Health and Safety in the Workplace

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) conducts research on occupational diseases and injuries, responds to requests for assistance by investigating problems of health and safety in the workplace, recommends standards to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA), and trains professionals in occupational safety and health. Contact NIOSH, 200 Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, DC 20201 Phone 800-356-4674 or NIOSH Technical Information Branch, Robert A. Taft Eaboratory, Mailstop C-19, 4676 Columbia Parkway, Cinciimati, OH 45226-1998 Phone 800-35-NIOSH. 

The health and safety policy statement is your starting point to managing health and safety in the workplace. By law, (Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 section 2(3)) if you employ five or more people you must have a written health and safety policy. This contains your statement of general policy on health and safety at work and the organisation and arrangements for putting that policy into practice. 

Matters of health and safety in the workplace are administered by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). They supply safety publications either free or purchasable. These are available from ... 

Occupational Safety and Health Act. Administered by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the Occupation Safety and Health Act concerns health and safety in the workplace, OSHA sets standards for worker exposure to specific chemicals, for air concentration values, and for monitoring procedures. Construction and environmental controls also come under this act. This act provides for research, information, education, and training in occupational safety and health. 

The Canadian Center for Occupational Health and Safety Act. C-13. (1978) This act created CCOHS to promote health and safety in the workplace, establish and maintain safety standards, develop programs to reduce or eliminate occupational hazards, and collect statistics. 

NIOSH conducts research aimed at improving health and safety in the workplace. A major goal of NIOSH research is to provide the scientific basis for setting exposure standards. The Registry of toxic ects of chemical substances (RTECS), is published and regularly updated by NIOSH. RTECS lists all known toxic substances, the types of toxicity seen at different concentrations, and current US regulatory standards. At the request of an employer, employee or employee representative, NIOSH will conduct a site investigation into possible health effects from exposure to hazardous substances. 

Risk by Choice Regulating Health and Safety in the Workplace. Cambridge, MA Harvard University Press. 

British Standards Institute (BSI) OHSAS 18001 is the Occupational Health and Safety Assessment Series specification. Implementation demonstrates an organization s commitment to protection of health and safety in the workplace. It comprises two parts, 18001 and 18002, and embraces a number of other publications. 

HSE. (2009). Human factors / ergonomics — health and safety in the workplace. from www.hse.gov.uk/human factors. 

Prudent Practices 1981 and Prudent Practices 1983 were conceived during the late 1970s in recognition of growing public expectations for health and safety in the workplace, protection of the environment, and the responsible use of hazardous chemicals. Since their original puhhcation in the early 1980s, these reports have been distributed widely both nationally and internationally. In 1992, the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry and the World Health Organization published Chemical Safety Matters, a document based on Prudent Practices 1981 and Prudent Practices 1983, for wide international use. 

The Health and Safety at Work, etc. Act 1974 (HSW) is based on the recommendations of the Robens Report and sets out in principle the objectives to be achieved for ensuring high standards of health and safety in the workplace. This Act has superseded the earlier Factories Act and the Offices, Shops and Railway Premises Act and is underpinned by regulations made under its delegating powers. 

This part looks at some of the management techniques that are important in achieving high standards of health and safety in the workplace. 

There are a number of techniques that can be employed to improve and promote effective levels of health and safety in the workplace that complement legislative requirements and are good industrial and commercial practice. They aim to increase awareness of the need for high standards of health and safety at work. 

In endeavours to ensure high levels of health and safety in the workplace, use must be made of all the know-how available. Where matters relating to the actual work areas are concerned, the people best qualified to comment are those who work there. In many cases they see hazards and problems and get round them long before they reach a manager s notice. Also where a problem arises concerning particular aspects of the workplace, the local workers are well placed and well qualified to offer helpful suggestions for its solution. This potential needs to be tapped. 

In preparing this book I have endeavoured to take some of the mystique out of health and safety in the workplace and in simple plain English and in practical terms, explain the hows, whys and wherefores of keeping on the right side of health and safety laws. 

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