The ACOP to the MHSWR refers to both proactive and reactive monitoring as essential elements of the management system for preventing accidents.
Active monitoring
Proactive or pre-accident strategies are concerned with the prevention of accidents, incidents and ill health. They include the implementation of well-established ‘safe place’ and ‘safe person’ strategies dealt with later in this chapter.
Reactive monitoring
Reactive monitoring, on the other hand, involves a number of post-accident strategies, directed at identifying the causes of accidents and ill health and obtaining feedback for incorporation in future proactive strategies. The reporting, recording, and investigation of accidents is a common reactive strategy.
Accident definitions
It would be appropriate, at this stage, to define what is meant by an accident: An unplanned and uncontrolled event which has led to or could have caused injury to persons, damage to plant or other loss (Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents).
An undesired event that results in physical harm to a person or damage to property. It is usually the result of a contact with a source of energy (ie kinetic, electrical, chemical, thermal, ionizing radiation, non-ionizing radiation, etc) above the threshold limit of the body or structure (Frank Bird, Executive Director, American Institute of Loss Control).
An unexpected, unplanned event in a sequence of events that occurs through a combination of causes. It results in physical harm (injury or disease) to an individual, damage to property, business interruption or any combination of these.
Fundamentally, all accidents are unforeseeable (in the case of the accident victim), unplanned, unintended and unexpected. In the majority of cases, there is a sequence of events which leads to the accidents and there may be a number of direct and indirect causes.
‘Safe place’ strategies
These strategies are concerned with the actions necessary to prevent accidents and to reduce the objective danger that is a precondition of accidents:
Safe systems of work.
Safe processes.
Processes operated in workplaces include manufacturing processes, treatment processes, the conversion of raw materials to finished products, the use of machinery and plant, the operation of display screen equipment, processes involving the use of hazardous substances and the use of internal transport equipment, such as lift trucks.
Safe premises.
A safe workplace involves consideration of design, layout and structural features, such as floors and windows, structural stability, control of environmental factors, such as lighting, fire protection arrangements and measures for ensuring safe means of escape in the event of a fire.
Safe equipment.
Work equipment includes machinery, plant, mobile equipment, such as lift trucks, and hand tools. Maintenance of this equipment is an essential requirement for ensuring safe working, together with information, instruction, training, and supervision in the correct operation and use of equipment.
Safe materials.
Consideration must be given to the health and safety requirements for a wide range of substances, such as acids, alkalis, flammable substances, poisons, carcinogenic substances and mutagenic substances, in terms of handling, storage, and disposal of waste products.
Safe access and egress.
Access to and egress from the workplace and specific parts of the workplace, such as those at heights above floor and ground level, or confined spaces, must be safe. Access must also be considered in the case of approach roads and the segregation of pedestrians from vehicular traffic leading to and around a workplace. More specific access, in terms of the use of ladders by people working at heights, must be safe.
Competent and trained personnel.
There is an urgent need to ensure that people are competing for the tasks they are required to perform, such as the operation of machinery and plant, mobile access equipment and the use of hazardous substances. Systems for the provision of information, instruction and training should feature in the health and safety management system, with particular reference to induction training, on-the-job training and refresher training. In certain cases, the employees of contractors may need information and training in the hazards and precautions necessary whilst working on site prior to commencing contract work.
Adequate supervision.
Supervision should extend through senior management to line management. Supervision requirements, including those for ensuring appropriate levels of health and safety performance by employees and others, should be incorporated in job descriptions. Procedures in the event of unsafe behaviour should be written down, including the taking of disciplinary action against offenders.
‘Safe person’
Strategies People make mistakes which can lead to accidents. Others may have a total disregard for safety procedures. Some people, such as young persons, have a greater potential for accidents, as a result of their immaturity and lack of knowledge and experience of workplace hazards.
‘Safe person’ strategies are directed at increasing people’s perception of risk and to ensuring safe behavior at work. These strategies include The provision and use of personal protective equipment.
There is a duty on employers, in certain cases, to provide various forms of personal protective equipment (PPE) under the Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations. Employees are required to use and wear PPE in defined work situations. PPE must be carefully selected and appropriate to the risks it is designed to provide protection against.
Care of the vulnerable.
Certain groups of employees, such as young persons, older workers, pregnant workers, disabled workers, those exposed to specific hazards, such as radiation workers and those involved with lead processes, are more vulnerable to accidents and occupational ill health. In certain cases, there may be a need for medical or health surveillance of these groups. A much greater level of supervision is required for people coming within the ‘vulnerable’ classification.
Personal hygiene.
Personal hygiene is very much a matter of individual training and upbringing. However, certain processes and operations may expose workers to health risks, such as those resulting in occupational dermatitis or metal poisoning through contamination of the hands and other parts of the body. Hand-to-mouth contamination arising from consumption of food contaminated by dirty hands, or the use of contaminated drinking vessels, is a serious risk in some workplaces.
There may be a need, therefore, to ban all forms of eating and drinking in workplaces, restricting food and drink consumption to a canteen or dining area. Good standards of personal hygiene should be promoted through induction and refresher training, the use of safety propaganda, such as safety posters, and high levels of supervision where hazardous substances are used.
This should be supported by the provision and maintenance of adequate welfare facilities, namely washing and showering facilities, separate clothing storage for work clothing and personal clothing not worn at work, and frequent replacement of contaminated overalls and other forms of work clothing.
Caution towards danger.
Some people are more careful than others. However, there is a need to promote a general caution towards danger and the use of safe systems of work.
Careful conduct.
Horseplay and unsafe behavior is a contributory factor in many accidents. This may include the removal of machinery guards, failure to use PPE, use of lift trucks by unauthorized persons, such as the employees of contractors, smoking in no-smoking areas, and abuse of equipment, compressed gases and flammable substances. Employees should be regularly reminded of their duties under the HSWA with respect to safe working, and this should be supported by disciplinary action wherever unsafe conduct is identified.
Post-accident strategies
While the emphasis must always be on the prevention of accidents, employers should have a number of systems in place in the event of accidents of varying severity.
Feedback from the investigation of accidents is an essential feature of the safety management system. This is how organizations learn from their mistakes, incorporating the recommendations arising from an investigation into future pre-accident strategies. The correct use and interpretation of accident statistics are vital here, bearing in mind that, while this form of information may identify trends in accident experience, it is not a true measure of safety performance.
Disaster/emergency procedures.
Employers have a duty under the MHSWR to install procedures for serious and imminent danger and for danger areas.
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