Safety obligations

If your eompany is working under a HASP developed by someone outside your eompany, there are other eonsiderations that should be examined. If you review the HASP and you do not feel that a eertain seetion applies to your operation, you should make sure that you doe-ument this exeeption in writing. Keep the doeumentation on file at the site and keep a baekup at another loeation. It is important to keep this doeumentation on file and to eommunieate the ehanges so that all site personnel understand their safety obligations. 

The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1992 implement the EC Framework Directive and apply to most work activities in Great Britain. These regulations extend the employers general safety obligations under the Health and Safety at Work, etc Act 1974. In particular they require employers to assess the risks to employees and others from their undertakings and to put in place appropriate preventative and protective measures. 

The text has been written primarily for the student. However, a great deal of the content is directly relevant to the day-to-day work of practising managers. It will enable them to understand their safety obligations, both legal and moral, and to appreciate some of the techniques by which a high standard of safe working can be achieved. It will also provide an extensive source of reference for established safety advisers. 

Many organisations employ specialists to assist them in meeting their healtii and safety responsibilities. These specialists may be employees or consultants brought in to help the organisation meet its safety obligations. It is important that their advisory role is imderstood and that they are not used as a check on line management. Those in control must always be accoxmtable for safety in their area of responsibility. As specialists, they should have no executive authority and their role should be seen as providing a 3A service - Advice, Assistance, and Assessment. 

Assessment is Ihe third aspect of the specialist s role and involves the observation and monitoring of the overall ability of the organisation to fulfil its health and safety obligations. This part of the role is far wider than an audit of technical compliance with legislation. It requires examination of other facets of the organisation s activities insofar as they affect health and safety performance including ... 

Despite the assurances and safeguards to confidentiality, there remained concerns that threat and error data could still be used for disciplinary purposes if the participating driver was involved in a safety incident whilst being observed. To alleviate these concerns, it was necessary to articulate clear Limits of Accountability that preserved confidentiality and anonymity as far as practical, but without compromising legal and workplace health and safety obligations. These formed part of the Informed Consent process and were readily accepted by train crew once the limits to how the information could be used were clearly defined. 

Hale et al. (1990) claim that there is a increasing detail in the norms to ensure that they contain information about machinery, security needs of users to facilitate the application of the safety obligations, left to the discretion of the company if the saving time, money and effort are worth the risk of being caught out of the laws. 

The questionnaire is based in the prevention cycle defined in The European Framework Directive on Safety and Health at Work (Directive 89/391 EEC) adopted in 1989, which is the basis of the regulation of safety obligations for enterprises (see Fig. 1). 

Every employer and self-employed person who shares a workplace with any other employer or self-employed person is required to cooperate with that other person so far as is necessary to enable him to comply with his statutory safety obligations. 

In addition there is also a requirement to coordinate the measures taken in compliance with statutory health and safety obligations with measures by other persons and to provide those other persons with specified health and safety information particularly in relation to the findings of risk assessments. 

As has been explained in the previous notes a key feature of any safety management system will be the preparation and implementation of a policy if an organisation is to effectively manage its safety obligations. 

Along with obvious terms such as work specifications, deadline for completion, price, and the way any dispute will be resolved—to name but a few—the written contract between an owner and an independent contractor should cover health and safety obligations, provisions that are particularly important in the mining context. For example, contract terms for work to be done by an independent contractor at a mine worksite often include these following health and safety subjects ... 

Carrying out the company s safety obligations as required by law or union contract. 

Staying abreast of and advising management on, the current federal, state, and local laws codes, and standards related to safety and health in the workplace. Carrying out the company s safety obligations as required by law and/ or union contract. 

Corrective and disciplinary action is taken when managers, supervisors, or employees knowingly and repeatedly fail to meet their safety obligations. This is necessary to demonstrate that the organization is serious about meeting its compliance obligations. 

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