After graduating from your Specialist Diploma course, you have been promoted to a senior project executive at Anaco Infrastructure Group Pte Ltd, and have been invited to join the Workplace Safety & Health Committee in your organization as a member. The role of the Workplace Safety & Health Committee is to ensure Safety & Health awareness, and implementation in an organization. As you are a new member to this committee there are a lot of information which you will need to understand bearing in mind of the legal implications for all employer and employees under the WSH Act. Below is some of the information which you will need to have strong knowledge before attending your first committee meeting where your CEO is the chairman. It is expected that he will ask you questions on these during the committee meeting to ensure senior management commitment which is in-line with Ministry of Manpower’s objective.
1.The WSH (Scaffold) regulations 2011 are the guidelines made by the Ministry of Manpower of Singapore under the Workplace Safety and Health Act to ensure the safety of the workers from the health and safety hazards which applies to workplaces specifically in which any scaffold is being built or deconstructed, as the chances of risks are higher in there than most of the professions. It has elucidated multiple rules covering everything from top quality materials which must be used to safety equipment and standards for workers. Anyone who refuses to follow these guidelines will be found guilty of this offence and will be required to pay a heavy penalty and even imprisonment. Perry (2003) stated that safety and health culture is of chief significance in commercial operations and will remain so in coming times. Ariss (2003, p. 10) stated that the most apparent outcome will be a drop in the rate of mishaps and other dangers. Hence, in my opinion, these guidelines are a step closer to safeguarding the safety of the staff and ensuring the implementation of using quality materials which will prove beneficial in the future as well. This regulation is also an excellent provision for regulating the safety standards for scaffolds and instilling a sense of responsibility amongst contractors towards their workforces. The penalty being charged for this offence will also help in maintaining the law enforcement.
2.A risk matrix is a medium utilized to determine the degree of risk by considering the classification of probabilities in contrast to the set of magnitude severity during risk calculation. It is simply a device to enhance discernibility of risks plus support administrations judgments.
Figure 1. Risk Matrix (Source: Western Sydney University 2016)
Figure 1 shows all dangers have the prospective to originate various kinds plus degrees of damage, stretching from slight distress to severe wounds even death. The terms denote-
- Catastrophic- Death otherwise permanent disability
- Major- Severe injury, hospital treatment obligatory
- Moderate- Injury demanding medicinal treatment plus lost time
- Minor- Trivial injury, first aid necessary
- Superficial- Injuries needing no treatment
Hierarchy of controls is a method utilized in business to reduce or eradicate vulnerability to dangers. It is commonly encouraged by various safety establishments to teach the administrators the customary exercise in workstation.
WSH (Scaffold) regulations 2011
Figure 2. Risk Matrix (Source: Western Sydney University 2016)
Figure 2 shows the danger controls in hierarchy in direction of declining efficiency:
- Eliminate- Eradicate it completely
- Substitute- Use a safer substitute
- Isolate- Use a physical obstruction
- Engineer- Alterations to tools
- Administrative controls- Implement training strategies
- PPE- Personal protective equipment like gloves, safety glasses and footwear, etc.
3.Health hazards at work are common throughout and most of the accidents happen due to falling from high altitudes, loose planking, falling fragments or tools, electrocution, etc. The workers are highly prone to such danger which is why the WSH Act was enabled to ensure their welfare at workplaces. If in a scenario, a worker is injured due to electrocution which took place because of faulty wiring, the stakeholder is the one who will be held responsible as per the WSH Act for failing to take control measures to have prevented the mishap. As Stranks (2006) stated that the element of safety and health structure is concerned mainly with administrative authorities and they will be held accountable for any calamity that will take place as it occurred under their supervision. Stranks (2016) stated that the degree to which hazards and threats will be taken seriously will also decide the application of the WSH Act. As in the recent years, more stakeholders in Singapore have taken accountabilities of WSH materials to embrace it wholly and apply it in their administrations to ensure their members safety. As Singapore faces evolving WSH tasks, a renewed effort is made to address it in an inclusive way so as to control the safety and health environment of the workplace.
4.Mottiar (2004) cites that incidents occurring at workplaces cost the company a heavy loss of money and workforce, both. If an incident takes place, safety measures must be taken up immediately to prevent further loss and the event must be reported to the authorities without fail, no matter how minor it is. It is extremely significant to make the authorities aware of the mishap which has taken place as one is legally bound to do so under the WSH regulations plus it will assist in recognizing the dangers and averting them further from happening. Mossink (2002) reported that an incident report must contain all the vital information about the event. We can fill the incident reporting form for filing the report, which must consist of four major elements- details, order, analysis and recommendations. The report must consist of all the matter in detail like date, time, witnesses, injury, location, circumstances, treatment, etc. The order of events must be mentioned clearly to help picture what happened accurately. Next, we have the analysis where one must do a comprehensive analysis of the origins of the accident and finally the recommendations which will contain of the preventive measures to be taken up like employee training on health and safety practices amongst many others to avert any dangers beforehand.
5.Tunneling and Excavation works are frequent activities in Singapore as it is a developing country. Shirlaw (2016) stated that tunneling and excavation are activities which come with higher levels of risks and threats due to the restricted working environment, lack of natural light and air circulation, plus the usage of hefty equipment. There is a specific code of practice under the WHS Act which must be followed to protect personnel from severe injuries that can result from potential dangers while working underground. It delivers a practical guidance for people leading the task to handle the health hazard concerned with excavation and tunneling works. It is reported that the speed of the excavation failure enhances the dangers concerned with this kind of work making the consequences very threatening (UCONN 2017). To prevent any mishaps, one must recognize and asses the risk beforehand to define the control measures which are to be applied. The hierarchy of control measures must be applied here to minimalize the risks and it must be regulated as well to ensure the proper functioning of it. One must train the employees effectively and always have an emergency plan at hand to deal with unexpected incidents. In addition, it should be ensured that the site is protected from unlicensed entrance from members of public. Adequate ventilation must be facilitated to eliminate smoke generated and supply of hygienic air must be maintained.
Risk Matrix
6.The three basic principles of the WSH Act are to:
- Diminish threats- To do so it must be done by its sources where the sponsors will look after to eradicate or minimalize them efficiently.
- Inspiring companies- So that they embrace the safety and health culture within their company setting a good example.
- Enforce greater fines- For bad safety administration plus results, they must be penalized which goes to show its hefty consequences if not followed correctly.
To accomplish these values in an organization, one must make sure to always concentrate on obedience. It’s stated that ensuring the approved principles, processes plus control methods are durable and efficient is mandatory (Workplace Safety and Health Council 2016). It is rather obligatory to effectively communicate the complete guidelines to all levels of the firm so that each person is aware of it. Furthermore, a sufficient quantity of chief individuals must be trained properly for the implementation of this act to the whole company. To apply these guidelines, sustainability is key and not speed. It is preferred to carry out few principles throughout the year rather than apply everything only for a year and motivate the whole company to follow it by leading with example.
7.‘Reasonably practicable’ is basically a finer term than ‘physically possible’ where the stakeholder must calculate the significance of danger and the expense of the methods mandatory for preventing the risk. Burke, Clarke & Cooper (2012) showed that the employer must take reasonably practicable actions to eradicate or decrease health and safety threats. So, for example, like Anaco manufactures stainless steel couplings and traditional and heavy machinery is used for its creation, putting the employees at risk. In this case, the firm will check with its employees to help in recognizing the risk concerned with the work and the potential harm to the machinists to minimalize the probability of dangers. Ridley (2008) stated that stopping an activity totally is not a practical substitute. So, Anaco decides to buy a modern electronic machine and install it and further train its employees efficiently to utilize the machine thereby reducing the risk of dangers. However, the efficiency of the risk controls must be reviewed after a certain amount of time by consulting with the workers about it so that the regulation is maintained to keep the efficiency of the machine intact and the safety of the employees which will assist in implementing the WSH Act.
References
Ariss, SS 2003, ‘Employee Involvement to Improve Safety in the Workplace: An Ethical Imperative’, American Journal of Business, Vol. 18, Issue: 2, pp. 9-16.
Burke, RJ, Clarke, S & Cooper, CL 2012, Occupational Health and Safety, Gower Publishing Limited, England.
Mossink, J 2002, Inventory of Socioeconomic costs of Work Accidents. European Agency for Safety and Health at Work, viewed October 19 2018, <https://edz.bib.uni-mannheim.de/www-edz/pdf/osha/report-207-en.pdf>.
Mottiar, Z 2004, Feasibility Study on Estimation of Costs of Workplace Accidents, Work-Related Ill-Health and Non-Injury Incidents in Ireland, Health and Safety Organization, viewed October 18 2018, <https://www.hsa.ie/eng/Publications_and_Forms/Publications/Research_Publications/Mottiar_Feasibility_Study.pdf>.
Perry, P 2003, Health and Safety: Questions and Answers: A Practical Approach, Thomas Telford, London.
Ridley, J 2008, Health and Safety: In Brief, 4th edn, Butterworth-Heinemann Limited, London.
Shirlaw, N 2016, Singapore tunneling: Challenges and innovations in complex mixed ground conditions, Golder Associates, viewed October 19 2018, <https://www.researchgate.net/publication/305905136_Singapore_tunneling_Challenges_and_innovations_in_complex_mixed_ground_conditions>.
Stranks, JW 2010, Health and Safety at Work: An Essential Guide for Managers, 9th edn, Kogan Page Publishers, London.
Stranks, JW 2006, The A-Z of Health and Safety, Thorogood Publishing Ltd, London.
UCONN, 2017, Excavation and Trenching Procedures, Environmental Health and Safety, viewed October 17 2018, <https://media.ehs.uconn.edu/Occupational/GeneralSafety/ExcavationandTrenchingProcedures.pdf>.
Western Sydney University 2016, Risk Management 101, WSU, Penrith, NSW.
Workplace Safety and Health Council, 2016, Improving Workplace Health Management in Singapore, WSH Council, viewed October 17 2018, <https://www.wshc.sg/files/wshc/upload/cms/file/Improving_WSH_Management_Singapore.pdf>.
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