Managing occupational health and safety

APCHQ

6 Jul 202205:22

Summary

TLDRThis script emphasizes the importance of occupational health and safety in construction sites, outlining the responsibility of the principal contractor to prevent accidents and diseases. It highlights the necessity of a prevention program, continuous improvement, and the 'identify, correct, control' process to manage hazards. The script also stresses the need for worker involvement, effective corrective measures, and ongoing training to ensure a safe work environment and increased productivity.

Takeaways

🚧 The construction site is fraught with numerous risks and hazards, including the work environment, equipment, materials, tasks, workers, schedules, and company management.
👷‍♂️ As a principal contractor or employer, it's your legal and moral responsibility to ensure the prevention of work accidents and occupational diseases.
🛠️ Managing occupational health and safety involves implementing a prevention program tailored to your specific construction trade.
📋 Each prevention program consists of action sheets that identify risks and detail preventive measures and control methods for each risk.
🔄 Continuous improvement is key in managing occupational health and safety; hazards should be identified, corrected, and controlled regularly.
🕒 Hazard identification should occur during the planning stage, not just before starting work, to avoid unexpected delays.
🔍 To identify hazards, analyze all aspects of the work, including tasks, equipment, materials, work environment, and workers.
🗣️ Consult your accident register and listen to workers' input to identify workplace hazards effectively.
🛑 Prioritize hazards that pose serious and immediate risks to workers, such as those with zero tolerance, then address the most frequent hazards.
🔧 Corrective measures can include material or equipment substitution, engineering controls, awareness raising, administrative controls, or providing personal protective equipment.
🔄 It's often necessary to combine multiple solutions for effective hazard correction.
⏰ Establish a timeframe and designate a person responsible for implementing each corrective measure.
🔒 After hazards are corrected, implement controls to ensure the solutions are effective and sustained, including worker training and monitoring systems.
🏗️ Prevention programs are crucial for planning a safe job site, but remember to adapt them to the unique conditions and evolving hazards of your specific construction project.
👥 Assisted prevention is a collective effort involving everyone's responsibility and is an ongoing process.

Q & A

What are the potential sources of danger on a construction site?
-The work environment, equipment, materials, tasks and workers, schedules, hours, and company management are all potential sources of danger.
Why is it important for a principal contractor or employer to prevent work accidents and occupational diseases?
-It's important not only because it's the law, but also because these accidents can significantly impact productivity and affect workers and their families.
What does managing occupational health and safety involve?
-It involves implementing a prevention program and an action plan adapted to the specific construction trade, which includes a set of action sheets identifying risks and preventive measures.
What is the purpose of a prevention program?
-A prevention program serves as a starting point for managing occupational health and safety, aiming for continuous improvement by identifying, correcting, and controlling all workplace hazards.
Why is it crucial to identify hazards during the planning stage of a construction project?
-Identifying hazards during the planning stage helps avoid unwelcome surprises that could prevent the job from getting underway, ensuring a smoother and safer project start.
What are two good tips for identifying hazards on a construction site?
-Consulting the register of accidents, incidents, and first aid, and listening to what workers have to say are two effective tips for identifying hazards.
How should corrective measures be prioritized when addressing workplace hazards?
-Start with hazards that have serious and immediate consequences, then address the most frequent hazards, and finally, correct all other hazards.
What are some ways to correct workplace hazards?
-Corrective measures can include substituting materials or equipment, implementing engineering controls, increasing awareness, introducing administrative controls, or providing personal protective equipment.
Why is it important to establish a time frame and designate a person in charge before implementing corrective measures?
-This ensures that the chosen solutions are effectively and sustainably implemented, as understanding and enforcement by workers are crucial for success.
What steps should be taken after correcting hazards to ensure ongoing safety?
-After hazards are corrected, it's important to put controls in place to ensure the chosen solutions are effective and sustainable, including informing and training workers and establishing a monitoring system.
How can the prevention programs provided by the APC HQ assist in planning a safe job site?
-The prevention programs offer indispensable guidance for planning a safe and secure job site, but it's important to remember that every job site is unique and hazards can evolve, necessitating the continuous identify-correct-control process.
What are the potential consequences of poor management of occupational health and safety?
-Poor management can lead to work stoppages, notices of correction, or even statements of offense from the CNA, highlighting the importance of effective safety management.

Outlines

00:00

🚧 Managing Occupational Health and Safety on Construction Sites

This paragraph emphasizes the inherent risks and hazards on construction sites and the principal contractor's responsibility to prevent work accidents and occupational diseases. It underscores the impact of these accidents on productivity and workers' families. The script outlines the necessity of implementing a prevention program, using action plans tailored to specific construction trades. It also highlights the continuous improvement process required for managing occupational health and safety, including identifying and controlling hazards, and the importance of doing so during the planning stage. The paragraph suggests consulting accident records and listening to workers' input to identify hazards. It advises prioritizing hazards based on their potential impact, implementing corrective measures, and combining multiple solutions for effectiveness. The paragraph concludes by stressing the importance of informing, training workers, and establishing a monitoring system to enforce new controls.

05:00

👷‍♂️ Team Effort in Assisted Prevention

The second paragraph stresses that assisted prevention is an ongoing, collaborative effort involving everyone's responsibility. It reassures that SQ advisors are available to provide assistance, indicating the support system in place for maintaining workplace safety.

Mindmap

Keywords

💡Construction Site

A construction site is a location where construction work is being performed. It is often associated with numerous risks and hazards due to the nature of the work being done. In the video, the construction site is the primary setting where the importance of managing occupational health and safety is emphasized, highlighting the potential dangers that workers may face.

💡Risks and Hazards

Risks and hazards refer to potential sources of danger or accidents in a workplace. The script mentions that the work environment, equipment, materials, tasks, workers, schedules, and even company management can all pose risks. The video underscores the need to identify and manage these risks to prevent work accidents and ensure a safe work environment.

💡Principal Contractor

The principal contractor is the main contractor responsible for a construction project. They have the legal responsibility to ensure the safety of the worksite. The script highlights that it is the principal contractor's duty to prevent work accidents and occupational diseases, aligning with the video's theme of safety management.

💡Prevention Program

A prevention program is a set of measures designed to prevent accidents and occupational diseases. The video mentions that managing occupational health and safety involves implementing a prevention program, which is a crucial step in ensuring the safety of workers on the job site.

💡Action Plan

An action plan is a detailed plan that outlines the steps to be taken to achieve a goal, in this case, safety. The script refers to the need for an action plan adapted to the specific realities of a construction site, which is part of the continuous improvement process in managing occupational health and safety.

💡Occupational Health and Safety

Occupational health and safety (OHS) refers to the activities and policies designed to prevent harm or illness to workers. The video's central theme revolves around managing OHS, emphasizing the importance of a proactive approach to identifying, correcting, and controlling workplace hazards.

💡Continuous Improvement

Continuous improvement is an ongoing effort to enhance processes and outcomes. In the context of the video, continuous improvement in occupational health and safety involves continually identifying and controlling hazards to prevent accidents and maintain a safe work environment.

💡Zero Tolerance

Zero tolerance refers to a policy of not tolerating certain hazards or behaviors that can have serious and immediate consequences. The script mentions that hazards with zero tolerance should be addressed first, illustrating the severity of certain risks and the urgency to mitigate them.

💡Corrective Measures

Corrective measures are actions taken to correct a problem or reduce the likelihood of future occurrences. The video discusses implementing corrective measures to eliminate hazards, minimize accidents, or lessen the severity of potential injuries, which is a critical step in the safety management process.

💡Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)

PPE refers to equipment worn by workers to protect them from injury or illness. The script suggests providing PPE as one of the solutions to correct workplace hazards, emphasizing the importance of individual safety in addition to systemic measures.

💡Assisted Prevention

Assisted prevention implies that the process of preventing accidents and occupational diseases is supported by external resources or advisors. The video closes by mentioning that SQ advisors are available to help, highlighting the collaborative nature of ensuring workplace safety.

Highlights

Construction sites have inherent risks that need to be managed.

The principal contractor or employer is responsible for preventing work accidents and occupational diseases.

Preventing accidents is important for productivity and worker welfare.

Occupational health and safety requires a continuous improvement process.

APICÉSQUE offers prevention programs tailored to various construction trades.

Prevention programs provide action sheets identifying risks and control methods.

Hazard identification should be done during the planning stage, not just before starting work.

Hazard analysis should consider all aspects of the work, including tasks, equipment, materials, and environment.

Consulting accident records and listening to workers are key to identifying hazards.

Correcting hazards should start with those posing the most immediate and serious risks.

Corrective measures should eliminate hazards, minimize accidents, or lessen injury severity.

Multiple solutions may be needed to effectively address workplace hazards.

Corrective measures should have a designated person in charge and a timeline for implementation.

After hazards are corrected, controls must be put in place to ensure the solutions are effective and sustainable.

Worker training and monitoring systems are crucial to enforce new controls.

Prevention programs are indispensable for planning a safe job site, but they must be adapted to each unique site.

Workplace hazards can evolve, so continuous management of occupational health and safety is necessary.

Proper management of occupational health and safety reduces accidents and increases productivity.

Assisted prevention is a team effort involving everyone's responsibility.