Risk-free environment

The Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHAct) is administered and enforced by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). Both OSH A and OSHAct were created in December 1970, the same month the US EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) was created. Unlike the US EPA, OSHA is essentially an enforcement organization and most of its employees are inspectors who perform thousands of workplace inspections per year it is a division of the Department of Labor. The OSHAct assures, as far as possible, that all working men or women have risk-free working environments and imposes on employers the obligation to provide employees with workplaces that are free from recognized health and safety hazards and to maintain compliance with specific OSHA standards. 

As a society, we have learned to accept and manage the risks to which we are subjected in everyday life. We understand that a completely riskfree environment is unattainable. The chemical warehouse environment is similarly not entirely risk-free. Given the hazards associated with the storage of many chemicals, the potential exists for injuries, illness, environmental damage, property damage, and business interruption. 

But, in reality, we safety professionals are also risk takers. It is not possible to attain a risk-free environment, even in the most desirable situations. Setting a goal to achieve zero risk may seem laudable, but it requires chasing a myth. We must understand that even after the best practical methods are applied to what we propose, there will always be residual risk. And we are participants in accepting those risks. 

It is impossible to attain a risk-free environment. Even in the most desirable situations, there will still be residual risk after application of the best practical prevention methods. 

A majority of safety professionals accept the premise that absolute safety, a zero risk state, is not attainable. But, some safety practitioners profess that only a risk-free environment is acceptable. Consider these two examples. 

Because of the impossibility of knowing about every risk on an anticipatory basis, it is folly to expect that a perfect performance measurement system can be developed. Also, because of human limitations, it is not possible for an employer to attain a risk-free environment and assure zero occurrences of hazards-related incidents. 

Management at all levels is responsible for implementation of the company safety and health policy an example states that The company is committed to achieving the highest performance in occupational safety and health with the aim of creating and maintaining a safe, risk-free, and healthy working environment throughout its business. 

There are a number of industry-specific or mine-specific risks that have not been mentioned in this chapter, but the basic concepts mentioned here should be a good indicator of what needs to be done to create a risk-free workplace. An organization cannot have an injury-free workplace until it has a risk-free environment. 

Use your creativity effectively. Defer judgment be succinct list 50 ideas in 5 minutes create a risk-free environment encourage free and forced association of ideas piggy back on previous ideas use triggers, such as those listed below, to maintain the flow of ideas don t be discouraged, in the last two minutes of a ten minute brainstorming session, over 85 % of the ideas are not practical. But, spend time identi-... 

A new and important field of research in environment analysis is the study of the so-called emerging contaminants. These compounds are mainly unregulated pollutants that were previously undetected or considered as risk free. Nevertheless, the development of highly sensitive analytical techniques has allowed the establishment of methodologies for the... 

Stable error will always be present in the work system, so as a corollary a level of risk will always exist - there is no such place as a risk-free woik environment. After accepting the risk inherent in the activity, we must establish the techniques needed to avoid losing our control over the system. 

Employees are sometimes emotional about safety issues and can be adamant on demanding a risk free work environment. This is neither always possible nor practicable and management must communicate this fact to them in such a way that they understand the concept of safety being acceptable levels of risk. ... 

We have discussed what your employer expects of you - but what should you expect of your employer While every employer is different, it is not unreasonable to expect a safe and healthy workplace to do your job. Most of us also know that sometimes employers may not provide the best possible working conditions, but as a new employee you should not expect to be put in harm s way. This again does not mean that you will be working in a risk-free environment—there is risk in everything we do, including our jobs. You have been hired in part because you have some expertise in how to safely handle hazards, and your employer will expect that you will have these skills and be able to use them effectively. Employers will expect you to accept some risk and do your job to the very best of your ability by minimizing those risks. Some employers actually welcome ideas for improvements, particularly if they don t cost much in... 

The credit rating of a company is a major determinant of the yield that will be payable by that company s bonds. The yield spread of a corporate bond over the risk-free bond yield is known as the default premium. In practice, the default premium is composed of two elements, the compensation element specific to the company and the element related to market risk. This is because, in an environment where the default of one company was completely unrelated to the default of other companies, the return from a portfolio of corporate bonds would equal that of the risk-free bond. The gains from bonds of companies that did not default compensated for the loss from those that did default. The additional part of the default premium, the risk premium, is the compensation for risk exposure that cannot be diversified away in a portfolio, known as systematic or non-diversifiable risk. Observation of the market tells us that in certain circumstances, the default patterns of companies are related for example, in a recession there are more corporate defaults, and this fact is reflected in the risk premium. 

The use of incentives for drivers may also help reduce incidents in the motor fleet. Awards for no incidents or miles driven incident free are rewarding programs that sometimes motivate drivers to maintain safe driving behaviors in the short as well as the long term. Having meaningful rewards for desired performance may help ensure a risk-free environment. 

The pressure equipment directive was adopted by the European Parliament and the European Council in May 1997. It harmonises the national laws of the 15 Member States of the European Union relating to equipment subject to the pressure risk. That directive is one of the series of technical harmonisation directives such as for machinery, medical devices, simple pressure vessels, gas appliances and so on, which were foreseen by the Communities programme for the elimination of technical barriers to trade. It therefore aims to ensure the free placing on the market and putting into service of the equipment concerned within the European Union and the European Economic Area. At the same time it permits a flexible regulatory environment, allowing European industry to develop new techniques increasing thereby its international competitiveness. 

The solids that result from wastewater treatment may contain concentrated levels of contaminants that were originally contained in the wastewater. A great deal of concern must be directed to the proper disposal of these solids to protect environmental considerations. Failure to do this may result in a mere shifting of the original pollutants in the waste stream to the fmal disposal site where they may again become free to contaminate the environment and possibly place the public at risk. A more reasonable approach to ultimate solids disposal is to view the sludge... 

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