Hazard identification, risk assessment and risk control: a study at construction site

Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) is an Act to make further provisions for securing the safety, health and welfare of persons at work, for protecting others against risks to safety or health in connection with the activities of persons at work, to establish the National Council for Occupational Safety and Health, and for matters connected therewith. This study focuses on infrastructure construction in Pagoh Education Hub. In present days, despite of knowledge in OSHA act, workers often proceed the work without considering any safety precaution or act at workplace as stated in OSHA Act. Due to ignorance of workers and employee on OSHA Act, workers are exposed to danger and hazard at their workplace causing them minor or worst fatal injury. The data collection was carried out through site investigation using Preliminary Hazard Analysis (PHA), HIRARC form and interview session with several workers in the constructio. The main objective of this study is to support the idea to coordinate and redefined the practice of occupational safety and health as workers discipline at their workplace based on existing potential hazard. This study was conducted to identify the hazard that occur at the workplace and analyse the safety precaution taken by the workers and employer to avoid accidents. As a result, this study listed several suggestions to improve the practice of occupational safety and health among workers in the workplace

Health and safety in hospitality

Health and safety involves rules and regulations at the workplace. It is important at workplaces to protect employers and employees from accidents and injuries. The aim of this research project is to identify health and safety issues at motels, identify possible causes of those problems, provide some potential solutions to solve those problems, and suggest ways to develop a safe work environment. Observation was used as a primary research method. Results show that staff are not following the health and safety rules properly and managers do not inspect or observe properly. Common hazards in motels are slips, trips and falls, forceful exertions, and musculoskeletal disorders. Lack of health and safety education and training prior to commencement of work, carelessness, ignorance, lack of inspections, are some of the reasons for workplace accidents. Both managers and workers are responsible for keeping the workplace safe and healthy. Recommendations include frequent and timely inspections at the workplace, verbal warnings to workers, a health and safety meeting prior to starting work, and meeting to remind them every day, as well as motivating and rewarding employees to encourage them to develop a safe working culture

Design for safety: theoretical framework of the safety aspect of BIM system to determine the safety index

Despite the safety improvement drive that has been implemented in the construction industry in Singapore for many years, the industry continues to report the highest number of workplace fatalities, compared to other industries. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the theoretical framework of the safety aspect of a proposed BIM System to determine a Safety Index. An online questionnaire survey was conducted to ascertain the current workplace safety and health situation in the construction industry and explore how BIM can be used to improve safety performance in the industry. A safety hazard library was developed based on the main contributors to fatal accidents in the construction industry, determined from the formal records and existing literature, and a series of discussions with representatives from the Workplace Safety and Health Institute (WSH Institute) in Singapore. The results from the survey suggested that the majority of the firms have implemented the necessary policies, programmes and procedures on Workplace Safety and Health (WSH) practices. However, BIM is still not widely applied or explored beyond the mandatory requirement that building plans should be submitted to the authorities for approval in BIM format. This paper presents a discussion of the safety aspect of the Intelligent Productivity and Safety System (IPASS) developed in the study. IPASS is an intelligent system incorporating the buildable design concept, theory on the detection, prevention and control of hazards, and the Construction Safety Audit Scoring System (ConSASS). The system is based on the premise that safety should be considered at the design stage, and BIM can be an effective tool to facilitate the efforts to enhance safety performance. IPASS allows users to analyse and monitor key aspects of the safety performance of the project before the project starts and as the project progresses

Occupational safety and health practice: a study at quarry site by using hirarc form

Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) is a discipline with wide scope involving many specialized fields. In other words, occupational health and safety comprises of aspects in terms of social, mental and physical. This study focuses on the occupational safety and health act ABC Quarry Site located in Kedah. Nowadays, the workers lack of safety and health practice from their companies based on the observations being done one site during this project’s site visit. It is very important for the employers to manage occupational safety and health at the workplace because of the lack of management control often leads to the existence of causes of accidents and allows for unsafe practices among the workers. The data collection was carried out through site investigation and HIRARC form and interview with the person in charge during the site visit. The objective of this study is to promote the occupational environment adaptable to the employer and employees at the workplace based on the existing potential hazard. This report was conducted to identify the hazard on the construction site and to analyse the occupational safety and health in the workplace. This study suggests recommendations for improving occupational safety and health act in the construction site. Effective job safety and health training will help to reduce worker injuries and illnesses

Workplace Safety Policy: Past, Present, and Future

With an annual budget of about $400 million, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is about 5 percent the size of the Environmental Protection Agency, another federal agency created by President Richard M. Nixon in 1970, the "Year of the Environment." Nearly all workers in the United States come under OSHA's juridction, with some notable exceptions, including miners, transportation workers, many public employees, and people who are self-employed. OSHA is currently responsible for ptoecting over 100 million workers at 6 million work sites with the help of only about 2,000 workplace health and safety inspectors. Nevertheless, suppoers of OSHA argue that it has significantly improved worker safety over the last 30 years and that a beefed-up enforcement effort would produce even greater improvements. We examine the available evidence and find little support to the notion that OSHA has effectively reduced accidents and diseases in the workplace or that a more vigorous enforcement campaign would be likely to do so. Other policy instruments--tort laws, state Workers' Compensation insurance programs, and research and public education on the causes and consequences of work hazards--now keep workplace deaths and injuries low and can reduce them even more. The wage premiums, estimated at$210 billion per year, that workers receive for accepting job-related health hazards give employers a stronger economic incentive to eliminate workplace health and safety hazards than the $132 million per year in fines imposed by OSHA and its state counterparts for violations of workplace safety standards. Because of the heterogeneity of workers and firms, we argue that public policy should expand the economic incentives for workplace safety while allowing firms and workers freedom to discover on their own the best ways to improve workplace safety.

Immigrant Workers at Risk: The Urgent Need for Improved Workplace Safety and Health Policies and Programs

[Excerpt] Foreign-born workers are likely to toil in high-risk occupations, work in the unregulated, “informal” economy and often fear reporting workplace injuries. Many are not aware of their legal rights to safety and health on the job and to workers’ compensation if they are injured. The AFL-CIO report, Immigrant Workers at Risk: The Urgent Need for Improved Workplace Safety and Health Policies and Programs, examines how these factors contribute to the alarming rates of injury and death on the job among immigrants and discusses the detrimental economic effects of such workplace injuries and death across society

Construction safety : development of an assessment tool to reduce risk on building sites

Australian construction and building workers are exposed to serious workplace risks - including injury, illness and death - and although there have been improvements in occupational health and safety (OHS) performance over the past 20 years, the injury and fatality rate in the Australian construction industry remains a matter of concern. The concept of safety culture is rapidly being adopted in the industry, including recognising the critical role that organisational leaders play in overall safety performance. This paper reviews recent research in construction safety leadership and provides some examples and applications relevant to risk reduction in the workforce. By focusing on developing safety competency in those that fulfil safety critical roles, and clearly articulating the relevant safety management tasks, leaders can positively influence the organisation’s safety culture. Finally, some promising research on Safety Effectiveness Indicators (SEIs) may be an industry-friendly solution to reducing workplace risks across the industry, by providing a credible, accurate, and timely measure of safety performance

Safety boots

Nowadays, safety boots are necessary and essential to workers in order to avoid harm and injury at a workplace. Safety boots can be defined as a personal protective equipment (PPE) for foot protection at workplace from getting foot injuries caused by sharp object, hot object, splinters, and corrosive from chemical. Safety boots are further divided into 2 style which is formal and informal. The use of safety boots is mandatory in a work environment such as: • Handling hard and heavy object • Involve in handling round object that may dropped at your feet • Workplaces that are hazardous • Work that involved sharp object • Working with electric cable • Work on a floor with static electricit

Workplace Violence: Why Every State Must Adopt a Comprehensive Workplace Violence Prevention Law

[Excerpt] On August 24, 2012, a fired clothing designer gunned down a former co-worker outside the Empire State Building in New York City. The violent act was the culmination of built up tension between two former co-workers. Their anger towards one another had already resulted in at least one physical confrontation at work that led to both men filing police reports against each other. This case is an extreme example of workplace violence; however, workplace violence takes many forms and occurs with great regularity. Nearly 2 million employees are victims of workplace violence annually. The Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (“OSH Act”) is not well-enforced and therefore fails to provide protection to employees subjected to workplace violence. This article explores what can be done to better protect workers at the state level. Part I of this article reviews the phenomenon of workplace violence. Part II discusses the lack of enforcement of the OSH Act as it relates to workplace violence. Part III of this article describes how some states choose to supplement the OSH Act with their own workplace violence laws. Finally, Part IV proposes that state legislatures should adopt a law in line with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”) promulgated suggestions to provide legal protections for workers against workplace violence. Since Congress has yet to enact federal legislation that provides comprehensive workplace violence prevention, all states must enact legislation beyond the OSH Act to protect their workers

The 2008 Newsletter of the International Association of Labour Inspection

: The IALI newsletter reflects on the organization’s activities in 2008, which included involvement in a number of conferences and reports addressing workplace monitoring, forced labor and human trafficking, workplace stress, migrant workers, and health and safety issues. The newsletter gives a summary plan for the organizations 2009 goals