Health, Safety And Welfare For Assessment Answer

1) Discuss the use of approved codes of practice to ensure compliance with health and
safety legislation in an organization (preferably your employer)
2) Explain the responsibilities for providing welfare facilities on-site
3) Evaluate the penalties for non-compliance with current health and safety at work
legislation and give at least two case studies or case law review for justification
4) Select a method of hazard identification with solid reasons using data supplied by an
organization (preferably your employer)
5) Explain the use of standard formats for identifying and recording hazards
6) Identify the hazards associated with construction processes
7) Analyze organizational health and safety policies and procedural documents in associated
with the identified hazards
8) Explain how risk assessments are used to address significant hazards
9) Produce risk assessments for two different workplaces and forms of work
10) Determine training needs from your risk assessments, including on-site induction training
and relevant sector certification
11) Monitor and review risk assessments in light of changes to circumstances
12) Evaluate changes in procedures or policy
13) Justify the effectiveness of the implemented changes

Health, Safety and Welfare for Construction and the built environment

Use of approved codes of practice to ensure compliance

Suspended working stages which are ordinarily known as gondolas are broadly utilized in all parts of Hong Kong. Code of Practice (Code of Practice for Safe Use and Operation of Suspended Working Platforms, 1999) and direction is for those that work with any lifting gear gave at work or to the utilization of individuals at work, the individuals who utilize such individuals, those that speak to them and the individuals who go about as an equipped individual in the examination of lifting hardware and incorporate specialists, site faculty, or designers for working at tallness amid the establishment of shade dividers and windows, window cleaning, outer remodel and enrichment of structures, spans, smokestacks, storehouses and different structures, and so on., and is additionally for managers and obligation holders, and also any individual who has duty regarding controlling lifting hardware. The Code of Practice is affirmed and issued by the Commissioner for Labour as per Section 7A of the Factories and Industrial Undertakings Ordinance, Chapter 59 (FACTORIES AND INDUSTRIAL UNDERTAKINGS (SUSPENDED WORKING PLATFORMS) REGULATIONS, 1995), and the direction is routed to some other obligation holder, for instance an able individual, the content is clear about its identity expected for. It gives functional direction to the proprietor of a suspended working stage for consistence with the necessities under the arrangements of the Factories and Industrial Undertakings (Suspended Working Platforms) Regulation (FACTORIES AND INDUSTRIAL UNDERTAKINGS (SUSPENDED WORKING PLATFORMS) REGULATIONS, 1995), and further applies to the utilisation of lifting gear gave as work hardware and these Regulations actualise the lifting arrangements and expand on the prerequisites of it. The counsel contained in the Code ought not be viewed as debilitating those issues which should be secured by the significant wellbeing enactment, nor is it expected to diminish people undertaking crafted by their statutory obligations. The Code applies to all working environments and work circumstances where the Factories Act applies and contains Approved Code of Practice and direction on the obligations and different controls which are relevant to the utilization of lifting hardware in all divisions of industry and in all work exercises. Note that consistence with the (Code of Practice for Safe Use and Operation of Suspended Working Platforms, 1999) does not, of itself, present resistance from lawful commitments since it has an extraordinary lawful status, and Factories Act applies to all work hardware including lifting gear and places necessities on obligation holders to give reasonable work gear to the assignment, data and directions and preparing to the general population who utilize it. In spite of the fact that inability to watch any counsel contained in the (Code of Practice for Safe Use and Operation of Suspended Working Platforms, 1999) isn't in itself an offense, that disappointment might be taken by a court in criminal procedures as a pertinent factor in deciding if a man has ruptured any of the arrangements of the directions to which the guidance relates. (FACTORIES AND INDUSTRIAL UNDERTAKINGS (SUSPENDED WORKING PLATFORMS) REGULATIONS, 1995) likewise expects measures to be taken concerning hazardous parts of hardware, controls and control frameworks, security and versatility. Suspended working stages can be delegated lasting and brief suspended working stages. Notwithstanding consenting to (Code of Practice for Safe Use and Operation of Suspended Working Platforms, 1999), obligation holders who furnish lifting gear ought to likewise follow every single significant part of (FACTORIES AND INDUSTRIAL UNDERTAKINGS (SUSPENDED WORKING PLATFORMS) REGULATIONS, 1995) and some other pertinent wellbeing and security law. The (Code of Practice for Safe Use and Operation of Suspended Working Platforms, 1999) covers the wellbeing prerequisites of these working stages suspended by ropes, chains, or lifting rigging and equipped for being raised and brought down by mechanical means. The (Code of Practice for Safe Use and Operation of Suspended Working Platforms, 1999) applies to anything of lifting hardware, however an obligation holder ought to consider the degree of the hazard and the measures expected to dispose of or control it. It is pertinent to the utilization and task of the suspended working stages and the related supporting exercises, for example, test and examination of the suspended working stages. The regulations for the management, expect dangers to be surveyed to recognize the nature and level of dangers, incorporating those related with a lifting activity, in order to deal with these dangers to lessen them to the extent sensibly practicable. Action taken ought to be proportionate to the hazard distinguished. Trifling dangers can typically be disregarded, unless the work action adds to those dangers. When choosing how to lessen the dangers from utilizing a specific bit of lifting hardware, one have to consider the sort of load being lifted, its weight, shape and what it comprises of and the danger of a heap falling, moving, separating or striking a man or question and the outcomes of the danger of the lifting gear striking a man or a protest and the results and danger of the lifting hardware coming up short or falling over while being used and the results and furthermore the danger of harm to the lifting gear that could bring about disappointment. New lifting hardware must fulfil certain basic wellbeing and security prerequisites One must survey the hazard in every specific case with the portrayed nature and degree of the hazard which will then manage what steps ought to be taken to control it. The hazard appraisal may well distinguish huge dangers not tended to by (Code of Practice for Safe Use and Operation of Suspended Working Platforms, 1999) and could recognize the danger of the administrator tumbling from a stature.

Responsibilities for providing welfare facilities on-site

Clients along with the contractors share the legitimate duty to provide facilities on all sites, and the law commands that, paying little heed to their size, and the pre-development data arranged by the customer is comprehensive of the courses of action for welfare arrangement and must give enough facilities to cover the quantity of representatives, and the customer should likewise guarantee that the development stage does not begin unless they are fulfilled and be appropriate for the sort of work being attempted and that there are specific plans for welfare offices which must be given (K.C.Ding, 2008). Prior to any development starts on in an undertaking, the Contractors must provide the welfare offices and customers must guarantee that the pre-development data sorted out by the customer is kept up by the Contractors about the offices for the duration of the life of the task and ought to contain the courses of action for the arrangement of welfare offices (Tam, Tong, Leung, & Chiu, 2002). Work in the development business is extreme and includes much manual or physical movement. On notifiable ventures the customer must ensure development doesn't start until the point when they are fulfilled, since it is dangerous and grimy and subsequently great welfare offices enhance specialists' welfare as well as improve productivity, so the customer must guarantee that satisfactory welfare offices will be given (Pete Kines, 2010). Welfare offices arrangement of drinking-water, rely upon the span of the undertaking and incorporate washing, sterile and evolving convenience, rest-rooms and protect and different offices, and the contractual workers must keep up the offices all through the venture lifecycle, by encouraging arrangements for getting ready and eating dinners, brief lodging, help with transport from place of home to the work site and back, all assistance to lessen weariness and enhance laborers' wellbeing (K. Ringen and J. Seegal, 1995). Drinking water must be given at effectively open spots, with the goal that the wellbeing and security measures utilized on development locales are not deficient and must not neglect to meet the required norms. Toilets gave must be appropriate to utilize and should be kept perfect and clean. The way of life and state of mind of about wellbeing and security frequently excuse hazard taking and perilous work hones. Absence of appropriate data and obliviousness are likewise to fault for the poor security measures in development destinations in this way, every one of the offices must be accessible to utilize so absence of right data doesn’t cause any impediment, and in this manner for the utilization of the latrine, isolate offices ought to be given, and if the different toilets can't be given, at that point the lockable office must be guaranteed for the concerned welfare. Keeping in mind the end goal to make a gauge for the measure of brief offices, it is a critical undertaking for development site arranging, since the underestimation of office size will prompt office space deficiency, with profitability misfortune, and will likewise manage security issues, then again overestimation will bring about absence of room for different other sites. In this way, offices for washing must be fit for reason and kept up to the required standard, with the arrangement for clean hot and frosty running, and furthermore with the accessibility of cleanser and some appropriate methods for drying additionally should be given and the sinks should be sufficiently vast for individuals to wash. Some impermanent offices have settled or foreordained sizes and for different offices, measure relies upon advance of exercises and may fluctuate over undertaking term. Once more, on the prerequisite for the specialists to wear defensive dress in light of the idea of their work, the office for the changing rooms ought to be furnished with, so the apparel and individual property can be kept secured carefully guarded courses of action. The recreation for reasonable arranging apparatus for assessing movement subordinate offices are vital, since in the development procedure, the usage of the asset after some time makes a pattern over the task time and the action subordinate offices with required variety in view of the common sense and ability of reproduction (Bigman, 1978). The deficient welfare offices, with the nonappearance of wellbeing and wellbeing advisory groups, and furthermore the ignorance of wellbeing and security on the development destinations, can't be permitted. Thus, the implementation instruments which incorporates, site assessments for keeping adherence to wellbeing and security necessities on the must be actualised. The essential duty identified with development site exercises alongside the transportation offices have been must be used or else it will make an effect on the general development exercises. In this way, the welfare offices for tending to the unprecedented issues must be surveyed on numerous occasions, to guarantee that there are offices which are given nearby, for the smooth working of the specialists and furthermore the overall population worried, in and outside the development site premises, so not a solitary individual is denied and hurt in the full procedure of the development action.

Penalties for non-compliance

The Factories and Industrial Undertakings (Suspended Working Platforms) Regulation (FACTORIES AND INDUSTRIAL UNDERTAKINGS (SUSPENDED WORKING PLATFORMS) REGULATIONS, 1995), along with the Code of Practice for Safe Use and Operation of Suspended Working Platforms (Code of Practice for Safe Use and Operation of Suspended Working Platforms, 1999), provides for the safety and health protection to workers in an industrial undertaking. Under the Factories and Industrial Undertakings Regulation (FACTORIES AND INDUSTRIAL UNDERTAKINGS (SUSPENDED WORKING PLATFORMS) REGULATIONS, 1995), the proprietor along with or inclusive of the person having the management control of the business in such industrial undertaking and this also includes the occupier is dutybound, to take care so far as is reasonably practicable, about the concerns relating to the health and safety at work of all the employed persons at the industrial undertaking. The duties include, providing and maintaining the systems which will not endanger safety or health, and make arrangements in order to ensure safety with connection to health and must take extra care for handling of any suspended objects and the also for storing and transporting any articles or substances. The contractor is dutybound to provide necessary and relevant information, and in so doing must instruct, train, and also supervise to ensure safety and health. The law mandates to provide and maintain the safer access and also the egress from the workplace, so as to maintain a healthy work environment. According to section 29 of the Regulation (FACTORIES AND INDUSTRIAL UNDERTAKINGS (SUSPENDED WORKING PLATFORMS) REGULATIONS, 1995), when a person being the owner, contravenes, any of the provisions of the Regulation, but exclusive of section 15(3) of (FACTORIES AND INDUSTRIAL UNDERTAKINGS (SUSPENDED WORKING PLATFORMS) REGULATIONS, 1995), i.e. the owner of a suspended working platform shall ensure that the lifeline is not used for carrying persons without serving a notice in English and also in Chinese in the manner as described under the Regulation, and the notice must be displayed prominently on the suspended working platform, and also under section 17 of (FACTORIES AND INDUSTRIAL UNDERTAKINGS (SUSPENDED WORKING PLATFORMS) REGULATIONS, 1995), i.e. the competency with regards to the age, which essentially means that no minor is allowed to work in these sites and also the necessary and the requisite training which is to be provided and also under section 22 of (FACTORIES AND INDUSTRIAL UNDERTAKINGS (SUSPENDED WORKING PLATFORMS) REGULATIONS, 1995), i.e. Legible marking of safe working load and number of persons applicable to the suspended working platform, and also under section 24 of (FACTORIES AND INDUSTRIAL UNDERTAKINGS (SUSPENDED WORKING PLATFORMS) REGULATIONS, 1995), i.e. Keeping of records of maintenance, which should be maintained in such a way that, at any point of time the record so maintained is ready for inspection, and under section 25 of (FACTORIES AND INDUSTRIAL UNDERTAKINGS (SUSPENDED WORKING PLATFORMS) REGULATIONS, 1995), i.e. Keeping and displaying of any certificates or reports, which was received out of any examination or any load testing, and under section 26 of (FACTORIES AND INDUSTRIAL UNDERTAKINGS (SUSPENDED WORKING PLATFORMS) REGULATIONS, 1995), i.e. Reports or records so maintained must be furnished to occupational safety officer. But, except these provisions as maintained above, anyone who commits an offence other than those above- mentioned positions, is liable to a fine of HK $200000 and also will be imprisonment for 12 months. But, when an owner is in contravention of the section 15(3), 17, 22, 24, 25 or 26 of (FACTORIES AND INDUSTRIAL UNDERTAKINGS (SUSPENDED WORKING PLATFORMS) REGULATIONS, 1995) as mentioned above commits an offence will be liable to a fine of HK $50000. Again, on wilful and also without any proper excuse, if anybody or the contractor fails and commits an offence will be liable towards a fine of HK$500,000 and to imprisonment for 6 months, under subsidiary regulations of the Factories and Industrial Undertakings Regulation (FACTORIES AND INDUSTRIAL UNDERTAKINGS (SUSPENDED WORKING PLATFORMS) REGULATIONS, 1995), including the Construction Sites (Safety) Regulations (Chapter 59I of the Laws of Hong Kong) (CONSTRUCTION SITES (SAFETY) REGULATIONS , 1978) . The Non-compliance of any of these rules commits an offence with varieties of penalty to be imposed with the contractor being guilty and will be liable to a fine up to HK$200,000 and also imprisonment up to 12 months.

Case Study 1

Police was reported and informed when a worker fell from a high working platform, when the police arrived, they found four more injured workers, and was informed that the platform fell abruptly. The injuries so suffered was severe, where one sustained a head injury and was unconscious and one of the victim also suffered chest pain. Police framed this incident as the industrial accident and they did not find any manipulation as to that (Lo, 2016).

Case Study 2

Another industrial accident took place when a man died in a fatal accident on a bridge construction sites, where the Highways Department were blamed to have disregarded the health concern and were further blamed that they were not in compliance with the safety regulations. The fatal occurrence took due to the dismantling of the working platform which was temporary, and from there the workers fell into the sea when the platform collapsed (Cannix Yau, 2017)

Method of hazard identification

Hazard examination depends on an organized and orderly way to deal with recognize potential risks and includes the distinguishing proof of dangers at an office and assessing those beyond what many would consider possible for no undesirable results. There are countless options that can be utilized to play out and is an imperative to do at different stages amid the life cycle of the procedure as the piece and parcel of the hazard administration process. These differ from an idea of safety review, which is executed as ahead of schedule as conceivable in the idea phase of the procedure, as no activity can be made to evade, or decrease, the impacts. Hazard identification is identifying hazards and before understanding what hazard identification involves, it is important to understand the nature of hazards (Michael Behm, 2012). Workplace hazards physical hazards like noise or electricity and also heat and cold, followed by chemical hazards including escape of toxic gases, or can also be noxious fumes and at times the corrosive liquids, thirdly, ergonomic hazards like height of a workbench or may be the shape of a seat etc., fourthly, radiation hazards, from x-ray machines or lasers or for using radioactive materials, etc., psychological hazards (G.Vredenburgh, 2002) includes stress and absence of proper training and includes  overwork carrying a risk of injury and lastly, biological hazards like getting through infected blood or other infected materials from systems. It is important to consider people getting exposed to risks caused from hazards, and it is also equally important to understand how the risk may create an impact on getting exposed, and this accumulation of information at an early stage will help in evaluating the risk assessment (J.Nielsen, 2014). During the identification process, the inexperience or the susceptibility to chemicals or any other issues like previous injuries or it can also happen that certain individual have vertigo related issues, which falls within ergonomic issues must also be taken into consideration, to identify those people who can have problems facing certain operatives surrounding the task, and working alone under certain circumstances. In the process of hazard identification, there are certain activities which must be undertaken initially and must be conducted simultaneously, with other risk assessments if any. So, the activities, to assist the hazard identification process are walkthrough in the entire workplace, with analysis of the information which are available, and inspections in the workplace by the use of checklists. Walkthroughs will target the area which have hazards and needs to be identified, so as to gather information from individual in familiar task, by observing carrying out of the work, to reveal hazards involved (Yangho Kim, 2016). Organisation's standard operating procedures may not be helpful and may not also detail on undertaking of specific tasks since they often vary greatly from given standard. Analysing the information so available is an aid to identify hazards since potential hazards in workplace can be obtained in the process of this. Activities undertaken during the inspection may include, Checklists which are an aid and assist in ensuring that the important issues so identified are not overlooked, by achieving the consistency and for gaining maximum benefit the checklists must be developed as per the specific scenario, i.e. (Samuels, 2000)customisation of the checklists. Scaffolding is a part of everyday construction work and have the potential to cause harm, and could induce an accident, although it is thought to be a stable and extremely helpful apparatus (H. Randolph Thomas, Souza, & Zav?ski, 2002). However, there are many dangers that arise and can lead to injury, illness, or death from its erection and use. Within the organisational framework, major potential risk is the fire on a construction site and depending on the hazard so identified, two methods for identifying hazards are Reactive methods, where hazards are identified by monitoring and also by investigation of safety occurrences, on the other hand Proactive methods are analysing performance and functions of the systems for intrinsic threats followed by potential failures. Hazards identification methods are used for evaluating the possible hazards due to mal-operations which might be associated with. So, the techniques which are used is to deal with the hazards for deviating them from the basic operating conditions like pressure changes or the temperature fluctuations and also the abominable presence of the harmful substances, etc. The HAZOP, which is the hazard operability study is often used and should be used throughout the life process of the construction project, ranging from the development to the closure of the plant and must include hazard assessment with necessary modifications which are plausible and also proposed in the operational life of the project (Wei Zhou, 2012). HAZOP is the process which investigate specific hazards related to the project needs and also those hazards which must be evaluated. On the other hand, Concept Hazard Analysis (G.Wells, 1993) relates to the past happenings, and is the review of those processes where the previously identified areas are furthered monitored for the specific concern, but this analysis takes place at the stage where the design or the flowcharts are prepared (G.Wells, 1996), i.e. at the early stages of project cycle. In this process, the perceived dangers are taken into consideration and the safeguarding measures are supplanted, so that the previous hazards are by no chance gets repeated.

Standard formats for identifying and recording hazards

The standards formats and the documentation required to conform to the steps towards the Risk Assessment incorporates searching for and recognize the perils through the Hazard Identification and Risk Analysis (HIRA) which is an aggregate term that includes all exercises engaged with distinguishing dangers and assessing hazard at offices, to choose who may be hurt and assess the level of hazard that may emerge from the dangers for the duration of their life cycle (Saud, 2013), to verify that dangers are reliably controlled inside the association's hazard resistance, and choose whether existing insurances are satisfactory or more ought to be done, and address three fundamental hazard inquiries to a level of detail similar with investigation of the targets, life cycle arrange, accessible data, and assets, by record discoveries and survey appraisal now and again with important correction. The goal is to perform just the level of investigation important to achieve a choice, on the grounds that deficient examination may prompt poor choices and unreasonable investigation of the squanders assets, so it must be custom-made to make it reasonable and adequate for the nature and size of the activity, by a suite of devices to oblige changing examination needs, for the probability of perils and the degree and seriousness of the hazard (Chiara Verbano, 2011). The hazard understanding created shapes the reason for building up the vast majority of alternate process security administration exercises embraced by the office and Hazard Risk Assessment frame is the most smaller style of hazard appraisal, which don't permit any erroneous impression of hazard anytime where potential dangers are few and the degree and seriousness of hazard constrained and which could likewise prompt either wasteful utilization of restricted assets or accidental acknowledgment of dangers surpassing the genuine resilience of the organization or the group. The account of the general and obligation data, alongside the depiction of perils, joined with the outcomes of dangers, with the differing hazard levels by finding the people in danger and with the controls and insurances set up and furthermore about the need of any further activity took after by a survey timetable. As a rule, the prior a peril is recognized it turns out to be more financially savvy and can be disposed of or overseen before. The Hazard Risk Assessment alongside the activity design will likewise accommodate recording certain perils and the hazard appraisal process and can be canvassed in more noteworthy detail and a more characterized arrange. To oversee chance, perils should first be distinguished, with the subsequent stage of dangers assessing and should be contrasted and the be resilience of the organization (Abel Pinto Isabel, 2011). Checklists is to produce a detailed examination by application of experience of everyday operations along with the previous incidents in similar plants (Samuels, 2000). When an assessment is performed with checklist, it is presupposed that the use of previous detailed list will minimise the innovation amongst the members, so only that list should be used which is to aid in the direction of the work. There are advantages of checklists, since they are easily applicable, due to the logic that the predefined processes are only compared with the current scenarios for the process of identifying the hazards, and is also considered simple to perform by inexperienced hands, but there are disadvantages of using checklists too, and that includes, the pre- set questions, which will only be available on a checklist, which will lose the scope of identifying the potential problems along with the associated hazards, since only the standardised forms or the checklists are used (Samuels, 2000), again the checklists limits the availability of the information, due to its information gathering process from the previous experience. Incidents are those events where there is no injury or illness, but with a slight difference in the circumstances could have resulted in injury caused by multiple hazards in the workplace inclusive of operational practices of any other related events. Risk assessments is to be carried out for the significant risks, though trivial risks can at times ignored and the assessment must be reviewed at regular intervals, with the range from higher risks to medium risks and also the lower risks, but there must be recording of the hazards immediately after the happening of any accidents. The things which must be recorded are the significant findings that recognises the fact that there is existence of risks, so that they can be identified and the appropriate control measures can be implemented and further executed and in so doing it will be a step forward towards a safer workplace (Chiara Verbano, 2011). The control measures which are o be taken must be both protective and also preventive so that the employees could be protected from any eminent hazard and also the potential hazard which might arise could be prevented in the process of it, since it is crucial to choose the right format and implement them in the most appropriate scenario for controlling risk.

To be continued..