Occupational Safety And Health Management System

Published Date: 02 Nov 2017

1.0 Introduction

Industrialisation and mechanisation has led to the occurrence of new risk by introduction of new and sophisticated machines. In order to prevent the occurrence of accidents within the workplace, it essential that the proper tools are used to minimise risks. Over the years several tools have been devised to manage risk at the workplace. These include risk assessment, permit to work systems and most recently occupational safety and health management systems (OHSMS). The OHSMS increases efficiency of organisational work activities by providing the tools for enhancement of safety risk management (Santos et al., 2013). These should be considered as part of the existing management system of the organisation (Santos et al., 2008 cited Santos et al., 2013).

Over the last 2 decades a large gamut of OHSMS-based guidelines, standards and audits have been developed and disseminated (British Standards Institution, 1996, 1999; Dalrymple et al.,1998; Frick et al., 2000; Gallagher et al., 2003; Grayham and del Rosario, 1997; HSE, 1997;ILO, 2001; Standards Australia and Standards New Zealand, 1997 cited Robson et al., 2007).

Hence, this shows that there were other forms of OSHMS prior to OHSAS 18001, namely:

The Occupational Safety and Health Assessment Series 18001 commonly written in abbreviation as OSHAS 18001 is the most widely used safety and health management system. It was developed in the year 1999 (Chen et al., 2009; NQA 2009, pp.4) by international certifying bodies as a response to the demand of a recognised standard against which occupational safety and health could be assessed and certified (Vinodkumar and Bhasi, 2010; NQA, 2009, pp.4). It is based on the British Standards 8800 (BS 8800) and is in conformity with ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 to facilitate integration of the three systems (Suarez-Garcia, 2001 cited Chen et al., 2009; NQA, 2009, pp. 4). Safety and health management systems are not widely implemented in Mauritius mainly due to its complexity of implementation and also the level of management commitment required for maintenance of such systems.

1.1 Problem Statement

The boom in the construction industry has brought about an increasing demand of materials needed for construction. This has given rise to pressure on the manufacturers and suppliers of construction materials to be able to meet these demands, which in turn contributes toward the increase in the number of accidents. Eastern Stone Crusher Limited has been trying to decrease the number of accidents by implementing the recommendations of the safety and health officer which has until now been proved to be effective. The only thing missing is that they do not have a proper way to manage matters relating to safety and health. Health and safety management is done in a hap hazard manner where mostly the most obvious hazards are identified and managed. In so doing, some hazards can go unforeseen and the inevitable may happen.

1.2 Aim

This study is geared towards the implementation of Occupational Safety and Health Assessment Series 18001 in a stone crushing plant, namely at Eastern Stone Crusher Limited. It can further be used as a base for other such organisations to implement safety and health management systems. This management system will also help to fill the loopholes of the actual way of managing safety and health.

1.3 Objectives

Identify the various hazards existing in a stone crushing plant

Determine the level of compliance to prevailing legislations

Determine the level of awareness of the employees on OH&S matters.

Determine training requirements pertaining safety and health

Propose projects/ actions to ensure compliance with the present standards

Chapter 2 - Company Profile

2.0 Company Profile

Eastern Group of Companies which has 3 subsidiaries, namely Eastern Stone Crusher Limited (ESC LTD) , Eastern Mix Limited (EML LTD) and ESC Construction Limited (LTD). These offer a wide range of services and products in the construction industry.

The services they offer are as follows:

The supply of boulders to the plant

Manufacturing and supplying of aggregates if all sizes and grades

Manufacturing and supplying of concrete products such as blocks and bricks.

Manufacturing pre-casted concrete elements such as slabs, kerbs and drains.

Manufacturing, supplying, pumping and placing of concrete for individual and industrial customers.

Building construction and civil works.

Eastern Group of Companies has around 240 people working with it to be able to meet the needs in terms of manpower for the requirements of the customer’s needs and expectations. It also possesses a fleet of around 42 vehicles to ensure delivery of it products.

Eastern Group of Companies has prioritised safety of its employees and customers on sites. The concern of the safety is such that one of the mission of the organisation is dedicated to it. The company believes in continual improvement to develop a comprehensive infrastructure designed in a way not only to make a company with a safety policy, but a "safe company".

The total number of employees working for ESC LTD is 76 as at December 2012.

Chapter 3 - Literature Review

3.0 Literature Review

This chapter will introduce the reader with what OHSAS 18001 is and provide the requirements for this standard.

3.1 Health and safety at work

The world having a population of around 7 billion inhabitants had reached a working population of more than 3 billion (ILO, 2011; Lisa E, 2011), till the end of the year 2010 and was forecasted to increase. As a consequence, the health and safety report for the year 2011/12 published by Health and Safety Executive stated that the number of people suffering from work-related illnesses amounted to around 1.1 million, the number of workers having an accident was 591,000 and the number of deaths of occupational background was 173 occupational deaths. This had resulted in 212,000 over-3-day absences and 27 million working days lost amounting to a total cost of £ 13.4 billion in 2010/11 (HSE, n.d).

In Mauritius, the total population amounted to around 1.3 million (Ministry of Finance and Economic Development, 2013) with a working force estimated in 2011 to be 582,800 (Ministry of Finance and Economic Development, 2012). The total number of accidents for the year 2011 was 233 among which 16 were fatal accidents (Ministry of Labour, Industrial Relations and Employment, 2012).

Taking into account the life expectancy of Mauritians which is around 78 years (WHO, 2009) and the working age limits which is from 16 to 65, the average of Mauritians spend two-third of their life at work. It is also to be noted that an average of eight hours are spent at the place of work. This increases the exposure of the working population to hazards to which they would not have been exposed to if they were not working. Consequently, the work places should be made free from hazards to the safety and health of those working therein. Every day new cases crop up where workers are suffering from the consequences of exposure to the safety and health risks.

Occupational safety and health is a discipline having a broad sense which encompasses many specialised fields. It aims at It considers the "whole person", that is the social, mental and physical well-being of workers in matters relating to safety and health. However, the success of occupational safety and health practices does not solely lie on the workers or the safety and health professional or the employer but the three along in collaboration. Hence, there is need for participation by all three parties toward effective occupational safety and health management (Reese, 2003)

3.2 Occupational Safety and Health Management System

An Occupational Safety and Health Management System (OSHMS) is defined as

Santos et al (2013) defined an OSHMS as

Therefore in simple terms, an OSHMS makes use of the available resources in a strategic and optimum way so as to ensure a risk free occupational environment and alongside bring compliance to safety and health legislations.

3.3 The Occupational Health and Safety Assessment Series 18001

The thirst for an OSHMS that could be verified and certified against has been quenched by the emergence of the OHSAS 18001 (Santo et al., 2013; NQA, 2009; Robson et al., 2007). It has been developed following the success of the BS 8800 – The Guide to Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems, introduced in 1996 and had as objective to encourage the adoption of such systems by organisations, but could not be used for certification purposes as it was only a guidance with recommendations (NQA, 2009). OHSAS 18001:1999 was first published along with the accompanying guide OHSAS 18002:2000 and was reviewed later in 2007. BS OHSAS 18001 is now fully compatible with ISO 9001 (Quality Management Systems) and ISO 14001 (Environmental Management Systems) and facilitates the implementation of quality, environment and occupational safety and health management systems (NQA, 2009). In a study carried by Zeng et al., (2008) it was found that 58% of respondents admitted that the similitude between ISO 9001 and OHSAS 18001 is the main reason for the integration of both standards.

Moreover this similarity has been studied by many authors namely; Zeng et al., (2008), BSI, (2008), BSI, (2007). The table below demonstrates this.

BS OHSAS 18001 only give requirements for an OSHMS to be able to control safety and health risks and improve performance. It does not have specific criteria for the actual structure or form management system (NQA, 2009). OHSAS 18001 can be applied to companies of all sizes. It can be applied to any organisation wishing to;

3.4 The elements of OSHMS

3.4.1 The Deming’s Cycle

Figure : Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) Cycle (Source: NQA, 2009)

In their works, Fernández-Muñiz et al., (2012), Chen et al., (2008), NQA, (2009) and OHSAS 18001, (2007), have all stated that the ISO 9001, IS0 14001 and OHSAS 18001 all follow the same principle of continuous improvement by the use of the Deming’s Cycle. This simple cycle was developed by the American quality expert W.Edwards Deming during the 1950’s (NQA, 2009). It is based on the "Plan, Do, Check, Act" structure, as demonstrated in figure. Plan is the phase where objectives and strategies are established for the achievement of results mentioned in the organisation’s OSH Policy. Do is the implementation phase of the objectives and strategies established in the plan phase. Check is the phase where processes are monitored and measured against the objectives and strategies of the OSH policy, other requirements and reporting it. The Act phase is where corrective actions are taken to reduce risk to safety and health and improve OSH performance (NQA, 2009; BSI, 2007).

3.4.2 Spiral of the Safety and Health Management System

Figure : Spiral of Occupational Safety and Health Management Systems (Source: OHSAS 18001, 2007)

OHSAS 18001 consists of the 5 main sections which can be seen in Figure 1 and are as follows; OH & S policy, Planning, Implementation and Operation, Checking and Corrective Action and Management Review. These follow the principle of the Deming cycle. The sections will be elaborated later in this study.

3.5 Occupational Health and Safety Management System Requirements

3.5.1 General requirements

An OSHMS can either be implemented in the whole organisation or to a sub division of the organisation as decided by the organisation. For successful implementation of OHSAS, the scope of the organisation’s OSHMS must be clearly defined and documented. The scope should cover all activities or operation that can affect the OH&S of the organisation’s employee or any other person under the control of its workplace.

The organisation should demonstrate consistency with the OSHMS requirements by establishing, implementing and continually improving the OH&S management system and show how it will achieve those requirements.

3.5.2 Initial Review

The aim of the initial review is to compare how the organisation manages OH&S with the requirements of OHSAS 18001 and to be able to determine the level of compliance to those requirements. Hence, it helps the organisation to formulate plans for implementation and prioritising improvements for the OSHMS. It uses the OH&S risks as a basis to establish the OSHMS. The information can be collected by the use of checklists, inspections, previous records or consultation form external bodies.

3.5.3 OH&S Policy

BSI (2007) defines the OH&S Policy as a document formulated by the top management which provides the framework for action which will help an organisation to achieve the set OH&S objectives. It shows the commitment and determination of the top management to achieve the objectives. It is the responsibility of the top management to ensure the clear definition and authorisation of the OH&S policy.

When developing the OH&S policy care must be taken to ensure that it is within the scope of the organisation’s OSHMS, mission and vision (BSI, 2008). It must contain the overall OH&S objectives and must not be in conflict with any policies, legal or other requirements including those of OHSAS 18001. Also the one developing the OH&S policy must be aware of all the hazards existing in the place of work (NQA, 2009; BSI, 2007).

The OH&S policy must reflect the commitment for continuous improvement in OH&S performance of the organisation (NQA, 2009). It is not expected to resolve all OH&S hazards at once, but it should act as the vehicle which will drive the effort needed to accomplish it.

Compliance with legal and other requirements is a pre-requisite by OHSAS. Hence, the OH&S policy must at least show commitment for compliance with these. This is achieved by mentioning the intention of the organisation to adhere compliance to legal and other OH&S requirements and how it will do so. A periodic review of the OH&S policy will keep it up to date with the actual legal and other requirements.

Once the OH&S policy has been prepared, it should be documented, implemented and maintained. Periodic review of it will identify its adequacy and any further modification which is required. The frequency of reviewing will depend on experience or the coming up of new hazards or organisational changes.

OH&S policy should be documented and be reviewed periodically in order to remain effective (NQA, 2009). By doing so, the statements are kept relevant with the OH&S issues of the workplace. Appropriate planning is necessary for its implementation. The organisation should ensure that the OH&S objectives are realistic an achievable by the organisation with the resources available (NQA, 2009).

The OH&S policy should include the commitment to prevent injury, ill health and be communicated to those directly affected by the OH&S performance. (NQA, 2009) They need to be aware of the existence of such a policy and be acquainted with its content. Hence, a communication process should be developed to ensure that everyone concerned is aware of the content of the OH&S policy. This can be achieved by the use of posters, leaflets, directives and others (BSI, 2008)

3.5.4 Planning

3.5.4.1 Hazard identification, risk assessment and determining controls

BSI, (2007; 2008), defines a hazard as the likelihood of a situation to cause harm to an individual or to a group of individuals’ well-being by injury or ill health.

Hence, for effective OH&S management, the OH&S hazards must be identified, assessed and the corresponding control measures should be implemented to either completely eliminate or minimise such hazards.

Hazard identification should include all activities of the organisation including the routine and non-routine operations. The various tools that can be used for the identification are observations, interviews, surveys, inspection, monitoring and assessments and many others are available. For better and more accurate identification of hazards, a combination of these tools can be used. A risk assessment can also be carried out to find the potential hazards, after which the hazards are assessed and control measures are determined.

The determination of control measures to be taken is done following the hierarchy of control as shown in Figure below

Figure : Hierarchy of Control (Source: BSI, 2007)

The priority of control to be selected is from elimination to the use of personal protective equipment, which is the least desired one, as showed by the arrow alongside the pyramid.

The identification of hazards, the risk assessment and the control measures must all be properly documented and recorded and updated along with any changes. Also periodic monitoring and reviewing must be undertaken for coherence of the hazards and control measures (BSI, 2008; 2007)

3.5.4.2 Legal and other requirements

The organization must establish a procedure for the identification of legal and other requirements including those of OHSAS 18001. This should already have been covered by the OH&S policy by commitment to compliance with the legal and other requirements (BSI, 2008). These requirements should be recorded and updated accordingly (Eighty20 Consulting, n.d). These should be made available to those working in the organisation and any other relevant parties (BSI, 2007).

3.5.4.3 Objectives and Programme(s)

Based on the OH&S policy, OH&S objectives should be established, implemented and maintained. The OH&S objectives should be;

Specific,

Measurable,

Agreed,

Realistic and

Time bound (BSI, n.d)

The establishment of the OH&S objectives should consider the legal and other requirements applicable to the organisation. Also, the resources in terms of technology, finance and manpower that are needed to attain OH&S the objectives need to be taken into account (BSI 2008; 2007).

For the successful implementation of the different OH&S objectives, an OH&S management programme should be put in place. The OH&S management programme should contain the details of responsibilities, and the time frame within which the work is to be completed. Documentation and reviewing of the OH&S management programme is also very crucial (Eighty20 Consulting, n.d).

3.5.5 Implementation and operation

3.5.5.1.1 Resources, roles, responsibility, accountability and Authority

One member or a group of members from the top management must be made responsible for OH&S and must be available to all workers under the control of the organisation because, the ultimate responsibility for the OHSMS lies on the top management. Hence, the top management has to show commitment to the OHSMS by delegating responsibilities and resources for the development, implementation and maintenance of the OHSMS. The roles and responsibilities of the delegated person should be communicated and documented.

3.5.5.1.2 Competence, training and awareness

The organisation must ensure that any person working under the control of the organisation is competent. The competency is based upon the education, experience and the ability of the worker to maintain records. Competency is brought about by training.

Hence, the OH&S and OHSMS related training needs, need to be assessed by the organisation. Actions must be taken to meet the training needs and an evaluation of the effectiveness of the action taken must be carried followed by necessary corrective actions.

3.5.5.2.1 Communication

A communication channel should be set up by the organisation for matters pertaining to the OHSMS. There must be a channel for internal and external communication. The internal channel is used for communication within the organisation, whereas the external channel is used to communicate with contractors and other parties.

3.5.5.2.2 Participation and consultation

The organisation must ensure that the workers participate in the various OH&S related activities, such as in risk assessment or development of OH&S policies. The workers must be made aware of the one representing them on OH&S matters. All concerned parties, including contractors must be consulted before making any changes that is going to affect their OH&S.

3.5.5.3 Documentation

All required documents such as the OH&S policy, the scope of the OHSMS, the records required by OHSAS standards and any other required records must be adequately documented. The level of detail of the OH&S hazards will determine the proportion of documentation.

3.5.5.4 Control of documents

The documents must be recorded and managed as specified by OHSAS. Procedures should be put in place for approval, reviewing and updating of the documents. The organisation must ensure that the documents are legible, easily identifiable and archived.

3.5.5.5 Operational control

After having identified the OH&S hazards, the organisation must set operational controls to manage risks and ensure compliance with legal and other requirements. The operational controls will eliminate, reduce or control the OH&S risks and shall be set to activities such as; procurement of goods or services, contractors and visits or the operation criteria without which there could have been a deviation to the OH&S policy.

3.5.5.4 Control of documents

The documents must be recorded and managed as specified by OHSAS. Procedures should be put in place for approval, reviewing and updating of the documents. The organisation must ensure that the documents are legible, easily identifiable and archived.

3.5.5.5 Operational control

After having identified the OH&S hazards, the organisation must set operational controls to manage risks and ensure compliance with legal and other requirements. The operational controls will eliminate, reduce or control the OH&S risks and shall be set to activities such as; procurement of goods or services, contractors and visits or the operation criteria without which there could have been a deviation to the OH&S policy.

3.5.5.6 Emergency preparedness and response

The organisation must develop procedures for setting up and maintenance of procedures to identify emergency situations and respond to it. The response should be to the emergency situation and the prevention, elimination or control of OH&S. When developing an emergency procedure, the organisation must consider consulting of any external party which may intervene in the response. The emergency procedures must be tested periodically and must involve every party concerned including external ones. The emergency response plan must be review periodically and revised when required.

3.5.6 Checking and Corrective Actions

3.5.6.1 Performance measurement and monitoring

OH&S performance must be measured and monitored on a regular basis by the organisation. Measuring is done qualitatively and quantitatively. Monitoring is done on a timely basis by collection of information or measurements. Monitoring can be used to identify the organisation status with regards to the OH&S objectives, the effectiveness of control measures or OH&S performance. Where equipment is used for measurement, it should be validated and calibrated prior to use and records must be kept of the validation and calibration of it.

3.5.6.2 Evaluation of compliance

To ensure consistency with the commitment to comply with legal and other requirements as stated in the OH&S policy, the organisation must put in place a system for periodic review and evaluation of compliance to legal and other requirements. The evaluation must be carried out by competent persons and records must be kept of it. Audits can be used as a tool for assessment of the level of compliance with actual legal and other requirements.

3.5.6.3 Incident investigation, nonconformity, corrective action and preventive action

3.5.6.3.1 Incident investigation

The organisation must have procedures for recording, investigation and analysis of incidents. This can be used as a tool for identification of the lacking in the actual OHSMS. The investigation will help in the identification of corrective and preventive actions and give opportunity for continual improvement. The results of any investigation can be used to raise OH&S awareness and must be documented.

3.5.6.3.2 Nonconformity, corrective action and preventive action

For effective of OHSMS, a procedure must be put in place for identification of non-conformance, taking corrective and preventive actions. Nonconformity should be investigated for determination of the corrective or preventive actions that need to be taken. The nature and scale of the OH&S risk and nonconformity will determine the response of the actions. The corrective actions are used to prevent recurrence of incident by eliminating the root cause, whereas, preventive actions are taken to eliminate potential risks.

3.5.6.4 Control of records

Records must be kept and maintain to prove compliance with OHSMS and OHSAS Standard. The records must be properly documented and archived for easy retrieval and be legible. The records should also be easily identifiable and traceable.

3.5.6.5 Internal audit

For compliance with OHSAS 18001, the organisation must have an internal OHSMS audit programme. The role of this programme is to identify if the OHSMS has been well implemented, complies with OHSAS Standards and is effective. This programme shall be planned based on the results of risk assessments. The OHSMS programme must contain the responsibilities, competencies and requirements for conducting audits.

3.5.7 Management review

OHSMS of the organisation must be reviewed periodically by the top management to ensure its suitability, adequacy and effectiveness (BSI, 2008; 2007). The OH&S policies and objectives may need to be reviewed with respect to the findings of the review (Shaw and Brown, 2007). All reviews must be documented following the recommendation of OHSAS Standard.

The end of the management review is where the organisation can apply for verification and certification. The organisation shall ensure that all legal and other requirements including those of OHSAS 18001 are complied with; all workers are aware of the OH&S risk, policies, objectives and remedial measures taken following the risk assessment and audit (Ancharuz, 2010).

Chapter 4 – Research Methodology

4.0 Methodology

In this chapter, the methods and instruments will be determined for the collection of data, for analysis and interpretation to meet the requirements of this study.

4.1 Introduction

Redman and Mory (1923 cited in Kothari, 1990) defines a research as a "systemaized effort to gain new knowledge". Sing (2006) and Kothari (1990) defined as being a planned and systematic collection of information on a specific topic. Information collected are then analysed and interpreted. Research methodology is hence, the driver of the research process and will guide the research by making use of one or several methods to accomplish the research objectives.

Furthermore, Cook (cited in Sing, 2006) mentioned the characteristics that needs to be met to be able to qualify as a research and also stated that the findings of the research must be authentic, valid and verifiable.).

4.2 Approaches to research methods

Researched information can be either analysed from a qualitative or qualitative perspective.

In the book "Handbook of Qualitative Research Methods in Entrepreneurship", Helle Neergaard, John Parm Ulhøi (2007) cited that Denzin and Lincoln (1994) defined a qualitative research as being a method of analysing data in terms of meanings given by people following personal experiences, observation or any other such experiences. Hence, qualitative research is more concerned with what people say or do.

Quantitative research is a method of collecting data in numerical terms (Balnaves and Caputi, 2001). Hence, the data are measurable and can be used for comparison between groups or areas of study.

The comparison between quantitative and qualitative research is shown in Figure

Table : Comparison between quantitative and qualitative (Source: Anderson, 2006)

Neither of the approach is better than the other. For the research to be effective, a combination of these two approaches may be considered.

For this research study, a quantitative approach is used to get the information needed to meet the set objectives. For this purpose data was collected with the help of a questionnaire.

4.3 Data collection

Various tools can be used for collection of data. When using quantitative data analysis, surveys and questionnaires are normally used (Meyburg and Metcalf, 2008).

Hence, data was collected by doing a survey with a questionnaire designed to record the findings. The survey was a face-to-face semi structured interview. This method was chosen because of the flexibility it offers even though it has its degrees of structure it allows to clarify complex questions and to derive a clear meaning of the answers by asking more questions which are usually not in questionnaire (Barriball and While, 1994). As an example when health and safety representatives acknowledge that hazard are identified, the semi-structured interview allow to gain more information about the methods applied to do so and what are the actions followed to control the hazards.

4.4 Questionnaire Design

The questionnaire is a compilation of various other questionnaires designed by other authors. The questionnaire was adapted for the purpose of the study and to be able to meet the requirements of the objectives.

The questionnaire contains 5 sections, which are as follows:

Section A: About yourself.

This section enumerates the personnel profile in terms of gender, age, marital status, level of education and so on.

Section B: Information, Instruction and Training

This section will help gathering information about the level of awareness of the workers on matters pertaining to information, instruction and training.

Section C: Accident, Work Environment, Noise, Welfare.

This section data will be collected to identify the level of compliance of the organisation to legal requirements.

Section D: Fire Precautions and Emergency Evacuation.

Here the information about the participants’ awareness on matters relating to fire and evacuation procedures is going to be collected.

Section E: General Rating Questions

Here the opinion of the workers about the organisation is going to be collected on a 3-point Likert Scale.

4.5 Targeted Population and Sample Size

The targeted population was 85. For the convenience of the study, we decided to take a sample from the targeted population. The sample size was calculated using Raosoft Sample Size Calculator. The sample size determined by Raosoft Sample Size Calculated was of 70, with a margin of error of 5%, Confidence level of 95% and a response rate of 50% as shown in Figure 3

Figure : Sample size (Source: Raosoft Sample Size Calculator)

4.7 Pilot Testing

A draft of 10 questionnaires was prepared and tested. The aim of this exercise was to be able estimate the amount of time needed for the questionnaire to be filled and to know if there are some mistakes or questions to which the participants are unwilling to answer or are confused about. Following this exercise, changes had been made on the questionnaire.

4.8 Reliability and Validity

The data collected can be said to be reliable and valid as it was collected by means of face-to face semi-structured interview with the help of a questionnaire. This ensures that the participant understands what the researchers mean when answering the questions. In cases where the participants had difficulty to understand the question, we could reformulate it for the latter to understand it well. Also, the data if collected on another occasion will also yield the same results as in this study.

4.9 Constraints of the study

His study has been carried out as effectively and efficiently as possible, but we did encounter some problems for its success.

Lack of experience

We, as researchers having practically no past experience in research works did this study as we considered was appropriate. The best means were chosen according to our knowledge. As researchers we were not prepared for the problems that we have encountered when conducting the study as we were not aware of those problems. Hence, we had to tackle the problems as we moved along towards the completion of the study. An experienced researcher would have thought about the possible problems that he could encounter and either choose another alternative or be prepared to tackle them.

Degree of truthfulness

The data collected largely depends on the degree of truthfulness of the workers. Some workers were scared of telling the truth with fear to have problems with the management.

Lack of time

The management did not have much time to allocate to us to conduct the survey. Hence, we had to manage our time in such a way so as to be able to get the maximum number of participants.

Willingness of participants

Many participants were not willing to take part in the survey with fear of having problems at their place of work either by management or the government in terms of fine or suits.

Language

The presence of workers from Bangladesh who only understands Hindi was a major constraint. It was rather difficult to communicate with them to get the required information.

Chapter 5 - Results

5.0 Results

In this chapter, the collected data will be presented for better comprehension. Furthermore, this information will be used to interpret and to meet the set objectives of the study. For this purpose statistical software packages, namely IBM SPSS Statistics 20 and Microsoft Office Excel 2007 will be used. Bar charts, pie charts, tables, cross tabulations and others will be used to present the collected data from the survey and the risk assessment.

5.1 Risk Assessment

Table : Risk Assessment (Part-1)

As mentioned earlier, the above table is part of the risk assessment form used to collect information. The hazards have been identified, and evaluated taking into account the existing control measures. Further control measures will be suggested in the recommendations chapter.

5.2 The survey

5.2.1 Reliability

First of all, to ensure reliability of the data collected from the survey a Cronbach’s Alpha test was carried out in IBM SPSS Statistics 20. As shown in Table 2 below the Cronbach’s Alpha obtained is 0.868. For any data to be reliable, the Cronbach’s Alpha must be greater than 0.7. Hence, as the value obtained id greater than 0.7, the data can be considered to be reliable.

Table : Reliability Statistics

5.2.2 Gender of Participants

Table 3 below shows that working population of ESC consists of approximately 87% Male and 13% Female and has a total workforce of 85 employees. It should be noted that the female workers are only form the management staffs.

Table : Gender of Participants

5.2.3 Age of Participants

As shown in Table 4, 22.9% of participants are from the 18-25 age group, 32.9% from the 26-35 age group, 30% from the 36-45 age group and only 14.3% from the 46-55 age group, which is the highest age recorded at ESC.

Table : Age of participants

5.2.4 Marital Status

Table 5 shows the marital status of the participants. It can be seen that the majority (78.6%) of them are already married and the remaining 21.4% of them are single.

Table : Marital Status

5.2.5 Level of Education

As shown in Table 6 below, there are very few graduates (Degree – 5.7% and Diploma – 1.4%), the percentage of workers having completed the School certificate and High School Certificate are both 7.1% and 30 % of the workforce have as highest education the Certificate of Primary Education (C.P.E). 47.1% have other qualifications as highest education level. The others category include Form 2, Form 3 and Form 4.

Table : Level of education

5.2.6 Type of Employment

According to Table 7, 100% of employees of ESC are full timers.

Table : Type of Employment

5.2.7 Accident at work

It can be seen from Table 8 that 27.1% of workers have had an accident at work when working for ESC. The remaining 72.9% have confirmed not having any kind of accident at work.

Table : Have you ever had an accident at work?

5.2.8 Years under ESC

Table 9 shows that only 8.6% percent of workers have been working for ESC for the last 6-15 years and the majority of workers (57.1%) have been working for the organization for the last 5 years. This can be explained due to the fact that ESC exists only after the year 2000.

Table : For how many years have you been working at Eastern Stone crusher Limited

5.2.9 Awareness of OH&S legislation

Figure 1 shows the awareness of workers on any laws related to OH&S. It can be seen that 67% of them do know about the existence of such laws.

Figure : Awareness of OH&S legislation

5.2.10 Training

The figures below show the percentage of workers having received induction training, refresher training with regards to OH&S and also the level of satisfaction of those workers. As shown from Figure below, 60% of workers have had induction training and 71.4% have undergone refresher training. Figure 3, shows that 86.5% are satisfied with the OH&S training provided to them, 7.7% have a neutral opinion and 5.8% are not satisfied.

Figure : Training

Figure : OH&S training satisfaction

5.2.11 Health and Safety Committee

The Figure below show the employees’ awareness of S&H committee, that is, if they know what a S&H committee is, if they have any knowledge about its existence at ESC and there level of satisfaction with regards to the S&H Committee. 70% (Figure ) of workers are aware of what is a S&H committee and among them, only 67.1% (Figure ) is aware of the existence of a S&H committee at ESC. The S&H committee meets the expectations of 49.1% of the workers, 47.3% of workers have a neutral opinion about the S&H committee meeting their expectation while 3.6% clearly disagree to the fact that the S&H committee meeting their expectation. (Figure )

Figure : Know what is a S&H Committee

Figure : Is there a S&H Committee

Figure : S&H Committee meets expectation

5.2.12 OH&S Policy

Figure 7 summarises the OH&S policy related data collected during the survey. It provides the responses with regards to the awareness of what an OH&S is and whether the employees of ESC know its existence and content along with their views on whether the OH&S is followed or not. 65.2% of participants know what an OH&S policy is and among them 95.7% are aware of its existence at ESC. 60.4% of those who are know the existence of the OH&S policy, are aware of the content of the OH&S policy and 87.9% do confirm that ESC follows what is in the OH&S policy.

Figure : OH&S Policy

5.2.13 Risk Assessment

The figure below shows the level of awareness of the employees pertaining to risk assessment. As can be seen, 56.7% have no knowledge about what a risk assessment is. Among the remaining 43.3% who knows about what a risk assessment is, 80.6% do confirm that a risk assessment has been carried out but only 37% have been provided with information about the findings of the risk assessment and the measures taken following the risk assessment.

Figure : Risk Assessment awareness

5.2.14 Risk awareness and consequences

Table 10 and Table 11 illustrates the awareness of employees on the risks to which they are exposed and their knowledge about the consequences of those risks. 94.3% of participants know about the risks to which they are exposed while 97.1% know the consequences of the exposure to those risks.

Table : Risk awareness

Table : Consequences awareness

5.2.15 Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)

According to Figure 92.9% of participants are provided with PPE and uniform and 91.3% confirm maintaining their PPE. The 7.1% remaining not having received any PPE are the management staff.

Figure : PPE provision and maintenance

Figure is about the whether the PPEs provided are used by every employees and the level of satisfaction of the employees with the PPEs. 50% agree that the PPEs are used by their co-workers while 28.6% disagree about the same. 59.4% confirm their satisfaction with the PPEs they are provided, while 37.7% have a neutral opinion and only 2.9% are not satisfied with the PPE provided.

Figure : PPE use and satisfaction

5.2.16 Health and Safety Inspection

Table below shows that 98.6% of participants are aware that health and safety inspections are carried out regularly.

Table : Health and Safety inspections carried out regularly

5.2.17 OH&S responsible person and First-aider

Figure 11 demonstrates that 98.6% of participants know who the person responsible for OH&S is for ESC and shows that 85.7% know who the first-aider is.

Figure : Responsible person for OH&S and First-aid

5.2.18 Safe Access and Egress

Table below stipulates that all the workers, i.e. 100% of participants confirm having a safe way of access and egress from their place of work.

Table : Safe access and egress from your work place

5.2.19 Medical Surveillance

According to Figure , only 44.3% have undergone medical surveillance at ESC.

Figure : Medical Surveillance

Table 14 and Table 15 shows that no employees have undergone a pre-employment medical examination and none of them have had an audiometric test.

Table : Pre- employment medical examination

Table : Audiometric test

Figure 13, demonstrates that only 10% of participants have had a chest X-ray while, 58.6% have had an eye examination.

Figure : Chest X-Ray and Eye Examination

5.2.20 Accident

The figure below shows that 87.1% of participants know the procedure to follow in case of an accident, 70.6% report all accidents and incidents and 53.1% confirm that the reported incidents are recorded in an accident record book.

Figure : Accident response, reporting and recording

5.2.21 Dust

Figure below shows that 90.7% workers are exposed to dust, but only 40.9% of them admit that the dust affects them. It can also be noted that only 4.3% of the workforce have breathing problem.

Figure : Dust exposure, effect and breathing problem

5.2.22 Noise

From the table and figure below it can be determined if the workers are exposed to noise, if they are having any difficulty to communicate with co-workers and how many of them suffer from pain and headache. As shown in Table 16, 87.1% of participants agree to their exposure to noise, but very few of them; 14.1%, 3.1% and 10.9% of them admit having frequent headaches, pain in the ears and communication problem when communicating with their co-workers, respectively.

Table : Exposure to noise

Figure : Headache, pain in ears, communication problem

5.2.23 Welfare facilities

As shown below in Figure , all workers are provided with toilet, washing facilities, clean drinking water and a mess room, but none of them are provided with soap and towels. A further investigation on this was done to find out why the workers were not provided with soap and towels. The response by management was that the workers were given money to buy the soap and towel instead. Figure also shows that the majority (68.6%) of workers agree to the fact that te amenities are kept in good hygienic conditions.

Figure : Welfare facilities

5.2.24 Fire

Figure 18 shows that 100% of participants have agreed about the presence of fire extinguishers at ESC and are aware of their location. Also 97.1% think that there is safe storage of flammable liquids and gases within the premises and 92.9% do confirm the existence of safety precaution posters, display or leaflets distributed within the premises.

Figure : Fire extinguishers, storage and precaution posters

The cross tabulation below shows that only 10% of workers from the management staff are aware of the fire evacuation procedures, while for the workers onsite 90% are aware of the same.

Table : Cross tabulation between knowledge of the fire evacuation procedures and Management or onsite

Table 18 shows the cross tabulation between fire evacuation conducted at your workplace and management or onsite. It shows that management staff has not undergone any fire evacuation and the majority workers (58.6%) onsite also have not done any fire evacuation exercise. This is rather alarming as the management staff and more than 50% of the workers onsite are not aware of the procedure to follow in case of fire outbreak.

Table : Cross tabulation between Fire evacuation conducted at your workplace and Management or onsite

5.2.25 Clear OH&S understanding

78.6% of participants have a positive response to the clear understanding of OH&S at ESC as seen from the pie chart below.

Figure : OH&S understanding

5.2.26 Management commitment

Table below shows the commitment of management as perceived by the employees of ESC. It can clearly be read that the management is concerned about the employees as 100% of the participants do agree to the commitment shown by the management.

Table : Management Commitment

Chapter 6 – Discussion

6.0 Discussion

In this chapter, the collected data will be critically analysed and discussed to meet the set objectives of the study.

6.1 Identify the various hazards existing in a stone crushing plant

A stone crushing plant is a place full of occupational safety and health hazards. If not identified in the early stages, it may leads to fatal accidents. Hence, rigorous hazard identification must be carried out. For the purpose of this study a risk assessment was carried out. One of OHSAS 18001 is to carry out a risk assessment for hazard identification processes.

Before conducting the risk assessment, the risk assessment done by the actual Safety and Health Officer was reviewed to have an idea of the hazards present. The lacking of the risk assessment was identified. The risk assessment carried out for this study is shown below with the hazards identified, who might be harmed, the existing control measures and the residual risk level taking into consideration the control measures in place at the time of the study.

Table : Risk Assessment (Part 1)

The risk level for the majority is medium and low for some of the hazards identified as shown from the table above. The necessary must be done to lower the risk level to "low" for the medium ones and for the low ones to be kept at the "low" level. The recommendations chapter (See Chapter 7) will provide suggestions for the reduction of the risks levels.

6.2 Determine the level of compliance to prevailing legislations

OHSAS 18001 requires compliance to all legal and other requirements (see 3.5.3 OH&S Policy). Hence it was important for this study to evaluate the level of compliance to prevailing legislation. The main legislation taken into account was the OSHA 2005 and its regulations.

ESC does meet the requirements of OSHA 2005 as seen in the earlier chapter. It shows commitment to OH&S matters, which can be seen from Table 19, where 100% of participants agreed to the fact that the management shows commitment to OH&S matters. OH&S commitment is also a pre requisite to OHSAS 18001. Hence, along with compliance with OSHA 2005, ESC is also compliant with OHSAS Standards.

OSHA 2005 requires employers to provide and maintain workers with personal protective equipments, mess room, soap and towels, training, safe access and egress, carry out regular inspections, employ a responsible person for OH&S, have a first-aider, conduct medical surveillance, record accidents, control noise, fire evacuation procedures and have an OH&S policy. By fulfilling these requirements, ESC will also meet the requirements of OHSAS as both of them have similar requirements.

The provision of personal protective equipments is on the responsibility of the employer but maintenance of it is of the responsibility of the employees. As mentioned earlier, Figure 9 demonstrates that 92.9% of participants were provided with PPE and uniform. It can also be noted that 91.3% do agree maintaining their PPE regularly. Form Table 1 it is said that the workers are provided with a mess room with lockers for each employee, thus there is a place for storage of the PPE. 100% of participants have access to the mess room (See Figure 17). Figure 10 highlights the fact that the 50% of the participants agreed to the fact that the PPE provided are used by all workers at work. In the remaining 50%, 28.6% disagree to the use of PPE by all workers. This can be explained by the fact that only 59.4% of the participants are satisfied with the PPE they are provided with.

As per OSHA 2005, soap, towels and clean water must be provided to the employees. These should be kept in good hygienic condition. Figure 17 shows that no participants were provided with soap and towels. A further investigation on this showed that management provides the employees with the money for the buying of soap and towels instead of providing it. It the same Figure it can be seen that all the participants do have access to toilets, washing facilities and provided with clean drinking water. Concerning the cleanliness of the amenities only 68.6% of participants said that the amenities are kept in good and hygienic condition.

It is also the responsibility of the employer under OSHA 2005 to provide a safe means of access and egress from the place work of each and every employee under his area of control. Table 14 shows that 100% of participants have a safe way for way access and egress to their place of work.

Fire outbreaks not only results in property damage but also to injuries or fatalities as well, showing the importance of fire evacuation procedures. ESC does have fire evacuation procedures in place and fire drills are carried out yearly but unfortunately not everyone is aware of the procedures to follow in case of a fire outbreak. This is the case for the management staffs. The workers onsite are well versed with the procedures as illustrated in Table 17. The management staffs mentioned that no fire drill has been carried out with them while the majority of employees working onsite have also not participated in the fire drill.

Regular OH&S inspection must be carried to find out hazards and implement control measures to mitigate and/or control OH&S hazards. 98.6% of participants do confirm that OH&S inspections are carried out as shown in Table 13.

ESC does have an OH&S officer who is responsible for the safety and health of its workers. The latter being employed on a part time basis, is present within the premises only once weekly. Hence, for convenience the immediate supervisors are the ones responsible for OH&S. Any emergencies in OH&S related matters are reported to the Director of the organisation. The Director being the highest position in the organisation shows the commitment of the organisation on OH&S matters. OHSAS requires the top management to show commitment to OH&S matters.

Medical surveillance must be done at regular intervals to identify any health problem the workers are suffering from. Figure 12 shows that only 44.3% have undergone some kind of medical surveillance at work. This is rather alarming because it is to be noted that more than 50% of the organisations workers are those working onsite, where most of the hazards are present. The medical examination could have been helpful to identify the health related problems the workers may be suffering form. Only 10% of participants have done a chest X-ray, whereas, 58.6% of them have been through an eye examination as medical surveillance as shown in Figure 13. It is also to be noted that Table 15 enumerates that no participants have been through a pre-employment medical examination.

Table 16 shows that no participants have done an audiometric test. A stone crushing plant being a noisy place of work, the workers should have been through an audiometric test and this must have been done at regular intervals but, the main problem for this not being done is that an audiometric test cost too expensive. Instead the workers were provided with ear muffs and ear plugs to attenuate the noise to which they were exposed (See Table )

As far as accidents are concerned, Figure 14 states that 70.6% of participants do report all accidents and incidents while, only 53.1% say that these are recorded in an accident record book.

Provision of training is an obligation of employers under OSHA 2005. Figure 2 shows that 60% of the participants have been through induction training but only 28% have had the opportunity for refresher training courses. Training being an important aspect for proper management of OH&S, it is critical for the organisation to ensure that its employees are provided with induction and refresher training courses to be updated with new and safer methods of working.

Both OSHA 2005 and OHSAS 18001 require the existence of an OH&S policy. ESC has already implemented OH&S policy. The OH&S policy clearly defines the roles and responsibilities of each individual of the organisation. The OH&S policy also demonstrates the commitment of the employer on OH&S matters.

Table 2 states that fire evacuation procedures have been put in place and that the fire drill is done on a yearly basis as required by OSHA 2005. The fire extinguishers are placed at strategic places and are inspected regularly. The used ones are replaced and/or refilled as soon as possible.

6.3 Determine the level of awareness of employees on OH&S matters

Having the latest technology, most qualified personnel, the best PPE or OH&S policy is of no use if the workers are not aware of its existence and do not conform to it. Hence the level of awareness of the employees in matters related to OH&S is of prime importance.

The data collected showed that 67% (See Figure 1) of the participants are aware of the existence of an OH&S related legislation but do admit that they do not know its content as such. This can be explained due to the fact that most of the workers of ESC have as highest education level C.P.E or other qualifications (Form 2, Form 3 and Form 4) (See Table 7).

OSHA requires organisations of more than 50 employees to have a Safety and Health Committee. Having a workforce of about 85, ESC does have an OH&S committee. But, 70% of workers are aware of what an OH&S committee is and 67.1% of them do confirm their awareness about the existence of such a committee in the organisation. (See Figure 4 and Figure 5)

An OH&S policy being unknown by workers is useless. 65.2% of the participants are aware of what an OH&S policy is and 95.7% of them are aware that the organisation possesses such a policy. Among them 60.4% which represents only 29 out of 70 workers surveyed know the content of the OH&S policy and 87.9% of them agree to the fact that the OH&S policy is followed by the organisation. (See Figure 7) OHSAS Standards requires the employees to be aware of the OH&S policy and its content failure to do so may either delay the certification process or make the organisation fail to get certification.

Risk assessments have been carried out as required by OSHA 2005, but only few of the workers are aware whether it has been done or not. Only 25 out of the 70 workers participating in the survey knew that a risk assessment has been carried out. Out of the 70 participants, only 43.3% know what a risk assessment is, while only 37% of participants are aware of the findings of the risk assessment and the measures taken. (See Figure 8) All workers should be made aware of the risk to which they are exposed and the control measures put in place by the organisation for their safety and health.

From Tables 11 and 12 it can be concluded that 94.3% and 97.1% of the employees are aware of the risk to which they are exposed and the consequences of those exposures. This is rather encouraging information as, if the workers are aware of the risks and exposure consequences, there is better implementation of safety measures because of the understanding with regard to the risks and consequences.

All workers must know who are the persons’ responsible for OH&S and first-aid. Figure 11 tells that 98.6% of participants know who is responsible for OH&S and 85.7% know who is responsible for first-aid. The necessary should be done by the organisation to ensure that everyone is aware of the one responsible for OH&S and first-aid. This is important in case if an OH&S hazard crop up during work and/or there is need for any first-aid after an incident. Knowing the right person at the given moment will help reduce the time lost in searching "someone" responsible. This is rather crucial in case of any incident which has occurred.

6.4 Determine training requirements pertaining safety and health

Training is a very useful tool used to impart knowledge and skill on an individual. Many organisation uses training to ensure the maximisation of output for their organisation but, training can also be used to ensure that work is done in the safest way possible. It also equips the workers with the required knowledge as awareness of hazards. The worker are then in a better position to identify the hazards and take the appropriate corrective actions to eliminate or control the risks.

During the study many lacking were found which could be removed by the appropriate training. Figure 2 showed that only 60% and 28.6% of participants had received induction and refresher training courses.