Audits workplace

TABLE 9 Ergonomics Audit Workplace Survey with Overall Data... 

Wliat we have included is only a small part of a much longer document available in its entirety at the address shown or on the Web. We provide the complete table of contents so that you get a good idea of the subjects covered and the amount of detail taken to cover them. After the table of contents, we have taken several sections applying to working with hazardous substances. We believe that OSHA has chosen these items to ensure a safe and healthful workplace. COSHOs will use this format when performing an OSHA compliance audit on incinerator sites. 

However, given appropriate traming, it is quite feasible for personnel such as engineers and process workers to apply techniques such as task analysis (Chapter 4) and audit methods (Chapter 3) to reducing error potential in the workplace. 

Human Factors Engineering/Ergonomics approach (control of error by design, audit, and feedback of operational experience) Occupational/process safety Manual/control operations Routine operation Task analysis Job design Workplace design Interface design Physical environment evaluation Workload analysis Infrequent... 

In auditing various industrial workplaces, we found that this particular OSHA standard is one of the most misunderstood by employers. Based on our experience, we found that OSHA s use of the words "near proximity to" and "adequate" contribute to the vagary and ambiguity of this standard. Most employers understand the need to provide first aid supplies in the workplace, but generally think that this is the extent of their responsibilities in this regard. Moreover, many workplaces do train their personnel on basic first aid and CPR, but do not require (in written job descriptions) that the trained employees respond to a workplace medical emergency. 

Most companies have set in place procedures to meet the requirements of the international quality standard e.g. ISO 9001 or national equivalents, as discussed in Section B, 3.2.23. The requirement of these standards are that procedures are in place for all activities carried out in the workplace, that these procedures are recorded and that the activities are carried out, by staff, as described in the procedures. The operation of these procedures is subject to an external audit, to confirm that there is compliance in the day-to-day activities of a work group. It should be noted that having procedures written down does not necessarily mean that an organisation has the best procedures in place. They will need to be constantly monitored and modified in the light of experience. 

Social Accountability (SA) 8000 (SAI, 1998) is a certifiable, auditable standard containing nine principles focused on labor and human rights for international workplaces. Many of the International Labor Organization s workplace standards were incorporated into SA8000. 

Finally, there is an accreditation process for social accountability audits under Social Accountability, Inc. This entity accredits organizations - known as certification bodies - to conduct audits, certifying workplaces as complying with SA8000. Accreditation must be earned before a firm can have its staff perform SA8000 certification audits (SAI, 2004). 

Workplace audits for ergonomic problems are a routine part of the organization s culture (more than one audit annually for each operating area). Problems identified in this manner are dealt with quickly. 

A second point needs to be made about the scope of this chapter the role of checklists. As will be seen, checldists have assumed importance as techniques for conducting human factors audits. They can also be used alone as evaluation devices, in applications as diverse as VDT workplaces (Ctikir et al. 1980), and risk factor assessment (Keyserfing et al. 1992). Hence, the structure tuid use of checklists will be covered in some detail independently of their use as an auditing technique. 

Typically, reUabrfity is measured by correlating the scores obtained through repeated measurements. In an audit instrument, this is often done by having two (or more) auditors use the instrument on the same set of workplaces. The square of the correlation coefficient between the scores (either overall scores, or separately for each logical construct) is then the reUability. Thus, PAQ was found to have an overall reUability of 0.79, tested using 62 jobs and two trained analysts (McCormick 1979). 

Unfortunately, this simple view does not cover aU of the situations for which an audit program may be needed. While it works well for the rather repetitive tasks performed at a single workplace, typical of much manufacturing and service industry, it cannot suffice when these conditions do not hold. One relaxation is to remove the stipulation of a particular incumbent, allowing for jobs that require frequent rotation of tasks. This means that the results for one task will depend upon the incumbent chosen, or that several tasks will need to be combined if an individual operator is of... 

Reliability and validity have not been assessed, although the checklist has been used in a number of industries (Drury 1990a). The Workplace Survey has been included here because, despite its lack of measured reliability and validity, it shows the relationship between audit as methodology and checklist as technique. 

The ERNAP audits have been included here to provide examples of a checklist embedded in an audit system where the workplace is not the sampling unit. They show that non-repetitive tasks can be audited in a valid and reliable manner. In addition, they demonstrate how domain-specific audits can be designed to take advantage of human factors analyses already made in the domain. 

Audits, however, are not the only use of some of the data-coUection tools. For example, the Keyserling et al. (1993) upper extremity checklist was developed specifically as a screening tool. Its objective was to find which jobs/workplaces are in need of detailed ergonomic study. In such cases, summing across issues for a total score has an operational meaning, that is, that a particular workplace... 

The concept of looking across specific laws and regulations to the underlying operations of the business is the preferable way to structure a compliance system. Because TSCA is not specific to any one environmental medium, a thorough and well-designed TSCA audit should look at all the environmental media. For example, the EPA can use TSCA to regulate the release to water of a specific chemical, or its presence as breathable particles in the workplace, or its method of disposal. In those circumstances an audit should investigate all of the pertinent media. 

With respect to procedures to avoid bringing hazards into the workplace, does the audit system include an examination of the management practices for the design of the workplace, the work methods, and the environmental system, and the purchasing standards ... 

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