What are ‘Safe Systems of Work’?

What are ‘Safe Systems of Work’?

‘Safe Systems of Work’ refers to a process where a step-by-step approach to Managing Health & Safety Hazards and controlling the associated Risk(s) to avoid injury has been taken

Implementing a ‘Safe Systems of Work’ consists of a simple 5-Step process to managing a specific Work Task and associated Hazards.

Once the Task has been planned

1. Identify the Hazard(s) then;

2. Assess the Hazard(s):

· Are they High, Medium or Low Risk?

· Can you Eliminate or Isolate the Hazard(s)? 

· If not how can you Minimize the Hazard(s) This is Risk Control

3. Define Safe Practices;

4. Implement the agreed “Safe System of Work”; and continue to

5. Monitor the System Example: In the last year or so there have been multiple rural fatalities involving:

·  [deaths from falls and crushing, including children];

· Electrocution [lethal wiring];

· Suffocation [confined space];

· Unguarded machinery severing limb [bled to death] as well as many serious injuries from handling livestock.

Health* has been impacted from Skin Cancer; [many deaths from melanoma]; Leptospirosis; [one death] and mishandling of chemicals [unknown number of deaths].

Health affects may take many years [up to 30] before any occupational illness occurs. Often links with chemical exposure are not recorded as work related illness or death

Hazard Identification

There are 3 Methods of Identifying Hazards. 

Method 1

Method 1 ~ Hazards Identified by Task Analysis

As part of a Systematic Task Analysis Process. The specific task is analysed - step-by-step, using a Team approach.

With plant or machinery this should include a tradesperson.

At each step level, questions are asked regarding safety/health/quality/productivity and identified hazards noted on the Task Analysis Work Sheet.

Control action is also noted.

If a physical hazard is noted, such as an unguarded moving part, then the maintenance employee can advise ways of controlling the hazard.

Once Task Analysis has been completed thoroughly for all Tasks, then a good percentage of Hazards will have been identified. 

Method 2

Identifying hazards is a matter of discovering situations in which energy sources are being used without adequate control.  See below for ENERGY LIST

In the overwhelming majority of cases, injury and damage will arise out of a contact with a source of energy above the threshold limit of a body or structure.

Depending upon the type of workplace and/or task, there will be many varied sources of energy present; all that have the potential to cause harm.

Recognising the concept of uncontrolled energy, a series of checklists can be worked through looking for Hazards generally associated with the following forms of energy.

Uncontrolled Energy - the cause of injury and damage

1.      GRAVITY ENERGY  e.G. Falls, crashes, falling objects
2.      KINETIC ENERGY  e.G. Impacts, collisions, crashes
3.      ELECTRICAL ENERGY  e.G. Shock, arcing, static caused explosions
4.      MECHANICAL ENERGY  e.G. Crushing, breaking, shearing, cutting, straining
5.      CHEMICAL ENERGY  e.G. Fires, poisoning, corrosion, explosives, cancer
6.      THERMAL ENERGY  e.G. Fires, explosions, burns, stress, frostbite
7.      PRESSURE ENERGY  e.G. Vessel ruptures, leaks, explosions
8.      ACCOUSTICAL ENERGY  e.G. Hearing loss, metal fatigue, soft tissue injury (caused by noise and vibration)
9.      RADIATION ENERGY e.G. Tissue damage, burns, arc eye damage, skin cancer
10.  BIOMECHANICAL ENERGY e.G. Strains, sprains, hernias, asphyxiation suffocation,choking, heart attack
11.  MICROBIOLOGICAL ENERGY e.G. Bacteria [legionella, anthrax], fungi, viruses etc
  

Method 3

A general check of the working environment will reveal further hazards, not necessarily Task specific or even Energy related, but Hazards such as poor lighting, computer workstation hazards, slippery surfaces, lack of handrails, damaged floors/roads (cracks and holes) and traffic/mobile plant movements etc.

USING A COMBINATION OF THESE 3 METHODS, A MORE COMPREHENSIVE LIST OF HAZARDS WILL BE PRODUCED. 

Systems Failure

Systems Failure Analysis is based on the Deming philosophy that Occupational Safety & Health, like Quality, is primarily the result of senior management actions and decisions and not the result of actions taken by "workers".
Deming stresses that it is the "system" of work that determines how work is performed and only managers can create the system and improve it.  Only managers can allocate resources, provide training, select the equipment and tools used and provide the plant and the environment necessary to achieve high standards of occupational health and safety.  

The people who work in the system have little or no influence over 85+% of the causes of
accidents that are built into the system; only management action can change the system.
Employees can only be responsible for resolution of special safety problems caused by actions or events directly under their control.

Are accidents really such or are they more accurately described as performance imperfections of human and physical resources that should be under the control of a responsible management?