Element-4
1. Define the terms Active and reactive monitoring?
* Active Monitoring:
Done before something goes wrong, involves routine inspections and checks to ensure that standards are met, policies are implemented and controls are adequate.
It measures the Progress.
* Reactive Monitoring:
Done after something goes wrong. Helps organizations to learn from mistakes and avoid recurrence.
It measures the Failure.
2. Define various type of Safety Inspections and things to be covered during ?
* Routine Inspection: To check general standards of health and safety.
* Statutory Inspection: By competent person to fulfill legal requirement (LT&T)
* Periodic Inspection: Plant and Machinery of a planned maintenance program
* Pre-use-checks: By workers before using plant and machinery (like forklift, crane etc)
4P's to cover during Inspection:
* Plants and substances
* Premises
* Procedures
* People
3. What factors to be considered to decide how often (frequency) active monitoring / inspections should take place?
* The level of risk in activity
* Manufacturers Recommendation
* Companies own policy
* Countries law
* Inspection and audit findings
* Accidents history and results of Investigation
* Complaints from workers
* Risk assessment
4. What are the topics to be covered in Generic Safety Inspection checklist?
* Housekeeping:
* Fire: Escape routes, fire detection, firefighting, emergency Procedures, proper storage of flammable materials.
* Chemicals: Storage and usage, PPE
* Electrical: proper usage of portable tools, protective devices
* Environment: adequate lighting, noise and dust control, space
* Vehicles: segregation of pedestrians, parking areas
5. Define Safety Sampling and Safety Tours?
* Safety Sampling:
Looking into a representative sample and deciding on compliance or non-compliance.
* Safety Tours:
Routine unplanned round taken by high level manager along with line manager, supervisor and workers. Objective is to observe workers behaviour and promotes consultation. Visible leadership.
6. What are the factors to be examined in reactive monitoring?
* Accident data
* I'll health data
* Absenteeism data
* Claims record
* Number of complaints recorded
* Prosecution
* Enforcement notices
7. What are the benefits of collecting Near Miss Data?
* We can identify underlying causes which may allow preventive actions
* Gives message to workforce that all failures all taken seriously.
* As number are more therefore provide greater understanding of the deficiencies in management system which can be identified and rectified.
8. Why it is important to learn lessons from beneficial and adverse events?
* Lesson learned from both is the learning gained from the process.
* Each success or failure needs to be analyzed, so that what had been done correctly and what has been not is known.
* Beneficial events will give confidence to management to replicate the process throughout.
* Similarly, adverse events needs to be investigated and root cause needs to be evaluated. The learnings to be communicated across the organization so as to avoid repetition.
* Lessons can be learned from other organizations also.
9. Explain Leading and Lagging indicators? Or Difference between leading and lagging indicators?
Leading Indicators:
* Proactive in nature.
* Includes safety initiatives or reported activities
* Goal is to prevent unfavorable events.
* Generated from active monitoring like safety Inspections, preventive maintenance
* Help to improve safety through awareness and prevention
* Examples - Number of Safety trainings / Tool Box talks / Risk Assessment planned vs actual, Results of Behavior and Safety audits, Participation in Safety Committee
Lagging Indicators:
* Include data from past like incidents and accidents statistics
* Generated from reactive monitoring like measuring hours lost due to reportable injuries.
* Prove to management that the steps taken to improve occupational health and safety is actually working.
* Examples - Injury frequency and severity, Lost workdays, Reportable incidents, Employee compensation cost, Chemical releases
10. What are the roles / function of incident investigation?
* Reactive monitoring and hence provides data to organizations for analysis.
* A proper investigation helps to understand why incident happened and what could be done to prevent it in future.
* Will tell what changes needs to be done in risk assessment by means of additional control measures.
* Investigation ensures staff isn't demoralized by the incident.
* Company might want to decide on disciplinary actions.
* It is a legal requirement.
* Investigation is required to process a claim from insurance agency.
* Helps in calculating cost of accident.
11. Explain the steps of incident investigation?
a) Gathering the information
* Observation: Camera, measuring tape, pen and notebook to note observations and take sketches.
* Interview: With the witnesses, In a quiet environment away from accident site, to be recorded and signed at the end, Open ended questions, with open mind and not jump to conclusions, thanking the witness.
* Documentation: Relevant policies, Training records, Maintenance records, Sickness and absenteeism records, Risk assessment, Safe System of work, Site plans and layout, Active monitoring records.
b) Analyzing the information
To find out the cause of incident
* Immediate Causes: immediate reason due to unsafe act or unsafe condition.
* Underlying Causes: Behind the immediate causes like time pressure, inadequate training, lack of maintenance.
* Root Causes: Normally point towards management deficiencies.
c) Identifying Risk Control Measures
* To prevent recurrence
* Practical
* Whether they will be use
* Whether they will remain effective
Must take care of immediate and route causes.
d) Action Plan and it's implementation
Who will do what and by when.
12. What are the barriers in incident reporting?
* No reporting policy in place.
* Work culture of not reporting
* Workers not aware about roles and responsibilities.
* There is a blame culture in the organization, workers are afraid of disciplinary actions
* Filling forms take too long
* There is peer pressure that prevents reporting.
* Once reported there is poor management response
* To prevent department statistics which may impact incentives
13. Define Audit?
Audit is a systematic, independent and documented process for obtaining audit evidence and evaluating it objectively to determine the extent to which the audit criteria are fulfilled.
14. Why health and safety management system should be audited?
* To verify that health and safety management system is appropriate.
* To verify if implementation is done correctly with appropriate risk controls.
* To verify the results obtained against set goals.
* To identify reasons of failure of management system
* To learn from mistakes and avoid recurrence.
* To evaluate effectiveness of controls in place, process / system.
* To demonstrate the leadership commitment and duty of care.
15. What are the differences between Audit and Inspection?
Audit Inspection
* Examines documents Checks workplace
* Examines procedures Checks records
* Interview workers Usually quick
* Verify costs Lower cost
* Checks Workplace Basic Competence
* Long process Maybe part of audit
* Usually expensive Done by a team
* Done by trained auditor
16. What are the different types of audits?
a) Product / Service Safety Audit:
Examination of a product or service, such as hardware, processed material or software, to evaluate whether it confirms to requirment.
b) Process Audit:
Verifies that process are working within established limits. Evaluates an operation or method to check:
* Conformance to defined requirements such as time, temperature, pressure.
* Examine the resources (equipment, material, people), environment, methods (procedures, instructions).
* Checks the adequacy and effectiveness of process controls.
c) System Audit:
Conducted on a management system. Documented activity performed to verify, by examination and evaluation of objective evidence, that applicable elements are appropriate and effective.
17. What are the advantages and disadvantages of Internal Audit?
Advantages:
* Less expensive
* Auditors are familiar with workplace and what is practicable for industry.
* Can see changes from last audit.
* Improves ownership of issues identified.
* Builds internal competencies.
* Workforce may be at ease.
* Familiarity with individuals.
Disadvantages:
* Auditors may not notice certain issues.
* Less knowledge of industry and legal standards.
* Lack of auditing skills
* Auditors are part of system so may be subjected to internal influence.
18. What are the advantages and disadvantages of external audit?
Advantages:
* Independent of any internal influence.
* Fresh pair of eyes.
* Experienced in auditing.
* Recommendation may carry more weight.
* More up to date with the law and best practices.
* Maybe more critical.
Disadvantages:
* Expensive
* Time consuming
* May not understand the business so make impractical suggestions
* May intimidate workers and so get incomplete evidence.
19. Explain the stages in Auditing?
a) Pre-audit Preparations:
Before start of audit to define:
* The scope of audit
* The area of audit
* The extent of audit
* Who will be required
* Information gathering - documents required to prepare for audit
b) Competency of the Auditor
* Relevant certification, experience in conducting similar audits, knowledge of company process.
c) During the Audit
* Paperwork or documentation:
Typically auditor may look at following documents to gain evidence of conformity - Policy, Risk assessment, SSOW, Training records, Minutes of safety Committee meetings, Maintenance records, Active monitoring records, Reactive monitoring records, Emergency arrangements, mock drills records, Inspection reports by insurance agencies, output of regulatory visits, worker complaints.
* Interviews: with workers and managers to understand how well the policies are understood and their roles and responsibilities.
* Observations: Field visit to observe behavior and correct implementation of SSOW.
d) End of Audit:
Major non-conformance
Minor non-conformance
Observations
20. Why to review health and safety performance?
* Identify weakness in management systems.
* Determine cause to prevent recurrence
* Identify weakness in risk assessment
* Demonstrate management commitment
* Comply with country's legal requirement
* Collect data to establish losses
* Provide information for civil/criminal actions
* Provide information to insurance company
* To meet requirment of stakeholders and shareholders.
21. What needs to be considered in health and safety review?
* Pending actions from previous reviews
* Legal compliance
* Findings of active monitoring:
Safety Inspections
Safety Tours
* Reactive monitoring data:
Accident and Incident data
Absence and sickness data
* Quality assurance reports
* Audit reports
* Monitoring data / records / reports
* External communication and complaints
* Consultation
* Objectives status
* Legal and best practice development
