What is Safety and Health?

Health and Safety is a term that generally covers the legal requirements that fall under the
Health and Safety at Work Act etc 1974. The term Health and Safety is generally used to describe
Occupational Health and Safety, and relates to the prevention of accidents and ill health to
employees and those who may be affected by their work.
The standard dictionary definition for Health and Safety is:
‘regulations and procedures intended to prevent accident or injury in work place or public
environments.’
The Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 is a piece of statutory legislation that came
into being following the Robens report. It is from the piece of legislation that the term came into
more popular use. Prior to the Health and Safety a Work Act, which is 40 years old in 2014,
occupational safety was covered under the Factories Act 1961 and the Office, Shops and
Railways Premises Act 1963. These pieces of legislation have been largely replaced and repealed
over time by the HASAW and subsequent legislation.
Health and Safety all about preventing or mitigating any accidents or incidents at your
workplace, that may result in injury to your employees and others.
Health and Safety is made up of programs, legislation, regulations, guidelines, processes and
procedures that protect the safety, welfare and health your employees and others on your site.
The overall goal of your Health and Safety program is to create a safe working environment and to
reduce the risk of accidents, injuries and fatalities on the job.
Why is Health and Safety important?
Health and safety helps ensure all employees feel at ease in their working conditions. More
often than not, health and safety related issues that arise in the workplace are more of a burden to
the organization than implementing activities to ensure the health and safety from the beginning.
Some of the overarching benefits that can come from effective health and safety throughout
organizations are:

 Decreased absences among employees

 Increased work productivity
 Increase brand image within the wider community
 Ensure workers and stakeholders are at ease while at work
 Legal responsibilities will be met
 Customers will be happy as they are buying from a fair company
Health and Safety refers to the measures and practices that are put in place to protect the health
and well-being of individuals in the workplace, as well as the general public. This can include
things such as proper health and safety training and use of equipment, adherence to safety
regulations, and emergency procedures.
It means being aware of and following safety protocols in your workplace to minimize the risk of
injury and illness, and taking steps to protect yourself and those around you from harm.
Health and Safety encompasses a wide range of practices and policies that are designed to
prevent accidents and injuries, and protect the physical and mental health of workers, customers,
and the general public. These can include things such as:

 Providing proper training and equipment to workers, so that they can perform their tasks
safely and effectively
 Establishing and enforcing safety regulations and guidelines, such as occupational health
and safety standards, to ensure that workers are protected from hazards on the job
  Implementing emergency procedures and protocols, such as fire drills and evacuation
plans, to ensure that people know what to do in case of an emergency
 Regularly inspecting the workplace for hazards and addressing any issues that are found
 Offering health and wellness programs and resources, such as stress management and
ergonomic training, to help workers maintain their physical and mental well-being.
What Does Health and Safety Mean to Me?
To you, health and safety means being aware of the risks and hazards in your workplace, taking
steps to protect yourself and others from harm. This might include things such as:
1. Following proper procedures when using equipment or chemicals.
2. Reporting any hazards or safety concerns to our supervisor.
3. Wearing appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE).
4. Taking regular breaks and looking after your physical and mental health.
5. Overall, health and safety is a critical aspect of any workplace, and it is important for
everyone to understand and follow the policies and procedures in place to ensure that
everyone remains safe and healthy.
What Critical Safety and Health Issues should be addressed, and allocated adequate
resources, in the safety and health policy?
Critical safety and health issues, which should be addressed and allocated resources, in the safety
and health policy, include the:

 Design, provision and maintenance of a safe place of work for all employees.
 Design, provision and maintenance of safe means of access to and egress from each part
of the workplace.
 Design, provision and maintenance of any article, plant, equipment and machinery for use
at work in a safe manner, provision of systems of work that are planned, organized,
performed, maintained or revised, so as to be safe, particularly for safety critical process
operations or services.
 Performance of ongoing hazard identification and Risk Assessments, and compliance with
the general principles of prevention as set out in the legislation.
 Provision and maintenance of welfare facilities and PPE.
 Preparation of emergency plans and the provision of first-aid training.
 Reporting of accidents and dangerous occurrences to the Authority and their Investigation.
 Provision and dissemination of safety and health information, instruction, training and
supervision as required.
 Operation of safety and health consultation, employee participation and safety
representation programmes.
 Review and keeping up-to-date the safety and health policy in order to prevent adverse
affects on the safety and health employees from changing processes, procedures and
conditions in the workplace.
 Appointment of people responsible for keeping safety and health control systems in place
and making them aware of their responsibilities.
 Establishment of monitoring arrangements, including safety and health inspections and
audits, which should be used by the employer to ensure ongoing compliance with legal
duties, responsibilities and controls.
 Development of in-house safety and health competence.
 Employment of external safety and health experts as required.
 Use of standards, Code of Practice, guidelines or industry practices.
 Co-operation required from employees and disciplinary procedures for non-compliance.
However, this list is not exhaustive and the critical safety and health issues that could be covered
by the policy will depend on the risks in the organization. If the above issues are adequately
covered elsewhere in the Safety Statement or in the safety and health management system, they
might need only to be referred to in the safety and health policy. Backup documentation may also
be referred to in the policy.
Effective safety and health management includes effective emergency planning. What
should this cover?
The organization should establish and maintain procedures to respond to accidents and
emergency situations, and to prevent and minimize the safety and health impacts associated with
them. This is required by Section 11 of the Safety, Health and Welfare at work Act 2005.
Emergency planning should cover:

 the development of emergency plans

 the testing and rehearsing of these plans and related equipment, including firefighting
equipment and fire alarms
 training personnel on what to do in the event of an emergency, particularly those people
who have to carry out duties (e.g. fire-fighting teams, fire-aiders)
 advising people working or living near the installation about what they should do in the
event of an emergency
 familiarizing the emergency services with the facilities at the organization so that they know
what to expect in the event of an emergency.
The emergency plan itself should include:

 details on the installation, availability and testing of suitable warning and alarm systems
 details of emergency scenarios that might occur, including the means for dealing with
scenarios
 the emergency procedures in the organization, including the responsibilities of key
personnel, procedures for fire-fighting and evacuation of all personnel on site and first-aid
requirements
 details of emergency services (e.g. fire brigade, ambulance services, spill clean-up
services) and the contact arrangements for these services
 internal and external communications plans
 training plans and testing for effectiveness
 details on the availability of emergency rescue equipment and its maintenance log
The organization should periodically test, review and revise its emergency preparedness and
response procedures where necessary, in particular after the occurrence of accidents or
emergency situations. The emergency plans should be dovetail with the Safety Statement as
required by Section 20 of the 2005 Act. Major accident hazard sites covered by the EU COMAH
Regulations, need to have emergency plans in place to cover major accidents involving chemicals.
How can the safety and health management system be monitored?
It should be a line-management responsibility to monitor safety and health performance against
predetermined plans and standards. Monitoring reinforces management’s commitment to safety
and health objectives in general and helps to develop a positive safety and health culture by
rewarding positive work done to control risk. Two types of monitoring are required:
1. Active Systems, which monitor the design, development, installation and operation of
management arrangements, safety systems and workplace precautions.
2. Reactive Systems, which monitor accidents, ill health, incidents and other evidence of
deficient safety and health performance.
1. Active monitoring
Every organization should collect information to investigate the causes of substandard
performance or conditions adequately. Documented procedures for carrying out these activities on
a regular basis for key operations should be established and maintained. The monitoring system
should include:

 identification of the appropriate data to be collected and accuracy of the results required
 monitoring of the achievement of specific plans, set performances criteria and objectives
 installation of the requisite monitoring equipment and assessment of its accuracy and
reliability
 calibration and regular maintenance of this equipment together with documented records of
both the procedures involved and the results obtained
 analysis and records of the monitoring data collected and documented actions to be taken
when results breach performance criteria
 evaluation of all the data as part of the safety and health management review
 documented procedures for reviewing the monitoring and safety and health implications of
forthcoming changes to work systems
Techniques that should be used for active measurement of the safety and health management
system include:

 systematic inspections of workplace processes or services to monitor specific objectives,

e.g. weekly, monthly or quarterly reports
 systematic review of the organization’s Risk Assessments to determine whether they are
functioning as intended or need to be updated, and are the necessary improvements being
implemented
 plant or machinery inspections, e.g. statutory plant inspections and certification
 environmental sampling for dusts, chemical, fumes noise or biological agents
 analysis of safety and health management system records
2. Reactive monitoring
A system internal reporting of all accidents (which includes ill health cases) and incidents of non-
compliance with the safety and health management system should be set up so that the
experience gained may be used to improve the management system. The organization should
encourage an open and positive approach to reporting and follow –up and should also put in place
a system of ensuring that reporting requirements are met.
The organization should establish procedures for investigating accidents and incidents to identify
their causes, including possible deficiencies in the safety and health management system. Those
responsible for investigating accidents, and incidents should be including plans for corrective
action, which incorporate measures for:

 restoring compliance as quickly as possible

 preventing recurrence
 evaluating and mitigating any adverse safety and health effects
 reviewing the Risk Assessments to which the accident relates
 assessing the effects of the proposed remedial measures.
What is the role of the safety and health advisor?
Safety and Health advisers should have the status and competence to advice management and
employees with authority and independence. By virtue of the definition of ‘competent person’
under the 2005 Act, they must possess sufficient training, experience and knowledge appropriate
to the work to be done. They should be capable of advising on:

 formulating and developing safety and health policies, not just for existing activities but also
with respect to new acquisitions or processes
 promoting a positive safety and health culture in the organization and securing the effective
implementation of safety and health policy
  planning for safety and health, including the setting of realistic short and long term
objectives, deciding priorities and establishing adequate systems and performance
standards
 day-to-day implementation and monitoring of policy and plans, including accident and
incident investigation, reporting and analysis
 reviewing performance and auditing the whole safety and health management system.
To do this properly, safety and health advisers should:

 be properly trained by reputable organizations or be individuals who are suitably qualified;

having membership of recognized professional safety and health bodies such as IOSH or
BOHS and having a qualification to at least Diploma level in a recognized third-level safety
and health course will offer routes for demonstrating competence
 maintain adequate information systems on topics including safety and health law, safety
and health management and technical advances
 demonstrate the ability to interpret the law in the context of the organization
 be involved in establishing organizational arrangements, systems and risk-control
standards relating to hardware and human performance, by advising line management on
matters such as legal and technical standards
 establish and maintain procedures for reporting, investigating, recording and analyzing
accidents and incidents
 establish and maintain procedures, including monitoring and other means such as review
and auditing, to ensure that senior managers get a true picture of how well safety and
health is being managed (where a benchmarking role may be especially valuable)
 present their advice independently and effectively.