Work Safety Risk Assessment And Management – Importance And Strategies

Why work safety is important for business organizations?

Business organisations are focused on developing their overall quality of business operations and for that purpose the organisations are adopting a number of strategies. Employees are integral part of an organisation. Therefore, the management must be implementing suitable policies and legislations for them so that they are able to boost the productivity of the organisation (Hofmann, Burke & Zohar, 2017). Work safety is an important aspect which works behind the effectiveness of the employees of an organisation. The safety of the workers is the topmost priority and the companies should be focused about improving it. This report provides the reader a brief idea about work safety in the country. Work safety risk assessment has been done on a chosen organisation along with proper recommendations to improve the work condition and safeguard the workers from workplace hazards. It also highlights important policies regarding work safety and work health to help the readers to gain better understanding of the situation.

Risks and hazards are not same. Hazard is regarded as a condition or act which is capable of causing damage to the people or things around it. On the other hand, risk is likelihood of future consequences. Every organisation is likely to have certain risks which might impact the overall well-being of the workers. The risks are not only harmful for the workers, but also for the entire organisation in the long run (Amponsah-Tawiah & Mensah, 2016). The business organisations must identity the risk factors associated with the business operations so that the employee safety can be assured. If an employee feels safe and protected, it affects their productivity in a positive way; thereby, boosting the overall growth of the organisation (Lundgren & McMakin, 2018). The presence of risk factors for a long time can result in unwanted hazards which might impact the efficiency of the workers. To ensure that such hazards do not take place, an employer is required to identify the risk factors present in the organisational scenario and take needful measures to eliminate those (Kearney, Rodriguez, Quandt, Arcury & Arcury, 2015). It is highly necessary for the organisations to have proper risk management practices at place. There are six steps of risk management through which an organisation can eliminate the risk factors present in its system and keep its workers safe. At first, the hazards should be identified, followed by concise identification of the risks. Then thorough risk assessment is to be conducted to assess the risk factors. Then risk control techniques should be adopted to ensure that the risks are eliminated positively (Brauer, 2016). Afterwards, the related information needs to be documented in an appropriate manner. At last, the risk management procedures are to be monitored in order to review the effectiveness of the same (Chari et al. 2018).

Understanding Hazards and Risks

As discussed earlier, work safety is a major concern for every business organisation. It is of utmost importance to make sure that the workers are safeguarded from potential risks through well-structured risk management processes. The foundation of proper risk control techniques is an accurate work safety risk assessment, on the basis of which the entire risk control is planned (Howard, 2017). Inaccuracy in risk assessment can result in improper risk management, leading to higher levels of employee dissatisfaction and employee turnover. To gain better understanding regarding proper work safety risk assessment, the potential risks of a local factory is assessed and elaborated accordingly.

Name of Assessor:	Jonathon Brown	Location:	Melbourne
Date:	23rd June, 2018	Review Date:

Hazards involved:	Risk Rating: (high, medium, low)	Control Measure:	Person responsible:	Date Completed:
1. Unguarded gear wheel which is likely to draw the clothing or limbs of a worker into the machine and cause physical injuries.	High	Provision of long- lasting protection guard over the wheel to ensure it does not get contacted with the clothing or limbs of the workers.	Company management	3rd March. 2018
2. An unlabelled acid container which can cause severe burn in skin if not handled carefully.	High	Labelling all the acid containers which are unlabelled and keeping them in a safe place.	Resources handling department	21st March, 2018
3. Poor handling of flammable liquids in front of ignition sources.	High	Keeping ignition sources as far as possible when flammable liquids are being handled.	Workers	6th April, 2018
4. Massive noise coming from an old machine which is not properly maintained like the new ones. This might impact the hearing of the workers onsite.	Medium	Provision of noise protector to the workers and making them aware about its usage. Also, Mandatory maintenance of old machines.	Company management	22nd May, 2018
5. A small rod, which is hanging dangerously over the entrance, can cause injuries if it falls down.	Medium	Removal of the rod from the entrance and check for other hanging rods or vice versa.	Company management	28th May, 2018

Vulnerable workers are the ones who are most likely to be affected by the potential risks associated with the business operations. The vulnerable workers can be of different types such as newly joined workers, young workers, poorly trained workers, less skilled workers, unmindful workers, new immigrant workers etc (Zwetsloot, Leka & Kines, 2017). In the above scenario, the factory is having a wide number of workers who are associated with the business operations conducted inside the factory. In this particular factory, the most vulnerable work population is the workers who are newly recruited and has no prior experience of working in a factory setting. These workers are likely to be unaware about various work practices taking place in a factory. In addition to this, freshly recruited workers with no prior experience usually have to practical knowledge of handling heavy large-sized machineries (Holt & Allen, 2015). Therefore, they are more prone to frequent accidents and are primary target of the hazards and risks in the workplace. To safeguard the vulnerable workers, it is important for the employer to implement training programmes for the new workers which will allow them to familiarize themselves with the work practices and associated risk factors. The new workers should be motivated to use safety gears to protect themselves. Also, the newly recruited workers should be provided with thorough knowledge about handling heavy machineries (Tetrick, Perrewé & Griffin, 2017). The supervisors should keep a watchful eye on the vulnerable workers so that they are safeguarded from potential hazards and physical injuries. 

The business organisations are focused on introducing new strategies to upgrade their business operations. As employee satisfaction is directly related to organisational growth, it is essential for the employers to take care of the requirements of the employees. One of the key requirements is health and safety needs. The health of the workers is of much importance to ensure high levels of employee satisfaction. If an employee is affected by the business operations then the job satisfaction level will downgrade. Hence, the organisations should ensure that proper work safety policies are at place. There are a number of policies in this context, such as, Work Health and Safety Act 2011, Machinery Act 1949, Scaffolding and Lifts Act 1912, Dangerous Substances Act 2004, Fuels Control Act 1979, Workers Compensation Act 1951, Dangerous Goods (Road Transport Act) 2009, Long Service Leave Act 1976 etc (Scanlon, Lloyd, Gray, Francis & LaPuma, 2015). All these policies are aimed towards ensuring good health and overall well-being of the employees. These policies not only safeguard the employees from risks, but also cover them post any fatal accident at workplace (Donham & Thelin, 2016). Therefore, the presence of well-defined policies is a must to ensure safe work environment.

Six steps of risk management

The factory, on which the risk assessment has been done, must follow certain steps in order to ensure a safe and secure work environment for the workers. It is recommended that,

• The management should conduct frequent risk assessments to ensure the workers are safe from any unwanted mishaps,
• The old as well as new machineries should be maintained properly at least thrice a month,
• The supervisors must ensure the safety of vulnerable workers and monitor them for initial few months,
• An unlabelled liquid should be labelled and unguarded sharp objects should be provided with metal guards,
• Training programmes should be conducted for the workers to upgrade the skills and practical knowledge,
• Workers should be influenced to use needful safety gears, and the management must ensure sufficient gears are available in accordance to the number of workers,
• Any abnormality in workplace or in machines should be reported to the supervisor at once,
• Work safety policies should be followed by the employers.

Conclusion 

Work safety is a much anticipated subject as it is responsible for employee turnover and employee dissatisfaction. The employers must ensure that their employees are well-protected. Once the employees are satisfied with the safety policies and actions taken by organisation, their productivity at workplace would increase, giving a positive boost to the organisational growth. This report contains a number of factors associated with work safety. The report aims to provide the reader with a thorough idea about the implications of work safety and needful measures to ensure a safe work environment 

References

Amponsah-Tawiah, K., & Mensah, J. (2016). Occupational health and safety and organizational commitment: evidence from the Ghanaian mining industry. Safety and Health at work, 7(3), 225-230.

Brauer, R. L. (2016). Safety and health for engineers. John Wiley & Sons.

Chari, R., Chang, C. C., Sauter, S. L., Sayers, E. L. P., Cerully, J. L., Schulte, P., … & Uscher-Pines, L. (2018). Expanding the paradigm of occupational safety and health: a new framework for worker well-being. Journal of occupational and environmental medicine, 60(7), 589-593.

Donham, K. J., & Thelin, A. (2016). Agricultural medicine: Rural occupational and environmental health, safety, and prevention. John Wiley & Sons.

Hofmann, D. A., Burke, M. J., & Zohar, D. (2017). 100 years of occupational safety research: From basic protections and work analysis to a multilevel view of workplace safety and risk. Journal of Applied Psychology, 102(3), 375.

Holt, A. S. J., & Allen, J. (2015). Principles of health and safety at work. Routledge.

Howard, J. (2017). Nonstandard work arrangements and worker health and safety. American journal of industrial medicine, 60(1), 1-10.

Kearney, G. D., Rodriguez, G., Quandt, S. A., Arcury, J. T., & Arcury, T. A. (2015). Work safety climate, safety behaviors, and occupational injuries of youth farmworkers in North Carolina. American journal of public health, 105(7), 1336-1343.

Lundgren, R. E., & McMakin, A. H. (2018). Risk communication: A handbook for communicating environmental, safety, and health risks. John Wiley & Sons.

Scanlon, K. A., Lloyd, S. M., Gray, G. M., Francis, R. A., & LaPuma, P. (2015). An approach to integrating occupational safety and health into life cycle assessment: Development and application of work environment characterization factors. Journal of industrial ecology, 19(1), 27-37.

Tetrick, L. E., Perrewé, P. L., & Griffin, M. (2017). Employee work-related health, stress, and safety. In Handbook of employee selection (pp. 530-553). Routledge.

Zwetsloot, G., Leka, S., & Kines, P. (2017). Vision zero: from accident prevention to the promotion of health, safety and well-being at work. Policy and Practice in Health and Safety, 15(2), 88-100.