Assignment Brief National Diploma in Business

Course Code: HS 210 Assessment Type: Term Assessment 1

Course Title: Understanding Health & Safety in the Workplace
Assessment Title: A Safe Environment
Author: Shankar Iyer Assessor(s): Shankar Iyer, Mansoor
Date Issued: 06/10/10 Due Date: 20/10/10

Internal Verifier: Tim Gallon Approval Date: 06/10/10 Signature:

Student No: Student Name:

Submit your assignment to: Tim Gallon

st nd
1 2
Date Submitted: / / / /
Re-Submission Date: Re-Submission Date:

Outcomes Assessed
LO1: Understand the key features of health and safety legislation and regulations
LO2: Know the requirements for healthy, safe and productive working conditions

Assessment Achieved()
P1: outline key features of legislation and regulations on health and safety as applied to working
conditions in a selected manufacturing organisation and a service provider
P2: describe the requirements for a healthy and safe workplace as applied to the physical environment
and equipment used in a selected industry
M1: analyse the standard of working conditions provided by a selected manufacturer and a service
provider
D1: evaluate the extent to which two selected organisations have addressed health and safety
standards

Plagiarism / Student Declaration

All learners at NIVE shall demonstrate academic honesty by avoiding plagiarism. Plagiarism is deliberately
presenting another person’s work as one’s own without acknowledging the original source. A Referral grade will
be awarded for plagiarized work and learners who continually plagiarize will be subject to disciplinary action.
I confirm that I have read and understand the meaning of plagiarism and the assignment submitted is my own
work:

(Student Signature) (Date)

NIVE/BTEC/Assignment Brief Template/Sept 2010 Page 1 of 5

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Scenario
You have recently been appointed as an Assistant Health and Safety Inspector for Dubai Municipality and you have
just visited two businesses, one in Sharjah and the other in Dubai. You took some photographs of the premises as
evidence of bad health and safety practice.

Al Habib Workshop LLC Dubai Restaurant, Dubai

Task 1 (P1, P2)

You have been asked to write a brief report to the owners of the businesses outlining the health and safety issues
concerning each premises. Write two reports, one for each business. In your report you should:
 Outline three key features of health and safety legislation of the Federal Law No. 8 on issues that apply to
P1
each business

P2
Identify the hazards/dangers in both situations

P2
Explain what accidents might happen in both situations
 Describe the requirements needed for both businesses to improve and ensure healthy and safe working
P2
conditions

Task 2 (M1)
Analyse the standard of working conditions that should be expected in the two businesses
Guidelines: Look at all aspects and identify issues such as safety guards on machinery, sharp edges, hazardous
substances kitchen hygiene and emergency exits etc. Your answer will be more detailed than Task 1 and should be well
structured and use accurate, technical language.

Task 3 (D1)
Read the two case studies and evaluate the extent both companies have addressed health and safety standards.
Guidelines: evaluate means to assess both situations and then give your opinion on how well each business has
improved and recommend further improvements if any. To achieve distinction your answer should use accurate
technical language, be fluent, logical and coherent, well organised with a conclusion.

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Tackling slip problems in a manufacturing bakery

A HSE inspector received reports of injuries to workers resulting from slip accidents at a factory producing filled pastry
products. The inspector found that staff in manufacturing and ancillary areas were experiencing slip problems and
that not enough was being done to prevent them. The inspector decided to require the company to take action and
served an Improvement Notice on them. Although this legal notice spurred the company into initially taking action,
they went beyond the specific requirements of the Inspector's notice to try to get the slip accident rate down to zero.

Problems faced by the company included a range of different floor finishes on different parts of the site, the floors
were often exposed to harsh wear and treatment, the complete elimination of all floor contamination risks (water and
ingredients) was not practical and workers were often pushing or pulling loads. The company took advice from their
HSE Inspector and decided to introduce several changes to try to reduce slip risks.

Training was given to managers and the workforce in slip prevention, the cooperation of workers was also sought in
assessing the effect that the changes had..

Staff were issued with different types 'anti-slip' footwear. Some were initially assessed as performing well but were
said to be difficult to keep clean as food debris clung to the tread pattern. Trials of one type of footwear were carried
out using some of the male workers, when these were subsequently issued to female workers they found them heavy
on the feet and tiring. Another footwear type which was initially felt not to have quite as high a slip resistance seemed
to deliver better results over time as the tread pattern did not clog with food debris (better for hygiene) and offered
greater comfort to many staff.

The factory had been in existence for many years and had changed hands. Not much was known about when floor
finishes had been installed and why certain choices of floor finish had been made. An expensive floor repainting
exercise had been carried out but the finish was not durable. Epoxy 'anti-slip' floor finishes had been installed in areas
where there was perceived to be the greatest slip risk.

In fact the area felt to be most at risk because of the amount of water spillage - the tray wash area - was not such a
problem, the micro-roughness of the floor surface was enough to give good slip resistance without compromising
hygiene. More of a problem were the pastry preparation areas where the floor surface roughness was not enough to
cope with the type and extent of contamination that was happening.

Rather than looking at replacing the floor the company introduced measures (such as drip trays around machines and
conveyors) to reduce and capture potential spillages - making floor contamination much less - and introducing 'anti-
slip' footwear that did not clog. Another important aspect of the slip prevention programme was improved cleaning
regimes designed to effectively deal with the food spillages that did get onto the floor.

The company found that the number of slip accidents dropped to less than a quarter of that which they had been
experiencing prior to the preventive measures.

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16 Year Old Employee Flash Fries Arm in 360°F Oil Following Slip
This accident shows that failure to maintain plant, prevent contamination and to
provide effective training and supervision can contribute to slipping accidents.
Research has shown that slips are of caused by a combination of factors. A 16 year old
girl was employed at a fast food outlet to cook fries at a frying range.

She slipped on water leaking from an ice-making machine and instinctively put out her hand to break her fall.
Unfortunately her hand went into the deep fat fryer containing oil at a temperature of 360°F and she sustaind severe
burns to her left hand and forearm. The outlet was short staffed on the day of accident and the Team Leader was
working on the tills instead of monitoring workplace safety.

Although the company policy was to mop up spillages it was common practice to leave spillages at busy times and
cover them with a sheet of cardboard, which itself can create a tripping hazard. At busy times it was usual to give
greater priority to serving customers than to cleaning spillages.

The ice-making machine had been leaking for several days and various attempts had been made by different
contractors to cure the leak. No-one had sole responsibility to coordinate the repair of faulty equipment and a lack of
communication between different shift managers left the equipment leaking over a long period of time.

Following the accident, the company did a complete review of its management of wet/contaminated floors.

 Slip control was given priority over serving customers

 Systems were put in place to ensure maintenance of faulty equipment
 Managers were identified as having responsibility to ensure slips procedures were
implemented and followed
 Employees empowered to deal with slips as a priority and given backing by company
 Extra training on slips procedures was given to all staff

The local authority prosecuted the company and on successful conviction the magistrates imposed a total fine of
£15000. The investigating Environmental Health Officer believed that the accident was completely avoidable as the
company had failed to maintain a safe system of work or to carry out a suitable and sufficient assessment of the risks
associated with slipping within the kitchen.

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Feedback
Task 1 P1, P2

Task 2 M1

Task 3 D1

(Assessor Signature) (Date)

Assessment Plan
P1 P2 P3 P4 P5 M1 M2 M3 D1 D2
Mid Term Test N Y N N N Y N N Y N
Term Assignment 1 Y Y N N N Y N N Y N
Term Assignment 2 N N Y Y Y N Y Y N Y
Timed Assignment N N Y Y Y N Y Y N Y
Internal Verification

(Internal Verifier Signature) (Date)

Internal Use Only

F R P- P P+ M- M M+ D- D
- R C- C C+ B- B B+ A- A
0 0 1.67 2.0 2.33 2.67 3.0 3.33 3.67 4.0

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