Question

There are four hazards that were identified in the last hazard assessment that have not been actioned, what are the factors, actions to be taken, date, additional factors and KPI's ?

Answer 1

Answer:

Hazard in its simplest term is a danger or a risk.

Hazard assessment is the act of conducting professional and through check up of the work floor of an organisation. Hazard assessment checks the potential threat, risks and hazards in the area of work and provides the necessary solutions for avoiding the hazard at the workplace.

Hazard at the workplace is the potential threat that may cause the risk for the health and safety measures. Hence, organisations should be dedicated and should be more focused towards the prevention of hazards at the workplace and should provide training to the management and professionals for health and safety measures.

Factors responsible:

1. Government audits: it becomes the responsibility of the government to appoint the individuals for conducting the audit in an organisation to check whether the company conducts the hazard assessment and has accomplished the last audit recommendations. Government should take appropriate action on those companies who are not conducting the audits and are not following the guidelines in order to prevent the hazards at the workplace by installing the necessary equipments required to avert the situation.

2. Sometimes, because of the financial reasons, most of the company do not conduct the hazard assessment and even if they conduct the one, they give less concern to the recommendations provided by the auditors. The company always try to save the cost required for taking the actions on the recommendations of the audits and sometimes they do not even conduct the audits.

3. Sometimes, employees show the negligent attitude towards the hazard of the workplace and the surrounding environment.

Actions to be taken:

1. Government should conduct semi annual or annual audits into the company to check whether hazard assessment has been conducted or not. Audit should also be made after some days of assessment to check the company has acted on the previous recommendation. Government should ask for the proofs of the action taken, outcome of the action taken and the feedback of the employees.

2. Organisation should consider hazard assessment as the most vital one and if the organisation is at cost cutting than it should club this hazard assessment with the other departmental audits.

3. Organisation should appoint a separate executive for health and safety issues of the employees.

4. Organisation should display the advisory pamphlets within the work floor of the company.

5. Government should make employees aware of their rights for the health and safety measures to be followed and the trainings to be provided to them by their company through various media.

Date:

Assessment should always be conducted semi-annually or annually by the agencies of the government. Management should conduct the audit weekly to ensure that the work is carried out under the safe environment and the element of hazard is not present anywhere within the premises of the organisation.

Additional factors:

Following are the factors that are needed to be taken into consideration while taking the effective hazard assessment and management measures in an organisation:

1. Management of the organisation should be committed enough towards the implementation of the various recommendations made in the hazard assessment as early as possible as a part of its health and safety measures in an organisation so as to prevent any untoward incident.

2. The company should manage its work within the stipulated time of the day and should reduce the average overtime of the workers which could be the reason of fatigue among the employee.

3. The company should provide proper lighting systems in such a way the complete work floor is sufficiently visible to the employee.

4. Company should ensure that there is sufficient space available for each employee to work within the company.

5. Physical and the emotional environment of the surrounding of the work floor should be energetic and enthusiastic in nature so that the employee could work happily and enthusiastically.

6. Organisation should conduct fitness check up camp and should provide the general insurance to their employees.

7. Management should appreciate the employees who are always aware about the health and safety measures in an organisation and are more productive as a result of following health and safety measures in an organisation.

8. Equipments and the machineries should be overhauled regularly. Faulty equipments and machineries should be removed from the work floor.

9. In case of companies, where electrical works are carried out, company should ensure that the workers are not working in the vicinity of good conductors of electricity.

10. Companies where hazardous materials are dealt with should provide necessary kits considering health and safety measure of the employees.

11. Companies where excessive sound pollution is created should provide the ear kit to their employees.

KPI:

KPI stands for key performance area. Risk management KPI are used to measure the performance of the hazard, risk and health and safety management team. It is used to determine the progress of the team by assessing whether they have met the set objectives of the organisation associated with the hazard elimination, risk management and health and safety measures to be followed within the organisation.

Following key performance indicators that should be taken into consideration:

1. Known risk: these are the risks which are known to the risk management team and the employee of the organisation. Such risk should be immediately eliminated before commencement of the work.

2. Actual risk: if the number of actual risk is high as compared to the known risk, then through auditing has not been carried out and the risk manager needs to further audit for the potential hazards and should eliminate all of them.

3. Unknown risks: these risks arise as a result of the unknown happening or through non controllable sources such as earthquake, sudden burst in the electrical system, etc.

4. Frequency and cost of risks: risk manager should identify the number of times the risk has aroused and the number of times it was eliminated. Risk manager should calculate the cost associated with the elimination of various kind of risks.

5. Number of accidents: it is used to measure the effectiveness of the health and safety measures implemented in an organisation. If the number of accidents are high than the health and safety measures followed by an organisation is least effective and the company needs to devise some innovative techniques to reduce the accidents in the company.

6. Lost time injury frequency rate[LTIFR]: lost time injury is the fatality or the disability or time lost from the work and it is measured as follows:

LTIFR = (Number of lost time injuries for a particular period x 10, 00,000) / (Total hours worked in that period)

7. Lost time injury incidence rate [LTIIR]: it is the number of incidence that results in time loss away from the work and it is calculated as follows:

LTIFR = (Number of lost time injuries for a particular period x 2, 00,000) / (Total hours worked in that period)

8. Speed and effectiveness of solution: risk manager should provide speedy and effective solutions for fatalities or accidents in an organisation.