Week 1 - Intro and Legislation Flashcards
(26 cards)
Why is safety important?
Prevents death or injury to workers and general public. Also prevents damage to plant, third party and environment.
Principles of safe material handling
Minimise inventory (what you don’t have can’t leak!)
Operate as close to ambient conditions as possible
Substitute hazardous materials for safer ones (methanol -> ethanol)
Dilute hazardous materials as far as possible
Definition of a hazard
A physical situation with a potential for:
-human injury
-damage to property
-damage to the environment
4 example of hazards and their effects
Knife - cut
Benzene - Leukemia
Wet floor - slips, falls
Bullying - anxiety, fear, depression
Definition of risk
The combination of the likelihood of the occurrence of a harm and the severity of that harm
Risk = f(probability x consequence)
or = f(frequency x consequence)
What can consequence be measured in?
Money or fatalities
What factors increase the risk perceived? (name 4)
Lack of personal control over outcome
Uncertainty of outcome
Lack of personal experience of hazard
Low frequency/high consequence
Delayed effects
Human rather than natural causes
How do we quantify risk?
Risk of death per year of activity (car accident cause of death - 1 in 10,000)
What is FAR? State its definition
Fatal Accident Rate
Number of deaths per 10^8 exposed hours
E.g. agriculture FAR = 5.0 deaths per 10^8 exposed hours
How do we measure FAR in transport?
By deaths per 10^9 km travelled
E.g. Car - 2.8
Rail - 0.9
What are the tolerable risks for a workforce, the public or nuclear industry?
10^-3 per year for workforce
10^-4 per year for the public
10^-6 per year for nuclear industry
What are the 3 industrial hazard categories?
Occupational risk to employees
Individual risk to the general public
Societal risk
Risk assessment of witches stirring pot. What are the hazards and what are the risks?
Hazards - Fire, chemical spillage, chemical fumes, hot surface (pot),
stick, Log
Risks - Burn, irritation, splinter, trip
Why HASAWA?
To cover all workers?
To deal with fast changing technology
To deal with major hazards
Problems with prescriptive legislation
To address the static accident rate
Name some major accidents
Bhopal
Chernobyl
Piper Alpha
Esso Longford
Seveso
What does AFARP stand for? It’s meaning?
As far as reasonably practicable - compliance is required until the cost of additional control measures becomes grossly disproportionate to the further reduction of risk
What are the duties of employers (6)
1 - to ensure AFARP the health, safety and welfare of employees at work
2 - to provide AFARP machinery, equipment and plant which is safe
3 - to ensure that systems of work are safe
4 - to provide training and information
5 - to maintain any place under their control in a safe condition
6 - to produce a safety policy and inform the workforce of it
Duties of designer/manufacturer (3)
1 - anticipate misuse of equipment/supplies
2 - provide adequate information
3 - supply goods which are safe under all foreseeable conditions
Duties of employees (4)
1 - employees are liable under the act in much the same way as employers
2 - must take reasonable care for themselves and others
3 - must co-operate with employers
4 - must not interfere or misuse anything provided in the interest of safety
What is the duty of the HSE (Health and Safety Executive)
To protect people’s health and safety by ensuring risks in the changing workplace are properly controlled.
What are the powers of the HSE? (4)
Improvement notice
Prohibition notice
Seizure
Prosecution (corporate bodies and/or individuals)
Is UK legislation goal setting or prescriptive? And why?
Goal setting. Must be to a certain standard, not safe in a specific way or method
What are the advantages of goal setting legislation? (6)
Responsive to new developments
Shifts from inspection to demonstration
Safety measures are developed by those who know most
Discourages doing only the minimum
Removes loopholes
Proactive rather than reactive
What is the regulation pattern?
Identify hazard > Assess risk (acceptable/unacceptable)
Control/Eliminate
Record
