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1 Element 3: Health and Safety Management Systems: Organizing

NEBOSH IGC 1 Examiners Reports | Questions & Answers

Element 3: Health and Safety Management Systems: Organizing

Question:

Outline the health and safety roles & responsibilities of

Directors & Senior Managers
Supervisor
Workers
A person with primary health and safety function Such as health and safety officer.

Director:

The main health and safety responsibilities of directors and senior managers are to prepare and sign a health and safety policy and to set goals and objectives for the organization;
To lead by example and to demonstrate commitment;
To allocate responsibilities for health and safety throughout the organization and to set aside sufficient resources such as for example for training those who have been allocated special roles;
To secure competent health and safety advice such as by appointing a Health and Safety Advisor;
To receive monitoring reports and instigate action to rectify any deficiencies that have been found.

Supervisor:

As for supervisors, they should control work in their area of responsibility and set a good example.
They should take part in carrying out risk assessments, in the development of consequent safe systems of work
Ensure that members of their teams are fully briefed on the systems once they have been introduced.
They should carry out inspections of their working areas and deal with any unsafe conditions or actions, reporting to managers if in any situation they personally do not have the power to take the necessary action.
They have an important role to play in training, coaching and mentoring members of their team.

Workers:

Roles and responsibilities of workers including taking reasonable care of themselves and their fellow workers, refraining from misusing equipment provided for their health and safety,
Cooperating with their employer by following safe systems of work;
Reporting accidents and unsafe situations to their supervisor or other nominated members of management.
They also have an important role to play in taking an active part in any consultation exercise set up by the employer.

A person with primary health and safety functions such as a health and safety officer :

It would be expected to provide expert advice on matters of health and safety;
Assist in the development of the health and safety policy and procedures and their periodic reviews;
Intervene when he/she comes across any unsafe conditions or acts;
Keep health and safety records such as for accidents and any apparent trends;
Liaise with representatives of external agencies.

Question:

Outline ways in which the health and safety culture of an organization might be improved.

Health and safety ways such as, for example,

Preparing and implementing a policy supported by effective systems for the management of health and safety;
Securing the commitment of management and ensuring that they led by example;
Consulting with and involving workers on matters affecting their health and safety and providing effective supervision and training.
Other ways such as the organization being seen to give equal priority to health and safety issues as other business objectives such as production and quality;
Introducing and fostering a no blame culture;
Being seen to be consistent in their management decisions and giving serious attention to any complaints made by workers with respect to matters of health and safety;
Employing a person able to supply information on health and safety matters and procedures in different languages;
Providing a pleasant working environment with good welfare facilities and introducing incentive schemes to increase employee interest and involvement.

Question:

Identify factors to be considered to reduce the risks to workers required to work alone away from the
workplace.

The factor to be considered such as:

To identifying firstly the factors that would contribute to the potential risk such as the work to be done and its associated hazards and then went on to identify factors that might possibly reduce the level of risk such as the competence,
Training and suitability of the persons involved;
The provision of appropriate equipment and/or materials;
The provision of personal protective equipment such as eye and hearing protection;
Ensuring adequate means of communication with the home base and supervision to ensure that the correct working procedures were being followed;
Addressing both the question of security to counter the potential for violence and psychological factors such as working alone for long periods of time;
Ensuring adequate arrangements for travel and the provision of welfare facilities and emergency and first aid procedures.

Question:

Identify two main purposes of first aid treatment.
Outline the factors to consider when making an assessment of first aid provision in a workplace.

Part (a)

Two main purposes of first-aid treatment are,

Firstly, the preservation of life and/or the minimization of the consequences of injury until medical help is obtained and,
Secondly, the treatment of minor injuries that would not receive or do not need medical attention.

Part (b)

Required factors such as:

The size of the organization;
The distribution and composition of the workforce including the special needs of workers such as trainees, young workers and the disabled;
The types of hazard and level of risk present;
The past history of accidents and their type, location, and consequences;
The proximity of the workplace to emergency medical services;
The special needs of traveling, remote or lone workers such as the provision of personal first aid kits or mobile phones;
The possibility of the shared provision on multi-occupancy sites;
The need to train the first aid personnel in special procedures;
The ability to provide continuous cover over different shifts and for sickness, leave and other absence.

Question:

Two organizations share the same worksite.

Outline how the organizations could work together to help ensure the workplace is safe and healthy.

In order to ensure a safe and healthy, the two organizations could:

Hold regular meetings of their managers;
Share information and risk assessments in order to avoid carrying out incompatible processes and activities and using incompatible substances;
Prepare and agree on joint site rules for the workplace for example for assembly points and smoking areas;
Set up joint procedures for the management of visitors and contractors;
Agree on procedures for the management of traffic and the movement of vehicles;
Carry out joint inspections investigations and monitoring of the workplace;
Draw up joint emergency procedures and introduce fire drills for the work site as a whole;
Agree to a policy for the management of waste and introduce joint safety committees and worker representatives.

Question:

Identify ways in which a manager could involve workers in the improvement of health and safety in the workplace.

There are following ways such as:

Involving workers in risk assessments, accident investigations, the selection of equipment and the development of safe systems and procedures;
Encouraging hazard spotting and the reporting of defects;
Setting up suggestion schemes for improvements;
Organising training courses and information programmes;
Supporting active involvement in safety committee meetings;
Being accompanied by workers or their representatives on safety tours and inspections;
Giving workers responsibilities for mentoring young and inexperienced workers.

Related: How to pass a NEBOSH Diploma

Question:

Give reasons why it is important to use a variety of methods to communicate health and safety information in the workplace.

There are following reasons such as:

The people respond differently to different stimuli, and that variety prevents over-familiarisation with one method and helps to reinforce a message.
The need to overcome language barriers and the inability of some workers to read;
The need to motivate, stimulate interest and gain involvement and feedback;
The acceptance that different types of information require different methods of communication, for example, emergency signs;
The policy of the organization may require certain information to be in a specified format;
and that on occasions evidence that the message was given may need to be kept.

Question:

Explain why it is important for an organization to consult with its workers on health and safety issues.
Explain how arrangements for consultation with workers may be made more effective.

Part (a)

It is important for an organization to consult with its workers on health and safety issues since in the first instance it may be a legal requirement or if not that, a requirement of the organization’s health and safety policy.
The consultation will help to raise the profile of health and safety, improve the perception of its value and importance
It will assist in improving the health and safety culture of the organization.
It is useful in developing ownership amongst the workers of health and safety measures, obtaining their commitment, inviting their ideas for improvement
Consultation allowing them to contribute to health and safety decision making and to help in agreeing to priorities for attention. Their views would also be useful in ensuring that suggested improvements would be workable in practice.

Part (b)

Arrangements for consultation with workers might be made more effective by:

The establishment of safety committees;
Consultation with elected representatives of employee safety;
Planned direct consultation at departmental meetings, team meetings, toolbox talks and staff appraisals;
Consultation as part of an accident or incident investigation or as part of a risk assessment;
Day to day informal consultation by supervisors with their team;
Questionnaires and suggestion schemes. If formal meetings are to be held, it is important to ensure that there is a correct balance between management and worker representation;
An agenda is set and the meeting well managed by the chair;
That the business of the meeting is not sidetracked by the discussion of non-health and safety issues;
That minutes of and report back from the meeting are made available to the workforce as a whole and that actions agreed to receive attention without undue delay.

Question:

Identify three types of emergency in the workplace that may require the evacuation of workers.
Explain why it’s important to develop emergency procedures in the workplaces.

Part (a)

Three types of emergency in the workplace that could lead to the need to evacuate the workers are:

Fire or explosion,
The accidental release of toxic chemicals or gases, transport incidents, bomb alerts or
Other terrorist activities, weather-related emergencies, and earthquakes.

Part (b)

Importance of developing emergency procedures in the workplaces are:

To comply with legal requirements;
To be prepared for foreseeable emergencies;
To ensure the safety and protection of the workers including those dealing with the emergency,
To assist the safe evacuation of persons including those with specific needs such as visitors and the disabled;
To provide information on the action to be taken, not only by workers but also by neighbors and others who might be affected by the emergencies such as in a shared or joint occupancy premises;
To allocate specific responsibilities to certain workers in the event of an evacuation being necessary;
To be able to mitigate the effects of adverse events and to restore the situation to normal;
To ensure the procedures are made available to any relevant emergency services & to ensure business continuity.

Question:

Outline ways in which an organization could encourage workers to be involved in setting and maintaining high standards of health and safety.

ways such as:

involving workers in risk assessments, accident investigations and the development of safe systems and procedures;
Setting up suggestion schemes and acting on the ideas and recommendations put forward;
Organising training courses and information programmes on the benefits of good safety standards;
Supporting active involvement in safety committee meetings;
Introducing an effective two-way communication system;
Introducing a system of the award and reward to recognize achievement;
and importantly ensuring that management set a good example for the workforce to follow.

Question:

Give the meaning of the term “Perception”.
Outline the ways in which workers’ perceptions of hazards in the workplace might be improved.

Part (a)

Perception – The way that people interpret and make sense of presented information, for instance in relation to their surroundings is called perception.

Part (b)

Ways to improve perception by:

Motivation or to the need to increase awareness in the individual by safety campaigns or posters and
By increasing knowledge by means of training.
Need to identify, perhaps by the use of surveys, the reasons for workers’ misperceptions in order to increase awareness and challenges currently held views.
Making hazards more obvious (for example, by the use of signs) and
Addressing environmental factors, such as lighting and noise, which might cause distraction or otherwise hinder the perceptual processes.

Question:

Identify why a worker may require health and safety training.
Outline how training can have a positive influence on the health and safety performance of workers.

Part (a)

Reasons such as

New job or a client requirement.
Requirements for the understanding of hazards/risk, control measures, new role and
Specific competency needs.

Part (b)

The positive contribution to improved morale
The positive contribution to safety culture.

Question:

Outline the meaning of the term “health and safety culture”.
Identify indicators that an organization’s health and safety culture may be poor or ineffective.
Outline how workers may influence each other with regard to an organization’s health and safety culture.

Part (a)

Part (b)

The indicator such as a

Worsening trend in accident numbers

Part (c)

Question:

Identify four types of emergency what would require an organization to have an emergency procedure.
Outline why visitors to a workplace should be informed of an organization’s emergency procedures.

Part (a)

An emergency that requires emergency procedure are:

Fire or explosion,
The accidental release of toxic chemicals or gases, transport incidents, bomb alerts or
Other terrorist activities, weather-related emergencies, and earthquakes.

Part (b)

Question:

Outline the factors that might contribute towards a positive safety culture within an organization.

factors such as

The commitment and leadership of senior management,
The competence and training of the workforce,
A clear policy of health and safety being given obvious equal priority to other business objectives (production, quality, etc.);
The setting of realistic and achievable targets;
The provision of a good working environment;
Proactive monitoring of health and safety standards;
Effective communication channels;
A ‘no- blame’ culture;
Consultation with, and the involvement of, the workforce

Question:

Define the term “negligence”.
Outline the three standard conditions that must be met for an employee to prove a case of negligence against an employer.

Part (a)

Negligence – a civil wrong (tort) involving unreasonably careless conduct (or a breach of the common law duty of care), resulting in a loss, damage or injury is called negligence.

Part (b)

These are:

Firstly, that a duty of care was owed by the employer (i.e. that the employee was acting in the course of his/her employment);
Secondly, that the employer acted in breach of that duty by not doing everything that was reasonable to prevent foreseeable harm; and,
Thirdly, that the breach led directly to the loss, damage or injury.

Question:

Outline reasons why an employee might require additional health and safety training at a later stage of employment within an organization.

Reasons as:

The introduction of new processes, equipment, and methods of work;
As a result of a job change involving different health and safety requirements and/or the allocation of additional responsibilities;
Following the introduction of new legislation;
Where risk assessments or staff appraisals indicate that additional training is necessary;
Where refresher training is required such as that required for fork-lift truck operators and firstaid personnel;
Following an accident, enforcement action or insurance impositions;
To counteract the possibility of employees becoming complacent and lax in following established procedures for health and safety.

Question:

Outline the issues that should be considered to ensure the health and safety of cleaners employed in a school out of normal working hours.

There are following issues such as:

The use of chemicals and electrical equipment.
Dealing with sharp objects such as broken glass, manual handling, etc.),
Those particular to the school situation (e.g. laboratory and workshop hazards);
Those associated with out-of- hours work (lone working, communication, supervision, Security, emergency arrangements, etc.).

Question:

Outline the factors that might cause the safety culture within an organisation to decline.

Factors that cause the safety culture within an organisation to decline included:

Lack of effective communication;
The perception of a growing blame culture;
Lack of leadership and commitment at senior level;
Lack of monitoring or a failure to implement remedial action;
Lack of consultation and employee involvement;
A generally poor working environment;
A high staff turnover leading to lack of continuity and loss of momentum in making safety improvements; and
External influences such as a downturn in the economy, leading to job insecurity with the possibility of health and safety being seen as less of a priority.

Question:

Outline the factors that will determine the level of supervision that a new employee should receive during their initial period of employment within an organisation.

A number of factors can determine the initial level of supervision that should be given to someone starting work in an organisation. These include:

The age of the employee, as well as his/her experience of work in general, and of the task to be performed in particular;
The nature and complexity of the task and its inherent risks;
The person’s skills and qualifications for the work;
His/her attitude and aptitude;
The systems of work and any specific safety requirements applying to the task;
The employee’s communication skills and any special needs he/she may have.

Question:

Identify Two main functions of first-aid treatment.
Outline the factors to consider when making an assessment of first aid provision in a workplace.

Part (a)

The two main functions of first-aid are:

Firstly, the preservation of life and/or the minimisation of the consequences of serious injury until medical help arrives; and,
Secondly, the treatment of minor injuries that do not need medical attention.

Part (b)

Factors such as:

The size of the organisation and number of employees;
The layout of the workplace;
The identified hazards and risks;
The history of minor and other accidents (and typical need for first-aid treatment);
The distance from the workplace to the nearest source of emergency medical services;
Working patterns and practices such as shift working and persons working away from the workplace; and
The need in some circumstances to train first-aid personnel in special procedures.

Question:

The number of absences due to upper limb disorders in an organisation appears to be increasing.

Outline the possible sources of information that could be consulted when investigating this problem.

Sources of information such as:

Risk assessments;
The results of task analyses and the identification of repetitive actions;
The organisation’s employees and safety representatives; ill-health reports and the analysis of absence records;
The observations of supervisors and’ the complaints that may have been made to them by members of their teams;
Manufacturers’ information;
Published information such as HSE guidance;
The views of specialists such as ergonomists or occupational health practitioners;
Perhaps even information supplied by the social activities coordinator on out-of-work activities such as tennis, squash, etc.

Question:

Outline the benefits of undertaking regular fire drills in the workplace.

Satisfying a legal requirement, or one specified in a fire certificate,
To provide instruction to employees on the actions to be taken in emergency situations;
Checking that the alarm can be heard in all parts of the premises;
Testing the effectiveness of the evacuation procedures both generally and in relation to specific requirements (such as the need to ensure the safety of disabled employees and visitors);
Familiarising employees (particularly those new to the undertaking) with the alarms, evacuation procedures, escape routes and assembly points so that, in the case of a real emergency, they would know the actions to take;
Providing an opportunity for fire wardens and others with specific functions to practice their designated roles.

Question:

Outline the benefits to an organisation of having a health and safety committee.
Outline the reasons why a health and safety committee may prove to be ineffective in practice.
Identify a range of methods that an employer can use to provide health and safety information directly to individual employees.

Part (a)

Benefits of having health and safety committee are following:

It demonstrates management commitment and compliance with the legal requirement to consult with employees;
It facilitates consultation and communication with the workforce via employee representatives;
It provides a means of recording discussions that have taken place on health and safety matters and
It may help to foster a positive health and safety culture by encouraging employee involvement and ownership.

Part (b)

Reasons such as:

A lack of management commitment;
No terms of reference for the committee;
No agenda and/or minutes of the meetings being produced;
An uneven balance between management and employee representatives;
Poor chairmanship;
No access to the decision making processes; infrequent meetings;
Inappropriate topics for discussion and no access to health and safety expertise.

Part (c)

Range of valid methods such as notice boards;

Team briefings;
Training sessions including induction and tool box talks;
Newsletters and
The inclusion of messages with wage/pay slips;
Posters, competitions and signs; and
One to one briefing such as in appraisal sessions.

Question:

Outline the ways in which employers might motivate their employees to comply with health and safety procedures.

Ways in which employers might motivate their employees to comply with health and safety procedures are:

Training and the provision of information;
Showing the commitment of the organisation to safety by providing resources and a safe working environment;
Involving employees in health and safety decisions through consultation and team meetings;
Recognising and rewarding achievement.

Question:

Outline the checks that could be made in assessing the health and safety competence of a contractor.

Range of checks that included, amongst many others:

The contractor’s previous experience with the type of work;
The reputation of the contractor with previous or current clients;
The quality and content of his health and safety policy and risk assessments;
The level of training and qualifications of his staff (including those with health and safety responsibilities);
Accidents & enforcement history;
Membership of approval or certification bodies;
Equipment maintenance and statutory examination records; and
The detailed proposals (e.g. method statements) for the work to be carried out.

Question:

Give reasons why a verbal instruction may not be clearly understood by an employee.

Reasons such as

The nature of the working environment (high levels of noise for example),
The employee wearing personal protective equipment,
The use of too much technical jargon, language or
Dialect issues,
Sensory impairment or learning difficulties, ambiguity,
The inexperience of the receiver and
The fact that verbal instruction may not be the correct vehicle for passing on complex information.

Question:

Explain the meaning of the term “Perception”.
Outline the factors relating to the individual that may influence a person’s perception of an occupational risk.

Part (a)

Perception – the way that people interpret and make sense of presented information – for instance, in relation to their surroundings.

Part (b)

Such factors include:

The nature of the hazard (e.g. obvious or hidden, immediate or delayed effects, etc);
A person’s previous experience and familiarity with the situation;
The level and nature of training;
Peer group influences;
Confidence in others’ abilities and judgements; and
A number of other personal characteristics such as age, attitude and sensory impairment.

Question:

Outline ways in which employers may motivate their employees to comply with health and safety procedures.

Such ways as:

Improving, by training and by the provision of information, employees’ knowledge of the consequences of not working safely;
Showing the commitment of the organization to safety by providing resources and a safe working environment;
Involving employees in health and safety decisions by consultation and team meetings; and
Recognising and rewarding achievement.

Question:

Identify EIGHT measures that could be used by an organisation in order to monitor its health and safety performance.

Measures such as:

Rates of incidents, injuries and work-related ill-health;
Actions taken by enforcement authorities;
The number of civil claims;
The results of inspections and environmental monitoring;
Safety audit outcomes;
The degree of compliance with procedures (such as PPE usage);
Number of staff trained in health and safety; and
The results of medical and/or health surveillance.

Question:

Outline the possible effects on health and safety of poor standards of housekeeping in the workplace.

Possible effects on health and safety are:

slips (from spillages, oil/grease and slippery materials such as plastic);
trips and falls (eg from articles obstructing walkways);
an increased risk of fire (from a build-up of combustible materials); and
falling materials (eg from poor stacking arrangements).
an increased chance of coming into contact with chemicals (eg from poor storage arrangements);
the possibility of infestation, particularly if food is involved;
vehicle collisions if traffic routes are blocked; and
the effects on emergency evacuation if fire exits are obstructed.

Question:

Outline the reasons why employees may fail to comply with safety procedures at work.

Reasons such as:

Unrealistic or ill-considered procedures;
Mental and/or physical capabilities not taken into account;
Inadequate training;
Poor organisational safety culture;
Complacency/lack of motivation;
Peer group pressure; other priorities and pressures;
Risks not perceived; slips and lapses;
Fatigue and stress; and
Perceived lack of consultation.

Question:

Outline the issues that should be included in a training programme for employees on the emergency action to take in the event of a fire.

Typical issues to be included in a fire training programme relating to emergency action are:

Recognition of fire alarms and the actions to be taken;
Meanings of emergency signs;
Location of fire escape routes and assembly points;
Requirements for safe evacuation (eg. non-use of lifts, no running etc);
Location and operation of call points and other means of raising the alarm;
Location and use of firefighting equipment;
Consideration of people with special needs; and
The identity and role of fire marshals.

Question:

Identify four ‘personal’ factors that may place young persons at greater risk from workplace hazards.
Outline four measures to take to reduce the risk of accidents to young persons in the workplace.

Part (a)

Factors such as

Lack of knowledge, experience or
Lack of proper training,
The individual’s stage of physical development, and
The tendency of young persons to take risks and to respond more readily to peer group pressures.

Part (b)

Measures such as

Carrying out a specific risk assessment for young persons to identify, for example, risks from hazardous machinery, and from exposure to extreme temperatures, noise and vibration;
Ensuring the young persons were given induction training in site rules and highlighting restricted areas and precautions to be taken in case of fire;
Introducing specific training and instruction in their allotted tasks;
Introducing a mentor system and ensuring close supervision, particularly in the early weeks of employment.

Question:

Outline ways to help ensure the effectiveness of a health and safety committee.

One of the prime requirements in setting up an effective safety committee is to ensure that it has the full backing of senior management, that its membership constitutes an even balance between management and employee representatives (under the chairmanship of a fair, strong but diplomatic individual), and all of whom would be in a position to authorise agreed action.
It would be essential that time and resources are set aside for committee meetings which should be at a convenient time and notified in advance to all members with a copy of the agenda.
Items for discussion should be topical and relevant to the organisation and the safety adviser should always be present to provide professional health and safety advice.
Formal minutes should be prepared after each meeting including actions that have been agreed and a copy of these should be displayed where it is accessible to all employees so that they might be aware of the decisions that have been taken.

Question:

Giving the practical example, Explain the meaning of the term ‘human error’.
Outline the individual factors that may contribute to human errors occurring at work.

Part (a)

Human error – is an action or decision that was not intended, which involved a deviation from an accepted standard and which led to an undesirable outcome.

Part (b)

Factors that might contribute to human errors occurring at work include:

Age and/or past experience;
Perception of risk;
Physical capabilities or disabilities;
Sensory defects;
Attitude and aptitude;
Lack of motivation;
Fatigue and the effects of drugs or alcohol

NEBOSH IGC 1 | Health & Safety Management Systems – Organizing

NEBOSH IGC 1 Examiners Reports | Questions & Answers

Element 3: Health and Safety Management Systems: Organizing

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