health & safety - PDST

1 1health & safetyHEALTH, safety AND WELFARE AT WORKThis module aims,through the medium of discussion,worksheets,exercises an awareness of the importance of safety in the work environment; students recognise hazards in working environments; an opportunity for students to appreciate the importance of safe working practices; the rights and responsibilities of employees and employers; some of the terminology relating to health and safety ; basic safety legislation and the role of the health and safety questions and stimulate an opportunity to develop personal skills1 ResourcesCongress31/32 Parnell Square,Dublin 2 Tel: 8897777 health and safety Authorityhas a variety of leaflets and booklets which could be auseful addition to working on this Hogan Place,Dublin : 6620400 are also a number of regional health Promotion Unit can provide a wide range of information on issues such assmoking,lifting posture, eyesight,hearing and other health unit can becontacted at The Department of health and Children,Harcourt House,Dublin : 6354000 e-mail queries: Cancer Society health Promotion SectionTel: 6681855orIrish Heart Foundation,4 Clyde Road,Dublin 4 Tel.

2 6685001 available on ( safety health and Welfare at Work) from The National Parents Council Post-Primary,Marino Institute of Education,Griffith Avenue,Dublin 9 Tel: 8570522 Some of the tasks outlined in this module and the worksheets provided could be used asmaterial for a health and safety Awareness Day at the school. Parents could,if given adequate notice,provide examples of safety booklets and safetystatements for discussion and use in the health and Welfare at Work Act 1989At the end of a working day a person should be able to enjoy a full,active,social and family most important law to protect workers is the safety health and Welfare at Work Act is an important piece of legislation that refers to everybody in paidemployment including the employer,self-employed and main purpose ofthe law is to make work Act re q u i res consultation with the wo r k f o rce on matters of safety , health and We l f a must ensure a safety representative is appointed from the consultation with employees.

3 The employer must publish the name or names of peoplewith responsibility for safety and health in the must also prepare a safety Statement in consultation with SafetyStatement must include identification of workplace hazards,dangers and risks,plusregulations for the safe operation of equipment must ensure that equipment is safe and are obliged to avoid causing injury to themselves or are required to report dangers in the workplace to the employer and make useof clothing and equipment provided for health and safety workplaces are required to have an anti-bullying policy as part of their should be clearly laid out and consistently s laws on health and safety are administered and enforced byThe health and safety Authority 34By Tim O BrienS I X T Y-SIX people were reported killedat work during 1998, a 40 per cent increaseon 1997, according to figures issued by theHealth and safety Authority (HSA)y e s t e r d a y.

4 The highest number of deaths,27, was in the farming sector. There were22 in the construction industry and six inthe fishing industry. Manufacturingaccounted for two the 66 people killed, 31 were self-e m p l o y e d .The HSApointed out that the figures forthe self-employed indicated that it wasd i fficult for the authority to send a messageto people about the duty of care tot h e m s e l v e s .The figures were just the tip of thei c e b e rg in terms of the total number ofaccidents and occasions of ill- health atwork, according to the director-general ofthe HSA, Mr Tom Wa l s h .He described the 27 deaths in thefarming industry, including six children, ascompletely unacceptable. The causes of thefarm deaths were the obvious ones, he said,:for example, eight deaths were fromtransport equipment, five from fallingobjects, three deaths caused by animals andthree from machinery .Mr Walsh said that the authority wouldcontinue its random inspections, which heacknowledged would reach only a limitednumber of farms.

5 The HSA s view was thatfarm bodies such as Teagasc should make arenewed effort to advise farmers on said that the authority welcomed therecent proposals from the Minister for theMarine, Dr Woods, to improve safety in thefishing of 17 deaths occurred in themainstream construction sector, of whicheight resulted from falls from heights. Otherfatalities involved collapsing walls, burial intrenches and transport accidents. Af u r t h e rfive died in construction maintenance work,three from falls and two in accidentsinvolving to Mr Walsh, the fact thatthere were no deaths in the construction inthe Dublin area, compared to nine in theprevious two years, was a glimmer ofh o p e .Next year, he said, the authority wouldcontinue to meet representatives of theindustries concerned and produce advisoryliterature for employers and Times 31/12/98 Concern as accidents at workaccount for 66 deaths in yearBy Aideen SheehanThere has been a 40pc rise inworkplace deaths this year, reversing thedownward trend of previous years, theHealth and safety Authority (HSA)revealed people died in the workplacethis year, 55 of them in the high-risksectors of farming, fishing andconstruction.

6 This compared with 48deaths in 1997 and was the highest levelsince 1995 and the second highest in thelast seven stark figures were only the tip ofthe iceberg however as many others wereinjured or became ill through work, saidTom Walsh, Director General of the grim tally raised questions aboutwhether employers were losing sight oftheir legal and moral obligations to keeppeople safe and healthy at work, he said. Are employers and workersthemselves taking chances in the boomingeconomy? Are deadlines and work targetstoo tight to allow jobs to be finishedsafely? It was completely unacceptable thatin farming alone 27 people, including sixchildren, had been killed this year, almostdouble the 15 who died in 1997, said causes of death on farms had beenvery obvious and unavoidable, with eightdeaths from transport equipment such astractors, five from falling objects andthree caused by deaths took place inconstruction in 1998, eight of theminvolving falls from heights while otherswere caused by collapsing walls,trenches and transport accidents.

7 T h efact that no workers died in constructionthis year, compared with nine theprevious two years, showed what couldbe done when industry shouldered agreater responsibility, Mr Walsh authority would keep a very highlevel of vigilance in the capital next yearbecause so much of the building boom inconcentrated there, but industry chiefs onsmall scale developments must also wakeup to their responsibilities, he people died in the fishing industryand the authority welcomed measures bythe Marine Minister to improve safety inthis , as 31 of those killed wereself-employed it was difficult to enforcesafety standards, Mr Walsh said. The self-employed must undertakeevery job as carefully as if their livesdepended on it, he authority will publish guidelineson health and safety problems posed bythe millennium bug early next Independent 30/12/98 Death toll in theworkplace rises by 40pc5 Group discussionHow many people were reported killed at work in 1989?

8 Who issues figures on accidents and deaths at work?Who is responsible at national level for health and many accidents occurred in farming?How many accidents occurred in the construction industry?How many people died in the fishing industry?How many self-employed workers were affected?What are the problems faced by the self-employed?Summarise Mr Walsh s is your reaction to this information?Can you list the three high-risk sectors for accidents? out about more recent examples of accidents and injuries in local and an update on accidents and injuries at work visit the health and SafetyAuthority Website at Each year approximately 17,000 people are injured at cause pain,suffering and loss to employers and accidents can be predicted and can usually be are laws to protect your health and safety at work and you must also take care toobey the safety at work have a responsibility to look after their own and their employers safety byproviding a safe place to work in and a safe way to get in and out of a safety , health and Welfare at work Act 1989 requires all employers to prepare safetystatements in writing for their work safety statement is a very important writing up a safety statement youcan check out possible accidents and put in place ways of preventing write up a safety statement.

9 Employer and employees must identify any hazards that could potentially cause harm in the can be divided into categories such as physical,chemical,human,biological can also be described as high risk,medium risk,or low the following list of hazards inthe workplace in the appropriatecategoriesChemicalPhysicalHum anBiologicalTransportHazards HazardsHazardsHazardsHazardsList of HazardsBright light from a photocopier; ultra violet light from a sunbed; excess heat; excess cold;microwaves; X-rays; noise; fungi; bacteria; viruses; parasites; farmer s lung; lubricants;paints; glues; asbestos cement; drugs; aerosols; alcohol; fork lifts; trucks; cranes; hoists;elevators; violence; stabbing; robbery; aggression; verbal abuse; shooting; would you regard as a high-risk hazard?Are there some workplaces which have a higher risk of some hazards than others?7 AssignmentPrepare a safety StatementDivide into assistance from teacher/tutor draw up a safety Statement for one or a number ofdepartments in the school building,depending on time group could take a particular section or all students could focus on one department,for example,the Home Economics each student with a sample safety Statement and request them to complete ,students could design their own safety that need to be asked are:Are there any physical hazards?

10 Are there any chemical hazards?Are there any human hazards?Are there any biological hazards?Are there any movement hazards?8 safety StatementThis safety Statement is our programme in writing to highlight the importance of healthand safety in _____ (Name of classroom ordepartment).We want to protect ourselves from accidents and injury while at promise to be safety conscious,act responsibly,follow instructions and acceptdirections when will check and revise this statement of HazardsRisk of Injury isWe need to do the following to avoid accidents and injuriesEx: faulty socketEx: Electric shockEx:Report the faulthorseplaybullying litterSigned: _____Class group: _____Teacher/Tutor signature: _____Date: _____9 Guidelines for Safe Practice at WorkThe main duties of employers towards health and safety in the workplace are as follows: Ensure,as far as it is reasonably practicable,the health safety and welfare at work of allemployees Identify hazards to safety and health and provide a safe and healthy place to work in Eliminate bullying/harassment in the workplace Proper guards must be fitted to dangerous machinery Establish safe work practices Machines must be serviced regularly and kept in good working order Provide personal protective equipment where necessary Machines and chemicals must be used,stored and transported safely Provide as much advice,information.