonymous reporting)
* Clear reporting lines
* Line management investigations
* Identification, implementation of remedial action
* Report back process to individual or group
* Concerned, quick positive feedback
* Collate reports on incidents, analyse data, remedial actions taken, monitor system, person to implement
* Monitoring of remedial action
* Cost, resource implication.
75
Outline why a negative health and safety culture may result, if organisational change is not managed
* If regular news on progress of the change is not communicated, workers may lose interest and trust in management
* Mistrust can develop if staff can regularly see no action being taken as change happens
* Change may be too fast or too slow
* Profile of safety may not have maintained as job responsibilities change along with personnel
* Concern about job security could encourage risk taking from employees
* Normal consultation routes and mechanisms may be disturbed – no safety meetings
* Normal resistance to change – employees rebel against new processes
* Experience and knowledge of risk controls change or lost with personnel changes
* Training in safety issues for new job holders with new responsibilities may be missed causing employees to view management as being poor which may contribute to poor culture
76
Outline the behavioural attributes transformational leadership
Transformational leadership is based on the assumption that people will follow a person who inspires them. It involves generating enthusiasm and energy and continually selling themselves and the vision. The leader must be people-orientated and have a clear idea of the way forward. It involves the involvement of individuals who become motivated to achieve.
77
Outline the behavioural attributes transactional leadership
Transactional leadership is based on the assumption that people are motivated by reward and punishment. It involves a clear chain of command. Responsibility is delegated down the chain. Success results in praise and reward and substandard performance needs corrective action.
78
Explain why leadership styles need to vary in practice
In practice leadership styles need to vary due to the fact that different tasks require different styles and also people behave differently to different styles – sometimes dependent on individuals’ ability, maturity or what they are used to previously
Hershey and Blanchard – situational and contextual leadership
79
Factors that should be considered when assessing the organisation’s current health and safety culture
Factors that should be considered include:
• Standard of Housekeeping
• Presence/absence of warning signs / posters in the premises
• Range and Quality of risk assessments / MS
• Usability of procedures, SOP’s Instructions, TBT’s
• Good or bad staff relationships – Ops & Managers
• Accident/ ill-health statistics – Near Miss / Incidents etc.
• Absenteeism – Sick days
• Employees attitudes -
• Incidents/frequency of litigation – HSE Enforcement
80
Methods the organisation can use to gather information when assessing current health and safety culture
* Walking around making observations
* A questionnaire can be used which asks workers the extent that they agree or disagree with a range of statements.
* Looking at documents/ records – risk assessments, inspection/audit reports, various records such as cases of ill-health/absentee rates, staff turnover.
* Interviewing employees
81
Factors influencing the success of a cultural change programme
Factors influencing success include:
• The level of senior management commitment( Engagement)
• The level of resources (money, people, time) allocated to support the change
• The use of various types of communication with workers to secure their involvement
• The level of trust and confidence in management by the workforce
• Level of staff turnover - high level may make cultural improvement difficult to embed
• History of previous industrial relations
• The existence of a blame culture
• Workforce cultural issues such as race and language
82
Internal influences on health and safety in an organisation
Finance – Financial position will effect its approach to the health and safety budget
Production Targets – Production goals can lead to stress and intense pressure on operatives, resulting in more accidents and incidents and less emphasis on health and safety
Trade Unions – Trade union reps are active and involved in the safety committee and as such, are active in improving health and safety in the workplace
Organisation Goals and Culture - Goals and Culture strongly influence how workers behave and what is expected of them in terms of safety and health
83
External influences on health and safety in an organisation
Legislation – Pending changes and their effect on health and safety standards in the workplace
Parliament / HSE – Laws passed have a direct impact on organisations and procedures and policies may need to be changed to accommodate legislative changes where necessary
Enforcement Agencies – Can influence by providing advice, notices or prosecution
Tribunal / Courts – Direct impact through decisions, such as revoking an enforcement notice or dismissing an appeal against one
Contractors / Clients / Contracts – Nature of contracts and relationships with clients can have a large impact on safety on a particular contract
Trade Unions – Nationally active in promoting good health and safety standards by various means
Insurance Companies – Requirement for public liability insurance, policies towards claims (hence claims settled out of court)
Public Opinion – Powerful influence on legislators
84
ACoP’s
| Goal setting legislation
An ACoP is said to have a “quasi-legal” status - it is less authoritative than law but more authoritative than guidance. An ACoP presents an approved means of complying with relevant statutory provisions and evidence of a failure to follow the provisions of an ACoP is admissible in Court as indicating a breach of the relevant statutory provisions. However, failure to follow the provisions of an ACoP is not in itself grounds for a prosecution as long as the duty holder can demonstrate compliance by “other equally effective means”.
Section 16 HASAWA created industry experts and approved by HSE and consent from the SOS
85
Occupiers Liability Act 1984
• OLA 84 imposes duties on occupiers / controllers of premises or land
• The duty includes unlawful visitors / trespassers
• The duty relates to the state / condition of the premises
• The dutyholder is required to take such care as is reasonable in the circumstances
• Warnings (signs) may discharge the duty in certain circumstances (must be clear on hazard and state how to avoid danger)
• No liability exists where the risk is clear and accepted
Key provisions include:
• Occupier to be aware of danger or has reasonable grounds to believe it exists
• Occupier knows or has reasonable grounds to believe that person(s) are in the vicinity of the danger or may come into the vicinity
• The risk is one against which, in all the circumstances, the occupier would be reasonably expected to provide protection
86
Guidance Notes
Guidance simply sets out good practice and presents one way (among others) of complying with legal duties. Guidance has no legal authority and cannot be presented in the Courts as evidence of non-compliance.
Refer HSG series and General INDG series and CS for chemical series, EH environmental series, MS series, Plant Machinery series
87
Meaning of Negligence
Negligence implies the failure to do something that would be reasonable and expected in the circumstances (an omission) or careless behaviour (an act) – it is a lack of duty of care.
88
Three criteria from Caparo plc v Dickman that help to establish whether a duty of care is owed
Courts set out a "three-fold test". In order for a duty of care to arise in negligence:
* Harm must be reasonably foreseeable as a result of the defendant's conduct (as established in Donoghue v Stevenson)
* The parties must be in a relationship of proximity and
* It must be fair, just and reasonable to impose liability
89
With reference to case law outline the following defences to a claim of negligence:
(i) no breach of duty (2)
(ii) breach did not lead to damage (2)
(iii) contributory negligence
(i) No breach of duty – all reasonable steps taken to avoid all foreseeable acts or omissions that could lead to Injury
Latimer v AEC (1953)
(ii) Breach did not lead to damage – No direct connection between breach and damage occurred -
Corn v Weir Glass (1960)
(iii)
Contributory negligence – partial defence, defendant partly at fault -
Jones v Livox Quarries (1952)
90
Some actions which should be taken in order to collect evidence for an investigation of the accident
* Photograph
* Sketch, measure relevant parts of accident scene
* CCTV
* Examine condition of equipment (brakes, steering, tyres, horn etc)
* Inspect maintenance records
* Defect reports
* Daily check sheets used
* Emergency procedures
* Reason procedures not used / known on this occasion
* Inspect/examine loads carried (SWL), forward visibility etc
* Examine working practices, time pressures, overtime records
* Examine operating procedures, written instructions, visitors procedures, risk assessments
* Competence of operator training records
* Accident, near miss records
* Interview relevant persons (visitor, operator, witnesses reception personnel)
* Examination of workplace/environment, nature of spillage, floor condition, lighting etc; health, drugs and alcohol issues.
91
Range of consequences that may affect the company
| as a result an incident.
* Criminal / Civil Actions
* Lost Licenses, less trust from regulators
* Direct and Indirect costs
* Higher insurances premiums
* Clean up costs
* Replacement staff / training / sick pay etc.
* Loss of morale
* Shareholder / investors issues
92
Purpose of the Turnbull/Financial Reporting Council guidelines on ‘internal control’
Purpose of Turnbull guidelines:
• Designed to ensure effective risk management processes are in place.
• Guidelines advocate clear policy and commitment
• Risk evaluation through a process of risk assessment
• Management processes that control risk to an acceptable level
• Monitoring arrangements
• Clear communication and reporting arrangements
• A process of internal audit
• An annual board level review of risk controls and a statement to shareholders on outcomes.
As such Turnbull aims to:
• safeguard shareholder investment
• minimise losses and increase profitability
• assist in compliance with legal obligations
93
“Domino” theory of accident causation
Heinrich’s five step model, which was then developed by Bird and Loftus where additionally management deficiencies are addressed.
Accidents thought of as a series of events (like 5 dominos standing up) and by removing one of the dominos it stops the chain of events. Later developed by bird and loftus who took the causation chain back to management deficiencies
* Assists in the structuring of accident investigations and can help in identifying underlying causes
* Tends to be too simplistic by dealing with a single chain of events, which may restrict the search for multiple accident causes.
* Additionally it is reactive rather than proactive and is therefore not useful in predicting the likelihood of accidents.
* The Heinrich version in particular, encourages a focus on immediate rather than underlying causes.
94
“Multi Causality” theory of accident causation
Key features of the theory of “multi-causality” include the recognition that accidents have multiple causes and that these causes combine and react with each other in a complex and random fashion. Additionally each contributory cause may have multiple causes of its own.
The value of the model in accident investigation and prevention is:
• It encourages and emphasises the need for more in depth investigation to search for multiple underlying failures and enables the likelihood of accidents to be predicted.
• Encourages the use of more systematic accident analysis techniques such as fault tree and event tree analysis.
However, it tends to be a complex process, is more difficult to understand, requires more time and resources to identify the full causation picture and there are practical difficulties in reaching a decision on the extent of an investigation.
95
Desirable features of a display system
* Display visible from normal operating position
* Large enough to be easily visible
* Labelled properly so that the parameter they are displaying is clear (pictograms)
* Set out logically, so gauges on relevant sides of whatever they operate etc.
* Positioning of safety critical displays carefully selected to always be in sight and in commanding positions
* Stereotypes colours used i.e. red for danger, green for good
* Duplication of displays avoided where possible to avoid confusion
* Audible / flashing warnings where necessary
* Consistency of design
* Display avoids glare
96
Meaning of “Safety Culture”
Shared attitudes, perceptions, beliefs, behaviour patterns and values that members of an organisation have in the area of safety
97
Organisational issues that can act as a barrier to improve safety culture
* Lack of management commitment resulting in a lack of trust and confidence in the management team by the employees
* A failure to allocate adequate resources to support improvement
* The absence of effective means of communication with employees to secure their involvement and ownership of safety issues
* High staff turnover making cultural improvement difficult to embed
* A history of poor employment relations
* The existence of a blame culture and the lack of positive decision making by management on the level of priority accorded to safety leading to uncertainty among
* the workforce
* The existence of a dominant pre-existing negative culture and the effects of unsupportive peer pressure and workforce cultural issues such as language barriers
98
Statutory procedures for making regulations under
| the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974
* Section 15
* Power to make Regulations is given to the Secretary of State with the provision that the subject matter of the Regulations should fall within those matters contained in Schedule 3 to the Act.
* The procedure involves consultation by the Secretary of State with HSE (though HSE may make a proposal to the Secretary) and with relevant Government and other bodies.
* The proposals must lie before both Houses of Parliament for 40 days and are passed if they are not voted against in either House.
* If there is a vote against them, they are annulled.
99
Purpose and principles of cost-benefit analysis as it
| applies to proposed regulations
* Purpose of cost-benefit analysis is to identify the overall value to society of proposed Regulations by comparing the benefits which would arise with the costs of implementing the Regulations.
* In carrying out the exercise, the costs and benefits are both converted to a monetary value following established protocols for the costing of benefits in terms of the prevention of death, damage injury and ill-health.
* Costs are adjusted to allow for the different timescales over which costs and benefits may occur or accrue and implementation costs are estimated.
* Finally the calculated monetary values of costs and benefits are compared
100
Monthly H&S Report Information
Reactive Information:
• Reactive information would deal with matters such as the number of lost time accidents and near miss incidents with detail provided only on those that were serious or potentially so
• The current frequency or incident rates
• The observed trends and patterns
• The level of ill-health and sickness absence
• other relevant reactive information such as enforcement or civil actions taken and complaints received either from the workforce or from clients and the community
Proactive Information:
• Audits, inspections and behavioural observations
• Information on any relevant performance measures such as the number of risk assessments completed or reviewed
• Progress made in reaching site or departmental safety targets
• Summary of the results of health surveillance and/or atmospheric sampling exercises and benchmarking data to enable a comparison to be made with the performance of other similar organisations
Jacks flash cards
flashcards
Decks in class (18)
# Cards
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Unit A101
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Unit A 2nd 100100
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Unit A 3rd 100110
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Civil Action Case Law16
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Criminal Action Case Law12
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Employment Right Act 1996 case law4
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HASAWA 1974 Key Requirements13
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MHSWR's 199922
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Unit A questions Ollie14
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Unit A 3 Questions Ollie13
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Unit A2 Questions Ollie7
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Unit A4 Questions Ollie11
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Unit A5 Questions Ollie10
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Unit A6 Questions Ollie20
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Unit A7 Questions Ollie21
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Unit A8 Questions Ollie9
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Unit A9 Questions Ollie22
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Unit A10 Questions Ollie19
